Android MiniClient 1.4.4 MKV Playback

[rickgillyon]

My Android MiniClients have updated to 1.4.4, and I've been getting some grief from my wife - when she plays videos, the timeline is solid white, 0:00 to 0:00, can't skip forward or back and on stopping and coming back later it always starts at the beginning. This is on Shield. I've tried setting for Exo and IJK, it's the same.

Anyway, I regressed the MiniClient to 1.2.12, and it's exactly the same. So I think it's probably caused by a Shield update rather than a MiniClient update. Anyone else seeing this? Any idea how to fix?

[seglertx]

I'm running version 1.4.4 of the miniclient on my Shield and not having any problems with playback of mkv files. I also installed the latest update to Android TV that came out yesterday so everything on the Shield is current. I'm using the default miniclient settings except I maxed out the caches for images and I checked the box for Use Native Resolution.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

My Android MiniClients have updated to 1.4.4, and I've been getting some grief from my wife - when she plays videos, the timeline is solid white, 0:00 to 0:00, can't skip forward or back and on stopping and coming back later it always starts at the beginning. This is on Shield. I've tried setting for Exo and IJK, it's the same.

Anyway, I regressed the MiniClient to 1.2.12, and it's exactly the same. So I think it's probably caused by a Shield update rather than a MiniClient update. Anyone else seeing this? Any idea how to fix?

That timeline is actually controlled by sagetv. The problem is the video file. If you remux it it should play fine, but, not the client or the shield, but, the server.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by seglertx

I'm running version 1.4.4 of the miniclient on my Shield and not having any problems with playback of mkv files. I also installed the latest update to Android TV that came out yesterday so everything on the Shield is current. I'm using the default miniclient settings except I maxed out the caches for images and I checked the box for Use Native Resolution.

Have you tried different player (ExoPLayer and IJKPlayer). I playback mkv files all the time, is it any MKV file, or just some?

[rickgillyon]

You're absolutely correct, the bad files don't work properly on the full client either. But this is at least half of files now downloading, and it's a recent problem. Same with ijk or exo. They all work fine in Plex, but she doesn't like Plex...

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

My Android MiniClients have updated to 1.4.4, and I've been getting some grief from my wife - when she plays videos, the timeline is solid white, 0:00 to 0:00, can't skip forward or back and on stopping and coming back later it always starts at the beginning. This is on Shield. I've tried setting for Exo and IJK, it's the same.

Anyway, I regressed the MiniClient to 1.2.12, and it's exactly the same. So I think it's probably caused by a Shield update rather than a MiniClient update. Anyone else seeing this? Any idea how to fix?

I've had this happen to me before and I found the easiest fix for me was to run the mkv file thru MakeMKV (runs real quick)

[graywolf]

also might want to see if this might have any help since file timestamps can do strange things to the timeline
https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...06&postcount=5

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by graywolf

also might want to see if this might have any help since file timestamps can do strange things to the timeline
https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/sho...06&postcount=5

Thanks. Timestamps look okay, but Sage thinks it's zero length:

Aired: Jan 23, 2019 3:11 AM - 3:11 AM
Duration: 0 m

No other software does, e.g. Plex:

Video Resolution 720p
Duration 41:09
Bitrate 3120 kbps

So I'm guessing this is a Sage core issue.

[rickgillyon]

Looks like it's every import since sometime between 28th and 30th November (i.e. on 28th the import worked fine, 42 minutes, on 30th and after every import os 0 minutes). So that's when it broke.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Looks like it's every import since sometime between 28th and 30th November (i.e. on 28th the import worked fine, 42 minutes, on 30th and after every import os 0 minutes). So that's when it broke.

Could be that nothing changed in sagetv, but that the encoding process is injecting something into those mkv files, that it didn't used to inject, and now sagetv can't read the time correctly. If I recall sagetv uses ffpmeg to get the video information from a file. Try using SageTV's ffmpeg and get the videoinfo.

ffmpeg -i example.mp4

On windows, not sure if it's still called ffmpeg.

SageTV uses a versin of ffmpeg that is extremely old, whereas systems like plex and kodi, etc, are continously updating their ffmpeg libraries.

Sadly dropping in a new ffmpeg is not a trivial process.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Could be that nothing changed in sagetv, but that the encoding process is injecting something into those mkv files, that it didn't used to inject, and now sagetv can't read the time correctly. If I recall sagetv uses ffpmeg to get the video information from a file. Try using SageTV's ffmpeg and get the videoinfo.

ffmpeg -i example.mp4

On windows, not sure if it's still called ffmpeg.

SageTV uses a versin of ffmpeg that is extremely old, whereas systems like plex and kodi, etc, are continuously updating their ffmpeg libraries.

Sadly dropping in a new ffmpeg is not a trivial process.

Thanks. Not sure where I would find Sage's ffmpeg - in a shell in the docker, on a PC Client?

It seems unlikely though. Every download after that date fails. These are from many different uploaders and for various types of TV program. Seems unlikely every uploader would change their encoding at the same time. But I suppose they may all be releasing the same original encodes or be using similar encoding software. Seems unlikely but hard to know for sure.

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Could be that nothing changed in sagetv, but that the encoding process is injecting something into those mkv files, that it didn't used to inject, and now sagetv can't read the time correctly. If I recall sagetv uses ffpmeg to get the video information from a file. Try using SageTV's ffmpeg and get the videoinfo.

ffmpeg -i example.mp4

On windows, not sure if it's still called ffmpeg.

SageTV uses a versin of ffmpeg that is extremely old, whereas systems like plex and kodi, etc, are continously updating their ffmpeg libraries.

Sadly dropping in a new ffmpeg is not a trivial process.

Isn’t it sagetvtranscoder.exe or something like that on Windows (not where can look for the exact name)

Btw - get makemkv, run one of the problem files through it and rename the output file to original name and replace the original file. Forget if I had to scan imports first or not after replacing the file to have the timeline/skip forward/backward to be fixed

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Thanks. Not sure where I would find Sage's ffmpeg - in a shell in the docker, on a PC Client?

It seems unlikely though. Every download after that date fails. These are from many different uploaders and for various types of TV program. Seems unlikely every uploader would change their encoding at the same time. But I suppose they may all be releasing the same original encodes or be using similar encoding software. Seems unlikely but hard to know for sure.

Or something happened to your sagetvtranscoder.exe (?) file so not picking up the right info when scanned. Try doing the sage installer repair then import scan. If that doesn’t fix it, post the sagetv_#.txt that includes the timeframe of the import scan

[rickgillyon]

Thanks for the help. I found the transcoder on my PC Client and that hits loads of issues but it estimates a pretty accurate length. Text attached. Server is on unRAID so repair install isn't a thing, but have removed and re-added the docker, no change. Will try the transcoder on there later.

I understand what you say about MakeMKV, but this isn't about one problem file, it's every file.

[rickgillyon]

Similar on the server, has a length, attached.

And also the importer picking up the file, has zero length:

Fri 2/1 13:10:16.158 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Checking video directories for new files
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.664 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Seeker is starting the library import scan...
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.678 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Starting to scan lib import root: /var/mediaext/videos
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.770 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] testFile=test_20190201.mkv
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.770 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Now using external format detector for: /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/test_20190201.mkv
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.791 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] File Format Parsed /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/test_20190201.mkv=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps []
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.791 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Added:MediaFile[id=26621621 A[26621624,26621622,"test_20190201",0@0123.03:11,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/test_20190201.mkv, Seg0[Wed 1/23 3:11:50.999-Wed 1/23 3:11:51.000]] num=25634
Fri 2/1 13:10:16.791 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] New Library File MediaFile[id=26621621 A[26621624,26621622,"test_20190201",0@0123.03:11,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/test_20190201.mkv, Seg0[Wed 1/23 3:11:50.999-Wed 1/23 3:11:51.000]]

[graywolf]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

Thanks for the help. I found the transcoder on my PC Client and that hits loads of issues but it estimates a pretty accurate length. Text attached. Server is on unRAID so repair install isn't a thing, but have removed and re-added the docker, no change. Will try the transcoder on there later.

I understand what you say about MakeMKV, but this isn't about one problem file, it's every file.

Ok. Was thinking this was a Windows server.
The makemkv would be to see if that fixes something in the file that sagetv then recognize. A troubleshooting step, not a final solution

[rickgillyon]

Same behaviour after MakeMKV:

Fri 2/1 13:55:20.603 [LibraryImporter@659c45e3] testFile=title_t00.mkv
Fri 2/1 13:55:20.603 [LibraryImporter@659c45e3] Now using external format detector for: /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/title_t00.mkv
Fri 2/1 13:55:20.608 [LibraryImporter@659c45e3] File Format Parsed /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/title_t00.mkv=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps []
Fri 2/1 13:55:20.609 [LibraryImporter@659c45e3] Added:MediaFile[id=26621667 A[26621669,26621668,"title_t00",0@0201.13:54,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/title_t00.mkv, Seg0[Fri 2/1 13:54:34.999-Fri 2/1 13:54:35.000]] num=25639
Fri 2/1 13:55:20.609 [LibraryImporter@659c45e3] New Library File MediaFile[id=26621667 A[26621669,26621668,"title_t00",0@0201.13:54,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/title_t00.mkv, Seg0[Fri 2/1 13:54:34.999-Fri 2/1 13:54:35.000]]

And after using Handbrake to re-encode:

Fri 2/1 14:05:11.205 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Starting to scan lib import root: /var/mediaext/videos
Fri 2/1 14:05:11.297 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] testFile=handbrake.mkv
Fri 2/1 14:05:11.297 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Now using external format detector for: /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/handbrake.mkv
Fri 2/1 14:05:11.299 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] File Format Parsed /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/handbrake.mkv=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps []
Fri 2/1 14:05:11.299 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] Added:MediaFile[id=26621671 A[26621674,26621672,"handbrake",0@0201.13:58,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/handbrake.mkv, Seg0[Fri 2/1 13:58:20.999-Fri 2/1 13:58:21.000]] num=25639
Fri 2/1 14:05:11.299 [LibraryImporter@3ce601cc] New Library File MediaFile[id=26621671 A[26621674,26621672,"handbrake",0@0201.13:58,0,V] mask=V host=cf0856437333 encodedBy= format=MATROSKA 0:00:00 0 kbps [] /var/mediaext/videos/=Missed/handbrake.mkv, Seg0[Fri 2/1 13:58:20.999-Fri 2/1 13:58:21.000]]

[graywolf]

Hmmm. Ok, going by memory here.
Do you have the Sagetv set to auto update?
On the docker tab, does it have last update date or version info?
Do you have any syslog files that go back to when you think this started?

[stuckless]

As hard as it is to believe that it might not be the files... The SageTV server has not been updated since Oct 17, 2018.

[wnjj]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Could be that nothing changed in sagetv, but that the encoding process is injecting something into those mkv files, that it didn't used to inject, and now sagetv can't read the time correctly. If I recall sagetv uses ffpmeg to get the video information from a file. Try using SageTV's ffmpeg and get the videoinfo.

ffmpeg -i example.mp4

On windows, not sure if it's still called ffmpeg.

SageTV uses a versin of ffmpeg that is extremely old, whereas systems like plex and kodi, etc, are continously updating their ffmpeg libraries.

Sadly dropping in a new ffmpeg is not a trivial process.

I’ve got the latest FFmpeg pulled and all of the SageTV changes documented and added to it. I haven’t gotten it to compile yet though so there’s still plenty of work ahead. When I get some more time I plan to continue. Longer term it may be possible to convert these commented changes into a patch that would obviously need adjusted if the upstream code changes enough.