Forum Discussion

mramim's avatar
mramim
Streaming Star
5 years ago

Live HLS m3u8 stream from encoder server Stutter/Jumps around

I'm trying to run a stream in a roku DP channel from the following URL:

 
The stream used to work perfectly before on my channel, but now, after around 20 seconds of playback it stutters. It works on a web browser, but when i try to run this on my unpublished channel, it doesn't work. I've tested the stream using Roku Stream Tester(http://devtools.web.roku.com/stream_tester/html/) and the issue is present there as well. So I know for some reason roku devices isn't liking my stream. The stream is generated using a PVI h264 IPTV encoder server. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here.

Does anyone know why this is happening? Can someone guide me towards a fix for this?
Thanks in advance.
Roku Direct Publisher
  • Baradanikto's avatar
    Baradanikto
    Roku Guru
    5 years ago

    Per the JSON schema spec for a Video object:

    The URL of the video itself. The URL must use the secure protocol prefix "https://".

    Have you tried using an "https" prefix?

    • mramim's avatar
      mramim
      Streaming Star
      5 years ago

      I have not yet, I'm not sure how complicated it will be to get SSL for that URL. The reason I suspect less about SSL is because
      1. Everything worked correctly few weeks ago.

      2. The player is playing the media. I'm guessing if Roku blocked http connection then there should be no playback at all?(it's just my guess)

    • mitchstein's avatar
      mitchstein
      Roku Guru
      5 years ago

      I'm still at a loss of the purpose of a secured link to access a video that is free for people to watch..
      Seems to me to be a whole lot of unnecessary overhead.

      Anyway, I created the issue and found he cause.

      Here is what happened. On my roku 4 ultra on my back deck it started stuttering, buffering and complaining I need to check my wifi network. I was perplexed because I just left the living room where it was playing just fine on my TCL roku TV. So I checked the wifi, found no problems, found no problems with the internet connection either, but for kicks and whistles ran a cat6 directly to it, same issue..

      Then about 6 hours later my roku 3 in the garage started doing it, but the Living room tv was fine and so was the roku 4 ultra in the bedroom, no network errors could be found. Also setup the laptop and played the same stream from my website and had no issues with it sitting on the same netowrk segment as the roku.

      Then a few hours later my bedroom started doing it.. Now I was at a loss.. And then it dawned on me.

      I checked the software version number on the roku 3 and 4's, they were all 9.4.1..
      The TV was 9.3..

      So I ran a update check manually on the TV and it updated to 9.4.1..

      And bam, the problem began..

      It stopped doing it for a few hours the other day and then went right back to doing it. it is also doing it on some channels on the sling app as well.. I complained to sling, they got a tech on the phone with me, we ran 3 hours of trials and tests, we found that it only happens on the rokus, it does not happen on the amazon fire box, apple tv box and 3 of my android tv players.

      The roku stream tester passes the stream as well.

      This hls stream has been streaming for over 5 years and is consistently good.

      I wish I could roll back from the update.

      • FloSports's avatar
        FloSports
        Reel Rookie
        5 years ago

        Hi, we are experiencing similar systems on our channel as well, due to 9.4.  Did you ever find the resolution. Would make my day if you shared how you fixed it. Thanks!

  • FloSports's avatar
    FloSports
    Reel Rookie
    5 years ago

    Hi, we are experiencing similar systems on our channel as well, due to 9.4.  Did you ever find the resolution. Would make my day if you shared how you fixed it. Thanks!

    • mramim's avatar
      mramim
      Streaming Star
      5 years ago

      Unfortunately no, I could never fix that, the channel was actually a free channel that was a hobby project of an acquaintance. So after I gave up, they just left it like that as far as i know.

  • sattun's avatar
    sattun
    Roku Guru
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    I tested your live stream (http://96.73.1.110:8080/0.m3u8) in the Roku Stream Tester and it works fine.
    Make sure you are using liveFeeds key in Roku Direct Published feed (see sample code below).

    Here is a sample JSON with liveFeeds:

    {
    "providerName": "OTTfeed.com"
    , "lastUpdated": "2021-01-22T21:01:43+00:00"
    , "language": "en-US"
    , "liveFeeds": [{
        "id": "GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV"
        , "title": "OTTfeed"
        , "content": {
            "dateAdded": "2021-01-23T17:20:46+00:00"
            , "videos": [{
                "url": "https://playlist.ottfeed.com/live/master.m3u8?channel=GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV"
                , "quality": "FHD"
                , "videoType": "HLS"
            }]
            , "language": "en-US"
        }
        , "thumbnail": "https://ottfeed.com/GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV/OTTfeed-live-image.png"
        , "shortDescription": "All-in-one feed management system for Roku Direct Publisher, Roku Channel and custom OTT apps"
        , "longDescription": "OTTfeed: All-in-one feed management system for Roku Direct Publisher, Roku Channel and custom OTT apps. All Content Types, Management Tools & Advanced workflows. For more info go to https://OTTfeed.com"
        , "tags": ["ottfeed", "live"]
        , "rating": {
            "rating": "UNRATED"
            , "ratingSource": "USA_PR"
        }
        , "genres": ["technology"]
    }]
    , "categories": [{
        "name": "Latest"
        , "order": "most_recent"
        , "query": "live OR ottfeed"
    }]
}

    Download the file: https://ottfeed.com/GCUGbgJZalE6XOuIzJVV/OTTfeed-RDP-liveFeed.json

      • mitchstein's avatar
        mitchstein
        Roku Guru
        5 years ago
        Ok, I figured it out.  The update changed the way the it handles ts files.  I had to UNCHECK "start new ts files with key frames only". and that fixed it.