Roku Developer Program

[squirreltown]

This has started since 7.2 ( 7.2-4100-04). I had 2 Rokus ( all 4200) update and one still on 7.1 so i could compare where the firmware was the only difference.

A movie playing from a Synology NAS will spontaneously stop, as if the back key were pressed. This happens 10 - 20 minutes in. If you restart the movie from the beginning, it will exit at the same spot every time. Trying to skip ahead will exit immediately. This is with my own (SDK based) media player but The Roku Media Player shows the same behavior. It throws an error about "corrupt or wrong format" etc.

Of course the same exact same file will play fine if sent to the AppleTV or Mac.

There's nothing to fix, as nothing errors in the console, it's seemingly random, and the files themselves are OK.

[RokuMarkn]

If you put the same file on a USB stick, does it play?

--Mark

[squirreltown]

"RokuMarkn" wrote:
If you put the same file on a USB stick, does it play?

--Mark

Yes. I just tried it with the Roku Media Player. Via USB it plays fine over the "bad spot" . Via LAN it throws "File Not Playable" and exits the video player.

[RokuDale]

What type of file? mkv? mp4?
Do any other files play? mp3? Is it just a single type of file?
Do you have a small one you could upload?
I'm presuming the NAS server is not doing any transcoding, just feeding it out.

dale

[squirreltown]

"RokuDale" wrote:
What type of file? mkv? mp4?
Do any other files play? mp3? Is it just a single type of file?

The files are full-length HD movies - mp4's, sorry but I won't be doing any uploading 🙂 . Yes, the NAS is not transcoding. I have run an audiobook (m4b) for several hours, so audio doesn't seem to be affected.

[RokuDale]

Which DLNA server is it running?

[squirreltown]

"RokuDale" wrote:
Which DLNA server is it running?

I don't know where to find that info - It's a Synology 115j running DSM 6.0.1-7393 Update 1

[farside847]

I have been troubleshooting the same issue. Not sure if it would be better to start a new thread, or add to this one. Since more information is usually better than less, here goes. 🙂

Problem statement

• All my bluray movies that have been converted to mp4 to direct play through the Emby app fail after 10 to 30 minutes, like someone clicked the back button.


• dvd conversions and tv recorded conversions seem to work fine


• only on full movie files - making a short segment just where the error happens does not repeat the problem


• files play fine on a USB stick via the Roku Media Player app

Environment

• Original Roku 3 (4200), Wired network connection, firmware 7.2.0 build 4100-04


• Windows server, always on, hard wired gigabit network, Running Emby Server


• This set up has been in place for almost 2 years, very stable, files always worked

File Details

• MP4 files converted directly from source via Handbrake. 15 to 20 gigs each


• Video: Codec H264 High Profile Level 40, 1080P, 23.97 fps, Refframes 4


• Audio: AAC Stereo 2 channel, 156 kbps. Subtitles MOV_TEXT


• Bitrate: Most are pretty high, 15000 to 24000kbps

Things I think I have ruled out

• network issue - raspberry pi streams fine. plus it does not buffer - it just closes


• file corruption - tries multiple movies. movie plays on RMP


• bitrate - I have tried files from 22000 to 5000 bitrate, same issue


• DTS audio - same issue with AAC


• HD issue - other 1080p files recorded on TV work fine


• bif file error - saw something in the log about the bif file, tried playback without the bif file, same issue

To date I have tried:

• the easy stuff - reboot emby server, reboot PC server, power cycle router/switch, power cycle roku multiple times


• Encoding test - my original quality was set to 15 in handbrake - this file stopped playing at 12 min just like before (16871 kbps)


• Encoding test - reencoded from source with quality set to 22 - stopped playing at 16 min (4222 kbps)


• I re-did all my handbrake settings using the recommendations from rokoding.com (5041 kbps), this made a few changes like constant framerate and strict anamorphic and less b-frames. stopped at 36min


• Tested on another roku - I have two rokus, one hooked up to a fancy sound bar through HDMI passthrough that supports all the fancy sound formats. the other is a simple hdmi connection direct to the TV with built in stereo speakers. Both on 7.2. Both do the same thing


• try to rollback the roku firmware - tried the secret menu, when I select update firmware it just reapplied 7.2. Grr.

things yet to try:

• try to re-encode the movie in mcebuddy since the tv shows coming from it seem to work fine


• more reencoding tests - lower ref frames, b-frames, fixed framerate, etc


• try to update my emby server - been putting this off since I know it will take time.


• Maybe try another app?


• remove subtitles from file?

More details (mediainfo files, etc) are available to anyone who would like them, thanks for any help! 🙂

[farside847]

Testing continues!

A few people including myself who have been impacted by this issue are reporting back on the Emby forum http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/36572-movie-stream-stops-and-wont-resume/page-2#entry34...

There seems to be an issue direct streaming files that are over 4GB in size. I can confirm that all of my movies that are under 4GB work (I have tested like 50) and files over 4GB fail (I have tested like 20). I will try to cut down a few of my files to smaller sizes, while maintaining all the same quality and encoding settings to test this further.

squirreltown, are your files over 4GB? and on what Roku model are you using? It might be limited to the 4200 model.

[squirreltown]

"farside847" wrote:
Testing continues!

A few people including myself who have been impacted by this issue are reporting back on the Emby forum http://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/36572-movie-stream-stops-and-wont-resume/page-2#entry34...

There seems to be an issue direct streaming files that are over 4GB in size. I can confirm that all of my movies that are under 4GB work (I have tested like 50) and files over 4GB fail (I have tested like 20). I will try to cut down a few of my files to smaller sizes, while maintaining all the same quality and encoding settings to test this further.

squirreltown, are your files over 4GB? and on what Roku model are you using? It might be limited to the 4200 model.

My limited testing confirms this. Last 3 movies, 5.59 GB and 4.47 GB both failed within 25 minutes, 3.89 GB played through to the end.