Solving playback issues

[mark1951]

I had been using a Western Digital MyBookLive online storage device for several years and used the Roku Media Player to access a wide variety of videos. No major problems other than occasional audio codec incompatibility. Recently, the MyBookLive products have been the subject of an online shutdown/reset scheme that Western Digital won't fix. So I decided to try a real NAS.

I got a Synology DS220+ with a pair of 4 TB Seagate Iron Wolf drives. It loaded up easily, and was quickly available online. The Roku 4630X I had been using could find the NAS through Roku Media Player, but some files were not seen at all, and most would not play at all.  I installed the PLEX server on the NAS and the PLEX client on the Roku, but same problem.

I can see the NAS with a Windows laptop and a Samsung tablet, and can play all the files with VLC, so the NAS and the network are working. But what is the secret sauce that the MyBookLive had that the DS220 doesn't?

I've gone through every setting in the NAS, including transcoding the video, but the problem remains.

Anybody got an idea on this?

[renojim]

Have you restarted the Roku?  I don't know how much caching RMP does, but you may want to remove the channel, restart the Roku (don't skip), and add RMP back.

You could also try rebuilding the server's database.  It takes a while for the database to be created, so give it some time before you fire up RMP.

If another DLNA server package is available you could give that a try.  @atc98092 has plenty of experience with these things.

[atc98092]

It sounds like transcoding is disabled on your NAS. That would be a setting within the DLNA server, so I couldn't tell you where to look. But that doesn't explain the problem using Plex, as by default it will transcode as needed. But any files that the server (Plex or the DLNA server) and/or the player (in this case a Roku) decides are not playable, even with transcoding, then they aren't visible. 

So, the first thing to examine is what is within the files that won't play. It doesn't matter what the file is named, it's simply a container, and that container can have a number of different audio and video codecs within (depending on the container). Especially a MKV container, which can hold almost anything. You can download a program called MediaInfo, and it can tell you the contents of your media file. Then we can determine if the Roku can play them natively, or if transcoding is needed. If it's some off the wall codecs, it's possible the server/Plex simply doesn't recognize the file as a video. 

Since you have a Synology NAS, I can tell you that Serviio has a version that you can install. I wrote the  Roku profiles that are included in Serviio, so if there's an issue I might be the best to assist. Serviio is free, although there is a paid version that offers some expanded capabilities. But for most users, the free version is all you need. For local streaming off your network, the free version has everything needed. 

[mark1951]

Thanks for the tip about Serviio. I installed it on a PC, and it works pretty well, but the videos usually don't have audio. Synology doesn't seem to have a package for Serviio, so I guess that's not really what I wanted to do. Also, the Serviio console won't allow me to use the NAS as the source files.  I guess I'll have to take this up with the Synology help center.

[atc98092]

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@mark1951 wrote:

Thanks for the tip about Serviio. I installed it on a PC, and it works pretty well, but the videos usually don't have audio. Synology doesn't seem to have a package for Serviio, so I guess that's not really what I wanted to do. Also, the Serviio console won't allow me to use the NAS as the source files.

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Yes, Serviio allows using a NAS as the media source. However, by default Serviio runs as a system service, which doesn't have permission to use network resources. You need to change the user account the Serviio services runs under to a regular user with network rights to the NAS folders. There is also a Serviio install package for Synology NAS devices on the Serviio download page. You can't get it from the package repository that Synology uses. 

When you first attempt to use a Roku player with Serviio, it is assigned a generic Roku profile. For any Roku manufactured within the last 5 years, that profile isn't a good match. You should instead use the console to change the profile the Roku uses to one with a batter match. There are five additional profiles, two for Roku TVs and three for Roku players. For 4K capable players chose the appropriate 4K profile. For a 1080 player, you should use the one with MPEG2 support, unless you have a Roku from the mid teens that doesn't support MPEG2 video. 

Note that for Roku players I wrote the profiles assuming an AVR would be used, so DTS audio is passed through without transcoding. If you're connected directly to a TV, and it doesn't support DTS (few do), then use the Roku TV profile that matches your resolution and any audio that isn't Dolby Digital or AAC/PCM will be transcoded to DD. 

[mark1951]

Thanks for the tip  to install Servio on the Synology NAS.  The ROKU Media Player finds the server, and the interface displays the files, loads the video (slow buffering, <15 seconds), but no audio on any video now. Any idea where to look next?

[atc98092]

Which Roku profile are you using in Serviio, and what model Roku do you have? And for anything that doesn't provide audio, I would need to know the codecs contained in the media file. 

[mark1951]

It's a 4630X Roku using the 4K streamer profile.

Here is a sample of the codecs used (all silent via Serviio): AAC LC, E-AC-3 JOC (Dolby Digital  w/atmos), AC-3 (Dolby Digital), and E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus).

greatly appreciate the help, this is a puzzler.

[atc98092]

You may have said before, but what container is your media in, MKV or something else?

If you are not using an AVR, that could explain no sound with the EAC3 audio. Not all TVs support that codec. But the AC3 should be fine. Everything supports that one.

[mark1951]

Those are MKVs and MP4s. I am using an AVR (Yamaha TSR-7810) for audio. As it turns out, there is one file that loads and plays with sound. It's using AAC LC.