ATV freezing on SATIP recorded show playback

Channels Apple TV Troubleshooting
#1

I have been getting ATV freeze on playback of recorded shows.

So a few days ago I powered up an old TMTwin 4K sat box (connected to a Sky Q hybrid LNB) and managed to get an m3u url feed from OpenWebIf. I can play live TV via Channels with no problems. I can also record TV shows and play back on an iPhone and iPad (both running OS 26.2). But when I try to play back the same recorded show on the ATV 4K the ATV freezes, then after around 30 seconds it will start playing for about 10 seconds, then goes juddery, freezes for around 20 seconds, then plays etc etc, but key is no playback issues on iPad or iPhone for the same recording, and live tv playback has no issues on ATV.
I tried updating Channels to pre release 2026.01.04.0550 but that hasn’t fixed the issue.

I also have a HDHR connected to aerial in the loft but the Freeview reception isn’t great, especially compared to the Freesat live TV.

Also, I have noticed server CPU jumps to 400% usage to Channels (observed via Glances) when trying to play the recording on ATV, but usual low 5% usage on playback of the same recording on iPhone/ipad.

Logs have been submitted as 49d1eac1-f6ee-4153-a250-b543b2673211 And email sent

#2

Is your .m3u for your satellite receiver 'Stream Format' set as MPEG-TS?

That's what I use through OpenWebIF on an Edision OS Mio 4k receiver, and it works flawlessly on my ATV 4k through Channels.

#3

@MikeBear im not too sure - any idea where I find that out in OpenWebIf? Thank you

#4

You have to make a source .m3u for the particular channels you want to watch off your satellite receiver. If you make it this way, you can get EPG and everything.

Bring up the Channels web admin screen, click on 'SETTINGS', 'SOURCES', 'Add Source'. Click on the 'Custom Channels' one.

Then fill it out. Give it a name, As "Stream Format" select "MPEG-TS". For Source select "Text" and a box will appear. Here's a sample of one of mine, YOU have to change it to fit your receivers IP address on your Lan, and what your receiver streams as an .m3u. IF you've never created an .m3u before, Google how to do so, and/or use Channels info I post at the bottom of this:

#EXTINF:-1 tvg-chno="167" tvg-id="Hallmark.-.Eastern.Feed.us" tvg-country="US" tvg-language="English" tvg-logo="https://zap2it.tmsimg.com/h3/NowShowing/11221/s11221_ll_h15_aa.png?w=55" group-title="Entertainment",Hallmark Chan East HD http://192.168.1.15:8001/1:0:19:C9:C9:1:A1D8FD0:0:0:0:

After that's done, scroll down, and under options dropdown select "Prefer channel-number from M3U". Leave the rest as it defaults.

Scroll down further, and IF you have a "XMLTV Guide Data" source, set that up. That's the best way for sat channels. Then SAVE it.

Here's Channels own guide on the above, for further education: Channels Support - Add Custom Channels with M3U Playlists

#5

@MikeBear thank you for taking the time to write that up. That highlights I miss understood your first post - I thought you meant on OpenWebIf you need to set the outgoing streaming format to MPEG-TS rather than setting MPEG-TS setting on Channels for the incoming feed. My Channels setting has that already, along with the m3u link being set - I can see all tv stations in Channels, and watch them live, the issue is playback on Apple TV of SATIP recorded content (iPhone and iPad both play back the exact same recorded content without any issue, it’s just the ATV that fails playback). HDHR live tv and recorded tv works fine on the ATV, just not the recorded SATIP content

#6

That's so odd, because I use an Apple Tv 4k from 1 generation ago, (it's a gen 2 device, they are up to gen 3 now) and it works perfectly doing this with my recordings from my FTA receiver.

Which Apple Tv unit are you using?

#7

My ATV 4K is gen 1 also (got it around 2018 as I recall). I wonder if it is anything to do with the version of tvOS that I have installed?
I have tried everything I could think of and have even installed latest public beta and even tried the dev beta (it’s 26.3 as I recall).
My ATV is wired to a gigabit switch, recordings go to the same place from the Channels DVR server regardless if I am recording for the HDHR as source or the SatIP as source (recordings go of to gigabit wired NAS with around 4tb space available). Recorded TV show file sizes look similar (4gb for hour and half ) regardless of source. I have even tried the reprocess recording from in Channels UI to see if there was some odd corruption, but I don’t think it’s anything to do with Channels itself otherwise I would get the same problems on iPad (A16) and iPhone (17 Pro) - yes these devices are newer than the ATV but tonight I will try my old iPad Pro gen 1 (iPadOS 17.x) and see how that goes for playback of the recorded SATIP tv show

#8

ATV is on Gen 3 now. My ATV 4k is Gen 2, not Gen 1. I said "1 gen back" not gen 1. This one: Apple TV 4K (2nd generation) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

Sorry if it was confusing. Maybe gen 1 devices can't handle it.

#9

Ah, my bad.
Fingers crossed it’s not the ATV generation that’s the issue. I can also test on my old iPhone tonight (12 pro max) which ChatGPT says is the closer match to the ATV gen 1 than iPad Pro gen 1

#10

It's really odd, that's for sure. Mine is running tvOS 26.1

A thought, disconnect your ATV from a ethernet connection, REBOOT, and then try it via 5g WiFi. See if that does anything.

You wouldn't think it would make a difference, BUT, you never know until you try...

#11

We'd need you to send diagnostics from the Apple TV right after you have that freezing issue to try to determine what is going on there.

#12

@eric i did that yesterday right after trying to play recorded content.
Edit - sorry, from the ATV? Not from the DVR server?

@MikeBear anything is worth a try, I will give that a go

#13

Yes, we need one from the Apple TV to get the logs from the client that is having the issues right after it has the issue. Go to the Settings -> Support menu to submit.

#14

@eric thank you. I have submitted the log from the ATV

#15

I think I have found the root cause, or at least a work around. So if I go into ‘Debug’ -> ‘Use HLS Streaming When Efficient’ and set it to ‘Off’ playback of the recordings works fine and CPU doesn’t rocket to 400% - no freezing and it playback starts immediately. I also tried updating to the latest pre release Channels before changing that setting and even on latest with HLS on cpu goes high and playback was freezing

#16

So you had enabled the setting in the Debug menu when you reported the issue?

#17

Yes, it was enabled when I reported the issue. I’m not sure if it is enabled by default? Or if I enabled it a couple of years ago when there was all the HLS issues and didn’t turn it back off

#18

Where is this setting? I don't see it anywhere.

#19

@MikeBear on ATV go to Settings -> Debug -and it’s the first option

#20

My 2nd gen ATV 4k doesn't seem to have that choice, it's not there, and I can't find it.