Blank line showing for random channel on guide grid

Channels Fire TV
#31

Without seeing any details, may I ask what your network topology looks like, and what firewall/routing rules there are both on your server and your router?

From what I can gather, you are using Windows 10 as your server OS, and a current FireOS device as your client. Have you tried other devices, and do they also exhibit this behavior? Does this only occur with a single physical client/device, but others do not have this issue?

I am trying to be helpful, but in the dozen or so posts you've made, all I know is that often your guide doesn't show, you have a Win10 machine as a server, and a current Amazon device as a client. Can you provide some more granular details that might help narrow this down?

#32

I am still able to reproduce your original failure 100% of the time on every device I have (Firestick Max, Shield, Chromecast Google TV, Sony Google TV, Samsung Android phone). Only one channel of the guide is blank after looking ahead a few hours and only after that channel was played then the app backed out and resumed. If the app does a new launch, the problem never shows up until it has been resumed.

I also can always duplicate this failure. If I hold down the right movement key, the guide will eventually freeze up. No selected entry shows on the screen and I press the back key to reset the guide. Pressing the key at slow enough intervals may keep it from freezing up.

I have a Windows 11 Pro server wired to my router, and the Shield is wired to the router. My other clients only use wifi. They all have these same problems.

The developers have not been able to duplicate the failures. I haven't found a setting or condition where it doesn't fail. Not sure how to troubleshoot any further. I don't use the guide much because it is a pain to move several days ahead.

#33

Thanks for your posts Mike!

My Channels server is running on a Windows 10 Pro PC (Intel Core i5-1135G7 @ 2.40GHz; 32GB RAM) with a dedicated 512GB SSD for the server data (seldom exceeds 50% full) plus 1TB SSD for Windows and all other system data.

My Channels client runs on a Amazon Fire TV Omni Series 4K UHD smart TV (not a Fire Stick!) with 2GB DDR3 RAM and 16GB storage. See full device specifications here. Seems to have just about all features you could want.

Both server PC and client Fire TV are connected via Ethernet.

Also, just noticed this problem was reported as early as July, 2019 here.

#34

Re network topology, following is abt all I know:
Typical SOHO network
Star Bus Topology
Motorola MB8611 DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem (2500 Mbps Max Internet Speed)
TP-Link AC1900 MU-MIMO WiFi Router (Archer A9)
Comcast Xfinity ISP cable 200Mbps
Belden 1700A Bonded Pair Cat 5e Ethernet Cables (longest 24')

4 Ethernet ports - (1) PC; (2) PC; (3) Tablo; (4) Fire TV
3 wireless connections (phones)

SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection) firewall enabled on router

Windows Defender Firewall on server PC.

No firewall (that I know of) on the Fire TV client.

Server and client configuration posted previously in this thread. Also posted internet speed.

#35

Perhaps this is the root of your issue. You are using an unsupported tuner. How have you assigned guide data to this tuner? Are you using Channels' native Gracenote data?

#36

Tablo tuners are supported as of server v2022.10.20.2311 (Oct '22).

NEW: Support for streaming from Tablo tuners

And yes, of course, my Channels is using Channels' native Gracenote data.

#37

No, they are not:

Previous models can work in a limited unsupported manner, but they are not in fact supported.

I have not personally used these devices, so I do not know how they present within Channels. But your statement of:

does not necessarily mean that is the case. Can you provide a screenshot for how the data is assigned? Also, can you provide screenshots of all portions of the settings related to your Tablo tuner and its guide, please?

The more actual details provided, the better support you might receive. You started this thread in August, and this is the first time there has been any indication that you are having issues with an unsupported Tablo tuner.

#38

I purchased and began use of the Tablo over 3 years ago - so much, much earlier than my initial use of Channels in Sept '23. Thus, my desire to use Tablo TV tuners with Channels and avoid the purchase cost of a HDHomeRun device.

Sorry, but I accepted this statement for what it says literally: "The latest DVR prerelease now includes native support for Tablo tuner hardware. Once your Tablo is setup, simply Scan Network in Channels DVR and your Tablo will show up to configure and use." AFAIK, the Tablo TV tuners have worked fine for me. We can view the same live TV channels both on the Tablo app and the Channels app. Thus, I had no reason to think that Tablo was the cause of the guide "blank lines/segments" problem.

Re Gracenote, we canceled our Tablo subscription on 08/16/23. Thus, now only a 1-day free guide is available on the Tablo app since that date. Therefore, it's impossible for Channels to be accessing 2-week guide data from Tablo.

#39

This is under a beta thread and Tablo tuners have never been officially technically supported. They do not have open APIs that we can rely on for the future, so because of that, we can not reliably support them or suggest them for purchase.

We put in effort to make them work for existing owners, because we like to make things work, but we've never technically supported them as an official source in Channels, as they've never been listed on our website as an option.

I've edited the original post you linked to to make this more clear for future visitors.

Add second Tablo 4 Tuner by IP address
#40

Thanks for the clarification. I understand. I plan to eventually purchase a HDHomeRun device. Can you recommend the best one?

#41

They all work the same according to Channels, it'd be up to your own needs to decide between all of them in terms of tuner count and spending extra on ATSC 3.0.

#42

Thanks again. Much appreciate your excellent responsive support!

I'll try the 'Flex Duo 2 x ATSC Tuners' first. In our household there's only one TV with mostly just one viewer so 2 tuners should suffice.

#45

Keep in mind you may still have some guide problems like I have using HDHomerun tuners and Android/FireTV devices.

Also Tablo claims they are going to have an update that will allow you to run their new Tablo app experience on their older tuners. Not sure when or if it will really happen, and it will be optional. I also have a Tablo that I have tested using Channels DVR, but it wasn't totally reliable with Channels. For me Channels DVR has the best user interface design, but it does have a few bugs especially with Android/FireTV apps. They all recommend AppleTV devices for the best Channels DVR experience, but I am not going to stop using my FireTV Max devices.

#46

If you want to dip your toe in water, I have an older one for sale

#47

Thanks again! I'd forgotten your prior post re the HDHomerun. I guess I'll be in no hurry to purchase one. Need to wait and see what happens with Tablo.

Meantime, my wife is not happy and drives me crazy with Channels guide and commercial skip issues. We do a lot of rebooting as a workaround for these and other problems. Like you, I do like the Channels product overall but really tired of these daily problems.

#48

You make this sound like the problem is the HDhomeRun units which it is not ... It is that there really has not been that much improvement to Android UI in Channels Clients. This is not a HDHomeRun tuner problem. Emby SageTV and others have smooth scrolling of the guide data on the same devices.

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#49

Actually I was trying to say that just replacing the Tablo with a HDHomerun tuner may not correct all the Channels DVR guide bugs, even though the HDHomerun is the best tuner for Channels DVR. Users who don't want to use the Apple TV will need to put up with a few bugs. Or using the HDHomerun tuner gives you the ability to use other DVR software that may or may not give you a better experience.

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#50

Yes. That was very clear to me. You did not imply that there was something wrong with the HDHomerun tuner device.

Very much appreciate all your comments and feedback re this topic! Very helpful.

#51

@Michael_Birk has helpfully directed me to this thread - I did look before posting, but not in the fireTV forum.

I am running Channels DVR in a ProxMox LXC. Tuner is a HDHomeRun FLEX QUATRO. Both Clients are CCwGTV 4k.

To possibly help you @eric I've seen this exact issue with other guides (Including the Native HDHomeRun app). Only with server-rendered client solutions like NextPVR with UIclient have i never seen this issue. This leads me to believe its an issue on android.

While im here, ill add that if you just hold down the right d-pad on the guide, you will eventually get stuck and be unable to move until you press back.

For me, force stopping and clearing the cashe resolves the issue.

Unfortunately i'm sort in a corner. The native Sony Android TV has an issue that causes the stream to go blank, so that client isn't useable. I'd love to just grab some apple TV's but at £169/TV there not exactly cheep. I might try picking up a FireStick 4K Max when they go on sale.

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#52

Just to be clear at least for me, if I see the "Prepare Your TV" when Channels starts up then the missing guide information does not occur. Although if I check the On Later for just that channel when the guide information does not display, all the later programs are shown properly so Channels has the guide information. Channels is just not able to display it.

The guide navigation problem is always present. Channels can't keep up with continuous right movement.