Channel DVR quit working, says I am no longer subscribed

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

Channel DVR quit working, says I am no longer subscribed.
Logged into my server @ http://dvr-nuc.local:8089 and see the message:
Hi XXX, It doesn't look like your account has an active Channels DVR subscription
no error messages are seenunder "log" on dvr-nuc,local:8089.

Smashed button "try again" it does not connect.
Next click on "start your subscription" it logs me into my active subscription, and says I am ready to go?

My channels dvr is running on a NUC using the latest software.
software 2018.11.20.2224
linux ubuntu 16.04 (kernel: 4.4.0-116-generic)

Tried adding the 5353 UDP and TCP exception to my ATT DSL 2Wire modem to no avail (not sure I did it correctly).
Under Firewall I added:
Device = NUC
allowed application = bonjour
applications type =
protocol = tcp
port = 5353
protocol = udp
port = 5353

#2

It sounds like your DVR nuc is not able to talk to our servers for some reason.

Are there any messages at all in the Log tab? Does http://dvr-nuc.local:8089/auth/refresh make any new messages appear?

#3

Q: Does http://dvr-nuc.local:8089/auth/refresh make any new messages appear?
A: I see no activity in the log after entering the URL,

I am running channels on my apple tv and firestick 4K
The apple tv app quit working 1st, and the firestick quit working a couple of days later.

Log entries that may be of interest:

2018/12/08 13:35:10 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/08 14:35:11 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/08 15:35:11 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/08 15:45:36 [SYS] Shutting down...
2018/12/08 15:45:36 [SYS] Bonjour service stopped.
2018/12/08 15:45:37 [SYS] Goodbye.
2018/12/08 15:49:27 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2018.11.20.2224 (linux-x86_64 pid:1168) in /home/channels/channels-dvr/channels-dvr/data
2018/12/08 15:49:28 [HDR] Found 2 devices
2018/12/08 15:49:29 [ERR] Failed to refresh auth: Post https://community.getchannels.com/dvr/api: dial tcp: lookup community.getchannels.com on 192.168.1.254:53: server misbehaving
2018/12/08 15:49:29 [SYS] Started HTTP Server
2018/12/08 15:49:29 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-nuc.local. [192.168.1.97]
2018/12/08 15:49:29 [SYS] Error checking for update: Get https://channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com/latest.json: dial tcp: lookup channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com on 192.168.1.254:53: server misbehaving
2018/12/08 15:49:30 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/08 16:49:30 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp

And more recent log entry:

2018/12/11 05:49:38 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp 2018/12/11 06:49:38 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp 2018/12/11 07:49:38 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp 2018/12/11 08:49:41 [NAT] Failed to map port using upnp: Post http://192.168.1.253:1900/ipc: dial tcp 192.168.1.253:1900: connect: no route to host 2018/12/11 11:25:16 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2018.11.20.2224 (linux-x86_64 pid:1173) in /home/channels/channels-dvr/channels-dvr/data 2018/12/11 11:25:17 [HDR] Found 0 devices 2018/12/11 11:25:37 [ERR] Failed to refresh auth: Post https://community.getchannels.com/dvr/api: dial tcp: lookup community.getchannels.com on 10.0.1.1:53: read udp 10.0.1.3:51466->10.0.1.1:53: i/o timeout 2018/12/11 11:25:38 [SYS] Started HTTP Server 2018/12/11 11:25:38 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-nuc.local. [10.0.1.3] 2018/12/11 11:25:38 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using natpmp 2018/12/11 11:25:58 [SYS] Error checking for update: Get https://channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com/latest.json: dial tcp: lookup channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com on 10.0.1.1:53: read udp 10.0.1.3:37374->10.0.1.1:53: i/o timeout 2018/12/11 12:27:45 [NAT] Failed to map port using natpmp: Timed out trying to contact gateway 2018/12/11 13:26:18 [SYS] Error checking for update: Get https://channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com/latest.json: dial tcp: lookup channels-dvr.s3.amazonaws.com on 10.0.1.1:53: read udp 10.0.1.3:39626->10.0.1.1:53: i/o timeout 2018/12/11 13:29:53 [NAT] Failed to map port using natpmp: Timed out trying to contact gateway 2018/12/11 13:38:36 [SYS] Shutting down... 2018/12/11 13:38:38 [SYS] Bonjour service stopped. 2018/12/11 13:47:47 [SYS] Starting Channels DVR v2018.11.20.2224 (linux-x86_64 pid:1164) in /home/channels/channels-dvr/channels-dvr/data 2018/12/11 13:47:49 [HDR] Found 2 devices 2018/12/11 13:47:56 [SYS] Started HTTP Server 2018/12/11 13:47:56 [SYS] Bonjour service running for dvr-nuc.local. [192.168.1.97] 2018/12/11 13:47:56 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp 2018/12/11 14:47:56 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp

Log from this morning:

2018/12/13 00:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 01:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 02:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 03:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 04:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 05:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2018/12/13 06:48:00 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp

#4

Q: Does http://dvr-nuc.local:8089/auth/refresh make any new messages appear?
A: After trying URL went to firewall log in ATT 2WIRE747 modem.
(note before using url I cleared the firewall log)

Date and Time Severity Details
2018-12-13T07:55:42-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 1 times
2018-12-13T07:55:43-06:00 info src=176.119.4.7 dst=172.8.152.249 ipprot=6 sport=53687 dport=1189 Unknown inbound session stopped
2018-12-13T07:55:44-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49590 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:55:47-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49558 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:55:48-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49590 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:55:56-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49606 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:55:59-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 2 times
2018-12-13T07:56:02-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59264 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:03-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49606 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:03-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59264 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:09-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 2 times
2018-12-13T07:56:11-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49646 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:12-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49646 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:14-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 1 times
2018-12-13T07:56:17-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:17-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59264 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:18-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:18-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49646 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:20-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:24-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:26-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49654 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:29-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 2 times
2018-12-13T07:56:32-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:33-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49654 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:33-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59264 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:36-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.5.87 ipprot=17 sport=39518 dport=49152 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:36-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 1 times
2018-12-13T07:56:41-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59336 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:44-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 2 times
2018-12-13T07:56:48-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.7.227 ipprot=6 sport=49648 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:48-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59336 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:56:56-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59360 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:57:03-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 3 times
2018-12-13T07:57:04-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59378 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:57:07-06:00 info Previous log entry repeated 2 times
2018-12-13T07:57:08-06:00 info src=63.141.200.94 dst=172.8.152.249 ipprot=17 sport=3478 dport=57392 Unknown inbound session stopped
2018-12-13T07:57:11-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59378 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
2018-12-13T07:57:11-06:00 info src=192.168.1.97 dst=169.254.8.111 ipprot=6 sport=59400 dport=63444 Drop traffic to 169.254.0.0/16
#5

This is the error that's preventing the DVR from getting its authorization. It seems the DNS server on your router is not working, or the DNS settings on your DVR PC/NAS are incorrect.

#6

Thanks, I will look into that.

As a science experiment to get OTA up and running and "prove" it is the NUC/Linux box at fault.

  1. shutdown the Linux box.
  2. set up the DVR on my windows 10 machine.
  3. checked the APP on the apple tv and firestick and it runs ok.

So It looks like the DNS setting on the NUC/Linux box is suspect.

#7

I resolved the issue by removing and re-installing the channels dvr program. So, unless this happens again... we will may never know why my dvr quit working.

./channels-dvr/uninstall.sh
rm -rf channels-dvr (very powerful unix command use with caution)
curl -f -s https://getchannels.com/dvr/setup.sh | sh

Not a pretty solution, but at least my wife can watch our local PBS again.