Channel Surfing TVE and releasing streams

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

My Channels DVR is sourced by TVE and I channel surf a lot before landing on one channel. But often I will go to my server admin page and see something like this:

CleanShot 2021-04-29 at 07.24.31
CleanShot 2021-04-29 at 07.24.31389×603 134 KB

How long does the Channels DVR hold on to these channels it thinks I am "watching" and is this using up lots of unecessary bandwidth? Because I'm not watching all of those, I'm only watching ONE channel now, have been on it for an hour or more, and I don't think Channels DVR has any kind of "buffering" going on with the other channels...

FWIW the other channels listed as "watching" go away on that Activity list on the server, when I force quit the Channels app on my AppleTV (obviously.) Just wondering... is this normal?

Thanks for any info :slight_smile:

#2

Are you using Channels as a m3u tuner for another server like Emby or Plex.

#3

What client version is this? If it's the beta do you have the debug setting for new streamer enabled?

1 Like
#4

No.

Beta 4.27.2221, and no, I have "New HDHomeRun Streaming" set to OFF. "Always use HLS Streaming" is set to OFF and "Use HLS Streaming When Efficient" is set to ON.

#5

Please submit diagnostics from the client after surfing and we will take a look.

Also try enabling the new streaming and see if it makes any difference

#6

I did a bunch of quick surfing just now, settled on one channel (FXP) and then submitted diagnostics. This is what the DVR server said I was watching:

CleanShot 2021-04-29 at 19.36.17
CleanShot 2021-04-29 at 19.36.17395×580 133 KB

I also tried this and yes, it does make a difference. It seems to be releasing the streams the way I would have expected. I'll leave this new feature on, as it seems to help with my TVE issue too. Let me know if there's any other info you need.

#9

This is happening after I created a m3u file to custmize channel numbers within channels dvr.
I uploaded log from the server lates ver.

Tuners
Tuners1071×1305 272 KB

#10

Tuner
Tuner1288×781 122 KB

#11

I tried to reproduce this with the latest TestFlight and "New Streaming: Off" and was not able to.. I'm using page up/down on a keyboard to channel surf, and the Activity on the DVR server updates to only show one at a time.

I wonder if the browser is caching for some reason. If you refresh the page does it still show all those Watching lines?

#12

if you surf quickly it's still doing it

1 Like
#13

It's doing it even without the m3u file. Just never noticed this before

#14

working with new hdhomerun streaming on for me. I will try loading the m3u now.

1 Like
#15

We narrowed down what's going on here. A new TestFlight is being uploaded which should fix the issue with the old streamer.

2 Likes
#16

Is this working as expected in the latest beta?

#17

@tmm1, thanks. With "Debug: New HDHomeRun Streaming" set to ON, the issue isn't happening with my CDVR webUI and two AppleTV's. Of note though, I don't have a HDHomeRun, all of my sources are TVE, Locast, Pluto, Stirr, etc.

I just did a bunch of tests with that setting off though, and can report that it's working better -- but not completely fixed. I used to see the list grow to about 10 channels long. Now I've only gotten it to grow to 2-3 and it doesn't seem to be happening as frequently. It's easily reproducible though and happens when I channel surf very quickly. I'm monitoring the CDVR webUI as I do so, and occasionally refreshing the web page to make sure it's not just cached info displaying.

I hope this information helps. will leave "Debug: New HDHomeRun Streaming" set to ON and am happy to test anything else you suggest.

1 Like
#18

Can I get a diagnostics from the TestFlight with the setting Off after channel surfing

#19

I will test later this afternoon when I get home. I will send Diagnostics ..

#20

OK sent diagnostics from the app & server just now Beta 5.3.2238
I looks like channel surfing works just fine. I did not update the server 2021.04.30.1705.

1 Like
#21

Unfortunately I can't say the same...

I just did a session of some "speed channel surfing" and was left with this, the longest list I've ever seen.

CleanShot 2021-05-04 at 16.01.28
CleanShot 2021-05-04 at 16.01.28376×2638 222 KB

I refreshed the web page many minutes later it still showed the same list. Only force-quitting the Channels app and relaunching it (and then refreshing the Channels DVR web page) brought the list back down to one channel, the channel I'm watching.

Server 2021.05.04.0129
Channels client version 2021 (5.3.2238)
New HDHomeRun Streaming = OFF

Diagnostics submitted.

#24

Does it happen after a fresh restart, or only after PIP is engaged like the other issue?