Channels created File is toast says Plex

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

Here is a quote from Plex support

That file is toast.

Tried to remux it while converting that super-duper AAC to AC3 to add it as a test after I added the original, but Xmedia Recode vomited pea soup all over the desktop.

I’m going to try to remux it with MKVToolNix - as a last resort. <—failed.

Not sure where that file came from, but it’s broken. Totally.

I believe Channels DVR is making some broken files: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eDfAUBPt-K0KPypwzsD_DwjcUrpiugVb/view?usp=sharing

Plex cannot complete thumbnail generation from this file. I have had this with a few other Channels created recordings.

#2

For Clarity:
That was NOT Plex support - that was me - a user helping a user.

I tried a few things to fix it, but could not.
Something's wrong with it. I don't know what.

1 Like
#3

dearie me, so sorry.

#4

No problem - I've been mistaken for much worse.

I did try a VideoReDo Quickstream fix:

A%20Quick%20Stream%20Fix-1

It didn't go well.

#5

here are the logs:

2020/02/03 22:33:00 [DVR] Waiting 23h23m59.322726s until next job 1580853420-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/04 00:58:29 [DVR] Waiting 20h58m30.169665s until next job 1580853420-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/04 21:56:56 [DVR] Waiting 3.467661s until next job 1580853420-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/04 21:57:00 [DVR] Starting job 1580853420-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency on ch=[104 4]
2020/02/04 21:57:20 [DVR] Recording for job 1580853420-15 from 12502197 ch104 into "TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-04-2157.mpg" for 1h5m59.857695s
2020/02/04 23:03:00 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-04-2157.mpg": ss=100% snq=100%,92%-100% seq=100% bps=4976736,1260352-16268768 pps=472,120-1546
2020/02/04 23:03:00 [DVR] Finished job 1580853420-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/04 23:03:00 [DVR] Processing file-56: TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-04-2157.mpg
2020/02/04 23:03:01 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 56 (TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-04-2157.mpg)
2020/02/10 22:33:00 [DVR] Waiting 23h23m59.332883s until next job 1581458220-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/11 00:44:29 [DVR] Waiting 21h12m30.351572s until next job 1581458220-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/11 21:56:56 [DVR] Waiting 3.485626s until next job 1581458220-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/11 21:57:00 [DVR] Starting job 1581458220-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency on ch=[104 4]
2020/02/11 21:57:01 [DVR] Recording for job 1581458220-15 from 12502197 ch104 into "TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-11-2157.mpg" for 1h5m59.843065s
2020/02/11 23:03:00 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-11-2157.mpg": ss=100% snq=100% seq=100% bps=4791744,1258848-13287840 pps=456,119-1262
2020/02/11 23:03:00 [DVR] Finished job 1581458220-15 Losing It: Our Mental Health Emergency
2020/02/11 23:03:00 [DVR] Processing file-61: TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-11-2157.mpg
2020/02/11 23:03:01 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 61 (TV/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency/Losing It Our Mental Health Emergency 2020-02-11-2157.mpg)

The signal all looks fine to me.

#6

Signal levels of 100% are troublesome with HDHR tuners, because at first glance it looks like everything is good. However, SD HDHR tuners are quite sensitive to too strong of a signal, and quality will decrease. It's quite annoying, and the problem is that it's difficult to know just how much over the threshold your signal is.

Is it just this single channel that gives you a problem? My first guess is that there is a problem with the source stream, not that Channels is introducing the error. If this is a regular occurrence you may want to see about an attenuator to reduce your signal strength to a little less, maybe between 80–95%, and see if that helps.

#7

I don't think it's that. Plex can record at the same strength and doesn't result in a weird file.

#8

FYI, i've done plex thumbnail generation of plenty of Channels DVR recordings without issue. Is it just this one file that you are having issues with, or is it all recordings made by Channels DVR?

#9

Just that one and another. Both from channel 4. Hd uk.

#10

Channels DVR records the raw stream directly from the HDHR to your hard drive. No processing occurs, so if the file is broken its because either the signal coming into your HDHR was corrupted, or the network link between your HDHR and DVR was dropping packets.

#11

If it's only a single/occasional file that has this error, then it seems more than likely there was a problem with the stream/recording.

When Channels makes a recording, it is simply taking the packets that come direct from the HDHR tuner and sticking them into a file. There is no conversion or additional processing that occurs. If there is a problem, it will come down to 2 things:

  1. There was a problem with the source input: there was some type of interference or problem with the broadcast.
  2. There was a system/disk problem while writing the file: sometimes the system gets so strained for resources or is trying to do too many things at once, that there is a problem while writing the file.

However, without additional details, everything is just guessing in the dark. But when you hear hoofbeats, think horses. You may have come across a zebra here, but it's not very likely.

1 Like
#12

The file plays fine; I just noticed there was an issue when Plex was unable to make preview thumbnails for that file. So I personally cannot say what is wrong with it. @ACraigo thought it was a little queer.

#13

I ran it through mkvtoolnix and it all worked fine. Plex finished the previews thumbs in seconds after that. So it did not like something about that file.

#14

Extra weird. I put back the original .mpg file and Plex is happy with it now. Produced the preview thumbs perfectly too.

#15

That file is more than a little strange - it's broken for all intents and purposes. Make no mistake about that. The stream broke down during the recording. That's the long and the short of it.

What is the signal strength, symbol quality?

HDHR equipment is sensitive to really strong signals. If that station is really strong insert a splitter, or attenuator in the transmission line - to knock some bark off the signal - and try it for a while. If you don't see a return of badness - that was probably the issue.

If you don't have that free signal meter for HDHR equipment on your phone - now is a good time to go get it. Armed with that, if you're getting 100% on the signal you can de-aim the antenna a bit off that channel onto another one - if they don't come from the same place. Anything over 85% is a good signal for your HDHRs, at least for testing purposes.

Things like this are hard to put your finger on. Trial and error usually wins the day.

#16

Is the iMac on wifi or wired?

#17

The HDHOMERUN is wired to a plume superpod which is connected over WiFi to the other plume pod that’s connected to my iMac via a wired switch. The connection to the dvr server shows as 569mbps via the dvr app.

#18

We highly discourage any sort of wireless link between the DVR and the HDHomeRun. The speeds might be ok, but if the latency increases at all then the HDHR will start dropping packets. The packet rate seems to dip kinda low:

BPS was reported as last=4.9mbps min=1.2mbps max=16.2mbps. That min is suspiciously low, although maybe that's normal for UK broadcasts. You could compare the ranges for recordings from other channels.

If its only affecting one channel I'd say it is interference on the aerial side. If its all of them, then its more likely the wifi setup.

#19

Some ads on channel 4 hd are low quality. This only ever happened once before and that was also a channel 4 hd recording.

I’ll record a few things tonight and see how that goes.

Cannot really avoid the WiFi link currently. We’re planning to ethernet some rooms next year.

image

No idea how the other numbers impact recording.

Never have any issues with watching living tv.

#20

Morning All. I did a whole bunch of recordings, from Channel 4, 5 and the Beeb and they were all fine; Plex had no trouble creating preview index thumbnails for all files.

I'll pop back here if it happens again.