Channels freezing when streaming AVC HD channels

Channels Apple TV
#1

My cable provider is Comcast. A few weeks ago I noticed that the TV OS Channels app started freezing up and showing pixelation (along with chopped sound) when streaming from the HDHomeRun Prime.

HDHomeRun Prime is running 20170930 firmware. I rescanned the channel via the HDHomeRun Prime’s web page and noticed that most HD channels are now listed as AVC HD.

This may or may not have coincided with upgrading the firmware on the HDHomeRun Prime to 20170930 (which happens automatically once the Silicon Dust’s macOS app is installed). This issue did not occur since April of 2017. Before April 2017, I had all sorts of issues with the HDHomeRun dropping off the network and having to be power-cycled. This was happening for a year until Silicon Dust finally figured out the issue and fixed it in the beta firmware in April of 2017. Then, Silicon Dust released the final firmware with the fix in the summer of 2017, which worked fine in my environment. However, the code 20170930 is having issues. I’m not sure if this is due to the code or if this is due to Comcast encoding with AVC the HD channels now. All HD Channels used to be encoded with MPEG 2, but now most of them are encoded with AVC (which I suspect is MPEG 4/H.264).

Any suggestions?

#2

Yes AVC means H264. Most of my comcast channels have been H264 since last year, and they work fine in Channels.

Have you tried any other clients like InstaTV on the Apple TV or HDHR VIEW on a computer/tablet to see if they have the same issue or not?

#3

Not familiar with any of these apps. I can try to stream from an iPad using Channels. Would this help to troubleshoot?

#4

InstaTV can be installed on the Apple TV for free. Try that first and see what it looks like.

Then try SD’s macOS app (called HDHR VIEW) and see if it works or not.

#5

My freezes last a few seconds, after which the streaming recovers. It has happened 5 times within 40 minutes, and each freeze lasts 2-7 seconds. I will try what you are suggesting.

#6

Oh I see, it’s stalling and pixelating. That usually indicates a signal quality issue. Check the Tuner Status page of your PRIME via http://my.hdhomerun.com and see what it says for Signal Quality and Signal Strength.

#7

CableCARD Status
Card Manufacturer Motorola
Card Authentication success
Card Validation success
3DES encryption supported
OOB Frequency 104.203 MHz
OOB Lock 2.048 Mbps
Signal Strength 100% (2.3 dBmV)
Signal Quality 100% (37.2 dB)
Channel List cablecard-oob

#8

Looks pretty good signal-wise.

Might be worth doing another channel scan in case the frequencies have moved, and then definitely compare with another app to see if its the HDHR or our app that’s causing the issues.

#9

I did a channel scan via the HDHomeRun Plus’ web page less than an hour ago.

#10

By the way, what’s the relationship like between the Channels team and the Silicon Dust team? The don’t even mention the Channels app on their web site, and they say that the only way to stream to the Apple TV is from their iOS app via AirPlay. Are you guys not even on speaking terms?

#11

We work closely with the SiliconDust team and they’ve always been very helpful when it comes to integrating with their hardware.

#12

Maybe you should request that they mention the Channel app on their web site. They seem to mention every obscure piece of software that can stream from their HDHomeRun devices except for any Channel app on any platform.

#13

Actually, I found a page that mentions the Channels app. Never mind.

#14

This is the page I was talking about:
https://www.silicondust.com/live-tv/

#15

Try adding an attenuator or a couple of splitters daisy chained to reduce the signal strength. Although not explicitly mentioned in the SD changelog (so this is just a guess), I believe that one of the firmware updates increased the sensitivity of the tuners. I usually see the issue mainly on FIOS since their signal is usually strong anyways, but have had some luck with other providers as well.

#16

Personally, I think SD doesn’t actively advertise Channels as they are a bit jealous of all this two-man team has accomplished in a short period of time vs their own efforts for the last 2-3 years,

1 Like
#17

How is a particular tuner out of the three HDHomeRun Prime’s tuners assigned to the streaming application, such as the Channels app on tvOS?

Every time I try to stream from the Channels running on Apple TV4, the same tuner is invoked (rightmost LED). However, every time I try to stream from the Silicon Dust’s Mac app, the tuner with the leftmost LED is assigned.

Maybe my problems are related to the particular tuner in my HDHomeRun Prime? The InstaTV app running on this Apple TV4 is having the same stuttering, freezing, and pixelation issues as the Channels app. It seems that a Mac running the Silicon Dust’s app is not having these issues, but it invokes a different tuner in the same HDHomeRun Prime unit.

Thank you.

#18

Channels on Apple TV attempts to allocate the last tuner first. This was an old feature to help live friendlier with older apps like EyeTV which had weird issues. Most any other HDHomeRun client out there uses first tuner first.

#19

Seems like the Channels app on the iPhone also allocates the last tuner - same as the Channels app on Apple TV?

#20

InstaTV uses the first tuner though, so if it’s also having problems that means the issue is with the network connection between your Apple TV and the HDHR.