You have to update your DVR to prerelease
Thank you, that seems to have worked. MSNBC is running nicely, with some buffering, but that is probably my channelsdvr machine that is not good enough to handle it.
Is anyone else having an issue with Chrome Capture after the pre-release update of July 6th? I had channels working on both the NBC website and from Spectrum, but now neither one work. The server PC opens the channel correctly, but neither the app on my phone nor the my PC ever get the video. Below is an example of the log when I tried to open the Golf Channel.
2023/07/07 10:10:02.749903 [HLS] Starting live stream for channel 170 from 192.168.88.245
2023/07/07 10:10:12.786629 [ERR] Probe failed for live stream after 10.0324206s and 0 bytes
2023/07/07 10:10:14.745139 [HLS] Couldn't generate stream playlist for ch170-dANY-ip192.168.88.245: Timeout waiting for session to start after 12s
2023/07/07 10:10:14.745139 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch170-dANY-ip192.168.88.245 (out: 0s, finished: false)
2023/07/07 10:10:14.745139 [TNR] Closed connection to M3U-NBCStreaming for ch170 Golf
2023/07/07 10:10:14.745139 [ERR] Error during stream M3U-NBCStreaming ch170 Golf: read |0: file already closed
2023/07/07 10:10:14.759937 [SNR] Buffer statistics for ch170 Golf: buf=0% drop=0%
2023/07/07 10:10:59.286612 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
2023/07/07 10:10:59.287210 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
2023/07/07 10:10:59.287210 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
2023/07/07 10:10:59.287210 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
2023/07/07 10:10:59.287210 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
2023/07/07 10:10:59.287210 [HLS] ffmpeg: chrome-Golf: http://localhost:5589/stream/golf: Unknown error
No problems on my end, running server 2023.07.06.1740. My capture source is setup as MPEG-TS streams, not HLS. Not sure if that is the issue?
Also, I discovered the source of my "juddery" video, at the Channels client. My capture PC is running headless with a 4K HDMI dongle. And, for some reason the screen was set to go to sleep after 30 minutes. The video would become juddery when the screen was asleep. I changed the setting to never sleep, and the video on several recordings has been smooth.
So, have been able to confirm smooth playback with a GTX 1050 GPU, GTX 1650, and RTX 2060. Haven't tried going back down to the onboard graphics in the i7-8700.
Changed all the source url's to Fubo, since that source appears a bit more stable than the NBC site. I would still see a bit of stutter on NBC sources, every once in a great while. But overall, it is great to have the old TVE channels back, and also be able to add some channels that never supported TVE, like Smithsonian.
Thanks again for all the work put into this, still very early solution.
FYI, found my problem. I had restarted the PC and manually started the Chrome Capture executable, totally forgetting that I had set up task scheduler to start it. So I had two instances of it running, which of course doesn't work too well. Ooops!
That did it. Thanks!
Regarding the black bars around the display. I found that I can toggle to full screen display (no black bars) by pressing the [ f ] key on the keyboard of my Chrome-capture-for-channels server (Windows 11). I haven't yet figured out a way to retain full screen after channel changes. Video resolution is 1920 X 1080. I thought maybe some of you clever coders could figure out a way to automate this keypress action after each channel change. Edit... this works when streaming YTTV channels. Haven't tried it yet for other sources.
Run your display at 2560 x 1440. I run this resolution with a headless hdmi display. No borders.
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Thanks, but the max resolution of my current server hardware is 1920 X 1080.
Do you mean your monitor?
No, the integrated video graphics card. It would require an upgraded plug-in video card.
I had the same issue with my old I7. Bought a cheap headless PC and voila, no issues.
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Yeah I think that's the solution for a lot of these black border issues, spend a few hundred for a mini PC (refurb or new). The integrated graphics from the last couple years apparently work way better. I have an older i5 with an Nvidia GTX 750ti card and have the border issues.
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Something to note regarding playback.
I've noticed that when I playback a CC4C station on a FireStick there is a significant lag/stutter in the video playback. This lag/stutter is not seen when I playback same channel on an AppleTV.
Any options to optimize the video specifically on a FireStick?
I believe the black border issues are a resolution issue on the capture machine, not necessarily a hardware issue. You need to be greater than 1920x1080 to get rid of the bars completely. A cheap 4K HDMI dongle can do the trick, and just make sure the chrome capture window is running on the virtual display, that has the resolution above 1080p. Less powerful CPU/GPU will likely show issues when trying to capture more than 1 stream.
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Yeah I mentioned above I already tried increasing res to 4K and I have a 4K LG TV that it's hooked to. Didn't change the borders.
I rectified the problem by not maximizing or fullscreem. Issue stopped when I manually resized it eliminating the boarders. Then closed it, then started the stream again. Discovered smaller is better. My resolution is 1920x1080.
Out of curiosity, do you happen to have Channels installed on a thumb drive attached to your Fire Stick? I, too, got horrible stutter and lag with Chrome Capture on my Fire Stick 4k Max. I swapped it out for a cheaper Onn device (using the Fire Stick now with an HDMI encoder), and the Onn was buttery smooth. I was trying to think if I had a dud Fire Stick, and I realized that one difference was (I think) I had Channels on the thumb drive, if I recall right.
no thumbdrive attached. Would love to swap the devices out but the FireSticks are for my parents and they already swapped out the AppleTVs because for them the FireSticks were easier to control in their opinion. sooo unfortunately trying to improve the performance before I "release" to my parents and have to hear about it everytime 
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I've found a solution to the black borders issue that works consistently for me. It requires no server hardware changes and works fine at default 1920 X 1080 resolution. The fix is to change the Chrome page zoom setting from 100% to something less than 100%. I am currently testing a setting of 80% with good results.
The setting should be changed in the Chrome window that opens on your Chrome-capture-for-channels server when your streaming channel starts playing. To change the setting do the following:
- click the three vertical dots (menu icon) in the upper right corner of the Chrome window
- select Settings
- select Appearance in the left column
- scroll down to Page Zoom and use the pull-down to set it at 80%
- close the settings tab
- close the Chrome window
- test on a client by launching one of your Chrome-capture-for-channels channels
Edit: Unfortunately, there are apparently more variables to consider. If the Chrome window is set to full screen, black borders are still present. But, after changing page zoom to 80% and resizing Chrome window to fill only about half the screen borders are gone. I'm continuing to test and trying to pin down and identify all the variables in order to obtain consistent and predictable results.
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