DVR Recordings Are Unwatchable

Channels DVR Server
#1

After recording multiple shows at once, my DVR recordings are unwatchable. The recordings start out fine, then they become extremely pixelated or the picture will drop out completely. I first noticed this behavior a few weeks ago.

I'm running a Raspberry Pi 4 server (4GB Model B).

Below are logs from the last time this happened.

2022/11/16 20:00:00.003603 [DVR] Starting job 1668657600-13 Survivor on ch=[7.1]
2022/11/16 20:00:00.004130 [DVR] Waiting 59m59.995894016s until next job 1668661200-22 The Amazing Race
2022/11/16 20:00:00.414087 [TNR] Opened connection to 10A07258/2 for ch7.1 KIRO 7
2022/11/16 20:00:00.440459 [DVR] Recording for job 1668657600-13 from 10A07258 ch7.1 into "TV/Survivor/Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg" for 1h0m59.995966941s
2022/11/16 20:00:00.525169 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1668657600-13
2022/11/16 20:26:00.564174 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2022/11/16 21:00:00.002599 [DVR] Starting job 1668661200-22 The Amazing Race on ch=[7.1]
2022/11/16 21:00:00.183188 [DVR] Waiting 1m59.816834285s until next job 1668661320-1 LEGO Masters
2022/11/16 21:00:00.183314 [TNR] Sharing existing connection to 10A07258/2 for ch7.1 KIRO 7 (clients=2, len=67108188)
2022/11/16 21:00:01.935348 [DVR] Recording for job 1668661200-22 from 10A07258 ch7.1 into "TV/The Amazing Race/The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg" for 1h0m59.817001284s
2022/11/16 21:00:34.633923 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1668661200-22
2022/11/16 21:02:00.001436 [DVR] Starting job 1668661320-1 LEGO Masters on ch=[113.1]
2022/11/16 21:02:03.074190 [TNR] Opened connection to 10A07258/0 for ch113.1 KCPQ
2022/11/16 21:02:04.961890 [DVR] Recording for job 1668661320-1 from 10A07258 ch113.1 into "TV/LEGO Masters/LEGO Masters S03E08 Mini Golf Masters 2022-11-16-2102.mpg" for 57m59.998373628s
2022/11/16 21:02:42.348787 [IDX] Generating video index for job 1668661320-1
2022/11/16 21:07:17.112313 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/Survivor/Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg": ss=100% snq=93%,88%-98% seq=99%,0%-100% bps=13244996,4615776-14137600 pps=1133,395-1889
2022/11/16 21:07:24.603793 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/Survivor/Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg": buf=33%,0%-100% drop=25%
2022/11/16 21:07:27.492817 [DVR] Finished job 1668657600-13 Survivor
2022/11/16 21:07:33.358714 [DVR] Processing file-1051: TV/Survivor/Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg
2022/11/16 21:08:14.728184 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 1051 (TV/Survivor/Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg)
2022/11/16 21:26:00.776115 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2022/11/16 22:00:00.006848 [TNR] Closed connection to 10A07258/0 for ch113.1 KCPQ
2022/11/16 22:01:00.001781 [TNR] Closed connection to 10A07258/2 for ch7.1 KIRO 7
2022/11/16 22:03:22.716868 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/LEGO Masters/LEGO Masters S03E08 Mini Golf Masters 2022-11-16-2102.mpg": ss=95%,93%-100% snq=99%,0%-100% seq=99%,0%-100% bps=0 pps=386,76-624
2022/11/16 22:03:31.288271 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/LEGO Masters/LEGO Masters S03E08 Mini Golf Masters 2022-11-16-2102.mpg": buf=83%,0%-100% drop=53%
2022/11/16 22:03:34.908699 [DVR] Finished job 1668661320-1 LEGO Masters
2022/11/16 22:03:50.451439 [DVR] Processing file-1053: TV/LEGO Masters/LEGO Masters S03E08 Mini Golf Masters 2022-11-16-2102.mpg
2022/11/16 22:04:14.486909 [SNR] Statistics for "TV/The Amazing Race/The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg": ss=100% snq=93%,87%-98% seq=99%,0%-100% bps=13230953,4615776-14137600 pps=1132,395-1889
2022/11/16 22:04:18.912869 [SNR] Buffer statistics for "TV/The Amazing Race/The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg": buf=96%,0%-100% drop=88%
2022/11/16 22:04:18.932862 [DVR] Finished job 1668661200-22 The Amazing Race
2022/11/16 22:04:51.493755 [DVR] Processing file-1052: TV/The Amazing Race/The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg
2022/11/16 22:26:00.789208 [NAT] Successfully mapped port 8089 using upnp
2022/11/16 22:27:19.639108 [DVR] Commercial detection for Survivor S43E09 What About the Big Girls 2022-11-16-2000.mpg finished with 12 markers in 1h19m4.923323923s.
2022/11/16 22:27:20.036174 [DVR] Running commercial detection on file 1052 (TV/The Amazing Race/The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg)
2022/11/16 22:30:24.966242 [DVR] Commercial detection for The Amazing Race S34E09 Vamos a la Playa 2022-11-16-2100.mpg finished with 4 markers in 3m4.935577917s.
#2

These indicate that the system is overloaded and dropping packets because either the CPU or HDD can't keep up

#3

I’m guessing it’s my HDD. I’m currently using a WD 2TB Elements Portable HDD. Would you suggest something else? An SSD or a HDD with an external power supply?

#4

How long has it been setup on the Pi? Did this start recently?

How full is the drive?

#5

I’ve had this setup since May, 2021. I first noticed this behavior about three weeks ago. The drive is at 57%.

I’m currently on version 2022.11.15.1908.

The Raspberry Pi OS was 2021.1101.2046. I just checked for updates and 2022.0601.2221 is installing now.

#6

I would recommend a powered external HDD enclosure.

#7

The new external HDD with an external power supply did the trick. I just recorded three shows at once while watching a show remotely. Zero issues with buffering or dropping packets.

1 Like
#8

This topic was automatically closed 365 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.