Losing connection a lot today

I have been getting the Connection Lost error quite a bit today. It is happening locally and remote. It looks like a lot is going on in the logs. Thoughts??

[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7f881980a200] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 10:05:13 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch1111-dANY-601569c0c120 @ 12m30.826667s
2018/12/20 10:05:13 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1111
2018/12/20 17:00:12 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:00:12 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 8.1 from 199.83.141.110 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=10000)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7fb470028800] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:00:33 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch8.1-dANY-ae7acda678ab @ 19.285933s
2018/12/20 17:00:33 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:00:55 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:00:55 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 8.1 from 96.254.123.29 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=720, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=2000)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7fa98882c000] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:11:33 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch8.1 after 3s read timeout
[mpegts @ 0x7fa987801c00] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7fa987801c00] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
[mpeg2video @ 0x7fa988800000] ac-tex damaged at 25 52
[mpeg2video @ 0x7fa988800000] Warning MVs not available
2018/12/20 17:11:44 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch8.1-dANY-601569c0c120 @ 10m28.4278s
2018/12/20 17:11:44 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:11:47 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:11:47 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 8.1 from 96.254.123.29 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=720, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=2000)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7fed6302e800] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:22:26 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch8.1 after 3s read timeout
[mpegts @ 0x7fed63001200] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7fed63001200] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
overread 14
[mpeg2video @ 0x7fed63028e00] Warning MVs not available
2018/12/20 17:23:53 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch8.1-dANY-601569c0c120 @ 10m27.360067s
2018/12/20 17:23:53 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:23:59 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch1111
2018/12/20 17:23:59 [HLS] Probed live stream in 422.994865ms: h264 1280x720 progressive 3180911bps
2018/12/20 17:23:59 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 1111 from 96.254.123.29 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=720, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=2000)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7fde5c03c200] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:34:12 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch1111 after 3s read timeout
2018/12/20 17:37:36 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch1111-dANY-601569c0c120 @ 10m5.702334s
2018/12/20 17:37:36 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1111
2018/12/20 17:43:27 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch1111
2018/12/20 17:43:28 [HLS] Probed live stream in 428.337901ms: h264 1280x720 progressive 1974748bps
2018/12/20 17:43:28 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 1111 from 166.172.184.68 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=360, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=700)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7f874e815a00] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:46:38 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch1111-dANY-2fa0b6f9eb20 @ 3m9.525334s
2018/12/20 17:46:38 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1111
2018/12/20 17:46:42 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 17:46:42 [HLS] Starting transcoder for channel 8.1 from 166.172.184.68 (encoder=h264_videotoolbox, resolution=360, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=700)
[h264_videotoolbox @ 0x7f9f4782b000] Color range not set for yuv420p. Using MPEG range.
2018/12/20 17:56:56 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch8.1 after 3s read timeout
[mpegts @ 0x7f9f48006400] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x7f9f48006400] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
[mpeg2video @ 0x7f9f47800c00] ac-tex damaged at 35 37
[mpeg2video @ 0x7f9f47800c00] Warning MVs not available
2018/12/20 17:57:54 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session ch8.1-dANY-2fa0b6f9eb20 @ 10m5.137866s
2018/12/20 17:57:54 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 18:27:18 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 18:38:50 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch8.1 after 3s read timeout
2018/12/20 18:38:53 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch8.1
2018/12/20 18:39:17 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch1121
2018/12/20 18:51:48 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch1121 after 3s read timeout
2018/12/20 18:52:33 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1121
2018/12/20 18:58:32 [DVR] Skipping job because program already started 1545346790-26 Mad Money
2018/12/20 18:58:32 [DVR] Skipping job because program already started 1545348600-5 NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt
2018/12/20 18:58:32 [DVR] Waiting 12h1m17.153077s until next job 1545393590-22 Today

These messages indicate a bad network connection between your DVR and your HDHR. Is your DVR on WiFi or hard-wired?

My DVR is my iMac, which is connected via Ethernet. The strange thing is that this started last night. I have been using Channels for a year. I have had a couple of changes recently - I switched to an Orbi system, and swapped my HDHR Prime for a Quatro. But those changes happened about a month ago. I would think that I would have noticed the problem sooner if it was due to one of those.

Maybe the Orbi did a firmware update? If it's running in a mesh then its possible there's a weak link somewhere.

Could also be a QUATRO bug. I would check the System Log on my.hdhomerun.com to see what it says about the disconnects, and then restart the HDHR.

Thanks for the advice. If and when this happens again, I'll check out the HDHR log. In the meantime, I have rebooted everything. I'll let you know if it happens again. Thanks!

There have been other people in this community who have had similar issues when using “Ethernet backhaul” with Orbi. I believe they have said it only affects live TV. But from all the threads it sounds like it is an orbi issue.

2 Likes

Interesting. And in fact I am using ethernet backhaul.

Hi @tmm1. First, happy new year!

I have encountered the Connection Lost error again a few times today. Per your suggestion, I reviewed the HDHR log. Nothing really looks unusual, other than the fact that the time zone appears to be wrong. I am pasting the HDHR and Channels log below. What are your thoughts? Network issue? Also, I question/suggestion: Is it possible to have Channels automatically reconnect after a connection loss? Maybe have it try every few seconds for up to a minute or so? That would help ease the annoyance of a connection loss.

HDHomeRun Log:
20190101-15:51:33 Tuner: tuner0 requesting 1113 MSNBC
20190101-15:51:34 Tuner: tuner0 streaming http to 192.168.1.220:55759
20190101-16:01:54 Tuner: tuner0 http stream ended (remote closed)
20190101-16:10:38 Tuner: tuner0 requesting 1113 MSNBC
20190101-16:10:39 Tuner: tuner0 streaming http to 192.168.1.220:55867
20190101-16:31:04 Tuner: tuner3 requesting 1113 MSNBC
20190101-16:31:05 Tuner: tuner3 streaming http to 192.168.1.160:58491
20190101-16:35:03 Tuner: tuner3 http stream ended (remote closed)
20190101-16:36:23 Tuner: tuner0 http stream ended (remote closed)

Channels Log:
2019/01/01 10:51:33 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch1113
2019/01/01 11:01:47 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch1113 after 3s read timeout
2019/01/01 11:01:47 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1113
2019/01/01 11:10:38 [TNR] Opened connection to 107673C4 for ch1113
2019/01/01 12:00:41 [DVR] Cancelling stream 107673C4 ch1113 after 3s read timeout
2019/01/01 12:00:41 [TNR] Closed connection to 107673C4 for ch1113

You could try Wi-Fi backhaul but this sounds like an Orbi issue to me.

Thanks @tmm1. What are your thoughts on having Channels automatically reconnect after a connection loss?

It's possible but we would have to reset the time shifting buffer.

If the DVR can't keep a stable connection to the HDHR then you're going to have random dropouts in recordings too. Better to fix your network issue. Is it better in wireless backhaul mode?

I'm really saving the wireless backhaul change as a last resort, as I get much better network speed with a wired backhaul. I just got a Synology 918+, and I plan to move the Channels DVR installation from my Mac to there. I know it is a long shot, but I'm hoping that might help the issue.

I assume the connection lost is only for live TV, not recordings. That is what my friend experienced. For some reason it made recordings just fine on the NAS, and playback from the NAS was perfect, also. But live TV to the apple tv kept getting connection lost. All devices were on the same switch. When we unplugged the switch from the network live tv worked perfectly, but as soon as we plugged the switch back into the network, connection lost happened again, which doesn't make sense when it should be contained to the same switch. It is as if the "ethernet backhaul" is blocking packets or something.

In the case above the DVR is doing live tv Tuner Sharing so I would assume it would affect recordings as well.

Dumb question, but were you referring to my case above? If so, I do have tuner sharing enabled but nothing was being shared at the time of these connection losses. Only a single stream was running at that time.

You may want to change the switch out with something else. The HDHR firmware in the past has had ethernet problems with certain switches and odd combinations of OS/networking equipment. The Prime was plagued with DHCP issues when using particular network hardware that ultimately was tracked to a bug in the ethernet controller on the Prime. It's possible that you may have stumbled upon something similar ...

Another thing that often might lead to network issues are MTU mismatches. Have you set or enabled jumbo frames on any of your networking equipment?