Need some Channels networking advice

Channels DVR Server Troubleshooting
#1

I replaced my pfsense router with new hardware and I used Opnsense. That is all working great. my problem now is Channels refuses to open any m3u source

Background
I have a standalone Ubuntu Linux Channels server 192.168.12.29.
I have an Ubuntu Linux Docker server 192.168.12.41 (houses my m3u dockers and some additional Channels Servers)

Channels will not pull anything from the docker server. If I go to a terminal prompt and use curl however it works fine. So I know that there is communication between the 2 servers plus they are in the same subnet so the new router shouldn't make any difference. i rebooted the servers, switch, router etc.

For troubleshooting I installed an Ubuntu VM on my ESXi server (192.168.12.31) and installed Channels. I configured one of my docker sources (mlb) (192.168.12.41) and channels played it perfectly without issue.

I then went into my docker server and took one of my Channels Dockers and verified that it could talk to an m3u container, no issues.

I plugged a USB nic into my standalone Channel server and used it to connect to the docker m3u container, that failed as well.

The common point is my standalone Channels server I know that for sure, i just cant figure out why... i'm pulling what little hair I have out right now so I'm open to any suggestions.

I could (and this is what i am leaning to) just restore my channels instance to my docker server. Moving the internal ssd as well as the 4 bay external HD enclosure is going to be annoying, plus I really would like to understand why this is happening.

Any help you guys could give me would be greatly appreciated...

Channels logs (failure from standalone Channels server):
couldn't generate stream playlist for ch1000-dANY-ip192.168.254.228: M3U: Could not fetch playlist from 192.168.12.41:5714 (Timeout): Get "http://192.168.12.41:5714/mlb/stream.m3u8?teamId=120&resolution=best": context deadline exceeded

Curl command from standalone Channels server (success pulling m3u):

seth@channelsdvr:~$ curl http://192.168.12.32:5714/mlb/stream.m3u8?teamId=120&resolution=best
[1] 1642
 #EXTM3U
#EXT-X-VERSION:4
#EXT-X-INDEPENDENT-SEGMENTS
#EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,GROUP-ID="program_audio",LANGUAGE="en",NAME="English",AUTOSELECT=YES,DEFAULT=YES,CHANNELS="2/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/0"
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1011762,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=950400,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=512x288,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_800K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=296326,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=281600,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=320x180,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_192K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=599915,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=565400,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=384x216,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_450K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=1402225,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=1320000,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=640x360,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_1200K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=2108246,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=1980000,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=896x504,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_1800K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=2931940,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=2750000,CODECS="avc1.4d401f,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=960x540,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_2500K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=4108643,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=3850000,CODECS="avc1.640028,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1280x720,FRAME-RATE=29.970,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_3500K.m3u8
#EXT-X-STREAM-INF:BANDWIDTH=6650120,AVERAGE-BANDWIDTH=6230400,CODECS="avc1.640029,mp4a.40.2",RESOLUTION=1280x720,FRAME-RATE=59.940,AUDIO="program_audio"
file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD_5600K.m3u8
#EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,LANGUAGE="en",NAME="Away Radio",AUTOSELECT=NO,DEFAULT=NO,CHANNELS="2",GROUP-ID="program_audio",URI="file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD-eng-a_64K.m3u8"
#EXT-X-MEDIA:TYPE=AUDIO,LANGUAGE="es",NAME="Visita Radio",AUTOSELECT=NO,DEFAULT=NO,CHANNELS="2",GROUP-ID="program_audio",URI="file?token=1724632295_MDB1bHk3Y3BkenZsNmZRcEkzNTY_YWxsb3dlZE1lZGlhVHlwZXM9QVVESU8sVklERU8_73d67b80a6ddcb6c3c6615f906ebf717fb5a89a383f6b1e108250bf0021fde38&url=https%3A//tv-fst.mlb.com/20240824/747077-AD-spa-a_64K.m3u8"
#2

Firewall?
Gateway?

1 Like
#3

New router is IP'd the same. But since it is in the same subnet they shouldn't be a factor

#4

Huh? Those are two different IP addresses!

#5

Oops what he said :point_up_2:

You are curling 12.32 but it appears channels is trying to connect to the m3u using 12.41.

Is the m3u setup with the wrong ip?

#6

Sorry i switched it as a test. I put the container on a macvlan but i had the same result...

Ill update the logs after i run the test again but the result is the same as my description. Sorry i know that is confusing

#7

Only other thing I can think of is maybe not all devices are using 255.255.0.0 as a netmask?
I would think the ones failing have it set at 255.255.255.0

#8

I checked and they are all/24

I did another test. I tried to create a new temp m3u custom channel for frndly.

This is through the ui

invalid source url: Get "http://192.168.12.41:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=exclude": context deadline exceeded

This is through curl on the same server.

Last login: Sat Aug 24 22:49:44 2024 from 192.168.254.228
seth@channelsdvr:~$ curl http://192.168.12.41:8183/playlist.m3u8?gracenote=exclude
#EXTM3U x-tvg-url="http://192.168.12.41:8183/epg.xml?gracenote=exclude"
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="frndly-53" tvg-id="frndly-53" tvg-logo="https://d229kpbsb5jevy.cloudfront.net/frndlytv/400/400/content/common/logos/channel/logos/omzaxy.png",Cowboy Way
http://192.168.12.41:8183/play/cowboy_way-53.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="frndly-38" tvg-id="frndly-38" tvg-logo="https://d229kpbsb5jevy.cloudfront.net/frndlytv/400/400/content/common/logos/channel/logos/kgiodq.png",Dove Channel
http://192.168.12.41:8183/play/dove_channel-38.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="frndly-41" tvg-id="frndly-41" tvg-logo="https://d229kpbsb5jevy.cloudfront.net/frndlytv/400/400/content/common/logos/channel/logos/yizbmj.png",Heartland TV - Dove Channel
http://192.168.12.41:8183/play/heartland-41.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="frndly-50" tvg-id="frndly-50" tvg-logo="https://d229kpbsb5jevy.cloudfront.net/frndlytv/400/400/content/common/logos/channel/logos/agyfkb.png",Dove Family Movies
http://192.168.12.41:8183/play/dove_movies-50.m3u8
#EXTINF:-1 channel-id="frndly-49" tvg-id="frndly-49" tvg-logo="https://d229kpbsb5jevy.cloudfront.net/frndlytv/400/400/content/common/logos/channel/logos/hiumqv.png",Dove Kids
http://192.168.12.41:8183/play/dove_kids-49.m3u8
#9

How is Channels DVR installed on it?
Does it have any other sources that actually work (HDHR Tuners, TVE, etc.)?

#10

Its installed directly on the os, not though docker. Tve and hdhr work great. Its literally m3u sources on the same subnet and only through the channels service/ui. I tried pulling an m3u from another channels server outside of docker amd that failed too. Its gotta be something on the channels server, im baffled

#11

OMG.... I figured it out. Tailscale... I was convinced it some something inside the channels UI so I began combing through every setting. I turned tailscale off (haven't used it lately) and then refreshed and m3u and the channel count went from 0 to 90. Everything works perfect now. Something about replacing my router (IP's stayed the same both internal and external) made Channels barf....

#12

Wow!
In Channels DVR, or was it installed on Ubuntu Linux? https://pkgs.tailscale.com/stable/

#13

I removed tailscale from all my machines ... instead installed OPENVPN on my router much better.

#14

I have no problems using it installed on my NAS's, Windows laptop and iOS devices.
I long ago disabled the integrated tailscale on my Channels DVR servers and clients.

#15

It was the integrated tailscale. I dont use it anymore but i left it turned on and forgot about it.

#16

If you turn it back on does it break again?

#17

@tmm1 I just turned it back on and the problem with the m3u resurfaced. So it looks pretty easy to repro.
Basically to trigger this I replaced my router and everything other than that stayed the same. Static public IP, internal subnet, etc. I rebooted all gear after I did it to clear out caches etc.
I submitted some logs from the server if that helps
82a79a56-58ff-4676-9e0e-35b4c50b7b1f

2024/08/25 16:18:34.220471 [ERR] Failed to start stream for ch955: M3U: Could not fetch playlist from 192.168.12.41:9999 (Timeout): Get "http://192.168.12.41:9999/stream.m3u8?team=MIL&mediaType=Video&resolution=720p60": context deadline exceeded

#18

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