Original Quality Delivery couple issues

Channels DVR Server
#1

Hello,

I am attempting to user the original quality delivery stream because the firestick has no storage (I am aware of adding usb drives, but would prefer to use this option).

I notice a couple things:

  1. when i go to exit something i have been watching for sometime, it can take a long time to get back to the guide, watching the "streaming" directory, it would appear that this is because it is waiting for this to delete.... can this be looked at? I had a similar issue when the data was stored on a usb drive previously and someone fixed it for me.

  2. It appears that the buffer or cache for the original quality delivery stores the info in the same directory tree that dvr uses... I store my DVR recordings on a NAS using UNC, but have an SSD on the server.. is there a way to tell the system to cache the stream on the SSD but store recordings on the NAS? I assume this would be faster, including the removal of the directory.

Thanks

#2

I have a symlink pointing the Streaming directory to ann SSD but it still takes a long time to exit when storing the buffer on the Server. I eventually got tired of it taking way too long to exit....and added storage to my Fire devices and moved Channels client to it. There should be no reason why it takes so long to exit this has to be a bug in the streamin/buffer process ... but has never been fixed it was reported a while back.

#5

Could you submit diagnostics from the client app after one of the times you experience this long delay getting back to the guide? Something funny is going on here.

#6

I submitted Diagnostics took a long time to exit then it crashed. I sent both VideoPlayer and Crash diagnostics

#7

@frazzxr

I got your message yes Channels DVR was still on my USB drive using Streaming moved to internal using Streaming and will retest.

#8

I have the same problem using Stream option when Channels app is on the external drive. But when I moved the Channels app to my internal drive, the problem cleared up. If I watch something for at least 15min using Stream with Channels app on external drive then it takes 30 sec or more to return to guide. I have not seen the problem at all when using Stream with Channels app on internal storage. Always thought it was trying to delete some files that didn't exist and would eventually time out.

2 Likes
#9

OK these are my findings ...
Channels on USB Streaming --- Not Good ling time to exit.
Channels on USB Direct --- GOOD large buffer
Channels on Internal Direct --- Best for large free Internal Storage
Channels on Internal Stream Streaming --- BEST large buffer. for limited Storage.

Thanks @frazzxr and @Michael_Birk

#10

I have an external usb drive on my Firestick. I have many pauses and crashes when watching live OTA tv. using the Direct opton. People always blame it on my wifi connection, but I never see any problems when watching recordings or TVE channels. I have since moved my Channels app to the internal drive and use the Stream option exclusively where I never have any problems watching live OTA. So I would highly recommend your choice to use the Stream option on the internal drive.

1 Like
#11

Yes it appears channels on the internal drive works best with the stream option.

I do think the devs should look into why it behaves differently when the app is installed on the external USB drive. Is that something that will happen?

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#12

Many of the issues I have had have been blamed on my network, which is odd as Netflix/Hulu/amazon/Philo/etc never have any issues.....very weird.

#13

Yeah instead of addressing the issue they seem to blame the user ... I have Plex on external which uses storage on server and it behaves properly.

#14

This is a great thread and clearly something is going on here. Thanks so much to everyone that's put in the their own time and put things through the different tests to get some valuable conclusions. It would be super helpful if everyone would reproduce the issue and send diagnostics (I know, the same old response), but report here when you do it, so we can match the timestamps and collect as much info as we can, as this issue is very odd and unexpected.

I'm sure there's a good explanation for it, we just need data to hunt down the issue.

Comparing performance issues with Channels and Streaming apps is not really an apples to apples comparison. Not only is this streaming directly from the internet, but also from flat files sitting on a computer serving over HTTP.

Channels, on the other hand, is steaming from inside your own home network from a computer on that network. There can be, and usually are, a bazillion reasons this can cause issues. Streaming apps have a practically 100% controlled environment, Channels does not.

2 Likes
#15

Logs have been submitted as 84d7f0da-c69a-4894-b627-374d17550db8 .

Sent Client and Server logs after watching live tv for 15 min using the Stream not Drect option with the Channels app installed on the external storage. The app completely crashed after about 30 sec when I stopped the stream.

#16

I don't disagree with you. But I do know that when I use the Direct playback option while watching live OTA tv, I often get pauses and sometimes complete crashes which don't happen at all when using the Stream option. Apparently the HLS protocal is more robust and able to work around any tuner or wifi issues. That is OK with me, I like the Stream option. I use it exclusively.

#17

Longtime to EXIT Crash and restarted ... Client Diagnostics also sent.

Logs have been submitted as 17d77c2a-659b-4654-b8a7-faa65f250101

#18

This makes total sense if your network isn’t very strong. OTA data rates are multiple magnitudes larger than TVE is. If your WiFi speed is slow, you’d absolutely notice this. And streaming services adjust their quality based on your speeds. (And so will Channels if you aren’t using original quality)

Additionally, direct mode is less forgiving and assumes no issues in networking. Any blip will affect it.

HLS is totally forgiving and why we haven’t as an option now.

1 Like
#19

What is considered slow? Checking speed to dvr server over wifi, I regularly get 400+ mbs.

#20

That certainly sounds fast enough. Unfortunately, speed isn’t the only thing that affects WiFi.

#21

I still see the long time to exit even when using Internal Storage for the APP. I am going to turn it off for now.

#22

Just so we're all on the same page, is everyone talking about this problem all on Android? And everyone is having this problem with Original Quality Delivery set to Streaming?