Pausing on commercial changes on Android TV (SHIELD 9)

Channels Android TV Troubleshooting
#1

Hello,

I've too have been experiencing this issue. Specifically, while watching live TV, it will simply pause. I submitted a diag when this last happened.

Things of note:

  • All components are 1Gb wired ethernet
  • Channels DVR Server Version 2022.01.20.2033
  • Channels DVR Server running on Synology 1520+ DSM 7.0.1-42218 Update 2
  • Channels DVR Client Beta v301200712
  • Channels DVR Client(s) - nVidia Shield TV v 9.0.0(33.1.0.236)
  • Signal Info when this last happened - Watching ch587 NHL Network HD from DenTV: strength=97% quality=100% symbol=100% rate=17.7Mb/sec
  • HDHomeRun Prime: HDHR3-CC, Firmware: 20210624

When I looked at the log when this happened (16:22), I only saw the following -

2022/01/21 09:45:49.611202 [DVR] Waiting 14h14m10.388808612s until next job 1642827600-17 The Simpsons
2022/01/21 15:55:04.403246 [TNR] Opened connection to 1312ED34/0 for ch587 NHL Network HD
2022/01/21 16:22:02.362881 [TRS] DNS: OK: Resolved host via system DNS
2022/01/21 16:22:02.721998 [TRS] Cloud Reachable: OK: Connected to community.getchannels.com
2022/01/21 16:22:02.926005 [TRS] Local Time: OK: Local clock is accurate
2022/01/21 16:22:02.926072 [TRS] TV Everywhere: OK
2022/01/21 16:22:03.316423 [TRS] TV Everywhere DNS: OK: Resolved TVE authenticator via system DNS
2022/01/21 16:22:03.316492 [TRS] Remote Access: OK: Remote access not configured
2022/01/21 16:22:03.317524 [TRS] Disk Permissions: OK
2022/01/21 16:22:11.331877 New diagnostic log submitted under 052d7c0e-e704-494a-9e3c-249162e1725e

Also of note -
This has only been happening, intermittently, for about the past 2-3 weeks. Prior to this, I was running all the NON-beta versions, but upgraded to the latest betas hoping to resolve the problem, which it obviously didn't, so here I am!

edit - Forgot to mention...When watching Live TV and it pauses..As near as I can tell, it always happens during commercial breaks. Also, when it pauses, it appears to be happening in-between commercials (i.e. when it is going from one commercial to another). I don't think I've ever seen it happen during the actual broadcast. The scrubber itself doesn't display as being paused and to resolve the issue at the time, all I need to do is press the button to skip ahead and it will immediately start playing again. I don't need to exit Channels or anything like that.

Thanks!

Pausing When Watching Live TV
Too many bugs on the Android Client
#2

We would need to see the client logs, which you can submit from the app after the issue happens via Settings > Support > Submit Diagnostics > Video Player

#3

Thanks for the fast reply! I thought that's what I did. Isn't that what the

"2022/01/21 16:22:11.331877 New diagnostic log submitted under 052d7c0e-e704-494a-9e3c-249162e1725e"

is in reference to? I went through that click-path before posting, but if there's something else you need, or simply didn't receive the diag submission, I'll be happy to do it again when it happens again.

Thanks

#4

You submitted from the server. The server logs aren't helpful here.

I need diagnostics from the client.

#5

Huh, that's odd. Regardless, it just happened again and as requested, I went through the click-path again and submitted diags.

Thanks!

#7

Thanks. I do see you submitted earlier too, sorry.

I believe this problem goes away if you change Settings > Playback > Advanced > Surround Sound: Off. Can you confirm?

Do you have a recording that reproduces this issue? That would be helpful.

#8

Looks like @RockandRoller70 reported a similar issue in Screen going black during commercials on beta

Logs confirm its the same root cause

#9

No worries re: diags... Well, I believe you are correct in that the problem seems to go away after disabling surround sound; because after doing that, it hasn't paused in the past couple hours. I'll continue watching like this for a bit longer and flip surround back on and see if starts pausing again, and let you know.

Any recordings I've watched have all played as expected, no pauses or issues.

After reading through the other thread, it does sound similar to @RockandRoller70. The only difference being that, in my case, all I need to do is skip forward to get things going again.

Something I forgot to add, if it matters, I'm on Verizon FiOS.

Thanks

p.s. - I gotta say, and I've seen others mention this, Channels support is pretty dang awesome! I've been in IT close to 40 years and from what I've seen, y'all are crushin' it. Thanks!

2 Likes
#10

@tmm1 Well, I'd say it's confirmed that having surround sound enabled seems to trigger the issue at some point. I flipped on the TV, let it play few hours and it never paused. I then flipped SS back on and again let it play for a while and sure enough, the pausing issue returned.

Now since I have a SS system, my preference, obviously, is to use SS, so hopefully this gets resolved soon. In the meantime, since recordings don't seem to be affected and I don't actually watch a ton of live TV (sports are the exception), this isn't a huge issue, to me, but I'm sure it is to others.

Sounds like y'all are aware and working the problem; so I'll just keep my eyes open for new releases that hopefully resolve the problem.

Thanks!

1 Like
#11

Thanks. It is helpful to understand that this is on live tv only. It makes it harder to fix but we will keep investigating

#12

I have been experiencing this on Firestick 4K(s), turning SS on or off does not seem to change the experience. I have other firestick 4K Max(s) that are not having this issue. Seems to pause at either commercial start or end.

#13

What version number is shown in each app under Settings > Support > About

#14

Firestick 4K - Issues Channels DVR 4.1.3

Firestick 4K Max - No Issues Channels DVR 4.1.0

#15

Just submitted log edc3038d-a129-4f13-98cd-81f85b3ba8ec from firetv os 4.1.3 seems to happen with certain channels and not others.

#16

Something I've noticed is that this doesn't seem to happen on local stations, i.e. ABC, CBS, NBC, etc. seem to work fine. It only seems to happen when watching cable stations, i.e. ESPN, NHL Network, etc.

Also, just FYI, I upgraded to the latest Shield hotfix #2 to see if that helped at all. It did not. :frowning:

Cheers!

#17

I have seen this intermittently with Nvidia Shield and Tivo Stream 4K, all on latest Beta. In addition, when this happens, if I jump backwards it will play to the same spot and pause. If I skip forward past the glitch, it plays fine. Since only one of my devices is actually on a surround system. I will try turning surround off and see what the result is.

1 Like
#18

@tmm1... So I managed to get a recording where this happens. It's a 5 min clip of Mythbusters @ 404MB. The pause happens at about the 2 minute mark.

@bkillen ... Yup, I see the same behavior re: jumping back will play up to the pause point and pause again.

1 Like
App pauses when commercial starts
#19

@tmm1 ..... So, I had just posted in this thread -> App pauses when commercial starts - Channels Fire TV - Channels Community (getchannels.com)

And right after posting that, I went back into the Channels settings and turned SS off. About a minute after doing that, sure enough, the show that was on paused! Basically, it doesn't matter if SS is on/off, it still pauses at commercial transitions.

I went ahead and submitted another diag - d386f997-a993-444c-a868-631fc42647a8

Thanks!

#20

Can you try stop/restart the app after changing surround sound to off

#21

@tmm1 .... I submitted a second diag - 48482e4d-9029-4960-9c15-1f06267c9c15

I was recording and watching live, I pressed the back button to bring up the guide. Upon doing this, the audio became a tinnitus torturing chirping. Hopefully you can hear it in the video.

And yes, I just bounced my shield to start fresh with SS off. I'll get another show clip if it pauses again.

Thanks!