I'm having a very strange problem with an Onn TV 4K Pro streaming box where some videos won't play in either Channels or in Plex. When I attempt to play these videos, the video goes to start but just remains at a spinning circle and never plays, both in Channels and in Plex. However, these problematic videos play fine using VLC on the same Onn TV 4K Pro streaming box. I have not run into this issue with any 4K videos or SD videos.
The videos in question are all HD and were ripped from Blu-Rays using MakeMKV with no additional reencoding. The problem is happening on two separate Onn TV 4K Pro streaming boxes. These same videos play fine in both Channels and Plex on an Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, and FireTV Cube streaming boxes. All devices are wired and on the same network. I have tested the Onn TV 4K Pro streaming boxes both wired and wireless.
I am trying to find some correlation between the videos that play vs. the ones that don't and so far, I haven't been able to find anything. As a troubleshooting step, I removed all audio tracks from one of the problematic videos using MKVToolNix and the video still wouldn't play, so I don't think its an issue with the audio. I took a look at the video information in MediaInfo for both the working and non-working videos and all seem to be AVC H.264 videos.
I realize this most likely isn't a Channels DVR issue and most likely an issue with the Onn TV 4K Pro streaming box, but I am posting here to see if others are seeing the same issue with the Onn TV 4K Pro streaming box or can give me clues as to what is going on. I did check the server side logs, and I am not really seeing anything. I am pasting below the video information from MediaInfo for both three working and three non-working videos to see if anyone can see any correlation or point me in the right direction:
Working
Working Video 1
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 3.51 GiB
Duration : 22 min 58 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 21.9 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : <Redacted>
Encoded date : 2024-01-03 21:53:54 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.17.5 linux(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.17.5 (1.3.10/1.5.2) x86_64-linux-gnu
Cover : Yes
Attachments : cover.jpg
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 2 frames
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 22 min 57 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 17.8 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.358
Time code of first frame : 00:59:58:00
Stream size : 2.86 GiB (81%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Working Video 2
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 9.08 GiB
Duration : 42 min 49 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 30.4 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : <Redacted>
Encoded date : 2021-01-29 15:14:09 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.15.4 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.15.4 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)
Cover : Yes
Attachments : cover.jpg
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 4 frames
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 42 min 49 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 24.8 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 38.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.498
Time code of first frame : 00:01:38:00
Stream size : 7.41 GiB (82%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Working Video 3
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 2.67 GiB
Duration : 25 min 11 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 15.1 Mb/s
Frame rate : 23.976 FPS
Movie name : <Redacted>
Encoded date : 2020-08-11 01:17:35 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.15.2 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.15.2 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)
Cover : Yes
Attachments : cover.jpg
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=1, N=10
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 25 min 10 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 14.9 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 (24000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.299
Time code of first frame : 00:59:58:00
Stream size : 2.62 GiB (98%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Not Working
Non-Working Video 1
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 9.94 GiB
Duration : 1 h 0 min
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 23.5 Mb/s
Frame rate : 29.970 FPS
Movie name : <Redacted>
Encoded date : 2022-01-04 03:04:45 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.16.5 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.16.5 (1.3.10/1.5.2) win(x64-release)
Cover : Yes
Attachments : cover.jpg
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 4 frames
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1 h 0 min
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 22.9 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 37.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : MBAFF
Scan type, store method : Interleaved fields
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.368
Time code of first frame : 01:00:00;00
Stream size : 9.67 GiB (97%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Non-working video 2
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 757 MiB
Duration : 5 min 5 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 20.8 Mb/s
Frame rate : 59.940 FPS
Encoded date : 2020-01-04 21:05:09 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.14.7 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.14.7 (1.3.5/1.4.7) win(x64-release)
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 3 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 5 min 5 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 19.3 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 33.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Original frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan type, store method : Separated fields
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.155
Stream size : 701 MiB (93%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Original source medium : Blu-ray
Non-working Video 3
General
Unique ID : <Redacted>
Complete name : <Redacted>
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 5.06 GiB
Duration : 26 min 13 s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 27.6 Mb/s
Frame rate : 59.940 FPS
Movie name : <Redacted>
Encoded date : 2020-01-02 20:24:28 UTC
Writing application : MakeMKV v1.14.7 win(x64-release)
Writing library : libmakemkv v1.14.7 (1.3.5/1.4.7) win(x64-release)
Video
ID : 1
ID in the original source m : 4113 (0x1011)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings : CABAC / 3 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference : 3 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=3, N=15
Format settings, Slice coun : 4 slices per frame
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 26 min 13 s
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 27.4 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate : 35.0 Mb/s
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 59.940 (60000/1001) FPS
Original frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Interlaced
Scan type, store method : Separated fields
Scan order : Top Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.221
Stream size : 5.03 GiB (99%)
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Original source medium : Blu-ray