I don't think so, it works on VLC, Emby, Tivimate, etc. Seems like something changed with Channels but perhaps not. I don't see a smoking gun, though.
I'm sorry you're not answering some of the questions people are asking, what comes after the error 461? Is it defined in someplace, that might be helpful information.
Nothing after. And my research was the same that 461 isn't a standard defined error.
Also, what do you mean when you say the HDMI encoder route?
Like a LinkPi unit, ADBTuner or ah4c and a legit TV provider like DirecTV, YouTube TV, Hulu Live, Sling. It's way more reliable and running in your house on your own hardware. PrismCast is now popular and works well too.
Ah, got it. Iptv provider has been solid, but it's an iptv provider so things change.
Yeah, I mean those companies are all like a teeny bit shady so who knows. Someone else just posted today that their IPTV stopped working. So like who knows what these guys are doing. For sheer reliability, it's definitely worth looking into one of the other community support adoptions.
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I'm having the same issue. No problems in VLC or other apps. Channels will not load.
failed to load m3u: failed to retrieve m3u: GET: 461 error. Nothing in logs.
My TVE channels all work fine. Seemed to happen between last night and this morning sometime.
I do use an m3u editor to cut down and organize the channels. Looking at the code details in VLC I don't see anything that jumps out at me as unusual. Weird that so many other apps can stream without issue but Channels cannot. 
Same issue for me, getting 461 trying to start stream. Am able to curl the same url without issue in a shell in channels DVR docker container too
What command can I run to debug this more?
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Possibly related to the user agent Channels DVR is presenting?
I remember there was recently a change to that.
Ooh...so is there a way to force the user-agent to something specific? I'm not sure the provider is going to change the user-agents they accept.
My 2 cents, this is ALL from AI (CoPilot, HaHa, so it could be all BS !!
i could be way off base: I have had connection dropped issues with .ts sometimes.
timing absolutely matters for .ts segments, and this can cause drops even when the same stream works fine in VLC or TiviMate.
But the important nuance is this:
The player doesn’t “expect TS chunks faster” — it expects them on schedule , matching the HLS playlist timing.
If the server or network can’t deliver them at the expected pace, the stream stutters or drops.
.ts segments are:
- 2–10 seconds of video each
- Downloaded continuously
- Expected to arrive before the player’s buffer runs out
If a segment arrives late, the player can’t decode the next frame → stream drops.
VLC and TiviMate have:
- larger buffers
- more tolerant retry logic
- better HLS implementations
- more forgiving timing windows
Some IPTV apps (especially lightweight ones) have:
- small buffers
- strict timing
- poor retry handling
So they drop when .ts is even slightly late.
Also for 461
Some providers allow only:
- 1 connection
- 1 IP
- No simultaneous streams
If you exceed it → 461.
461 is not a standard HTTP code. IPTV panels (Xtream Codes, XUI, etc.) use it as a custom error.
It typically means:
1. Authentication failure
- Wrong username/password in the URL
- Account disabled
- Account expired
- Too many connections (connection limit reached)
2. IP or GEO blocking
- Server rejects your IP
- VPN/proxy blocked
- Provider only allows certain regions
3. Token or session expired
Some servers generate temporary URLs. If the .ts link expires, the server returns 461.
4. Anti‑restream / user-agent blocking
Some IPTV servers block:
- VLC
- Kodi
- IPTV apps they don’t like
- Certain user‑agents
5. Server-side rate limiting
If the server thinks you're requesting segments too fast or too slow, it drops you.
Why the error says “Could not start stream for [M3U_Filename] ch2109”
Your player is trying to load the first .ts segment for that channel. The server rejects it → the app reports the channel cannot start.
The issue for me is definitely user agent related again. As mentioned already in this thread, this was supposedly fixed in a beta update mentioned here (Nothing plays at all - Couldn't generate master playlist - #15 by eric), but for whatever reason it seems this change got reverted, or much less likely, the change channels made got blocked on everyone's IPTV provider
EDIT: I was able to work around this temporarily by adding a custom user agent to my m3u manually.
Here is what it looked like before and after
BEFORE:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="mychannel.au" tvg-name="my channel" t,7 MyChannel
http://my_iptv.com:80/User/Pass/123456
AFTER:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:-1 tvg-id="mychannel.au" tvg-name="my channel" t,7 MyChannel
http://my_iptv.com:80/User/Pass/123456|user-agent=VLC/3.0.0
here's a shell command you can use to update your entire m3u file:
sed -E 's#^(http[^ ]*)$#\1|user-agent=VLC/3.0.0#' input.m3u > output.m3u
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Yep...appending the user agent did it. Do you know what user-agent Channels is sending now? If not, I can do a packet capture but it would be cool if I didn't have to.
I don't see a way for my m3u editor to automatically update the output files with the user agent appended. That would make this much easier. Or, Channels going back to the old user agent would be easy too.
Thanks for figuring this out and the tip above.
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I was about to check that but I just wanted to get it to work lol. Eric (dev) said in another thread it didn't get reverted but I'm still suspicious.
Sorry!
Has this issue been addressed yet? I'm still receiving .ts 461 errors, and I can't seem to move up from 2026.02.21.0601 to beta 2026.04.29.0232 update (that error says to Refresh Browser").
I haven't tested since I haven't upgraded my Channels software. I'm using the workaround that requires me to manually edit my m3u files (thank you addd45 for making it easier). Have you tested recently? I haven't even forced a check for new software.
The work around works for me as well. I still have a problem with my system refreshing every few hours, which wipes out the m3u modifications. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to fix using Notepad ++ (search and replace is your friend)
Nothing is wrong with the DVR. If your Custom Source is blocking our User-Agent, that's an issue with them, not with us.
We had previously not been setting the User-Agent we had intended in all situations, and that has been resolved. If our correct User-Agent is being blocked, that's something to take up with your provider.
Can you give me the exact user agent string you're setting?