v4.7.1 update is now available for all users via Amazon App Store. Your stable apps should auto-update and start working again.
I had a similar issue, not that it freezes, but the video gets like a jerky motion to it. Sound stays good. It seems to happen if I've been watching for a while, or if there was a little buffering. At first I thought maybe my Channels server wasn't beefy enough, but then I was looking at the processes and memory and I don't seem to go over 40 to 80 very much. Also when this happens, if reboot the firestick, or kill the app and relaunch it it seems to work, so I'm leaning more into a firestick issue.
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I have had this problem show up aboout a month ago on my Fire TV sticks. When watching recorded OTA content, the video will freeze while the audio continues. I resolve the freeze by forwarding once (30 sec) and then rewind twice (15 sec each) and the show will continue normally.
I have been using Channels (love it!) for over a year and this just started happening. Was there an auto-update in late Jan-early Feb timeframe? I am running version 4.8.0. Speed test to DVR server shows 366 Mb download, 2.09 ms latency and 3.04 ms Jitter.
I can watch the same recordings on iOS/MacOS devices with no problem, so it seems to be related to the Fire TV app playback. It's the same on my Fire TV stick and Fire TV 4K stick. I was able to install the Beta on the 4K stick but it still happens there too.
Any other info I can provide? Any ideas?
Thanks
What decoder are you using and how much free storage you have on the Sticks.
I'm not sure where to find what decoder I am using. Please advise.
I ran the following tests:
Fire TV Stick HD
875 MB free of 5.35 GB
FireOS 7.6.8.8
Freeze occurs
Offloaded most apps
2.01 GB of 5.35 GB
Freeze still occurs - maybe not as soon?
Installed Beta 4.9.0
Freeze still occurs
Fire TV Stick 4K
824 MB of 5.28 GB
FireOS 6.7.0.9
Freeze occurs both 4.8.0 (current) and 4.9.0 (beta)
Offloaded most apps
1.97 GB free of 5.28 GB
Freeze occurs 4.9.0
Thanks for your help!?
Look under Settings -playback-advanced-Video Decoder.
Thanks!
Video Decoder = Hardware
and a few other perhaps pertinent settings?
Tuner Sharing = Off
Streaming Quality -> Home Streaming = Original
-> Internet Streaming = 8 Mb
-> Original Quality Delivery = Direct
Buffer Protection = On
Protection Duration = 30 seconds
Try turning on tuner sharing.
For low storage devices you can change Original Quality Delivery to streaming that way the buffer is kept on the server.
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Thanks for sticking with me! I changed the Tuner to sharing, but we only use Channels/HomeRun on one device at a time. It still freezes.
For the Home Streaming setting, there is Original, then 8 Mb, then lower settings. Changing to 8 Mb results in very poor quality, choppy video, so not an option. Did I misunderstand something? Could the Buffer Protection be a factor? But why would that suddenly become a problem?
What do you think is the base problem? The bandwidth seems very high - I switched the sticks to a wired connection. To be honest, the low free memory seemed like it fit the sudden "nothing has changed and now it doesn't work" scenario, as the only thing that might change without realizing it is the memory getting used up with new apps. So I had high hopes by freeing up 2 GB of space. Shouldn't that be enough? I could add additional external storage if that still seems a possbile solution.
Edit: sorry I just saw my mistake on the Original quality delivery. I'll try that
Changing the quality of delivery did not help either.
Submit logs to support.
I eventually noticed that the freezing seemed to occur mostly at the start of replay and after a commercial skip, possibly indicating some "startup/catchup" surge in activity? Then I saw that the Amazon Spring Sale is offeriing Fire TV Stick 4K Max at 40% off ($39.99), with 16GB storage and 2.0 GHz quad-core processor. No more freezing (and zippier performance)! Evidently something changed several weeks ago that demanded more than the older sticks could deliver? Thanks agaiin for all the suggestions.