Web player just sits there with a spinning circle

[chDVRuser]

This happens way too often.
Spurred on by this post

@maddox

While we prioritize the experience of the client, yes, we don’t think the web player being broken is ok. We’re going to look into it.

I thought maybe the devs would also consider this broken.
Trying to play the same recording in three different browsers exhibits the same failure. Spinning circle.
Firefox

Edge

Brave

Channels DVR v2024.10.14.0146
Settings

This one is an HDHR Prime recording

Doing a Regenerate Video Index on the recording fixes it.
I thought the Video Index was created during the recording?
If so, maybe it wasn't accurate?

Anyone else able to confirm Regenerate Video Index fixes it for them?

[chDVRuser]

@chDVRuser

Doing a Regenerate Video Index on the recording fixes it.

Tried that with another recording from the same source that was doing the same thing. Didn't fix that one. But if I skip forward 30 seconds it will start playing, then skip back 10 seconds three times, it will play starting at about the 2-3 second mark and continue for the remainder of the recording.

[GTFan]

I've seen this too, both with completed and in progress recordings. In my experience if you skip forward slowly and let it catch up it usually works, if you try to skip multiple times quickly that's when you get the circle.

[chDVRuser]

I get the spinning circle (loading) as soon as I start playback on a completed recording.
I can let it continue remuxing until it finished remuxing the whole recording, but the playhead stays at 0 seconds and it never starts playing. See the three screenshots in my first post.

[chDVRuser]

I just tried another completed recording from the same source.
Same issue. Doesn't start playing.
Regenerate Video Index doesn't fix it.
Changing Transcoder & Deinterlacer to Hardware & Hardware or Software & Linear doesn't fix it.
Skip 30 seconds ahead and it starts playing.

[GTFan]

I just got back from a short vacation and played many recordings over that time, had to repeatedly restart the player because I kept getting endless spinning circles randomly when I tried to skip forward. And sometimes when I restarted vid it would start playing like 30 minutes or so ahead instead of the 2-3 minutes that I hit with right arrow (using laptop with Chrome on Win11).

So the video indexing is really messed up, in addition to the endless spinning circles. As far as I can see the web player is way too buggy to use for regular remote viewing on PC. I ended up casting the screen from my phone to the hotel TV which wasn't great but it worked. Android app had no issues.

[chDVRuser]

I only use the web player when I'm at home and want to watch something like the news I recorded.
I wouldn't use it remotely, nor would I watch a game or movie with it.

Sometimes I'll use it just to quickly check if a recording is what the guide data said it was.

[chDVRuser]

I really didn't want to add this other issue until the devs responded, but...

I get so frustrated using the web UI player because of this, since I know it should just work.
I also have recordings that will start playing, but with no audio. Maybe 30 seconds in the audio starts playing, then 5 seconds later there's no audio, then 5 seconds later there's audio, rinse and repeat. The video plays all the time, but the audio cuts out.

I haven't narrowed it down to which recordings exhibit this behavior, since that would be troubleshooting time and it appears there's no interest in fixing the web player. The latest one today was a FrndlyTV recording. Regenerated the Video index on it and no help. Ended up moving it out of Channels DVR.

[chDVRuser]

And where did the local cache go?
I know things keep changing and moving, but I don't see it anywhere in Settings to clear it out using v2024.10.17.1732
Wasn't it under Settings > Advanced > Transcoder?
Not in Settings >

• Status
• General
• Sources
• Live TV & DVR
• Clients
• Advanced
• About

This one that I found in one of my other servers.
Clear Streaming Cache.

The directories show

The server I was just playing a recording on shows

Where each directory is empty, except for a file named transcoder.log
I was playing FileID 2841

Trying it again, I now see the folder

but there's no Clear Streaming Cache

[speedingcheetah]

Is there a specific scenario or channel that causes this?
I am unable to re-produce this issue.
Web UI player works fine for me in Edge on Win 11, also tried Chrome.
I rarely use it, but just tried with yesterdays completed recording of On Patrol Live (TVE) and it played instantly and was able to seek instantly as well.
No remuxing or transcoding.
I notice in your screenshot that the player is remuxing.
I tried a few local media files that caused remux and even transcode, still near instant playback and seeking.
This is all local playback, i do not access remote.

Both of my servers playback via web UI works great. One is Windows based, the other Linux
Both are server version 2024.10.17.1732

[Edwin_Perez]

@speedingcheetah

Edit: I just noticed, my Windows based server has under its settings Transcoder a Cache option, but my Linux server, does not. Also, Deinterlacer option, Linux has a Hardware option, Windows server does not. Both of my servers playback via web UI works great.

Where do you see that Cache option ?

[speedingcheetah]

@Edwin_Perez

Where do you see that Cache option ?

Like i said, under Transcoder. just like in your first screen shot.

And... just was going to take screen shots of both my servers, i must be blind or maybe cause i had not had my late morning coffee, but i swear when i first compared the 2 servers an hour ago, the Linux server did not have Cache option. Now it does. The only difference is that Linux server has a Hardware option under Deinterlacer.

[speedingcheetah]

@Edwin_Perez

Where do you see that Cache option ?

Oh. Hello!. I was not crazy! I was right the first time, that my Linux server did not have the cache option.

The cache option under Advanced / Transcoder, only appears when there is cache on disk.
I clicked that option and clear cache, and now the option does not show at all.

I play something in the web ui from that server, and it appears again.

What server hardware are you running into this issue on? From one of your screen shots of cache location, appears to be a NAS? Maybe it has something to do with that NAS's OS, some permission issue or something.

[chDVRuser]

@speedingcheetah

Is there a specific scenario or channel that causes this?
I notice in your screenshot that the player is remuxing.

Happens randomly with different sources.
As shown in my first post, two recordings of PBS from my HDHR Prime exhibit the failure.
It has to remux because the recorded audio is AC-3 which can't play in the web player.

I have another recent recording from FrndlyTV that plays, but audio plays 2 seconds, 2 seconds of silence, audio plays 2 seconds, 2 seconds of silence ... Even after doing a Regenerate Video Index.

I can post stats of the recording when this happens again, if it will help troubleshoot.

[chDVRuser]

@speedingcheetah

What server hardware are you running into this issue on? From one of your screen shots of cache location, appears to be a NAS? Maybe it has something to do with that NAS's OS, some permission issue or something.

I assume that was meant for me and not Edwin_Perez.
Channels is running on a Synology NAS and my directory screenshots I made were from Windows Explorer looking at the NAS directory through an SMB share. Channels runs on and uses the NAS to record, I just sometimes view the NAS directories from my Windows laptop.

[chDVRuser]

Just wanted to add that these recordings not playing correctly in the web player, play fine in the following;

• Channels iOS app
• Channels VLC player Integration
• Media Player
• Windows Media Player
• Windows Movies & TV
• VLC player

[chDVRuser]

Another recording just sitting there spinning in the web player.
In progress HDHR cable recording from CBS.
Let the remux run for about 2.5 minutes, then clicked the 30 second skip and it started playing.
Played all the way through without issues.

[tmm1]

Does chrome's network inspector show it downloading .ts segments or is it stuck there too?

[chDVRuser]

Cleared the cache and marked the recording as unwatched.
From DVR > Manage > Shows I started playing in the web player and let it remux to about 3 minutes.
Just a spinning circle in the player and the playhead stayed at 0 seconds.

Channels log

2024/10/28 08:42:56.187935 [ENC] Starting encoder for America's Test Kitchen S25E06 2024-10-26 Easy Chicken Dinners 2024-10-26-1000.mpg in /shares/dvr/Streaming/file8153-ip192.168.1.8-3710160607/encoder-0-3272807705 at 0 (0.000000) (encoder=remux, acodec=aac, bitrate=3970, segment_size=0.01)
2024/10/28 08:42:56.227098 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x9019540] Packet corrupt (stream = 0, dts = 8418957586), dropping it.
2024/10/28 08:42:56.227146 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x9019540] Packet corrupt (stream = 1, dts = 8418757973), dropping it.
2024/10/28 08:42:56.227156 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x9019540] Packet corrupt (stream = 2, dts = 8418757973), dropping it.
2024/10/28 08:43:33.914355 [ENC] Stopped encoder for America's Test Kitchen S25E06 2024-10-26 Easy Chicken Dinners 2024-10-26-1000.mpg in /shares/dvr/Streaming/file8153-ip192.168.1.8-3710160607/encoder-0-3272807705 after encoding 0 to 100

Network Inspector

This is what happens when I click the skip 30 seconds button.
Cleared the cache and marked the recording as unwatched.
From DVR > Manage > Shows I started playing in the web player and let it remux to about 1.5 minutes.
Just a spinning circle in the player and the playhead stayed at 0 seconds.
I then clicked the 30 second skip button and it started playing.

Channels log

2024/10/28 09:21:44.869230 [ENC] Starting encoder for America's Test Kitchen S25E06 2024-10-26 Easy Chicken Dinners 2024-10-26-1000.mpg in /shares/dvr/Streaming/file8153-ip192.168.1.8-1258289104/encoder-0-951207849 at 0 (0.000000) (encoder=remux, acodec=aac, bitrate=3970, segment_size=0.01)
2024/10/28 09:21:44.908390 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x7c28540] Packet corrupt (stream = 0, dts = 8418957586), dropping it.
2024/10/28 09:21:44.908452 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x7c28540] Packet corrupt (stream = 1, dts = 8418757973), dropping it.
2024/10/28 09:21:44.908464 [HLS] ffmpeg: file8153-ip192.168.1.8:  [mpegts @ 0x7c28540] Packet corrupt (stream = 2, dts = 8418757973), dropping it.
2024/10/28 09:22:29.841951 [ENC] Stopped encoder for America's Test Kitchen S25E06 2024-10-26 Easy Chicken Dinners 2024-10-26-1000.mpg in /shares/dvr/Streaming/file8153-ip192.168.1.8-1258289104/encoder-0-951207849 after encoding 0 to 104

Network Inspector