Some videos not playing after upgrading from v13.6 to v14.12

[binary512]

I am upgrading to the most recent version 14.12 from v13.6, and am having problems with some videos (that I have had in the past with previous versions).
I am testing v14.12 on a test server before upgrading my permanent server (v13.6) to make sure everything works.
There are three videos that are giving me problems. They all start with "Test.Fail" with a description of the failure and can be seen in the attached log file.
I had similar problems when trying to upgrade to v14.4. (from v13.6).
The TV being used is a Sony Bravia KDL-55HX750.
Thank you.

P.S. A similar problem was fixed here...
https://www.universalmediaserver.com/fo ... 1&start=10
But it now appears it has returned.

[binary512]

I think a prior fix for similar issue was done here...
https://www.universalmediaserver.com/fo ... 762#p48762
and here...
https://github.com/UniversalMediaServer ... ssues/4901

But the same issue has returned with v14.x.

[mik_s]

Not had time to look into this properly yet, just had a quick scan and need to reread those threads.
From what I can see it is only videos that have subtitles that are the problem as there are none defined in the conf for this TV.

I tried to have a look at the specs of this TV but could not find much. I don't think it supports subtitles so these have to be burned into the video which means transcoding.
I don't think MKV videos are supported either.

I did see one video set to be transcoded due to the encoding level being too high (was 4.2 but max at 4.1) but in the transcoding command it was just copying both the video and audio stream instead of transcoding so it kept the same level. I think this is the one that plays for a few seconds.

Do these work when playing from the #--TRANSCODE--# folder and selecting "no transcoding" just to confirm this is correct.
Do subtitles work on the TV so you are able to turn them on and off on the TV itself?

[binary512]

Re: From what I can see it is only videos that have subtitles that are the problem as there are none defined in the conf for this TV.
Ans: It also includes videos without subtitles. The second video shown here does not have subs and does not play properly.

Re: I don't think MKV videos are supported either.
Ans: MKV videos are supported. They play properly with UMS v13.6.

Re: I don't think it supports subtitles so these have to be burned into the video which means transcoding.
It supports subtitles. It plays the videos properly in UMS v13.6.

Re: Do these work when playing from the #--TRANSCODE--# folder and selecting "no transcoding" just to confirm this is correct.
Ans:
Video "Test.Fail.Internal Subs (audio and subs out-of-sync)" plays using FFMPEG. "No Transcoding" option is not shown/available.
Video "Test.Fail.No subs (plays audio but black picture)" plays using FFMPEG. "No Transcoding" option is not shown/available.
Video "Test.Fail.Skips every 3-4 seconds" plays using "No Transcoding". Does NOT play using FFMPEG. Video skips every 3-4 seconds. The video file does not contain subs.

Re: Do subtitles work on the TV so you are able to turn them on and off on the TV itself?
Ans: Subtitles show on the TV, but there is no option to turn them on or off. The TV plays whatever UMS sends it. But the problem is not subtitles, as these videos work fine with UMS v13.6.

Lastly, the two links in the second message provides information that may be of help.
Thank you.

[mik_s]

From what I understand from your answers MKVs and subtitles are not supported on your TV so UMS has been transcoding them in the previous version as you say you cannot turn on or off subs on the TV, this means they have been burned into the video by UMS.

I want to confirm this as it is better to avoid transcoding whenever possible and could be fixed with a conf tweak.
If the "no transcoding" option is not showing on your TV in the #--TRANSCODE--# folder then it may be hiding it as not supported, like for MKVs, as I can see UMS is sending that file in the list.
A work around is you could try disabling all transcoding in the settings and see if any of those videos play or disappear.

The video that skips is not being transcoded so this proves the TV is unable to play it properly so UMS needs to transcode this too.
That video has h264 at 4.2 but the TV can only play up to 4.1

Code: Select all

Video Id: 0, Codec: h264, Format Profile: main, Format Level: 4.2

UMS does detect this as needing to be transcoded

Code: Select all

File "Test.Fail.Skips every 3-4 seconds.mp4" will not be streamed because the H.264 level (4.2) is not supported by the renderer (limit: 4.1).

So there must be some difference in the transcoding command if these worked before. I don't know much about the the actual transcoding command so will have to do a bit of research on the level as I cannot see anything being set for this when transcoding, but may be using a default setting so not needed.

Could you do a log from the previous version that worked so I can compare as I cannot replicate your setup here.

[binary512]

I have attached the Log File from my v13.6 system. The results are as follows:
Video File "Test.Fail.Internal Subs (audio and subs out-of-sync)" - Works in v13.6. When using v14.12, it works if I select the FFMpeg option from the Transcode menu.
Video File "Test.Fail.No subs (plays audio but black picture)" - Works in v13.6. When using v14.12, it works if I select the FFMpeg option from the Transcode menu.
Video File "Test.Fail.Skips every 3-4 seconds" - Does NOT work in v13.6. But does work if I select No Transcoding from the Transcode menu. Is there a UMS option that can rectify this?

Thank you.

P.S.
I see v13.6 has the following entry:
DEBUG 2025-06-02 07:13:25.684 [jupnp-netty-worker 1] net.pms.dlna.DLNAResource Final verdict: "Test.Fail.No subs (plays audio but black picture).mkv" will be transcoded with engine "FFmpeg Video" with mime type "video/x-matroska"

v14.12 has:
DEBUG 2025-05-30 10:09:12.069 [jupnp-sync-protocol 544-1] net.pms.store.StoreItem Final verdict: "Test.Fail.No subs (plays audio but black picture).mkv" will be transcoded with transcodingSettings "FFmpeg Video (MPEGPS-MPEG2-AC3)" with mime type "video/x-matroska"

UMS appears to be wanting to use FFmpeg both times, but maybe there is some parameter being passed to FFmpeg in v14.12 that causes problems, as it works fine using the FFMpeg from the Transcode menu in v14.12.?.?

[mik_s]

So "Test.Fail.Skips every 3-4 seconds" will play without transcoding which means the TV can play higher than level 4.1.
A small tweak to the conf to set the level at 4.2 will allow UMS to stream these videos.

Do the other 2 videos play without transcoding? If so then I can add MKV videos as supported too.

I have setup the conf to allow level 4.2 and as a test to enable subtitles as supported so it should stream the video instead of transcoding, but you will need to test if you can enable the subs on the TV itself. It may not be the sub button on the remote as for my Samsung TV you have to go into the video options to enable them.
If this does not work then you can delete the subtitle section at the end but will mean all videos with subs will be transcoded.

Sony-BraviaHX_subtest.conf

(2.1 KiB) Downloaded 13 times

copy to "C:\ProgramData\UMS\renderers" so it does not get overwritten on the next update

When it is transcoding it should be using FFmpeg but there is one setting that will defer to Mencoder when there are certain types of subtitles.

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Switching from FFmpeg to MEncoder to transcode subtitles because the user setting is enabled.

I think this was because FFmpeg did not handle some of them correctly in the past but should no longer be an issue.
Mencoder is usually the suspect if they are out of sync too and may be causing the black screen if it works normally when selecting FFmpeg in the Transcoding folder.

Try turning off "Defer to MEncoder when transcoding problematic subtitles." in FFmpeg settings.

Screenshot 2025-06-04 032732.png (55.89 KiB) Viewed 30307 times

I think the way this setting worked changed or got enabled by default when it used to be off between those versions.

[binary512]

I made the recommended changes, putting the test renderer file in the location specified. The TV does not have an option to "Enable/Disable subs". It shows whatever UMS sends it.
I also Unchecked the option to "Defer to MEncoder..."

Here are the results (log file attached).
Video File "Test.Fail.Internal Subs (audio and subs out-of-sync)" - Normal menu option selection (Works); Transcode menu/FFMpeg (Works).
Video File "Test.Fail.No subs (plays audio but black picture)" - Normal menu option selection (Does NOT Work-shows black screen and skips every 3-4 seconds); Transcode menu/FFMpeg (Works).
Video File "Test.Fail.Skips every 3-4 seconds" - Normal menu option selection (Works); Transcode menu/FFMpeg (Does NOT Work-shows black screen and skips every 3-4 seconds). Transcode menu/No Transcoding option selected (Works).

For every file, there is an option that works, but sometimes UMS does not select the correct one.
The first video, it selects FFMpeg properly, and that works.
The second video, it is NOT selecting FFMpeg, which DOES work if it is selected from the Transcode menu.
The third video, it selects the correct method (not sure which one, could be MEncoder or No Transcoding).

Hope this helps.

[mik_s]

The subtitle file is being offered to the TV so if you there is nowhere to enable then then the TV does not support this and those videos will need to be transcoded to burn in the subtitles to be able to see them.

Good to see videos 1 and 3 working properly, the 3rd one is being streamed so does not need transcoding.

The second one is being transcoded with FFmpeg but the video stream is being copied as it should work being h264 at level 3.1 but for some reason your TV does not like this.
I have no idea what could be causing the incompatibility.

Code: Select all

[Video Id: 0, Title: GalaxyTV - small excellence!, Codec: h264, Format Profile: high, Format Level: 3.1, Stream Order: 0, Duration: 0:43:57.643, Resolution: 1280 x 720, Display Aspect Ratio: 16:9, Scan Type: Progressive, Frame Rate: 30.0, Matrix Coefficients: BT.709, Reference Frame Count: 4]

Do you have any other videos that the same thing happens to? I might be able to find something in common if there are others.

I did compare that video with the first one that has internal subs and maybe this is causing it as otherwise it is the same video as the metadata on the episode title is the same.
Having internal subs in a MKV file would mean it has do a full transcode anyway as they cannot be sent separately. As the second one did not have subs it was just copying the video stream instead which should have worked.

I just don't know what is incompatible with the video stream in the first place, it just might have been the way it was encoded.

Playing from the transcode folder forces a full transcode which does work and can be played but not ideal to need to use this folder each time.
Maybe disabling "Remux videos with tsMuxeR when possible instead of transcoding" will fix this as what it is doing is remuxing, just not using tsMuxeR.

I did find the I-Manuel (P128 + P190) for the TV and while it give almost no information of what it can play it does not mention MKVs and says it will hide unsupported videos so that is why the "no transcoding" option was not showing for MKV videos.

I updated the conf to remove the subtitles section again. Delete the other one and replace it with this.

Sony-BraviaHX-mod.conf

(1.99 KiB) Downloaded 11 times

[binary512]

This file fixes many things...however, there is still a problem with the second video "Test.Fail.2.No subs (plays audio but black picture)".
On UMS v14.10, it still shows a black screen and the video skips every 3-4 seconds when selected from the Normal playback list.
It DOES WORK when selecting FFMpeg from the #TRANSCODE# menu.

Re: "Do you have any other videos that the same thing happens to? I might be able to find something in common if there are others."
I also have another video (like number 2) that has the same issues with name "Test.Fail.2.Alternate.No subs (plays audio but black picture)".

All the other videos work fine when selecting the video from the Normal playback list, even though video 3 (the one with h264 v4.2) does not work with FFMpeg, but DOES work with MEncoder. So things are working as they should with this video.

I have included log files for both v13.6 and v14.10. The second video(s) play fine on v13.6, so maybe you can spot a difference between that and v14.10.

Re: "Maybe disabling "Remux videos with tsMuxeR when possible instead of transcoding" will fix this as what it is doing is remuxing, just not using tsMuxeR."
This option is not checked (i.e. disabled) on both v13.6 and v14.10.