Sound & Video freezes while Playing Recorded Shows.

[tjembury]

I've had a challenge come up in the last couple of days.  While playing recorded television shows from my ignite box, after 30 seconds or so the audio will stop playing while the video continues for a few seconds, then it will be back to normal for about 5-10 seconds then do it again.  Occasionally the video will freeze during playback, while audio continues, then it will unfreeze and continue.  This makes watching recorded shows very hard to do.  Regular TV and the Netflix/Prime Video apps all work with no pauses or delays.  It's just the playback of the cloud recordings that are an issue.

I'm not connected directly to the XB6, but am running it in bridge mode to a powerful Asus GT-AX11000 router.  My Ignite TV boxes are connected to the Asus via wi-fi.  Nothing in the router logs about dropping packets or anything, and nothing else seems impacted, so I am at a loss on how this is happening (and why it only started a few days ago.) No new firmware was updated, and I've had this setup for over a year now.  I would prefer not to try to connect to the XB6 directly, due to issues from before, but am at a loss on what to do here.  Any thoughts would be helpful!

*** Edited Labels ***

[toolcubed]

Interesting. I was about to post something similar in a different thread but perhaps it’s best that I mention it here.

I have a similar configuration. Ignite gateway bridged behind an Asus RT-AC86U, which I recently purchased (couple weeks ago). Over the last two months (ever since I switched to Ignite), I was running my Xi6 box over WiFi because using an ethernet connection to my old AC68U router was problematic for some reason…channel changing was painfully slow.

A couple of days ago, I decided to try connecting the Xi6 via ethernet again since I wanted to see if the new router made a difference, and to my amazement, it worked! So I figured there was probably something wrong with my old router.

Anyway, with this configuration (Xi6 connected via ethernet), live tv and 3rd party apps (Netflix, Prime, etc) all work great, but with PVR recordings and on demand content, I’m getting intermittent audio drop outs and video freezes, just as you described. There’s nothing in my router’s log to suggest that anything is wrong with the Xi6’s connection (no timeouts or anything like that) when the issues occur. If I disconnect the ethernet cable and run the Xi6 via WiFi only, everything works fine…no problems with audio or video for recordings and on demand content. So while my issue is similar to what you’re experiencing, I’m noticing it ONLY when my tv box is connected thru ethernet.

Having said all of that, seeing your post makes me wonder if there’s a larger problem on Rogers’ end with recordings and on demand content that has nothing to do with the way the Xi6 is connected to the network. It’s possible the issue coincidentally started at the same time as when I switched my connection over from WiFi to ethernet and I’d still see the issue if I switch back to WiFi only. I’ll have to do some more testing but would be good to hear from others in the community to see if they’ve also noticed any audio/video glitches recently…

[toolcubed]

***UPDATE***

I just tested with Xi6 connected to WiFi only (no ethernet), the way I've been running my setup for the last ~2 months, and can confirm that I still get the intermittent audio drops and picture freezes with on demand content and recordings.  I also tested with the XB6 in gateway mode (took my Asus router out of the equation) and can confirm that the same issues persist.  NOTE (again) that these issues did not occur until a couple of days ago.

In summary:

All Live TV channels and all 3rd party streaming apps work fine; intermittent audio drops and picture freezes ONLY with on demand content and recordings.  Issue is observed regardless of how the Xi6 is connected, and I've tested it in the following configurations (power cycling the Xi6 each time I changed configurations):

1. Xi6 connected to Asus router over WiFi only (no ethernet) with XB6 bridged

2. Xi6 connected to Asus router with ethernet cable with XB6 bridged

3. Xi6 connected to XB6 (in gateway mode) wirelessly

4. Xi6 connected to XB6 (in gateway mode) with ethernet cable

So something has definitely changed in the last couple of days on Rogers' end.

Tagging @CommunityHelps to see if anyone knows if there's a widespread problem with the Ignite cloud PVR service and on demand content.

[toolcubed · Accepted solution]

***UPDATE 2***

Today, everything was fine.  No audio or video glitches on recordings or on demand content.  Hopefully it's fixed and this isn't an intermittent issue.  Will keep monitoring and report back if anything changes.

[tjembury]

toolcubed - You did a great job reporting your testing and results.  Thank you so much for that. Just like your last post, mine cleared up along the same time.  Clearly this was a Rogers issue that their tech support didn't know about, but they resolved at some point.  Mine is back to working with no issues.

[toolcubed]

Glad to hear 🙂 Agreed that there was definitely an issue with the Ignite cloud PVR and on demand services. Question is whether or not it impacted all Ignite customers or just a few. Nevertheless, everything is back to normal and hopefully it stays that way.

[Xdj]

Ignite TV PVR: video freezes, audio stops working, error xre-06014, programs will not play

Greetings,

I’m curious if anyone has been having any issues with recorded programs saved in the PVR cloud freezing up, audio dropping, error code XRE-06014, shows prematurely stopping and prompted to be deleted, as well as "The recording you are trying to play is not available at this time. Please try again shortly. If the problem persists, please call."?

For the last few days, I’ve been unable to watch any of my recorded shows due to these issues.

I’ve done the standard rebooting/unplugging of all devices involved without any improvements on the situation. The gateway modem is an XB6… also 2x ASUS RT-AC86U and a RT-AC66U_B1

I even watched a couple of shows from 3 months ago that I hadn’t deleted yet and they were riddled with similar issues as the new shows. When the older shows were first watched they played normally without incident.

Does anyone know if there are any issues with Rogers PVR cloud service because it’s impossible to watch any shows I’ve recorded now?

For what I pay for Rogers’ services, I would expect better service/performance from them.

I also tried watching the recorded shows through my laptop and still had the same problems. I was trying to eliminate the Ignite TV box as the issue.

Internet conductivity is fine, streaming services are problem-free; even OnDemand shows play ok. So, my diagnosis is that there’s an issue with Rogers cloud PVR service.

I honestly can’t stand calling support as I was on the phone for over 3 hours the last time I had an issue, and my time is worth too much to be stuck on a call for that length of time!

Does anyone have any suggestions, the problem is new and my hardware hasn’t changed in over a year?

Cheers,

X

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@Xdj wrote:

I’m curious if anyone has been having any issues with recorded programs saved in the PVR cloud freezing up, audio dropping, error code XRE-06014, shows prematurely stopping and prompted to be deleted, as well as "The recording you are trying to play is not available at this time. Please try again shortly. If the problem persists, please call."?

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I ran into such issues in late August/early September and reported them to Rogers.  Things seem to be fine for me now as far as I can tell.

[JoB46]

we have been having this problem for weeks now, and not sure how it can be fixed.   What was the solution that someone came up with?     I would appreciated any help!   Thank you   

[RogersMoin]

Hello, @JoB46.

Thank you for joining the conversation, and welcome to Rogers Community Forums!

When the issue was reported a few months ago, it seems there was a temporary issue at the backend, and it was resolved. Are you experiencing the audio & video freezing for both recorded and On Demand content?

@toolcubed/ @-G-  - Have you noticed this problem recently?

Cheers,
RogersMoin

[-G-]

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@RogersMoin wrote:

Hello, @JoB46.

Thank you for joining the conversation, and welcome to Rogers Community Forums!

When the issue was reported a few months ago, it seems there was a temporary issue at the backend, and it was resolved. Are you experiencing the audio & video freezing for both recorded and On Demand content?

@-G-  - Have you noticed this problem recently?

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No, my Ignite TV service is working perfectly at the moment.

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@JoB46 wrote:

we have been having this problem for weeks now, and not sure how it can be fixed.   What was the solution that someone came up with?     I would appreciated any help!   Thank you   

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With the problem that I was experiencing a two months ago, things were getting garbled in the backend, when the source feed was getting encoded.  The program (along with the audio/video dropouts) got recorded in the cloud.  When I watched the program (on-demand or recorded content) on different set-top boxes or on my computer, the dropouts occurred at PRECISELY the same point.  The drop-outs were not caused by an in-home network problem or due to any problems with my Internet service. I reported the problem to Rogers and they fixed it.

You can also get dropouts due to network-related issues in the home; those are random and can happen if you have severe latency, severe packet loss, WiFi problems, or you do not have sufficient network bandwidth (for whatever reason) to sustain a network stream to the set-top box.  The set-top box temporarily runs out of buffered data to process and that results in the audio and/or video dropping out.

[toolcubed]

Hello. Same here. Everything has been working perfectly well for me. The only time I had the issue with intermittent freezing of video and intermittent audio drops was when I posted about it a couple months ago…same time as when @-G- confirmed he was also having the issue. No issues since then.

[stoneball]

My Ignite is a few months old and I've been having this for a few weeks now, both recorded and live shows. My setup is standard gateway with 1 pod and 2 wifi TV boxes. The screen will either go black for 10 seconds or so, or the picture will freeze with no audio for several seconds, or even the error message that the recording is not available part way through show. I've rebooted gateway, wifi boxes and said "mother may" repeatedly to no avail. I've spoken to "Anna" about it and did as she advised also with no change. I'm trying to summon the energy to report it to Rogers via phone.

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@stoneball wrote:

My Ignite is a few months old and I've been having this for a few weeks now, both recorded and live shows. My setup is standard gateway with 1 pod and 2 wifi TV boxes. The screen will either go black for 10 seconds or so, or the picture will freeze with no audio for several seconds, or even the error message that the recording is not available part way through show. I've rebooted gateway, wifi boxes and said "mother may" repeatedly to no avail. I've spoken to "Anna" about it and did as she advised also with no change. I'm trying to summon the energy to report it to Rogers via phone.

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This is almost definitely due to poor WiFi connectivity in your home.

You can do a quick health check of your Internet by logging into your Ignite gateway and then going to "Gateway > Connection > Rogers Network".  Scroll to the bottom and look at the "Uncorrectable Codewords" error stats.  If you see zeros across all channels, then your Internet connection is probably not the problem.

It's also important to place the Pod in a location that still has good WiFi connectivity to the Ignite gateway.  If a device does not have good connectivity there then neither will the Pod.

Also, if your WiFi network is performing poorly then all devices will experience poor connectivity, even those that are positioned right next to the Ignite gateway.

[stoneball]

Sounds reasonable. My  "Uncorrectable Codewords" are all zeros so I moved my pod to a location with better gateway signal strength and will see what the results are.

Thanks 

[mayhem99]

I'm interested in the "uncorrectable codewords" comments - mine are NOT all zeros and I have been having horrible video freezes and audio drops for the past 3 weeks or so. All worked beautifully since I converted to ignite around end of june or so. 

Config - XB7---Eth--Asus 86U -----Netgear 1GB sw ------(aimesh) ----asus 68U -  (2.4 & 5G wirelss ) setup as well as wired PC's etc. 

Freezes and drop occur on XI-6 devices wirelessly connected or ethernet hardwired - doesnt seem to matter. Watching apple tv or amazon prime is NO problem at all. Only issue is watching live TV - I've checked and re-checked and replaced cables etc , check configs, firmware etc. All seems fine with my internal stuff - have to suspect rogers somewhere. Again this has been fine for months including to an outside project in the backyard in the summer. All great. Pulling out what's left of hair ! rogers says testing to their box all good. What can I ask about the uncorrectable code words, as I mentioned they are not zeros at all? thanks for any assistance...

[-G-]

@mayhem99  Anytime that you see Uncorrectable Codewords, that's packet loss.  Your Ignite modem will be using the OFDM downstream channel.  That modulation employs error correction so it's totally normal (and actually a good thing) to see a large number of Correctable errors but the Uncorrectables much be zero, or close to zero.  If you see a huge burst of errors, it may be due to a noise spike or some other transient issue that you do not need to worry about.  If the Uncorrecable count keeps increasing, then that's indicative of a problem.

As for Ignite TV, unless you are experiencing severe packet loss or severe latency spikes, it should work just as well as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or any other streaming service.  An HD stream requires at least 10 Mb/s of bandwidth.  You will see audio and video dropouts when the set-top box runs out of buffered data to process.  It can happen due to insufficient bandwidth anywhere on the network path to the set-top box or if streamed data needs to be retransmitted and ends up arriving too late to be processed.  You can also run into problems if you enable QoS, priority queuing or traffic shaping on your network but do not configure it correctly, or implement it for the wrong reasons and make existing problems worse.

Also, here are the error stats from my modem:

CM Error Codewords
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33
4184018333	3594292038	3594310666	3594320501	3594327340	3594346318	3594359379	3594366970	3594372817	3594371826	3594386502	3594393804	3594398548	3594409927	3594416839	3594418465	3594431342	3594441646	3594438385	3594457969	3594462173	3594464445	3594473029	3594353112	3504246331	3594498331	3594497951	3594515457	3594512107	3594523846	3594524261	3594524458	4184018333
134826928	90	5	4	4	1	1	2	1	0	1	1	3	1	1	2	2	1	0	1	2	2	0	55446	43347	2	3	4	9	2	9	9	134826928
834	74	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	59456	56180	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	834

Normally, I have zero uncorrectable errors across the board, so something happened in my area since I last power-cycled my gateway.  However, the Uncorrectable Codewords stat on my downstream OFDM channel has remained steady at 834, and has not increased in days.  Neither have the stats on the D3.0 channels.  My Downstream and Upstream signal levels are also totally healthy.

Needless to say, whenever I see Uncorrectable errors spike, I will start watching the stats closely... but this is not something that I am concerned about at the moment because none of the critical stats are changing and nothing is trending in the wrong direction.

[mayhem99]

Thanks for the response. I can switch from horrible TV (wired or wireless) to Apple TV etc and there are no freezes or drops. This is via Nvidia Shield TV devices that are wired to the same switch that I can connect the XI-6 devices to. At first, I thought perhaps the switch was an issue but Nvidia boxes have no issues whatsoever, only live TV and either wired or wireless. As mentioned this current configuration has worked fine since I converted from cable to ignite around june or so. Only the last 3 weeks approximately have we seen these issues. It certainly seems like packet loss and retransmissions. CPU and buffers all seem fine on the routers. Interesting (but very frustrating problem) 🙂 Been watching my router during the issues perhaps now I'll watch the XB7 and see if I can see the uncorrectable counters move.  

[-G-]

@mayhem99  The biggest difference between live Ignite TV and Netflix is that Netflix has much more buffer depth, so packet loss, if that is the problem, would have less of an impact.

In my home, I have things configured such that I can run my Ignite gateway with Bridge Mode enabled (and use my own router) or disabled, in a configuration that Rogers can support.  If you are experiencing any Ignite TV issues, you need to revert back to a supported configuration.

The Ignite TV set-top boxes were designed to be connected directly to an Ignite gateway.  That is the only configuration that Rogers can support.

Even with the Ignite set-top boxes connected via Ethernet, you can also run into all sorts of weird issues if the Wi-Fi network, that they used to be connected to, disappears and/or is different from the Wi-Fi credentials that had been configured in the Ignite gateway.  The Xi6 set-top boxes are not normal streaming boxes like your Apple TV or Nvidia Shield.

[pgcairo45]

Several freezes every few minutes during playback of a recording esp. after some fast fwd or pausing and with msg to "try again later"

[RogersCorey]

Good morning @pgcairo45!

Is this happening with all recordings or just some recordings? If you play that episode from On Demand (if available) instead, does it also have this same issue?

Regards,

RogersCorey