Ondemand app hangs / crashes mid-programme around ad breaks

I recently upgraded to a FreeviewPlus capable Sony TV (model KD55X8500C) sold on FreeviewPlus with Ondemand built in. However since using have found Ondemand playback routinely fails part way through a programme, around the ad breaks. This can be at any ad break (has even happened once at the very start of a programme), though a pattern seems to be always failing at the second-to-last ad break of every Masterchef episode I watch!

What happens is either an error message "Sorry, there is a problem playing this video. Please try again later or contact us if the problem persists", or playback just hangs / freezes on a blank screen. Recovering from this also isn't easy, at a minimum you have to close Ondemand and open it again (which can be done with the error message), but more often than not the only way out is to turn the TV off and on again at the wall (as off / on doesn't work on the remote). Once back in the app, you need to fast forward to where you were up to, and very often it fails again. It's not unusual to take 3 or 4 attempts before it works again (once it even refused to work and I resorted to watching the rest of an episode on my phone). So rather frustrating, to say the least.

Are others having the same or similar problems?

Can anything be done to fix or avoid the problem, or is this more a case of having to wait for a software update of some sort? (for the record, have performed a factory reset of the TV's software, which didn't fix the problem).

Does this problem happen on the other FreeviewPlus capable TVs (LG, Panasonic, Samsung) or is it particular to just Sony / Android TV?

Thanks for any ideas!

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Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 16, 2016 at 10:42

Good Morning Kim

What method have you used to connect your TV to the internet, is it through WiFi or via a cable that is connected directly to your internet modem.

Sometimes at rare occasions if using wifi to watch OnDemand content and it contains a weak signal of internet connection, the OnDemand programmes take longer to navigate and play, this is the first we have had in from Sony Android TVs with this issue.

A best solution is to assess the setup in your home, if the router is in another room it might be best purchasing either WiFi extenders or Powerline Adapters which wil help with the FreeviewPlus ondemand playback 

Josh

Permalink Reply by Kim on February 16, 2016 at 13:13

Hi Josh,

Yep the TV is connected via wifi, with a good signal (judging by the wifi signal indicator). Other parts of the setup are VDSL broadband and an almost-new router from Spark. Unfortunately plugging the TV in via ethernet to either confirm or rule out wifi as the culprit just isn't practical (unless I can find a 10m long cable!).

FYI yesterday I also found this Geekzone post from somebody with the exact same problem happening on a Sony TV.

Cheers
Kim

Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 16, 2016 at 15:45

Hi Kim

Thanks for your reply, I will contact the right person behind the scenes and see if the issue is related to SONY or the specific models have some issues with loading FreeviewPlus, I will get back to you as soon as I hear any word.

Kind Regards
Josh

Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 19, 2016 at 12:11

Just an update Kim,

We have contacted SONY and their team are looking into the issue. Further updates here

SONY Android TVsare exhibiting intermittent On Demand Play Back issues where the video stalls on ad breaks, pressing the GREEN button on ad breaks will resume playback so you can return to viewing.   The model affected is the KD-49X8300C (but may affect other screen sizes in this series), this issue is not affecting any other brand of TVs / boxes, so has been escalated to SONY NZ for investigation. 

Hope this info helps!
Joshua

Permalink Reply by Kim on February 19, 2016 at 12:52

That's great progress thanks Josh. Hopefully they will be quick to troubleshoot the problem.

Permalink Reply by forumuser on February 19, 2016 at 13:07

From other users, there was an update provided by SONY which has the following:


This software update (version PKG3.315.0102PAB) provide the following benefits and improvements:

 

  • Support HDMI HDR (High Dynamic Range)
  • Support One Touch HDD Recording
  • Support Programmed (Timer) Recording
  • Support Remote Self Timer recording
  • Support display of recording contents on DUX
  • Change application name of 'TV SideView' to 'Video & TV SideView'
  • Improve general software quality of the TV "
Permalink Reply by Duncan on February 19, 2016 at 16:14

Hi Kim,

I'll reply to the "Does this problem happen on the other FreeviewPlus capable TVs (LG, Panasonic, Samsung) or is it particular to just Sony / Android TV?" bit.

Oh yes, it's probably not unique to SONY.  Personally, I find that the FreeviewPlus apps are mostly somewhat buggy.  My main TV is a new-ish Panasonic (on strong Wi-Fi signal either on 5GHz or 2.4GHz 802.11n).  It is not perfect but it works reasonably well.  Playing around with FF, REW, or leaving it on pause for too long can get it quite confused.  Other than that, the odd times it goes funny.

However, my previous DishTV brand aerialBox T2100 was buggy.  I only used it once a week to watch TV2 on-demand.  The following week, it would load the TV2 app, start playing ads over and over again, and never get to the program, or I end up with a "cannot play this video" message.  It started doing all kinds of weird stuff to TV3now as well.  Eventually, I would unplug the power, and plug it back in, and it would start behaving again for a few days.  Unfortunately, DishTV (and its aerialBox) seems to be the only Freeview and FreeviewPlus approved set-top box one can buy in NZ these days.

I know someone who has a new-ish LG Smart TV.  From what I've heard, the on-demand feature works, but is sometimes a bit buggy as well.

If the show starts and then it hangs, skips, or loses audio, then I am guessing that you are having Wi-Fi signal issue.  However, if it plays the ads but not the show, then I'd say it's the TV apps that's misbehaving.  

Sorry, not much help to your SONY situation, but maybe you could try turning it off at the wall to see if it helps?  Is this an Android TV?

Duncan

Permalink Reply by Kim on March 29, 2016 at 8:50

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the update last month. No surprise but that Sony software update made no difference to On Demand playback (it's still really buggy), and also FYI using the green button does nothing - if you're stuck in an ad break you stay stuck.

Any further updates would of course be most appreciated.

Kim


Josh said:

Just an update Kim,

We have contacted SONY and their team are looking into the issue. Further updates here

SONY Android TVsare exhibiting intermittent On Demand Play Back issues where the video stalls on ad breaks, pressing the GREEN button on ad breaks will resume playback so you can return to viewing.   The model affected is the KD-49X8300C (but may affect other screen sizes in this series), this issue is not affecting any other brand of TVs / boxes, so has been escalated to SONY NZ for investigation. 

Hope this info helps!
Joshua

Permalink Reply by Kim on March 29, 2016 at 8:55

Hi Duncan,

Yes the TV is an Android TV. I've also recently seen the exact same problems on a friend's Sony TV (model KD49X8300C) which is connected to her router via ethernet cable. So suggests the wifi signal won't be root cause of the issue.

Cheers
Kim



Duncan said:

Hi Kim,

I'll reply to the "Does this problem happen on the other FreeviewPlus capable TVs (LG, Panasonic, Samsung) or is it particular to just Sony / Android TV?" bit.

Oh yes, it's probably not unique to SONY.  Personally, I find that the FreeviewPlus apps are mostly somewhat buggy.  My main TV is a new-ish Panasonic (on strong Wi-Fi signal either on 5GHz or 2.4GHz 802.11n).  It is not perfect but it works reasonably well.  Playing around with FF, REW, or leaving it on pause for too long can get it quite confused.  Other than that, the odd times it goes funny.

However, my previous DishTV brand aerialBox T2100 was buggy.  I only used it once a week to watch TV2 on-demand.  The following week, it would load the TV2 app, start playing ads over and over again, and never get to the program, or I end up with a "cannot play this video" message.  It started doing all kinds of weird stuff to TV3now as well.  Eventually, I would unplug the power, and plug it back in, and it would start behaving again for a few days.  Unfortunately, DishTV (and its aerialBox) seems to be the only Freeview and FreeviewPlus approved set-top box one can buy in NZ these days.

I know someone who has a new-ish LG Smart TV.  From what I've heard, the on-demand feature works, but is sometimes a bit buggy as well.

If the show starts and then it hangs, skips, or loses audio, then I am guessing that you are having Wi-Fi signal issue.  However, if it plays the ads but not the show, then I'd say it's the TV apps that's misbehaving.  

Sorry, not much help to your SONY situation, but maybe you could try turning it off at the wall to see if it helps?  Is this an Android TV?

Duncan

Permalink Reply by stephen logan on April 11, 2016 at 18:37

Hi there i have a kdl-55w800c has the latest software is on a cabled network and running vdsl with good speeds and have the same problem with it lociing up when using on demand services tv1 tv2 and tv3 looks like it is when the ads come on but hard to tell am sick of this thought it was a smart tv but cant be some one need to fix it urgently 

Permalink Reply by Jklw on April 18, 2016 at 9:14

Hi, same here. I have a KD65X8500C and latest freeview plus software and firmware. The TV has VDSL (90Mbps) with direct cable connection. Exactly the same problem - screen freezes, and then "Sorry, there is a problem playing this video. Please try again later or contact us if the problem persists" when it comes to ad breaks. Is someone from Sony following this up?

Joe

Permalink Reply by forumuser on April 18, 2016 at 12:35

SONY doesn't monitor this page, but this is not the only case that we have seen reported, this is also happening on some Dish TV aerialBox devices too so will contact the Technology Manager here at Freeview and hopefully I'll get them to chase this up with TVNZ Ondemand and other parties.

Regards, Josh

Jklw said:

Hi, same here. I have a KD65X8500C and latest freeview plus software and firmware. The TV has VDSL (90Mbps) with direct cable connection. Exactly the same problem - screen freezes, and then "Sorry, there is a problem playing this video. Please try again later or contact us if the problem persists" when it comes to ad breaks. Is someone from Sony following this up?

Joe

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