UMS/Sony/VLC MKV file freezing

[ColemanEb]

Hello,
I've been a UMS user for years via the PS3, and had zero issues with most file types, including MKV's. Recently my PS3 died, and through research figured out that my Sony Bravia TV (XBR-65900E) would support UMS via the VLC app. Downloaded the app to the TV, and set everything up, and initially I thought I was good to go. But alas, I'd only tested the initial first few seconds of a video, and last night I discovered that several minutes into an MKV, the whole screen freezes up, and nothing moves after that! I tested it with several other files, and consistently it freezes about 4 min into the video.
Further troubleshooting reveals that the setup has no problems with the MP4 files, sailed 20 or more min into one of them with no issues.
Physical setup is an iMac running Mojave 10.14.1, hard wired to a Gig Router. Sony TV also hardwired to same Gig Router on home network. Sony Bravia has latest updates, and VLC App version is 3.3.1.
Tested with two different versions of UMS, 9.1, and 9.8.1.
Debug files from the 9.8.1 are attached. Any help or insight greatly appreciated. I REALLY don't want to have to start transcoding several dozen MKV files over to MP4 if I don't have to!!

[ColemanEb]

One additional troubleshooting note, I just watched a full MKV file on the TV via a USB drive, so the "distant end" (TV and VLC app) are not at issue here...

[valib]

This is not always true that the same file working via USB is also working via DLNA. But I see in your log that most of your videos have audio in Enhanced AC-3 format. This format is not set in the

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Sony-BraviaXBR.conf

If this format is supported by your TV you can try to add

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eac3

to the line

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Supported = f:mkv             v:mp4|h264               a:dts|ac3|aac-lc|mpa|ogg   m:video/x-matroska

so it will be

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Supported = f:mkv             v:mp4|h264               a:dts|ac3|aac-lc|mpa|ogg|eac3   m:video/x-matroska

[ColemanEb]

Thanks for the reply! While I'm not sure how this audio setting could be causing the freezing of the video under DLNA, I'm willing to set it up for future reference.
Problem is that I can't seem to find the Sony-BraviaXBR.conf file anywhere on iMac, or any other UMS configuration files for that matter. A search of the drive only reveals the file in the zip of the debugs? Could you point me in the right direction?
Thanks!!

[Nadahar]

The point is to tell UMS that it doesn't have to transcode the file, and thus "work around" the freezing problem that is probably caused by transcoding. It won't solve the underlying problem, but it might mean that you won't have to worry about it.

The configuration files should be under "/Library/Application Support/UMS". macOS probably hides it by default to "protect the user" from technical details and choices.

[ColemanEb]

Well, after much looking, and "unhiding" of the directory, there simply isn't a file of that name there. See attachment for the files located in the UMS directory.

What I did notice is the following in the main log window after startup:

16:30:07 INFO Loading renderer configurations from /Applications/UMS 9.8.1.app/Contents/Resources/renderers
16:30:08 INFO Enabled 1 configurations, listed in order of loading priority:
16:30:08 INFO : Sony Bravia XBR

The strange thing about this, there is no directory structure to speak of off of /Applications/UMS 9.8.1. It is the app and the app alone!!! Possibly a reference to the programs internal code, but certainly not anything I can change.

There definitely seems to be some credence to the issue with EAC3 though; I just compared an MKV file with an MP4 in my media folders and the MKV is calling out EAC3 audio while the MP4 is aac-lc. That being said, I still can't wrap my mind around why the shows freeze up exactly at 4 minutes; the audio and video are absolutely fine till ...they stop...

Perhaps this is a bug/issue that could be fixed added to a new release version?

[ColemanEb]

UPdate: Well, the thot plickens....

took an MKV file and converted it to MP4 (which worked previously with standard settings), and changed the audio format to EAC3.

Started video, and BAM! same crash/freeze right around the 4 minute mark....so it definitely is related to the audio transcoding...now how to fix ..

[Nadahar]

It's normal that macOS hides everything under the "app". I haven't used it for a very long time, but I think you must right-click "UMS 9.8.1.app" and select "Show Content" or something like that. The suddenly Finder will "see" the subfolders. Alternatively, you can open a terminal and browse it using "cd" and "ls" - which isn't plagued by "Apple's magic".

I have no idea what the "real" problem is. It might or might not be UMS' fault. What valib posted is a "workaround" so that you won't have to deal with the problem if you don't have to. Not transcoding is always preferable anyway, so if the TV actually supports EAC3, the best solution is to inform UMS of this so you avoid the transcoding. If you instead want to try to figure out what's causing the freeze while transcoding, you'll have to hope that some of the developers will invest time in figuring out what's causing it to freeze.

IF you find the cause, and IF the problem is with UMS, it might be fixable so that it can be resolved in a new version. But, there are a lot of "if"s, and you should be prepared to be patient and test things while providing log files with the results if you desire to go down that route.

[ColemanEb]

Well, good news bad news....

Thanks for teaching me something about my Mac; your instruction on doing the "Show content" was spot on. I was able to find the core Sony XBR renderer file, and add the "EAC3" addendum to the MKV file descriptor.
Rebooted everything, and ....

Sadly no joy...
I'm attaching the debugs from this last run to see if there is something different showing now...

I'm strongly leaning towards the TV/VLC supporting the EAC3 audio, since it has no issues with the MKV format reading from a USB drive attached to the TV. But, in the famous words of comedian Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion, I could be wrong!"
Thanks again for looking at this issue...
B

[valib]

Please try to add

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SupportedInternalSubtitlesFormats = ASS,SUBRIP,VOBSUB

to the .conf to avoid transcoding. I am not sure if your TV supports internal subtitles in the videos but you can try it.
One question. Did you try to play not-transcoded MKV files from TRANSCODE folder?