Error playing FLAC songs to Google Home "Error playing media, ensure that your player support it"

dronics · October 11, 2023, 7:19pm

Issue description:

I’m using Navidrome with music all in the FLAC format as my back end and using Symfonium to play songs on my Google Homes in my house. Intermittently, I have an issue where songs on an album are skipped and not played and the error “Error playing media, ensure that your player support it” is displayed.

Add as much details as possible, including reproduction steps.
It’s not always the same songs and it’s not always the same part of the album.
I can sometimes disconnect from the Google Home, play the song in the app and then re-connect to the Google Home and it will play the song.
In the logs that I’ve attached, I was playing the song “On the Sunny road” and when this finished the Google Home skipped over the songs on the end of the album which were:
The Anthem
The River, The Forest
We are the Haunted

I’ve since disconnect from the Google Home and started the playback on the Symfonium app and then re-connected to the Google Home and it played “The Anthem”

Logs:

debug-20231011_190508.zip (6.8 KB)

Join files do not paste the content of the files here! Do not upload them to random website, zip files are allowed.
(They are mandatory, no need to ask if I need them or don’t assume they are not needed for your issue, they are needed.)

Screenshots:

Additional information:

Tolriq · October 11, 2023, 7:27pm

You need to check Navidrome / your proxy logs.

Symfonium is not really involved here it just send the url to the Chromecast that plays it.

All I can see in the logs is that the Chromecast was not able to load the media from Navidrome.

dronics · October 11, 2023, 8:37pm

That’s annoying, I was hoping you might spot something in the logs.
On Navidrome (which is set to INFO logging) I see this:

time="2023-10-11T17:58:07Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=746 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001925 title="On the Sunny Road" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001926 title="Which Side Are You On" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001928 timestamp="2023-10-11 17:58:22 +0000 UTC" title="Which Side Are You On" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001930 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001931 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001932 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001934 timestamp="2023-10-11 17:58:22 +0000 UTC" title="Which Side Are You On" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:21Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=746 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001936 title="On the Sunny Road" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:32Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001938 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:32Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001939 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:32Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=746 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001940 title="On the Sunny Road" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:58:33Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001941 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:59:04Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001943 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T17:59:35Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001944 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:00:06Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001945 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:00:37Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001946 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:01:08Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001947 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:01:39Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001948 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:10Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001949 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:20Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=689 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001951 title="The Anthem" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:41Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001952 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:44Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001953 title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:45Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001955 timestamp="2023-10-11 18:02:45 +0000 UTC" title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:45Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001957 title="The Anthem" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:45Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001958 title="The Anthem" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:45Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001959 title="The Anthem" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:45Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001961 timestamp="2023-10-11 18:02:45 +0000 UTC" title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:46Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001963 title="The River, The Forest" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:46Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=786 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001965 title="The River, The Forest" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:46Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001966 title="The River, The Forest" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:46Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001968 timestamp="2023-10-11 18:02:47 +0000 UTC" title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001970 title="The River, The Forest" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001971 title="We are the Haunted" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg="Streaming file" artist=Nym bitRate=0 cached=false format=raw originalBitRate=680 originalFormat=flac requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001973 title="We are the Haunted" transcoding=false user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001974 title="We are the Haunted" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg=Scrobbled artist=Nym requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001976 timestamp="2023-10-11 18:02:48 +0000 UTC" title="On the Sunny Road" user=moidebe username=moidebe
time="2023-10-11T18:02:47Z" level=info msg="Now Playing" artist=Nym player="Symfonium [Symfonium/Android]" requestId=db4338110013/bika2aAhNf-001978 title="We are the Haunted" user=moidebe username=moidebe

It doesn’t show any obvious issues too me, so I’m not sure why it isn’t working.

Just to add, I have Navidrome working in a podman container with an nginx reverse proxy running in another podman container on a Raspberry Pi4.
I’ve never noticed any issues with Symfonium when using my phone and headphones, it’s only when I’m using Google Homes or Android TV with chromecast built in (which doesn’t seem to work at all and I will be opening another issue regarding that).

Tolriq · October 12, 2023, 5:01am

Check the proxy then maybe the Chromecast do not close sessions fast enough or open too much and the proxy block.

dronics · October 12, 2023, 7:56pm

Hi, I’m such an idiot!
I’ve managed to fix both the Google Home and Android TV issues, nothing to do with Navidrome, Nginx or Symfonium.
The issue was with the DNS name and the settings I’d used with my DNS provider, NextDNS. I’d used a free duckdns.org DNS name for my Navidrome setup and I’d blocked “Newly Registered Domains (NRDs)” and " Dynamic DNS Hostnames".
See the picture below, which have the settings disabled now.

While the DNS was being blocked the Google Home and Android TV wouldn’t have been able to resolve my Navidrome instance. Now that they can resolve it they can play my music.

Weirdly, how was the Google Home able to play some tracks? Any ideas?
The Android TV wouldn’t play any except if I played on my phone first and then transferred it while it was playing.
Does this mean that sometimes the Google Home or Android TV stream a track from the phone instead of of the Navidrome instance?

Thanks for your support in trying to resolve this, gathering the information to try and get help from you made me think about my whole setup and figure out what was going on.

Tolriq · October 13, 2023, 5:42am

You can check Symfonium logs when it works to see what url it sends. But Symfonium would play from the phone only if the track if offline cached and the server is not accessible.