i have been using Tablo Ripper for over a year with no problems. In the past few weeks I keep getting files that stall within in the first two minutes and won’t play further. The recordings play fine on the Tablo App, just not when ripped to my computer. Has something changed recently?
Something that may help isolate the issue is to enable logging and then check the logs when the issue is encountered.
FWIW. I just tried mine on recently ripped shows and it’s working fine…
Note: steaming recordings vs playing an mp4 isn’t a 1to 1 comparison. Not to say it doesn’t have any value.
Have you tried different media players? Have you recently updated ffmpeg (or does it get packaged with Tablo Ripper) or your media player?
I enabled logging and ripped four recordings. One will play, the other three won’t. What am I looking for in the log? Most of it looks like gibberish to me.
djk44883
I was using Ripper 2.4.1, yesterday I updated to 2.4.3 so I assume I got a whatever the current ffmpeg is with it. I’m using VLC to play the files on my computer, and they say I have the current version.
I don’t know specifically what you would look for since we don’t know what the actual problem is, I was just saying to look through it and see if there were any obvious errors that might at least give us somewhere to start.
Tablo Ripper has been and is currently working fine on my system. @CycleJ might be able to look at your logs and determine what is wrong.
Have you made any changes to your PC? I’ve had several Windows updates recently, but I haven’t noticed any problems associated with those updates.
I had to do the forced Win 10 update last week, but this problem began before that.
Here’s the top part of the log:
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM btnStartSelected_Click
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM SyncTabloRecordings_Selected
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM InitTotalCount
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM Total item count = 4
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM SyncTabloRecordings
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM recList.Length=1213
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM newCompletedList.recIdList.Length=1213
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM RemuxRecording
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM FFMPEG : C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM TempOutput: C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM Output : C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\Whose Line Is It Anyway 3b3h for channel 33.1 on 2020-09-01T0030Z.mp4
9/2/2020 3:12:51 PM InvokeApi
9/2/2020 3:12:52 PM JSON: {“token”:“76cf3e98-7b55-4b5f-a300-1ebc5402598e”,“expires”:“2020-09-02T22:36:32Z”,“playlist_url”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?zaedJrJuKfnPK3EYHestVQ",“bif_url_sd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?zaedJrJuKfnPK3EYHestVQ”,“bif_url_hd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?zaedJrJuKfnPK3EYHestVQ&hd”,“video_details”:{“width”:1920,"height”:1080}}
9/2/2020 3:12:52 PM Options: -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?zaedJrJuKfnPK3EYHestVQ -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4”
9/2/2020 3:12:52 PM Running as user: “C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe” -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?zaedJrJuKfnPK3EYHestVQ -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4” in C:\Program Files\TabloRipper
9/2/2020 3:22:48 PM Complete - 00:09:53
9/2/2020 3:22:49 PM RemuxRecording
9/2/2020 3:22:49 PM FFMPEG : C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe
9/2/2020 3:22:49 PM TempOutput: C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4
9/2/2020 3:22:49 PM Output : C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\Whose Line Is It Anyway 3c2 for channel 33.1 on 2020-07-25T0100Z.mp4
9/2/2020 3:22:49 PM InvokeApi
9/2/2020 3:22:50 PM JSON: {“token”:“c8ee12d4-7c8a-4c94-95bf-cd11e1bfa466”,“expires”:“2020-09-02T22:48:58Z”,“playlist_url”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?jfJDsPl0_rrqE65v_pJbyg",“bif_url_sd”:null,“bif_url_hd”:null,“video_details”:{“width”:704,"height”:480}}
9/2/2020 3:22:50 PM Options: -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?jfJDsPl0_rrqE65v_pJbyg -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4”
9/2/2020 3:22:50 PM Running as user: “C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe” -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?jfJDsPl0_rrqE65v_pJbyg -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4” in C:\Program Files\TabloRipper
9/2/2020 3:29:32 PM Complete - 00:06:39
9/2/2020 3:29:33 PM RemuxRecording
9/2/2020 3:29:33 PM FFMPEG : C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe
9/2/2020 3:29:33 PM TempOutput: C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4
9/2/2020 3:29:33 PM Output : C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\That Girl 2b for channel 33.3 on 2020-02-17T1730Z.mp4
9/2/2020 3:29:33 PM InvokeApi
9/2/2020 3:29:34 PM JSON: {“token”:“47a464bf-1c9b-4f89-af14-ec9ecd273c94”,“expires”:“2020-09-02T22:41:33Z”,“playlist_url”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?LRrHwRCHVokaEZn85dPtzg",“bif_url_sd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?LRrHwRCHVokaEZn85dPtzg”,“bif_url_hd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?LRrHwRCHVokaEZn85dPtzg&hd”,“video_details”:{“width”:704,"height”:480}}
9/2/2020 3:29:34 PM Options: -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?LRrHwRCHVokaEZn85dPtzg -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4”
9/2/2020 3:29:34 PM Running as user: “C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe” -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?LRrHwRCHVokaEZn85dPtzg -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4” in C:\Program Files\TabloRipper
9/2/2020 3:31:01 PM Complete - 00:01:24
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM RemuxRecording
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM FFMPEG : C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM TempOutput: C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM Output : C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\Batman @ 600am 1a for channel 12.3 on 2020-01-26T1200Z.mp4
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM InvokeApi
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM JSON: {“token”:“ecd84a75-bd79-4c9f-a334-135595b8d43c”,“expires”:“2020-09-02T23:02:19Z”,“playlist_url”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?-75ANkpmOox7ut0I5_4frw",“bif_url_sd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?-75ANkpmOox7ut0I5_4frw”,“bif_url_hd”:“http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/bif?-75ANkpmOox7ut0I5_4frw&hd”,“video_details”:{“width”:704,"height”:480}}
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM Options: -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?-75ANkpmOox7ut0I5_4frw -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4”
9/2/2020 3:31:02 PM Running as user: “C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe” -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?-75ANkpmOox7ut0I5_4frw -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4” in C:\Program Files\TabloRipper
9/2/2020 3:34:55 PM Complete - 00:03:50
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM All done.
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM GetRecordingList_Selected
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM GetTabloList
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM Using static IP
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM GetTabloRecordingList
9/2/2020 3:34:56 PM InvokeApi
Beyond that it’s just “/recordings/programs/airings/513525” repeated over and over with different numbers each time.
What @3rdRockOKC did was “include me” in his post so I’d notice it. I only monitor the main TabloRipper topic so was unaware you were having issues.
When you get a “short version” of a show that otherwise plays fine on your Tablo, that points at an incomplete ripping session within FFMPEG. The easiest way to see what the error is will be to run one of the command lines included in your log file.
Of course the recording still must exist on your Tablo, so I suggest pulling a line from the end of your log file. I suggest you try to rip one of your recordings that won’t play and it’ll be the last one in the log.
What’s the line look like? Here’s an example taken from your log snippet:
And you need to open a command prompt in the C:\Program Files\TabloRipper folder to run it. Then watch for FFMPEG error messages and it’ll tell you what the problem is.
The command line I suggested must have been corrupted when you pasted it into your post because the output folder has invalid syntax for Windows. But you’ll be fine if you just copy the line (including quotes) from your log file and paste it into your command prompt window.
Good luck.
Thank you. I hate appearing like a doofus, but somewhere around Win98/XP things got beyond my ability to keep up.
Armed with your advice I tried to rip the recording that has failed 6 times in the past four days. What happened? I finally got a complete playable rip, naturally! I will keep a copy of your reply handy in case the problem returns.
If it works, it works. Declare victory and move along 
Spoke too soon. I tried to rip two more recordings. One will play, the other won’t.
Let me clarify what I mean by the video stalling. VLC’s counter keeps progressing as if the video is playing, but picture and audio froze at the 1:43 mark. I assume if I let it go, VLC would go all the way to what it thinks the end of the video should be.
What I got from the Command Prompt was this. No sign of any error message.
C:\Program Files\TabloRipper>“C:\Program Files\TabloRipper\ffmpeg.exe” -y -i http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?y1R2gv4uKqburUSxSi0WMw -codec copy -strict -2 -c:a aac -threads 0 “C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4”
ffmpeg version N-83195-ge371f03 Copyright © 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 5.4.0 (GCC)
configuration: --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-cuda --enable-cuvid --enable-d3d11va --enable-dxva2 --enable-libmfx --enable-nvenc --enable-avisynth --enable-bzlib --enable-fontconfig --enable-frei0r --enable-gnutls --enable-iconv --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libfreetype --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libilbc --enable-libmodplug --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libopenh264 --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopus --enable-librtmp --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvo-amrwbenc --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx264 --enable-libx265 --enable-libxavs --enable-libxvid --enable-libzimg --enable-lzma --enable-decklink --enable-zlib
libavutil 55. 44.100 / 55. 44.100
libavcodec 57. 75.100 / 57. 75.100
libavformat 57. 63.100 / 57. 63.100
libavdevice 57. 2.100 / 57. 2.100
libavfilter 6. 69.100 / 6. 69.100
libswscale 4. 3.101 / 4. 3.101
libswresample 2. 4.100 / 2. 4.100
libpostproc 54. 2.100 / 54. 2.100
Input #0, hls,applehttp, from ‘http://192.168.0.3:80/stream/pl.m3u8?y1R2gv4uKqburUSxSi0WMw’:
Duration: 00:31:16.87, start: 0.505278, bitrate: N/A
Program 0
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 10000000
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High) ([27][0][0][0] / 0x001B), yuv420p, 704x480 [SAR 40:33 DAR 16:9], Closed Captions, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbc
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 10000000
Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (LC) ([15][0][0][0] / 0x000F), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 10000000
Output #0, mp4, to ‘C:\Data Library\TV shows=Tablo rip\tmp\Foreground_rip.mp4’:
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf57.63.100
Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (High) ([33][0][0][0] / 0x0021), yuv420p, 704x480 [SAR 40:33 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 29.97 fps, 29.97 tbr, 90k tbn, 90k tbc
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 10000000
Stream #0:1: Audio: aac (LC) ([64][0][0][0] / 0x0040), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 128 kb/s
Metadata:
variant_bitrate : 10000000
encoder : Lavc57.75.100 aac
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy)
Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (aac (native) -> aac (native))
Press [q] to stop, [?] for help
frame=56221 fps=180 q=-1.0 Lsize= 357240kB time=00:31:15.86 bitrate=1560.1kbits/s speed= 6x
video:326708kB audio:29409kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.315597%
[aac @ 00000000026ac760] Qavg: 3402.569
And you saw no errors while it was ripping? Interesting - check the file size of a good rip vs. a bad rip. Approximately the same? If so, there could be something going on with the VLC playback.
No error messages. File sizes are about the same. File details also say the length is what it should be. They won’t play in the ACG Player or in VSDC Video Editor either.
Sounds like we have an incompatibility between FFMPEG and your player(s). You should be able to download a new “static” version of FFMPEG and overlay the one I bundle with TabliRipper.
That might clear it up, if not perhaps googling the incompatibility will turn up some workarounds. I’ll be interested to know if a newer version fixes your problem. If so, I’ll update the one I’m bundling.
Let me know what you find out.
I seldom use VLC, primarily smplayer (mulit-platform) which can actually use mpv if you prefer.
It’s been a while, I have occasionally get video which will play in one player in one and not another. I presume - different libraries. Sometimes, something about “time-stamps” (?)
I believe it often go back to the quality of the recording streams to start with. I’ve heard ffmpeg, by developers, for developers. So I have no real understandings, I just found some examples that others’ have and usually work. Now I mostly just use 3rd party app and take what ever they have embedded in their code 
*_*
One more suggestion, for trouble shooting - many media players can stream as well. I know VLC can Media > Open Network Stream On the network tab enter the URL you’re using for ffmpeg. See if it VLC cam play the video “pure stream” (just made that up). Not sure what the results determine, but it may provide some insight depending on what happens.
(note: I believe these get generated each time and have a limited life, maybe not, so you may have to run Tablo RIpper again to get a new one… unless you’re familiar with how to access a palylist.m3u8)
I downloaded the current FFMPEG, dated Aug 31, 2020, and put it into the Tablo Ripper folder. After backing up the version that came with TR just in case. I got a good rip, but as I know from earlier today, that doesn’t mean anything. I’ll try a few more over the weekend then get back to you.
I did see something in the log file I haven’t seen before, and it was not in the log file when I looked after the rip was done. Many, many repeated lines - something about stream ready to play and message sent X number of times with X varying from 4 to 7. Does that mean anything to you?
It may mean there’s an issue with the source, the OTA recording. :shrug:
Unless you redirect output messages or pass -loglevel warning to ffmpeg it default to info – tells you everything thing that happens… not necessarily bad, just all activity.