[BUG]: IOS- keeps buffering

[rohankm]

Version

v6 (Beta)

What platforms are you having the problem on?

iOS

Architecture

Old architecture

What happened?

After seeking the hls video in ios is just stuck buffering and never plays back.

Reproduction

repository link

Reproduction

Step to reproduce this bug are:

[freeboub]

Any way to reproduce? Are you able to reproduce with the sample included in the repo ?

[rohankm]

Any way to reproduce? Are you able to reproduce with the sample included in the repo ?

Hi, I'm working with Fairplay DRM.. I'm not quite sure how to send a reproducible example

[rohankm]

video with lesser duration plays fine but not with more duration(30 mins +). The player is stuck buffering

[rohankm]

the issue still persists in the latest version

[rohankm]

@freeboub the issue still exists for the DRM videos on ios... videos without DRM work fine.

[freeboub]

Not sure how we can help here ...
Do you have issues in xcode logs ? Did you try to record a charles trace to ensure network communications work fine ?

[rohankm]

@freeboub the network communication is fine and there are no xcode logs.. it's just the video buffers forever. {"isBuffering": true, "target": 6819}

Im currently testing with ios 14.8

[rohankm]

@freeboub I tested on a newer device with the latest ios but the problem still exists... probably can we connect on discord and I will share the DRM content so that you can check it from your end also.

[rohankm]

adding maxBitRate={3000000} the video loads perfectly

[KrzysztofMoch]

So probably not an library issue ?

[rohankm]

So probably not an library issue ?

I really don't understand what exactly is the issue.. or how do I even debug the issue

[KrzysztofMoch]

Maybe I will add to docs (in debug section) to try set maxBitRate in such case - let's close this as I see that this worked for you

[rohankm]

setting maxBitRate={0} also works fine

[rohankm]

@freeboub @KrzysztofMoch reopening the issue as setting maxBitRate just lowers the video quality. Also, i tested with expo-video and it works fine... I don't know what the issue is with react-native-video with DRM videos. Is there any steps to debug this buffering issue?

[Meet-Kapadiya]

Same problem still persists in 6.2.0, You can check by logging "isBuffering", It never returns false

[Meet-Kapadiya]

 useEffect(() => {
    if (Platform.OS === 'ios' && loading) {
      setTimeout(() => {
        setLoading(false);
      }, 2500);
    }
  }, [loading]);

For temporary workaround you can do this

[rohankm]

We cannot use this hack in production... The bug should be fixed

[freeboub]

If you want to investigate here are some inputs:
handlePlaybackBufferKeyEmpty and handlePlaybackLikelyToKeepUp are good starting points.
relevant documentation is here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/avfoundation/avplayeritem/1390348-isplaybacklikelytokeepup

[Meet-Kapadiya]

react-native-video+6.1.2.patch

I made the patch, it works fine, but at the beginning when I start playing the video, the buffering takes time to return false is proportional to the length of the video.

[rohankm]

@Meet-Kapadiya are you testing with drm videos or normal?

[Meet-Kapadiya]

HLS streams

[Meet-Kapadiya]

react-native-video+6.1.2.patch

I made the patch, it works fine, but at the beginning when I start playing the video, the buffering takes time to return false is proportional to the length of the video.

To solve this you can set

• preferredForwardBufferDuration={15} (In Seconds)
• Default value is 0, So player will choose an appropriate level of buffering

[maksymhcode-care]

It seems that it only happens with HLS/m3u8 format, please take a look at that @freeboub

[suritkandel]

The MPEG-TS & m3u8 video does not work at all but for HLS the video works for 30 seconds and you get a error.

HLS Error at 30 seconds:
{"error": {"code": -12312, "domain": "CoreMediaErrorDomain", "localizedDescription": "The operation couldn’t be completed. (CoreMediaErrorDomain error -12312.)", "localizedFailureReason": "", "localizedRecoverySuggestion": ""}, "target": 10675} error

Let me know if you need a url to try to replicate this? @freeboub

I appreciate your help.

Video Code Below:
<Video
paused={paused}
source={{
uri: url,
}}
onLoadStart={() => setIsLoading(true)}
onLoad={() => setIsLoading(false)}
ref={ref}
fullscreen={fullScreen ? true : false}
bufferConfig={bufferConfig}
// bufferConfig={{
// minBufferMs: 15000, // Minimum buffer in milliseconds
// // maxBufferMs: calculateBufferSize(1000000), // Maximum buffer size based on bitrate
// maxBufferMs: 50000,
// bufferForPlaybackMs: 5000, // Buffer needed for playback start
// bufferForPlaybackAfterRebufferMs: 20000, // Buffer needed after rebuffering
// }}
preferredForwardBufferDuration={15}
selectedVideoTrack={{
type: 'resolution',
value: 1080,
}}
onProgress={handleProgress}
// onError={handleVideoError}
style={{width: '100%', height: fullScreen ? '100%' : 250}}
resizeMode={fullScreen ? 'cover' : 'contain'}
playInBackground={true}
pictureInPicture={true}
muted={mute}
fullscreenAutorotate={true}
ignoreSilentSwitch={'ignore'}
minLoadRetryCount={5} // retry 5 times
mixWithOthers={'duck'}
/>

 Example Video Below:
 https://github.com/TheWidlarzGroup/react-native-video/assets/123834956/ad208e09-5bc0-4f60-8725-652cefd8e535

[maksymhcode-care]

@freeboub @KrzysztofMoch Please try any m3u8/hls test url you prefer. onBuffer will return true even if video is playing
https://ottverse.com/free-hls-m3u8-test-urls/

[edenmoyal1]

It happens to me too.
I used onPlaybackStateChanged and set isBuffering to false when the video is playing.

[maksymhcode-care]

It happens to me too. I used onPlaybackStateChanged and set isBuffering to false when the video is playing.

But what if video is playing and buffering at the same time?

[maksymhcode-care]

It's a work around, but i can suggest to try this:

const onPlaybackStateChanged = ({ isPlaying }) => { setIsLoading(!isPaused.current && !isPlaying); };

Basically isPlaying from onPlaybackStateChanged return false, but you did not paused the video it means it's loading

[rohankm]

@moskalakamil can you help me debug the issue? there are no error logs... it's just the video keeps on buffering at random spots... especially with longer-length videos

[moskalakamil]

@freeboub the issue still exists for the DRM videos on ios... videos without DRM work fine.

Hi @rohankm, could you please check the changes from #4136? If the issue is related to DRM, it has been rewritten there.

[rohankm]

@freeboub the issue still exists for the DRM videos on ios... videos without DRM work fine.

Hi @rohankm, could you please check the changes from #4136? If the issue is related to DRM, it has been rewritten there.

Hi sure I'm checking it..

[rohankm]

@freeboub the issue still exists for the DRM videos on ios... videos without DRM work fine.

Hi @rohankm, could you please check the changes from #4136? If the issue is related to DRM, it has been rewritten there.

@moskalakamil @KrzysztofMoch thank you so much for the rewrite... the videos that used to be stuck buffering on seek seem to play seamlessly now.. probably this issue is solved. I will be testing it for a day more and let you know the updates.

[moskalakamil]

Sure! Kudos to @KrzysztofMoch for rewriting it. It’s great to hear that it solved your issue!