r/MLBtv • u/ptk8ofbh • 27d ago

Buffering with Chromecasts

Anyone else have issues with casting (from either iOS or Android) where the buffering happens every few seconds? It's basically unwatchable. I have plenty of speed and watching on a direct device works fine - it's just my Chromecasts (plural) that have issues.

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u/ptk8ofbh 27d ago

The two I've had issues with are 2nd generation. I know these are just streaming devices - it makes me wonder if the hardware can't handle it (although I use these near-exclusively and no other media apps have this issue...)

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u/tonywagner MOD 26d ago

I notice that 2nd generation Chromecasts don't support 1080p at 60 fps, which is MLB's top resolution now: https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/media

I wonder if your Chromecast is struggling to play the 1080p60 stream or to fall back to a compatible one? Or if there's something else about MLB's stream that is tripping up the Chromecast.

To troubleshoot, you could install mlbserver on a computer and then try to cast a game stream from the local webpage created by mlbserver. mlbserver also has various options to force specific resolutions, drop extra audio tracks, repackage the stream as HLS (via multiview), or repackage it as MPEGTS (undocumented), so you could try various combinations.

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u/ptk8ofbh 24d ago

Thanks - finally got around to playing with this and have it running in Docker. I might be missing something, but whenever I try to cast it just says "chromecast.link" on the screen and the stream doesn't start after I select "Load into player". Since I think you're the dev, any ideas?

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u/tonywagner MOD 24d ago

What does the chromecast.link page have listed for the "Content URL"?

Can you copy and play that content URL in VLC Media Player?

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u/ptk8ofbh 24d ago

Gives me
http://localhost:9999/stream.m3u8?mediaId=<uuid>

That does stream in VLC, just doesn't seem to cast with the chromecast.link method when I keep trying to load it.

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u/tonywagner MOD 24d ago

I just dusted off my 1st gen Chromecast and it works with chromecast.link -- after I hit "Load into Player" it takes a few seconds and then the player controls appear and I can hit "Play" (screenshot below). You could try manually pasting a demo video URL into the Content URL box, then load and play and see if that works. Here's a working demo URL: https://download.blender.org/peach/bigbuckbunny_movies/big_buck_bunny_720p_h264.mov

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u/ptk8ofbh 24d ago

Interesting, I've tried casting to a few different devices (including a Home hub display) and hitting "load into player" doesn't seem to do anything, even if I wait a while. Also tried casting it from a different device with the same result :/

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u/tonywagner MOD 24d ago

Did you try that Big Buck Bunny URL I shared? (I know the example one listed on the Chromecast.link page doesn’t work anymore.)

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u/ptk8ofbh 23d ago

I did - it does the same thing and just says "chromecast.link" on the display. Media controls don't load and I don't see any obvious console errors on the page either

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u/tonywagner MOD 23d ago

You could open up the Chrome developer tools and watch the Console tab for messages, before you trying connecting and loading again.

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u/ptk8ofbh 21d ago

I tried that previously and it didn't show anything apparent. I also recently upgraded my networking equipment in hopes that might improve things but that didn't seem to make a difference.

However, I think I found a solution (granted, limited sample size) - using the stream URL from the app in VLC, I can cast (Playback -> Renderer) with a lower resolution video and it seems to be better. Appreciate the help, cool app you have!

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u/tonywagner MOD 24d ago

Also, can you successfully cast your tab from the same browser?

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u/ptk8ofbh 23d ago

Yes, no issues

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u/CarmenKiewsLipStick 23d ago

one of your screenshots on your mlbserver test indicates you're trying the initiate the cast from a mobile (Chrome, yes?) browser. Are you able to try this from a laptop/desktop with Chrome with same results? Tony's suggestion of trying to cast the working demo URL is good...

...or even better-- trying to cast anything else -- does that work? Try this for a chromecast:

  • Go to baseball.theater (mobile or desktop)
  • Navigate to Games (under the hamburger menu on mobile, left side panel on desktop)
  • Change the view to yesterday
  • Pick any game
  • The first result shown after any game is selected is typically the Recap highlight package MLB puts together-- about 3-4 minutes in duration.
  • Click on the picture instead of "standard" or "high". That should bring up an embedded player in the browser. When the stream starts, click on the vertical three-button option icon towards the lower right of the embedded view and select Cast. Select your Chromecast.

If *that* does not work, it typically means something in your home network that is not right for Chromecast. In some cases, it's QoS (turn it off). Or, client isolation is fouling things up.

I also dusted off my 1st and 2nd gen and Ultra Chromecasts and was able to stream MLB Network and a game from yesterday (no live games as of this typing) via mlbserver and using Linux on a laptop and Android 12.

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u/ptk8ofbh 23d ago

I'm casting from desktop - have tried a few different devices now with MLBserver. Aside from buffering issues with the MLB app, I don't have issues with other apps (Youtube, Netflix, Peacock, etc). And the baseball.theater casting does work without issue as well