Tvheadend segfaults when attempting to open stream via Jellyfin

bismurphy

I've been experimenting with using Tvheadend in my home media setup. Currently, I have tvheadend and Jellyfin both running on a Raspberry Pi. I've been playing with the settings to get the best configuration with the setup that I have. I have successfully opened channels, but after changing some settings (not sure which, I don't think there is a way to view settings history or roll back to a prior working configuration) I've gotten things to the point where trying to open a TV channel in Jellyfin results in the Tvheadend service crashing.

After it crashes, I check in on Tvheadend with sudo systemctl status tvheadend and get this as output:

 ● tvheadend.service - Tvheadend - a TV streaming server and DVR
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/tvheadend.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: signal) since Sun 2026-04-05 02:49:26 BST; 2s ago
    Process: 946 ExecStart=/usr/bin/tvheadend -f -p /run/tvheadend.pid $OPTIONS (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 947 (code=killed, signal=SEGV)
        CPU: 11min 26.283s

I'm not sure where to go from here, or what settings (either in Tvheadend or Jellyfin) are relevant to check on. What are my next steps to determine the cause of the segfault and how to resolve it?

DeltaMikeCharlie

bismurphy I'm not sure where to go from here, or what settings (either in Tvheadend or Jellyfin) are relevant to check on. What are my next steps to determine the cause of the segfault and how to resolve it?

Try to run TVH manually and have a look at the console when it crashes. It should give some details regarding in which module the segmentation fault occurred.

bismurphy

Here are the last several messages in the console leading up to the crash:

2026-04-06 03:36:16.292 [   INFO] mpegts: 509MHz in ATSC-T Network - tuning on Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0
2026-04-06 03:36:16.298 [   INFO] subscription: 0001: "epggrab" unsubscribing
2026-04-06 03:36:16.299 [   INFO] subscription: 0003: "HTTP" subscribing on channel "WBZ 4.5", weight: 100, adapter: "Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0", network: "ATSC-T Network", mux: "509MHz", service: "WBZ 4.5", profile="webtv-h264-aac-matroska", hostname="192.168.0.161", username="jelly", client="Lavf/61.7.100"
2026-04-06 03:36:18.781 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 01:MPEG2VIDEO: ==> Using profile webtv-h264
2026-04-06 03:36:18.782 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 02:AC3: ==> Using profile webtv-aac
x264 [error]: invalid profile: 0
Segmentation fault

Does that help track anything down?

DeltaMikeCharlie

bismurphy Does that help track anything down?

Sorta, kinda, maybe?

If you download and use a -dbg package for your platform, then there should be a reference to the exact location and module where the crash is occurring. https://cloudsmith.io/~tvheadend/repos/tvheadend/packages/

However, the messages that you have could also provide a hint. It seems like you are trying to transcode live TV. Perhaps you could try using a pass profile (no transcoding) and see if at least you can stabilise your system. If you can stabilise your system, you could then try experimenting with which transcoding options are causing the issue.

I have very limited knowledge about transcoding and I'm not sure if a Raspberry Pi can do hardware transcoding or if software transcoding is the only option.

bismurphy

I'll try the pass profile. In the meantime, here is the output of gdb when I run with -dbg installed. All messages, starting from the equivalent place in my above output:

2026-04-06 22:56:32.115 [   INFO] mpegts: 581MHz in ATSC-T Network - tuning on Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0
2026-04-06 22:56:32.115 [   INFO] subscription: 0001: "epggrab" subscribing to mux "581MHz", weight: 4, adapter: "Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0", network: "ATSC-T Network", service: "Raw PID Subscription"
[New Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9161)]
[New Thread 0xe58f35c0 (LWP 9176)]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.921 [   INFO] http: 192.168.0.161: using ticket f92104f3e349c8d7c1f8aef2bfed346c74ae67f1 for /stream/channelid/959105469
[New Thread 0xe56f25c0 (LWP 9177)]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.922 [   INFO] mpegts: 509MHz in ATSC-T Network - tuning on Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0
[Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9161) exited]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.926 [   INFO] subscription: 0001: "epggrab" unsubscribing
2026-04-06 22:56:37.927 [   INFO] subscription: 0003: "HTTP" subscribing on channel "WBZ 4.5", weight: 100, adapter: "Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0", network: "ATSC-T Network", mux: "509MHz", service: "WBZ 4.5", profile="webtv-h264-aac-matroska", hostname="192.168.0.161", username="jelly", client="Lavf/61.7.100"
[New Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9179)]
2026-04-06 22:56:40.218 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 01:MPEG2VIDEO: ==> Using profile webtv-h264
2026-04-06 22:56:40.219 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 02:AC3: ==> Using profile webtv-aac
2026-04-06 22:56:40.798 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5 Transport error indicator (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.822 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: MPEG2VIDEO @ #113 Continuity counter error (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.822 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: AC3 @ #116 Continuity counter error (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.847 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: MPEG2VIDEO @ #113: Invalid start code 4a:b0:67
[New Thread 0xe54f15c0 (LWP 9189)]
[New Thread 0xe4cf05c0 (LWP 9190)]
[New Thread 0xe44ef5c0 (LWP 9191)]
[New Thread 0xe3cee5c0 (LWP 9192)]
x264 [error]: invalid profile: 0
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [  ERROR] libav: AVCodecContext: Error setting profile 0.
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext: Possible profiles:
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  baseline
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  main
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high10
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high422
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high444
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext: 

Thread 37 "tvh:sharer" received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
[Switching to Thread 0xe56f25c0 (LWP 9177)]
0x005c263c in _context_print_opts (self=self@entry=0xe6f09068, opts=<optimized out>) at src/transcoding/transcode/context.c:99
99	src/transcoding/transcode/context.c: No such file or directory.
(gdb)

bismurphy

I tried the pass profile, but that doesn't work in jellyfin. When I select the channel, it just sits there with a spinner and I never actually get video. I needed to select a different profile. I definitely had the playback working at one point, but something must have broken. Here is the output of gdb when I run with -dbg installed. All messages, starting from the equivalent place in my above output:

2026-04-06 22:56:32.115 [   INFO] mpegts: 581MHz in ATSC-T Network - tuning on Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0
2026-04-06 22:56:32.115 [   INFO] subscription: 0001: "epggrab" subscribing to mux "581MHz", weight: 4, adapter: "Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0", network: "ATSC-T Network", service: "Raw PID Subscription"
[New Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9161)]
[New Thread 0xe58f35c0 (LWP 9176)]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.921 [   INFO] http: 192.168.0.161: using ticket f92104f3e349c8d7c1f8aef2bfed346c74ae67f1 for /stream/channelid/959105469
[New Thread 0xe56f25c0 (LWP 9177)]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.922 [   INFO] mpegts: 509MHz in ATSC-T Network - tuning on Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0
[Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9161) exited]
2026-04-06 22:56:37.926 [   INFO] subscription: 0001: "epggrab" unsubscribing
2026-04-06 22:56:37.927 [   INFO] subscription: 0003: "HTTP" subscribing on channel "WBZ 4.5", weight: 100, adapter: "Auvitek AU8522 QAM/8VSB Frontend #0 : ATSC-T #0", network: "ATSC-T Network", mux: "509MHz", service: "WBZ 4.5", profile="webtv-h264-aac-matroska", hostname="192.168.0.161", username="jelly", client="Lavf/61.7.100"
[New Thread 0xe5af45c0 (LWP 9179)]
2026-04-06 22:56:40.218 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 01:MPEG2VIDEO: ==> Using profile webtv-h264
2026-04-06 22:56:40.219 [   INFO] transcode: 0001: 02:AC3: ==> Using profile webtv-aac
2026-04-06 22:56:40.798 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5 Transport error indicator (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.822 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: MPEG2VIDEO @ #113 Continuity counter error (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.822 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: AC3 @ #116 Continuity counter error (total 1)
2026-04-06 22:56:40.847 [WARNING] TS: ATSC-T Network/509MHz/WBZ 4.5: MPEG2VIDEO @ #113: Invalid start code 4a:b0:67
[New Thread 0xe54f15c0 (LWP 9189)]
[New Thread 0xe4cf05c0 (LWP 9190)]
[New Thread 0xe44ef5c0 (LWP 9191)]
[New Thread 0xe3cee5c0 (LWP 9192)]
x264 [error]: invalid profile: 0
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [  ERROR] libav: AVCodecContext: Error setting profile 0.
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext: Possible profiles:
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  baseline
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  main
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high10
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high422
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext:  high444
2026-04-06 22:56:43.033 [   INFO] libav: AVCodecContext: 

Thread 37 "tvh:sharer" received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
[Switching to Thread 0xe56f25c0 (LWP 9177)]
0x005c263c in _context_print_opts (self=self@entry=0xe6f09068, opts=<optimized out>) at src/transcoding/transcode/context.c:99
99	src/transcoding/transcode/context.c: No such file or directory.
(gdb)

I will also add: I can view TV fine in the Tvheadend web interface, no matter which profile I select.

DeltaMikeCharlie

It looks like the error is occurring here: tvheadend/tvheadendblob/395afb8512d0d636ef223db4cccf722b70992e76/src/transcoding/transcode/context.c#L92-L103

I have no idea why, but maybe the last 'INFO' log line with the empty profile name could be a clue. Perhaps a null pointer somewhere.

Unfortunately, this part of TVH is way outside of my area of experience.

bismurphy

After a bit more experimenting (opening different streams, while tracking the output of the tvheadend instance in the console), I've identified a pattern. I pulled Jellyfin out of the pipeline and I'm able to just work from the built-in Live TV Player in Tvheadend.

I have 6 default profiles in my installation. Of these:

matroska gives "An unknown error occurred".

pass gives a black screen

All three webtv-h264 profiles result in the segfault I'm observing

webtv-vp8-vorbis-webm works, but has some stuttering and rubberbanding.

Not sure if this helps, or if there's adjustments i can make to get the vp8 version to operate smoothly?

ukn_unknown

bismurphy in theory if you have the latest update (with the fix: tvheadend/tvheadend2051) you should not have this problem. Can you confirm what is the version of tvh you are using?

bismurphy

It's not clear to me what version numbers include that PR fix, but the version printed on my machine is:

/usr/bin/tvheadend: version 4.3-2155~gfe4df311d

This was installed from my distribution's package repositories; if I need to compile from source that would be good to know.

ukn_unknown

bismurphy we are at 4.3-2635 (almost 500 commits later), your version doesn't have the fix.
You can try to update manually the setting: Configuration / Stream / CodecProfile / webtv-h264 --> change Profile from 0 to auto, and press Save (top left).