So I’ve been trying to use Jellyfin for a long, LONG time now, and I’ve never really been able to use it remotely reliable.

I can go on for a long time about all the problems I’ve faced, lets just say that after years I can still not use it to watch something with the family because there is always something not working, I could start about hardware decoding having worked for a while and then suddenly without explanation no longer working, but lets start with subtitles…

I just want to have subtitles actually load without having to sacrifice a goat to whatever god is out there to have subtitles work. What is the problem that subtitles just 99% of the time don’t work?

Worse, sometimes they work while watching a show, and a jellyfin update comes by and, you guessed it, subtitles no longer work for that show, even though they work for some other movies, sometimes…

I am a software engineer, I do loads of devops, I can find my way around, but jellyfin is just… I dunno what to do anymore. Is there a reliable alternative, perhaps, that actually just works?

I’ve long given up on the dream that I could have something similar to netflix for all my movies and shows that aren’t on netflix, where I can scrub with images, for example, I just want to be able to watch a show with the family with subtitles without fiddling for 30 minutes to try and get it to work.

Current setup is google-tv with 0.17.9 client, and the latest docker server. Shows seem to have okay subtitles on web client, but on google-tv, every time I select a subtitle, I get a “subtitles loading” message, and then 10-20 seconds later a “failed to load subtitles” message.

Anyone?

      • CCMan1701A@startrek.websiteEnglish
        1·
        20 days ago

        I switched to Kodi on my Chromecast 4K to fix most of my video playback issues. However, I still have a few cases where Kodi can’t decode the subtitle track, so I use subtitle edit to extract out the srt. Also, getting Kodi to always play subs is tricky, so I remapped the up key on the remote to always enable subs.

        Kodi is also slower to show library updates on start, maybe a minute or so later and then it’s don’t with the sync. Maybe I didn’t setup something correctly… Anyway, give it a try. On my Sony with google tv the jellyfin app is great.

        • Phoenixz@lemmy.caOPEnglish
          2·
          17 days ago

          I looked at Kodi and it looks a lot less nice than the kellyfin app. I’d like more something that resamples Netflix. Also read about usability issue with Kodi, like you just said where it works slow to start up. I’ll continue searching for improvements

          • CCMan1701A@startrek.websiteEnglish
            1·
            17 days ago

            You can theme Kodi to look pretty close to Netflix, but not out of the box. As my library doesn’t update too often, I can live with the slower refresh as it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make for the ability to play everything in my library.

            Really, for the moat compatibility, a PC with a wireless keyboard is going to 100% of the time work with subtitles.

            • Phoenixz@lemmy.caOPEnglish
              1·
              14 days ago

              Well, I’ll have to throw out my google TV as since a few days ago all of the sudden at startup, my paid product is showing me ads that normally I wouldn’t even see on YouTube because I have a premium membership… To say I’m pissed is an understatement. That Google TV will go to the trash, and my google subscription that I have for online storage will soon be over too. I’m done with the bullshit

              Having said that.

              I’ll have to get a new device,Aube I’ll get a raspberry or something? It’ll need a remote control, though, and the new UI needs to work with that.

              I’ll look for the best options, Kodi or jellyfin