[Support]: Unable to read frames from ffmpeg process

[bradrubin]

Describe the problem you are having

I've been running Frigate on HA (with USB Coral) for about a year without problem, until several weeks ago. Now, when I start up, after a few minutes I get a series of errors and the live camera view eventually shuts off. I've stripped my config down to the bare minimum and I'm still getting the same errors. I've seen that wireless connectivity issues can be a cause, but I've tried this with different access points and still see the same issue. The camera works fine with the Eufy app.

Version

0.14.1-f4f3cfa

What browser(s) are you using?

Version 1.70.126 Chromium: 129.0.6668.100 (Official Build) (x86_64)

Frigate config file

mqtt:
  enabled: false

cameras:
  birdcam:
    enabled: true
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://1234567890Brad:1234567890Brad@192.168.86.250/live0
          roles:
            - detect
version: 0.14

Relevant Frigate log output

2024-10-17 18:13:58.084961924  [INFO] Preparing Frigate...
2024-10-17 18:13:58.325399877  [INFO] Starting Frigate...
2024-10-17 18:14:02.291999512  [2024-10-17 13:14:02] frigate.app                    INFO    : Starting Frigate (0.14.1-f4f3cfa)
2024-10-17 18:14:02.292642920  [2024-10-17 13:14:02] frigate.app                    INFO    : Creating directory: /tmp/cache
2024-10-17 18:14:02.293270493  [2024-10-17 13:14:02] frigate.util.config            INFO    : Checking if frigate config needs migration...
2024-10-17 18:14:02.300264219  [2024-10-17 13:14:02] frigate.util.config            INFO    : frigate config does not need migration...
2024-10-17 18:14:03.083914918  [2024-10-17 13:14:03] frigate.util.services          WARNING : Did not detect hwaccel, using a GPU for accelerated video decoding is highly recommended
2024-10-17 18:14:04.171203412  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : Starting migrations
2024-10-17 18:14:04.173304268  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : There is nothing to migrate
2024-10-17 18:14:04.203648417  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : Recording process started: 409
2024-10-17 18:14:04.216909333  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : Recording process started: 418
2024-10-17 18:14:04.222746585  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : go2rtc process pid: 97
2024-10-17 18:14:04.278907406  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] detector.cpu                   INFO    : Starting detection process: 438
2024-10-17 18:14:04.282064981  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : Output process started: 440
2024-10-17 18:14:04.293361132  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.detectors              WARNING : CPU detectors are not recommended and should only be used for testing or for trial purposes.
2024-10-17 18:14:04.343470274  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : Camera processor started for birdcam: 454
2024-10-17 18:14:04.358581366  [2024-10-17 13:14:04] frigate.app                    INFO    : Capture process started for birdcam: 455
2024-10-17 18:23:43.065017861  [2024-10-17 13:23:43] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: Unable to read frames from ffmpeg process.
2024-10-17 18:23:43.065889363  [2024-10-17 13:23:43] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: ffmpeg process is not running. exiting capture thread...
2024-10-17 18:23:44.450702023  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : Ffmpeg process crashed unexpectedly for birdcam.
2024-10-17 18:23:44.450898116  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : The following ffmpeg logs include the last 100 lines prior to exit.
2024-10-17 18:23:44.451164421  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [h264 @ 0xaaab080643f0] cabac decode of qscale diff failed at 64 12
2024-10-17 18:23:44.451367515  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [h264 @ 0xaaab080643f0] error while decoding MB 64 12, bytestream -2
2024-10-17 18:23:44.451560816  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : rtsp://*:*@192.168.86.250/live0: corrupt decoded frame in stream 0
2024-10-17 18:23:48.141558672  [2024-10-17 13:23:48] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: Unable to read frames from ffmpeg process.
2024-10-17 18:23:48.141783266  [2024-10-17 13:23:48] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: ffmpeg process is not running. exiting capture thread...
2024-10-17 18:23:54.496904532  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : Ffmpeg process crashed unexpectedly for birdcam.
2024-10-17 18:23:54.497092333  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : The following ffmpeg logs include the last 100 lines prior to exit.
2024-10-17 18:23:54.497224423  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [rtsp @ 0xaaaaebfac4b0] method DESCRIBE failed: 404 Stream Not Found
2024-10-17 18:23:54.497341221  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : rtsp://*:*@192.168.86.250/live0: Server returned 404 Not Found
2024-10-17 18:23:54.736014441  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: Unable to read frames from ffmpeg process.
2024-10-17 18:23:54.736248952  [2024-10-17 13:23:54] frigate.video                  ERROR   : birdcam: ffmpeg process is not running. exiting capture thread...
2024-10-17 18:24:04.532089564  [2024-10-17 13:24:04] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : Ffmpeg process crashed unexpectedly for birdcam.
2024-10-17 18:24:04.532290783  [2024-10-17 13:24:04] watchdog.birdcam               ERROR   : The following ffmpeg logs include the last 100 lines prior to exit.
2024-10-17 18:24:04.532463916  [2024-10-17 13:24:04] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [rtsp @ 0xaaaacc9494b0] method DESCRIBE failed: 404 Stream Not Found
2024-10-17 18:24:04.532658968  [2024-10-17 13:24:04] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : rtsp://*:*@192.168.86.250/live0: Server returned 404 Not Found

Relevant go2rtc log output

2024-10-17 18:13:58.279749292  [INFO] Preparing new go2rtc config...
2024-10-17 18:13:58.419620319  [INFO] Got IP address from supervisor: 192.168.86.56
2024-10-17 18:13:58.575240303  [INFO] Got WebRTC port from supervisor: 8555
2024-10-17 18:13:59.530302739  [INFO] Starting go2rtc...
2024-10-17 18:13:59.676275530  13:13:59.676 INF go2rtc platform=linux/arm64 revision=b2399f3 version=1.9.2
2024-10-17 18:13:59.676292447  13:13:59.676 INF config path=/dev/shm/go2rtc.yaml
2024-10-17 18:13:59.677460714  13:13:59.677 INF [rtsp] listen addr=:8554
2024-10-17 18:13:59.677475382  13:13:59.677 INF [api] listen addr=:1984
2024-10-17 18:13:59.677919696  13:13:59.677 INF [webrtc] listen addr=:8555/tcp
2024-10-17 18:14:08.080710382  [INFO] Starting go2rtc healthcheck service...

FFprobe output from your camera

I don't know how to do this in Home Assistant.

Frigate stats

No response

Install method

HassOS Addon

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

None?

Object Detector

CPU (no coral)

Network connection

Wireless

Camera make and model

Eufy C2

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

No response

Any other information that may be helpful

No response

[hawkeye217]

2024-10-17 18:23:44.451164421  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [h264 @ 0xaaab080643f0] cabac decode of qscale diff failed at 64 12
2024-10-17 18:23:44.451367515  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : [h264 @ 0xaaab080643f0] error while decoding MB 64 12, bytestream -2
2024-10-17 18:23:44.451560816  [2024-10-17 13:23:44] ffmpeg.birdcam.detect          ERROR   : rtsp://*:*@192.168.86.250/live0: corrupt decoded frame in stream 0

It just looks like there's decoding errors and stream corruption. Since you've stripped your config down to a minimum, spotty wifi could indeed be the cause.

Camera manufacturer apps often use UDP or a proprietary protocol to stream, so that's not always an indication of whether or not it will work with rtsp.

Maybe you could try moving the camera closer to the access point to see if your issues resolve?

[bradrubin]

Thanks steering my debug in the right direction. I relocated the camera to a few feet away from an access point, reset my entire network from the router on out, and factory reset the camera (it's a C24, not a C2 as I first noted), but I still have the same issue (although less frequent). In the Google WiFi mesh app, the wireless connection quality is only "OK" instead of "Great" (as it should be when this close) and I saw it temporarily disconnect from the Eufy app for the first time tonight. I'm pretty sure the camera HW is failing.