Skip to content This device can't play this channel, or the format is not supported
What the message means, the one setting worth changing, and the limit no app can work around.
This message means the decoding failed, not that the stream is missing. There are two halves to it, and they behave differently.
Audio
mtivi carries its own decoders for unusual audio formats, so a stream your device cannot handle on its own usually still plays. If a channel is silent rather than dead, start with Audio tracks and passthrough.
Video
Video decoding belongs entirely to your device’s chip. A box that lacks a decoder for a format cannot be given one by any app.
Worth trying
- Switch the decoder mode
Settings, then Playback, then Decoder Mode, then Prefer Software Extensions. Some formats a chip refuses will play this way.
- Try another copy of the same content
The same film in a different quality is often a format the device does handle.
- Set the decoder back to Auto afterwards
Software decoding is heavier and can stutter on a weak box.
Which formats a device handles is fixed by its hardware. Modern sticks handle the common ones easily. Very old files and unusual formats are where a cheap device runs out.
DRM blocked this stream
A different message and a different cause: the stream needs a license your playlist did not provide. Ask your service about it, because nothing in the app can supply it.
Related reading: will your player and TV actually play this.
