Video clips stop playing after server runs several hours..

[Xeon64]

Video clips stop playing after server runs several hours.. it just shows the initial image like it's trying to load the video and then nothing happens until you restart the server and the video plays perfectly fine after that? Cameras are recordings in h264/h264+ frigate won't record them if they are in h265 for some reason.

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on the available sources, here are several configuration areas to check for your video playback issue:

H.265 Recording Support

H.265 recordings are supported in Frigate, but require specific browser compatibility(1). H.265 recordings can be viewed in Chrome 108+, Edge and Safari only - all other browsers require recordings to be encoded with H.264(1).

For H.265 cameras, you can enable Apple compatibility to ensure broader playback support(2):

cameras:
  h265_cam:
    ffmpeg:
      apple_compatibility: true

(2)

Camera Stream Configuration

For cameras using H.264+, you should avoid "smart codec" or "+" codec variants as these are non-standard codecs that remove keyframes(3). The recommended camera settings are(3):

• Video codec: H.264 (not H.264+)
• I-frame interval: match your camera's frame rate, or choose "1x"(3)

Recording Configuration

Recordings are written directly from your camera stream without re-encoding(1). The folder structure for recordings is YYYY-MM-DD/HH/<camera_name>/MM.SS.mp4 in UTC time(1).

New recording segments are written from the camera stream to cache, and are only moved to disk if they match the setup recording retention policy(1).

Potential Issue

There's a related GitHub issue describing clips/recordings failing to play within Home Assistant after some time, which was resolved by addressing SSL certificate validation(4). If you're accessing Frigate through a reverse proxy or Home Assistant, check your SSL configuration(4).

📚 Sources:

1. Recording
2. Camera Specific Configurations
3. Live View
4. Clips/Recordings fail to play within HASS, camera streams are working

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[Xeon64]

@bot - don't think any of that helps with my issue.

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on the available sources, your issue with video clips stopping playback after several hours isn't directly addressed. However, there are a few relevant configuration areas to check:

Recording Storage and Cleanup

Frigate has an automatic cleanup mechanism. If there is less than an hour left of storage, the oldest 2 hours of recordings will be deleted(1). This could potentially affect playback if storage is running low.

H.264+ Codec Issue

You mentioned cameras are recording in h264/h264+. The documentation specifically warns against using "smart codec" or "+" codec variants like H.264+ or H.265+ as these non-standard codecs remove keyframes(2). This could cause playback issues over time.

The recommended camera settings are(2):

• Video codec: H.264 (avoid H.264+)
• I-frame interval: match your camera's frame rate, or choose "1x"

FFmpeg Retry Interval

There's a configuration option that controls how long Frigate waits before retrying camera connections(3):

ffmpeg:
  retry_interval: 10

(3)

The default is 10 seconds. The documentation notes: "If set too high, then if a ffmpeg crash or camera stream timeout occurs, you could potentially lose up to a maximum of retry_interval second(s) of footage"(3).

Database Sync

If recordings files are deleted but Frigate doesn't know about it, you can enable recordings sync(1):

record:
  sync_recordings: True

(1)

However, the documentation warns this "uses considerable CPU resources and in most cases is not needed"(1).

The specific symptom you're describing (clips showing initial image but not playing until restart) isn't directly covered in the available documentation. You may want to check the Frigate logs and visit GitHub for additional support.

📚 Sources:

1. Recording
2. Live View
3. Full Reference Config

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.