Issue with the Discovery+ Downloader (UK) trying to download videos

zepsonic

At least since the last month, the Discovery+ Downloader doesn't seem to like downloading videos from TNT Sports on Discovery+ UK. I've had to constantly close out Streamfab with videos from this source to try again and yes I'm using VPN to connect to the UK. I did not have this issue with the Discovery+ Downloader months ago. When I do finally get it to load to download, most of the TNT Sport videos downloaded with the downloader are out of sync badly while in the browser the entire video plays just fine. It's also affected a few older downloads that used to work fine from months ago including the Eurosport ones. I suspect they've implemented an update to their DRM that could be breaking some of these downloads. I downloaded an NBA game on TNT Sports via Discovery+ UK and while both played perfectly in the browser window, 1 game was desynced and the other one was not. I feel the Discovery+ Downloader might be broken with some things needing an update. Can this issue with the Discovery+ Downloader be looked into please? I have tried using a Pro installer tool to completely wipe and fresh install on my computer yielding the same result. I've included the log file.

(Duration: 27:31 - De-Syncs @ 14:53 of Downloaded Video)

https://www.discoveryplus.com/gb/video/sport/tnt-sports-1/fia-formula-e-unplugged (Duration: 27:31 - De-Syncs @ 14:53 of Downloaded Video)

https://www.discoveryplus.com/gb/video/sport/tnt-sports-1/fia-formula-e-unplugged-6071278 (Duration 27:44 - De-Syncs @ 13:47 of Downloaded Video)

Cats4U

Where to start? This is a complicated one. Let's start with - You are in the US and you want the services of Discovery+ GB. Did you initially sign up with Discovery+ GB and are paying the following?

I have Discovery+ in the US and using a VPN it would not let me anywhere near the shows you were downloading unless I re-registered and paid the fee to them. I'm not even sure if that's a violation of their Terms of Service.
I see from the log that you had a great deal of problems just trying to get a download started, even if you paid the fee. Your VPN is not hiding you. They know you are in the US mainly, I think, because your VPN is not changing your time to GB time. It knows you are in the EST timezone. After many attempts, you were finally able to download a car racing show. I did not see any basketball game in your log. As you pointed out, it was out-of-sync. Why, I don't know.

2024:01:06-10:19:19 0x00003710 [Info]: [CefMedia] detail, 0 q=0.0 size=  772864kB time=00:13:23.66 bitrate=7878.0kbits/s speed= 803x    \rframe=60611 fps=40395 q=-1.0 q=0.0 size= 1159936kB time=00:20:12.18 bitrate=7838.9kbits/s speed= 808x    \r[mp4 @ 000001ae88067c00] Starting second pass: moving the moov atom to the beginning of the file\r frame=76480 fps=27289 q=-1.0 Lq=-0.0 size= 1496315kB time=00:27:31.17 bitrate=7423.7kbits/s speed= 589x    \r video:1469439kB audio:25800kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.071905%\r
â

There could be any number of things causing this. DRM is not one of them. You would get nothing if they changed the DRM. I did note that in the log it appeared that at one point it tried to switch over to the M3U8 module and failed. I could be wrong, but that was the impression I got from the log. If so, you haven't purchased StreamFab's M3U8 module, so if that were the case, it would fail. Like I said, this one was complicated.

So, if you could, let me know if you purchased the GB Discovery+ subscription above. Also, I'm a little uncertain whether you are trying to download a Live show or whether it is VOD. Based on that, we'll see about referring this to the Developer.

zepsonic

Where to start? This is a complicated one. Let's start with - You are in the US and you want the services of Discovery+ GB. Did you initially sign up with Discovery+ GB and are paying the following?

I have Discovery+ in the US and using a VPN it would not let me anywhere near the shows you were downloading unless I re-registered and paid the fee to them. I'm not even sure if that's a violation of their Terms of Service.
I see from the log that you had a great deal of problems just trying to get a download started, even if you paid the fee. Your VPN is not hiding you. They know you are in the US mainly, I think, because your VPN is not changing your time to GB time. It knows you are in the EST timezone. After many attempts, you were finally able to download a car racing show. I did not see any basketball game in your log. As you pointed out, it was out-of-sync. Why, I don't know.
2024:01:06-10:19:19 0x00003710 [Info]: [CefMedia] detail, 0 q=0.0 size= 772864kB time=00:13:23.66 bitrate=7878.0kbits/s speed= 803x \rframe=60611 fps=40395 q=-1.0 q=0.0 size= 1159936kB time=00:20:12.18 bitrate=7838.9kbits/s speed= 808x \r[mp4 @ 000001ae88067c00] Starting second pass: moving the moov atom to the beginning of the file\r frame=76480 fps=27289 q=-1.0 Lq=-0.0 size= 1496315kB time=00:27:31.17 bitrate=7423.7kbits/s speed= 589x \r video:1469439kB audio:25800kB subtitle:0kB other streams:0kB global headers:0kB muxing overhead: 0.071905%\r
â
There could be any number of things causing this. DRM is not one of them. You would get nothing if they changed the DRM. I did note that in the log it appeared that at one point it tried to switch over to the M3U8 module and failed. I could be wrong, but that was the impression I got from the log. If so, you haven't purchased StreamFab's M3U8 module, so if that were the case, it would fail. Like I said, this one was complicated.

So, if you could, let me know if you purchased the GB Discovery+ subscription above. Also, I'm a little uncertain whether you are trying to download a Live show or whether it is VOD. Based on that, we'll see about referring this to the Developer.
Cats4U

Also I should have noted earlier I'm on Windows 11 using StreamFab for Windows. As far as the subscription, I made the account and then I'm paying that person every month then using my VPN to connect to a UK server makes it work just fine on the web browser as I was stating above. I was paying for just the Eurosport content then decided to upgrade to the TNT Package so I paid the person and they did it for me. Like I was also stating, this also affects some older Eurosport videos on Discovery+ UK that you don't need the TNT package and those worked just fine months ago. I just downloaded a video from Eurosport 2 yesterday of a Dakar Rally and that also was desycned but in the browser it worked just fine. I'm gonna send you a log on that and if need be I'll send you a bigger log that I have saved. I've also tried going back to version 5 with the same results. The main one above was just after doing a fresh install then trying a couple videos to see if it fixed it. If it needed the M3U8 module, I'm not sure why it's not letting me know this so that I can possibly purchase it and on top of that it is downloading every now and then, it's just a struggle having to constantly close/re-launch the program until it finally properly analyzes the TNT Sport videos. This one should have a bit hopefully of more help to you.

zepsonic

Meant to answer your question at the bottom in my post but they are VOD. Clarifying what I was saying above, even if some of the Eurosport ones de-sync now, they have absolutely no problem analyzing/downloading. I've been able to and continue to download those just fine for as long as I've had the program for nearly the last year. It's just on top of what's going on with the TNT Sport videos, some of the Eurosport ones that I've downloaded and had this issue for nearly the last month, you'd think would still be okay but some of those are getting desynced too. I tried downloading some of the main content like Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives from the GB version of the website to test and those are perfect so at least on that front I'm not having an issue with those.

zepsonic

Apologies for the triple post but please disregard the Streamfab log I sent above in my second reply and instead use this one. To make this way easier package wise and could help in also figuring out if it's also the same reason as to what's going on with the downloaded TNT Sport videos that do download being desynced, I downloaded a total of 6 sport videos all from Eurosport on Discovery+ UK and I've downloaded these before as well. 3 of them are fine and the other 3 are desynced when they worked fine up till about a month or so ago.

Videos downloaded from Discovery+ UK in this log:

2023 WEC 8 Hours of Bahrain from Eurosport (Works fine)

2023 Formula E Round 16 E-Prix London Qualifying from Eurosport (Works fine)

2023 Formula E Round 16 London E-Prix from Eurosport (Works fine)

2024 Dakar Rally Highlights Prologue, Alula from Eurosport 2 (Desynced after the first 5 seconds after the Eurosport screen and works perfectly in the preview window)

2023 WEC Season Review from Eurosport 2 (Also desynced after the first 5 seconds after the Vitality advert screen and works perfectly in the preview window)

2023 WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans Introductions from Eurosport 2 (Downloaded this months ago and the video worked just fine, now trying to download it again as a test the downloaded video is desynced after the Eurosport Live on Discovery+ message)

On another interesting note, the other day from TNT Sports, I tried downloading both the 2024 nearly 30 minute Preview Shows for Formula E, those were surprisingly perfectly in sync on the downloads, tried downloading it the next day and they both were desynced at the halfway mark. Trying to continue to test those 2 yields in the same result of them being desynced in the 2nd half of both of those videos. All of these videos above also play just fine in the preview window. Thanks!

Cats4U

Apologies for the triple post

No need to apologize. In fact, the more information, the better. And I thank you for providing so much. I wish everyone with a problem did.

The first thing I want to do is ask any other Premium Discovery+ UK user here, preferably from GB, if you are seeing any desyncing as well.

Do the shows on Discovery+ UK, specifically Eurosport and TNT Sports, have commercials?

At this point, it'd be best for me to pass this on to Jack/Mona?/Wilson to refer this directly to the Developer.
@jpp72 @Mona @Wilson.Wang

zepsonic

No need to apologize. In fact, the more information, the better. And I thank you for providing so much. I wish everyone with a problem did.

The first thing I want to do is ask any other Premium Discovery+ UK user here, preferably from GB, if you are seeing any desyncing as well.

Do the shows on Discovery+ UK, specifically Eurosport and TNT Sports, have commercials?

At this point, it'd be best for me to pass this on to Jack/Mona?/Wilson to refer this directly to the Developer.
@jpp72 @Mona @Wilson.Wang
Cats4U

Yes, the ones that are de-synced that I listed above have commercials on them. The last one I provided, the 24 Hour of Le Mans Introduction, that one months ago when I downloaded it was perfectly fine and I still have that original copy that didn't desync. When I tried it again that I included in the log file, that one desynced after the first few seconds. The 2 Formula E 2024 Preview Shows on TNT Sports on Discovery+ UK that just got added recently in the last few days that I did get downloaded when it finally analyzed, they initially downloaded and were just fine including the commercials for those 2 videos. Then, when I tried downloading the first 2 episodes for Season 3 of Unplugged for Formula E that recently aired on VOD, the downloaded video was fine until the halfway mark of the nearly 30 minute episode when it went to commercials and then de-synced after that for the 2nd half of the video, same for episode 2 of Unplugged for Season 3. After that, I tried downloading the 2 Season Previews again for the 2024 Formula E season and then those de-synced at the commercials at the halfway mark. As far as the NBA TNT Games on Discovery+ UK, once again when I finally got those to analyze and download, I've had one game be entirely fine and the other one is desynced while it's perfectly fine in the preview windows.

Also, appreciate the help here and also really appreciate how kind you've been when I've needed to add some more information. I don't want to feel like I'm spamming or anything. Thanks!

Cats4U

Without a doubt, it is the commercials causing the sync problem. Which is usually the case as far as I've seen. The big question is whether Discovery+ is sending the wrong time blocks for the commercials, or is StreamFab misreading what they have sent. I have no way of personally knowing. I'm sure the Developer will be able to sort it out. Hang tight, relief should be on the way soon.

One thing, probably unrelated to your problem, but I mentioned it before. Your VPN is not temporarily changing your time to match the destination location. You still look to Discovery+ UK like you are located in the Eastern US timezone. Which you are. They could, if they wanted to, knock you offline the same as if you connected directly without a VPN. More and more streamers are cracking down on geolocation, and it will only get worse over time. You might want to check your VPN's settings to see if they offer the clock change option. If not, I'd request that they do or find yourself a different VPN that does.

zepsonic

Without a doubt, it is the commercials causing the sync problem. Which is usually the case as far as I've seen. The big question is whether Discovery+ is sending the wrong time blocks for the commercials, or is StreamFab misreading what they have sent. I have no way of personally knowing. I'm sure the Developer will be able to sort it out. Hang tight, relief should be on the way soon.

One thing, probably unrelated to your problem, but I mentioned it before. Your VPN is not temporarily changing your time to match the destination location. You still look to Discovery+ UK like you are located in the Eastern US timezone. Which you are. They could, if they wanted to, knock you offline the same as if you connected directly without a VPN. More and more streamers are cracking down on geolocation, and it will only get worse over time. You might want to check your VPN's settings to see if they offer the clock change option. If not, I'd request that they do or find yourself a different VPN that does.
Cats4U

Hopefully the developers can get this issue fixed. Just gotta wait on their response now to the above post. As far as the VPN time thing, using a dedicated IP through say NordVPN can that pretty much solve everything with the whole country time stuff getting around my actual time instead using the country time?

Cats4U

Hopefully the developers can get this issue fixed. Just gotta wait on their response now to the above post. As far as the VPN time thing, using a dedicated IP through say NordVPN can that pretty much solve everything with the whole country time stuff getting around my actual time instead using the country time?
zepsonic

Unfortunately, I don't know that answer. You'll probably have to ask a representative from NordVPN about that. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now, but if Discovery+ changes their geolocation policy in the future, you could wind up locked out. Just remember that for the future. Maybe by then your VPN will offer the time change feature.

zepsonic

Unfortunately, I don't know that answer. You'll probably have to ask a representative from NordVPN about that. I wouldn't worry too much about it right now, but if Discovery+ changes their geolocation policy in the future, you could wind up locked out. Just remember that for the future. Maybe by then your VPN will offer the time change feature.
Cats4U

Thanks for all the helpful answers and suggestions! Hopefully as far as the desyncing goes with the videos I mentioned about also maybe about the TNT Sports stuff too that this will get sent over to the developers and that the issue will be fixed soon.

zepsonic

At this point, it'd be best for me to pass this on to Jack/Mona?/Wilson to refer this directly to the Developer.
@jpp72 @Mona @Wilson.Wang
Cats4U

Sorry to bother, It's been a couple days and haven't heard from any of the higher ups on if this is going to get passed over to the developers so I wanted to be sure if this was still going to get looked at.

Cats4U

If it happens, it will be in the form of a fix in a version update. Those are usually released on Thursdays or Fridays. Only occasionally are individual fixes released at other times. Those only happen when numerous users are affected by an issue, an issue that causes system crashes, or a security issue. Your issue is none of those. Please be patient. I had already double-checked, and the issue was passed on to the Developer. It is up to the Developer to determine the priority of which issues get fixed first.

zepsonic

If it happens, it will be in the form of a fix in a version update. Those are usually released on Thursdays or Fridays. Only occasionally are individual fixes released at other times. Those only happen when numerous users are affected by an issue, an issue that causes system crashes, or a security issue. Your issue is none of those. Please be patient. I had already double-checked, and the issue was passed on to the Developer. It is up to the Developer to determine the priority of which issues get fixed first.
Cats4U

Thanks for confirming it was passed on to the Developer and all the help. Have a great rest of the week :)