reference

Troubleshooting

Content Issues

"Content directory not found"

Problem: FieldStation42 can't find your channel folder.

Solutions:

  1. Check the content_dir path in your config file
  2. Verify the folder actually exists: ls catalog/your_channel_name
  3. If using a symbolic link, check if it's broken: ls -la catalog/
  4. Paths are case-sensitive: Classic_TV is not the same as classic_tv

"No videos found in catalog"

Problem: Catalog builder finds the folder but no videos.

Solutions:

  1. Make sure videos are in subfolders, not directly in the channel folder
  2. Check file extensions are supported (mp4, mov, mkv, etc.)
  3. Verify file permissions: ls -la catalog/your_channel/sitcoms/
  4. Run rebuild to see detailed output: python3 station_42.py --rebuild_catalog

Problem: Link points to the wrong location or doesn't work.

Solutions:

  1. Check if link exists: ls -la catalog/
  2. Verify target exists: ls /path/to/actual/videos
  3. Remove broken link: rm catalog/broken_link
  4. Create new link with absolute path: ln -s /full/path/to/videos catalog/new_link

Videos found but won't play

Problem: Catalog builds successfully but videos don't play during streaming.

Solutions:

  1. Test file directly: ffmpeg -i catalog/channel/sitcoms/video.mp4
  2. Check file corruption: Try playing in VLC or another player
  3. Verify file duration is > 0 seconds
  4. Some exotic codecs may not be supported - try re-encoding

Rebuilding takes too long

Problem: Catalog rebuild scans thousands of files and takes ages.

Solutions:

  1. FieldStation42 caches file information to speed up rebuilds
  2. First build is always slowest (measuring all video durations)
  3. Subsequent rebuilds are faster (only checks new/changed files)
  4. Consider organizing into multiple smaller channels instead of one huge channel

Configuration Issues

"Failed to load station configuration"

  • Your JSON has a syntax error
  • Copy/paste into https://jsonlint.com/ to find the problem
  • Common causes: trailing comma, missing quote, comment in file

"Content directory not found"

  • Check your content_dir path is correct
  • Paths use forward slashes / even on Windows
  • Path is relative to FieldStation42 root folder

"No videos scheduled"

  • Make sure your tag names match your subfolder names exactly (case-sensitive)
  • Check that hour numbers are strings: "7" not 7
  • Verify your day names are lowercase: "monday" not "Monday"

Station shows nothing but off-air pattern

  • Check that you have scheduled hours for the current time
  • Remember: hour "0" = midnight, "13" = 1 PM, "20" = 8 PM
  • Hours not in your schedule = off-air

Scheduling Issues

Sequences not playing in order

Usually a file naming issue. Check how your files sort:

ls -1 catalog/your_content/your_show/

Watch out for names without zero-padding. episode10.mp4 sorts before episode2.mp4 alphabetically. Use episode_01.mp4, episode_02.mp4, etc.

Also check that the sequence name is spelled consistently across all slots that use it.

Marathon never triggers

A 20% chance means about 1 in 5 days. You might just need to wait. For testing, set "chance": 1.0 to make it always happen. Remember that schedules are built in advance, so check future days to see if a marathon was generated.

Slot override not working

Double-check the spelling of your override name. "overrides": "kids_blok" won't match "kids_block". Also make sure the override is defined in the slot_overrides section (not somewhere else in the config).

Schedule overruns or gaps

This usually means your videos are longer than the schedule_increment, or you're using an increment that doesn't divide evenly into 60. Stick to 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, or 60. If timing isn't critical, set schedule_increment: 0 for continuous play.

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