When something will not play, the app shows “Cannot play” with “Retry” and “Close”, and below it a technical line (engine, codec, server, platform). That line is useful if you then contact Support.
Player messages
| Message | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “Could not connect to the stream. Check your connection or that the account is active.” | No network, or the source is down. | Retry; in Settings → Sources use “Check now” to see whether the account is still active. |
| “Playback did not start. The provider server may not be responding, the connection may be slow, or this device may not decode this channel format.” | The channel takes more than ~25 s to start. | Try another channel or source. Change “Live channel format” (HLS ↔ MPEG-TS) and set “Live TV quality” to “Data saver”. |
| “This content format is not supported on this device.” | A codec (HEVC/4K, MKV, Dolby/DTS) that the device cannot decode. | Turn on “Native Android player” (Settings → Playback); try another source or version of the title. |
| “An error occurred during playback.” | Generic error. | Retry. If the native player fails at the start, the app retries by itself with the browser's player. |
| “The portal did not give the link for this content. Try again or another channel.” | A Stalker portal did not return the link. | Retry; if it persists, check the portal subscription. |
If the title is in several sources, the app tries another one by itself (“‘{A}’ is not responding. Trying ‘{B}’…”) or another stream of the same channel (“Reconnecting…”).
Provider notices
Instead of the video you may see a notice from your provider:
- “Your provider says the account is disabled: check your subscription with them.”
- “…the account has expired: renew it with them.”
- “Your provider has no free connections: close other devices and retry.”
These are matters between your account and the provider, not Filoteca. Remember that watching TV on another device, live channel previews, the seek thumbnail and “Pause and rewind live TV” also use up the provider's connections.
Channels that do not work
- “Only in its country”: the channel only broadcasts in its home country; outside it may not work. This is normal for public channels.
- “Not 24/7”: the channel has a schedule.
- If the channel no longer exists you will see “The provider no longer has this title”.
Picture without sound, or sound without picture
Some devices cannot decode Dolby or DTS audio or HEVC/4K video. Turn on “Native Android player”, which supports them in software, or try another version of the title. On Windows, Dolby/DTS audio is converted with a local tool.
“This device is on the low side”
This is a performance notice: the WebView (the built-in browser) is old or the device has 1 GB of memory or less. Update “Android System WebView” in the store if you can, or use a Fire TV Stick, a Chromecast with Google TV or a more powerful Android box.
Downloads
“The provider did not return a video” means it answered with a notice or text (expired account, no free connections or a dead link). Other messages: “The connection was lost too many times”, “Not enough space on the device” and “This title is streamed in segments and cannot be downloaded” (Downloads).
Cuts and buffering
Try “Speed test” in the ⋯ menu on a movie's detail page: 1080p usually needs between 5 and 12 Mb/s, and 4K more than 20. For live TV, “Live TV quality” → “Data saver”. If you use Wi‑Fi, move closer to the router or connect the TV by cable.