From 48ab494723c4deefcd388a1b885f4622d939f1b6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Josh Hawkins <32435876+hawkeye217@users.noreply.github.com> Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2026 13:50:48 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] add details to timestamp error faq --- docs/docs/troubleshooting/common_errors.md | 10 +++++++--- 1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/docs/troubleshooting/common_errors.md b/docs/docs/troubleshooting/common_errors.md index 982b333055..8fc675a2ac 100644 --- a/docs/docs/troubleshooting/common_errors.md +++ b/docs/docs/troubleshooting/common_errors.md @@ -34,11 +34,15 @@ The detect FFmpeg process exited on its own. This message is only the notificati - + -An FFmpeg message meaning the camera sent packets with out-of-order timestamps. Because recordings are copied without re-encoding, FFmpeg cannot fix them, and the segment muxer often splits early, producing one-second segments and a cache backlog. The usual cause is a camera "Smart Codec" / H.264+ / H.265+ mode or a camera clock that jumps. +These are FFmpeg messages indicating the camera sent packets with out-of-order timestamps, either on the video or the audio stream. Timestamp jitter like this is common with WiFi cameras and restreamed or proxied sources; other causes are a camera "Smart Codec" / H.264+ / H.265+ mode or a camera clock that jumps. A sustained flood of these messages usually precedes the stream stalling and the watchdog restarting FFmpeg. -See [Recordings: segments are only 1 second long](/troubleshooting/recordings#segments-are-only-1-second-long). +In most cases, the fix is to improve the network, reduce system resource usage, or switch to non-WiFi cameras. In general, WiFi cameras are [not recommended](https://ipcamtalk.com/threads/multiple-cameras-high-bandwidth.77100/#post-861110). + +On the video stream, this can affect recordings: because they are copied without re-encoding, FFmpeg cannot fix the timestamps, and the segment muxer often splits early, producing one-second segments and a cache backlog. See [Recordings: segments are only 1 second long](/troubleshooting/recordings#segments-are-only-1-second-long). + +On the audio stream, the messages can come from the output's audio encoding. If the audio stream is the problem, it may help to have go2rtc transcode it by adding `#audio=aac` to the camera's go2rtc stream to produce clean timestamps for everything consuming the restream.