Troubleshooting
A starter list of fixes for the most common questions. This page will grow as more users hit edge cases. If you’re stuck on something not listed here, get in touch via the contact page.
Pairing
Section titled “Pairing”The QR code on the TV doesn’t scan.
Make sure the TV is on a distinct, well-lit screen; some camera apps
struggle with motion blur. You can also type the URL manually:
cinaura.tv/pair/<service> and enter the 8-character session code shown
on the TV.
“Session expired” before I could finish. Pairing sessions last 10 minutes. Restart the flow from the TV.
The browser opens but the TV never unlocks. Either the OAuth flow didn’t complete, or the TV lost network. Refresh the browser tab and complete the flow again; if the TV is on Wi-Fi, double-check it has internet access.
Library & sync
Section titled “Library & sync”My files aren’t showing up.
Cinaura recognises media by file name and folder structure. If a movie
is named random_string.mp4, it won’t be matched. Rename to something
like Movie Name (2023).mp4 or organise by folder
(/Movies/Movie Name (2023)/movie.mp4).
Sync is slow. First-time syncs always take longer because Cinaura is fetching artwork and metadata for everything in your library and writing it to the TV’s local database. Two things determine how the runs after that behave:
- How the source reports changes. Some sources (Dropbox, Google Drive) tell Cinaura exactly what’s been added or modified since the last sync, so subsequent scans only touch new and updated items. Other sources don’t keep that history, which forces Cinaura to walk through every file in the source each time to figure out what’s new. Those walks take longer even when very little has changed.
- TV hardware. Android TV boxes vary a lot. Cheaper boxes with limited CPU and RAM take noticeably longer to process a large library than something like an Nvidia Shield or an Onn 4K Pro. Nothing is broken on the slower box, there’s just less compute to throw at the job.
The first sync is always the longest. Let it finish uninterrupted, and later runs are dramatically quicker.
Playback
Section titled “Playback”Streams won’t start. Check that the source itself is healthy. Open the file directly via the source provider’s website to confirm it plays. If it does, share the playback log via the contact form.