I received the error "Incoming packet flow stopped for subscribed stream ID"

Updated by Bryan Jones

SCOPE

This document applies to Axia engine-based products. Most notably the Axia Engine and Powerstation.

DESCRIPTION

I received the error "Incoming packet flow stopped for subscribed stream ID=<efc03ee8>" in my logs files. What does this mean?

First, it means exactly what it says. The engine stopped getting a Livewire stream that it thinks it should be getting.

This is not necessarily indicative of an error, and it might be expected. For example, if the stream is from an Axia IP-Audio driver and the box that says to "keep channel active while playback is stopped" is NOT checked, this is normal. Here is a screenshot of that setting.

With that box NOT checked, each channel of the driver will stop sending packets when your software stops playing.

The question is, how do I know if this message is about an IP-Driver channel or not?

The answer is found in the ID=<efc03ee8> part of the message. That ID is the hexadecimal value of the multicast IP address of the received Livewire channel. In this case;

Think of that Hex number like an IP address. ef.c0.3e.e8

  • ef = 239
  • c0 = 192
  • 3e = 62
  • e8 = 232

That gives us a multicast IP address of 239.192.62.232. So;

  • ID=<efc03ee8> = ID=239.192.62.232
Finding a hex to decimal converter if you don't have one is easy. Just click here.

We can find the Livewire channel by multiplying the 3rd octet by 256 and adding the 4th.

62 x 256 = 15872

15872 + 232 = 16104

Now we know that ID=<efc03ee8> corresponds to Livewire channel 16104

Axia Livewire channels are just an alias to an IGMP multicast address. Here is a document that more fully explains that, and this part is explained at the bottom.

MORE ON THIS ERROR

Now that you know what it is, you can determine if this was an error or not. Streams from sources that are NOT a driver should generally not stop. The other thing to consider is what kind of messages did you get from the Engine? If it is just a stream from a single device, then the issue is likely with the device, or its connection to the network. Put a different way, if the Engine disconnects, you are likely to have many messages in the log.

The other thing to keep in my is that this log is not able to tell you the "why." It can only tell you that it did stop, but not why it stopped.

Please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.


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