Troubleshooting
A playlist that will not load
The app validates what you typed before it goes anywhere near the network, so the message you get narrows the problem down considerably. This is what each one means.
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A playlist can fail at three different stages, and knowing which one you reached removes most of the guesswork:
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Validation, before anything is sent
The app checks the shape of what you typed. These messages appear instantly and always name a specific field.
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Fetching, once the details look valid
The app contacts the server. Failures here are about reachability and credentials rather than typing.
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Processing, once data has arrived
You see counts climbing. A failure now means the data itself, or the device's ability to hold it.
Stage one: the message names a field
| Message | What to do |
|---|---|
| Enter playlist URL or select a local playlist file. | An M3U playlist with neither a URL nor a file. Nothing was sent. |
| Enter a valid URL or select a local playlist file. | Include http:// or https://. Check for a space at the start or end, which is what pasting from a chat app usually adds. |
| Please reselect the local playlist file. | The file is still there but Android has withdrawn the app's permission to read it. Pick it again through Select local playlist. |
| Server URL is required. | An Xtream playlist with no server address. |
| Enter a valid server URL. | Scheme, host and port only — http://example.com:8080. No trailing path. |
| Username is required. / Password is required. | Both are mandatory for Xtream Codes and neither can be recovered by us. |
| Portal URL is required. / Enter a valid portal URL. | Keep the path your provider gave you, including a trailing /c/ if it had one. |
| MAC address is required. / Enter a valid MAC address. | Colons rather than hyphens, and replace the pre‑filled 00:1a:79:00:00:00 entirely. |
| Enter a valid EPG URL. | An optional field that has been filled in wrongly. Empty it if you are not sure you need it. |
All of these are about the text in the box. None of them mean your subscription is wrong.
Stage three: Processing failed
The app reports Processing failed: followed by the underlying reason, and where nothing specific came back, Unknown error. If the source itself was never readable you get Unable to process playlist: source input is missing.
Work through these in order. The first two account for most cases by a wide margin.
| Cause | How to confirm it |
|---|---|
| Connection limit reached | It works after you fully close the app on every other device. Backgrounding is not always enough. |
| Subscription expired or suspended | Your provider's account page says so. On an existing Xtream playlist, Account Information shows the expiry date directly. |
| Credentials changed | A provider migrating servers reissues details and does not always tell you. Ask for the current ones. |
| Server down or moved | Nothing loads for anybody. Wait rather than editing settings you had right. |
| Network blocking the route | The same details work on mobile data but not on your home connection, or the reverse. Try another DNS server. |
| The file is not a playlist | A link that returns a web page or an error page instead of a list. Open it in a browser and look at what comes back. |
The two-minute test
Enter the same details on a phone over mobile data. Working there and failing at home points at your network. Failing in both places points at the account or the server, and that is your provider's side rather than a setting here.
When it starts and then stops
A playlist that climbs through Live TV, Movies and Shows counts and then stops partway has usually run out of memory. Very large M3U files, tens of thousands of entries, have to be read in full before anything is usable, and a television stick has considerably less room than a phone.
Two ways out, better one first:
- Use Xtream Codes if your provider offers it. Categories are fetched as you open them, so the size of the full catalogue stops mattering. Your existing M3U link often contains the credentials you need.
- Ask for a smaller list. Many providers can issue a link limited to the categories you actually watch, and it is a five‑minute email that solves the problem permanently.
The third thing everybody tries is worth ruling out explicitly. Unticking Include Vod on the import screen looks like it should halve the work, and it does nothing, that tick box is not connected to the importer in this build, so the file is parsed in full whichever way you leave it. Neither is Include live tv. If a large M3U is failing, the two options above are the only real ones.
It loaded, but the list is empty
A successful load with nothing to watch is a different problem, and almost always something switched off rather than something broken.
- Enable playlist is off. Check it under Settings › Playlists, on the playlist itself.
- You are looking at a filtered list. Favorites shows nothing until you add something. Switch to All Channels.
- Groups are hidden. If you used Hide all groups while tidying up, Manage groups is where you bring them back.
- Nothing landed in the list you are looking at. The import counts three things separately, and where they stopped tells you where the content went. A source that finished on Live TV: 0 with Movies and Shows in the thousands carries no live channels at all, and what you are after is in movies and shows rather than the channel list.
Once it loads
A playlist that imports cleanly can still have individual channels that fail, which is a separate matter, a channel that will not play covers those. An empty programme guide after a successful import is also normal on some sources, and missing guide data deals with it.
Editing a working playlist is safer than replacing it. If a password changes, edit the existing entry rather than adding a new one, so your favourites, your group visibility and the guide source attached to it all survive.