Top Shelf error opening TV shows ( Windows 11)

Streaming & Network
1

Hi everyone,

I’m experiencing a strange issue with Infuse on Apple TV (latest available version).

When Infuse is selected on the Apple TV Home screen, the Top Shelf shows the usual sections like “Up Next” and “Recently Added”.

If I click on a TV show from “Recently Added”, Infuse launches but shows the following error:

“Failed to open input stream in demuxing stream”

However, if I click on a movie from the same “Recently Added” section, Infuse opens normally and takes me to the movie page without any issue.

Important details:

  • All media (movies and TV shows) are stored in the same shared folder on a Windows 11 PC.

  • They have identical permissions.

  • The SMB share is configured in Infuse using the server name (not IP address).

  • Authentication is set to guest (no username/password).

  • Inside the Infuse app, everything works perfectly — both movies and TV episodes play fine.
    The issue only happens when launching a TV show directly from the Top Shelf.

The error does NOT occur if:

  • I connect the Apple TV via Wi-Fi (currently using Ethernet), or

  • I keep using Ethernet but enable SMB1 on Windows.

So the issue seems related to:

  • Ethernet vs Wi-Fi

  • SMB2/3 vs SMB1

  • And only affects TV Shows (not movies)

  • Only when launched from the Top Shelf

I don’t understand why these factors would affect TV shows differently from movies, especially since everything works correctly inside the app itself.

Has anyone encountered something similar or knows what might be happening?

Thanks!

PS- I’ve already tried with password protected share and with IP address (instead of server name)…no luck!

2

I’m in the same situation; the current top shelf is completely unusable, and I can’t update any videos.

3

Actually my only (annoying) issue is with Tv shows in the top shelf.
From the top shelf I have no issues if:
-I launch a Movie
-I launch a tv shows, but only if it’s in the Up Next section.

-Zero issues from inside the app

Is the same for you?

4

I am connected to Emby, and Top Shelf displays the “Continue Watching” section from Emby; however, it cannot be updated, and clicking to open results in “Failed to open input stream in demuxing stream,” while opening within Infuse works without issue.

5

I don’t use Emby, but yes, same issue.

6

For me, removing profile from tvos settings and re adding it worked. Now the top shelf works normally.

7

Do you mean the Apple profile?

Edit: Didn’t works, but thx

8

Update – Additional findings (Top Shelf behavior difference)

I did some more testing and found something very interesting that might help narrow this down.

If I start playing a TV episode and then stop it, Infuse removes it from “Recently Added” and places it under “Up Next” / “In Progress” on the Top Shelf.

Here’s the key point:

  • If I open the TV show from “Recently Added”, I get the error:

    “Failed to open input stream in demuxing stream”

  • If I open the same TV show from “Up Next” / “In Progress”, it works perfectly and opens the series (and episode) without any issue.

So the same series behaves differently depending on which Top Shelf section it’s launched from.

This suggests that:

  • The deep link used for “Recently Added” is different from the one used for “Up Next”.

  • The issue is not related to file permissions, authentication, or actual playback.

  • It seems to happen during the initial file/path validation when the app is launched via Top Shelf from “Recently Added”.

  • Once an episode has been played (and presumably validated), launching it from “Up Next” works fine.

To recap the full pattern:

  • Works inside the app.

  • Works over Wi-Fi.

  • Works with SMB1.

  • Fails only with Ethernet + SMB2/3.

  • Fails only for TV shows.

  • Fails only when launched from “Recently Added”.

  • Works when launched from “Up Next”.

This makes it look like a Top Shelf deep-link handling issue specific to “Recently Added” items under SMB2/3 (possibly related to how the file path is resolved or validated at launch).

Hope this helps narrow it down. Let me know if I can provide logs or run additional tests.

9

As far as I understand, this error means the file cannot be accessed. I have the strange error where the TopShelf shows content not available for a specific user profile.

My kid has access to a different library on his profile, but the Top Shelf does not reflect this. When he choses something not available to him, the exact same error pops up.

so it might be a permission issue, especially if the files do play otherwise.

Failed to open input stream in demuxing stream error
10

Not in my case, If you read my posts you’ll see that my tv shows are placed in the same folder of my movies, and I have no issues with movies.
So it’s not a permission issue.

At least in my case.

11

If you’re able to send in a report from your device (and post the code here) we can look further into this.

12

@james

Here’s the code:

73QTS