Jellyfin App on Windows 11 Crashes After 1–2 Hours – D3D11VA Hardware Decoding Error

[phainedev]

Hi all,

I've been having consistent crashes with the Jellyfin desktop app on Windows 11 during playback. It usually runs fine for an hour or two, then suddenly crashes. Strangely, the same file will often play fine again afterward with no issues.

Based on the logs, the crash appears related to hardware acceleration, specifically D3D11VA. Here's a snippet:

Code:

ffmpeg: AVHWFramesContext: Unable to lock D3D11VA surface (887a0005)
vd: Could not copy back hardware decoded frame.
vd: Error while decoding frame (hardware decoding)!
Attempting next decoding method after failure of hevc-d3d11va-copy.
QWindowsEGLContext::doneCurrent: Failed to make no context/surface current. eglError: 12302

The error 887a0005 corresponds to DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_REMOVED , suggesting a GPU reset or driver issue—but the system is otherwise stable. 


System details:

• Windows 11
  
• 1080ti
  
• Latest Jellyfin app (April 2025 build)
  
• Jellfin Server running on docker/unraid with GPU passthrough of 7700k when required
  
•  
  

Anyone else seeing this? Would appreciate any insights.

[TheDreadPirate]

Is your 1080Ti overclocked? Have you tried purging and reinstalling the Nvidia driver?

[phainedev]

Hi, thanks for your response.

The GPU is running at stock settings - no overclocking. I can game for hours with no issues, so overall system stability seems solid.

I’ve already tried doing a full uninstall and reinstall of the NVIDIA drivers (using DDU in safe mode), but the problem persists.

I was actually experiencing the same issue back on Windows 10. I then did a completely fresh install of Windows 11 (not an upgrade), but the issue remains exactly the same.

The type of video content doesn’t seem to matter either. SDR or HDR, H.264 or H.265, MKV or MP4, they all behave the same. Playback will usually run fine for an hour or two, then the app crashes. After that, I force close the Jellyfin app, restart the app, start the same media file, and it plays fine again.

Happy to try anything else you think might help.

[TheDreadPirate]

The log snippet in your opening post, is that from Jellyfin Media Player's log?

And between Windows 10 and Windows 11, do you know what version(s) of the Nvidia driver you were/are using?

Have you tried reverting to JMP 1.11.1?

[phainedev]

Yeah, logs are from AppData\Local\JellyfinMediaPlayer\logs. I'll paste a little more here if that helps (cant upload the whole log for some reason):

Code:

025-04-10 20:43:22.340 [info] unknown @ 0 - JS: Received KeepAlive from server.
2025-04-10 20:43:25.249 [info] unknown @ 0 - JS: Requesting url without automatic networking: http://192.168.1.27:8096/Sessions/Playing/Progress
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vo/libmpv: mpv_render_context_render() not being called or stuck.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [critical] unknown @ 0 - ffmpeg: AVHWFramesContext: Unable to lock D3D11VA surface (887a0005)
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [critical] unknown @ 0 - vd: Could not copy back hardware decoded frame.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [warning] unknown @ 0 - vd: Error while decoding frame (hardware decoding)!
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [warning] unknown @ 0 - vd: Attempting next decoding method after failure of hevc-d3d11va-copy.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vd: Looking at hwdec hevc-dxva2-copy...
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vd: Trying hardware decoding via hevc-dxva2-copy.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [warning] unknown @ 0 - cplayer: Audio device underrun detected.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - cplayer: restarting audio after underrun
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vd: Pixel formats supported by decoder: dxva2_vld d3d11va_vld d3d11 d3d12 vaapi vulkan cuda yuv420p10le
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vd: Codec profile: Main 10 (0x2)
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [debug] unknown @ 0 - vd: Requesting pixfmt 'dxva2_vld' from decoder.
2025-04-10 20:43:39.232 [warning] unknown @ 0 - QWindowsEGLContext::doneCurrent: Failed to make no context/surface current. eglError: 12302, this: 0x28a19fa2cf0
2025-04-10 20:43:39.233 [info] unknown @ 0 - JS: Requesting url without automatic networking: http://192.168.1.27:8096/Sessions/Playing/Progress

I'm not sure which Nvidia driver I was using on Windows 10, but I generally keep them updated to the latest version when available. I switched from Windows 10 around three months ago, so I’ve probably gone through several Nvidia driver versions since then. I was already experiencing the crashing issue on Windows 10 for at least a month before switching. 

If the previous version of the Jellyfin app was JMP 1.11.1, then I had the same issue with that as well. Originally, I was only using the app because HDR content doesn't work in the browser version (I'm using Brave). Recently, I’ve also been experiencing dropped frames in Brave, so I’ve switched to using the app full-time, even for SDR content.

[TheDreadPirate]

In JMP, Settings > Client Settings. Scroll down about halfway. What is hardware acceleration set to? Copy? Enable? Disable? What happens if you set it to Disabled, if it isn't already?

---

Also, do you have a separate instance of ffmpeg installed on the system?

[phainedev]

In client settings hardware acceleration is set to 'Copy'. I've set it to disabled and will test this eve. 

And no, I don't believe I've got a second instance of ffmpeg installed. 

Thanks for your help so far.

[phainedev]

No crashes after switching hardware acceleration to 'Disabled' after 4-5 hours of use.

Is there any downside to leaving it like this? I tested a few different media types and everything seems to run ok.

Also, is there any browser that supports playback of HDR content via Jellyfin? Currently running Brave which works fine for Youtube HDR content but not Jellyfin.

Thanks

[TheDreadPirate]

Just higher CPU usage.

Browsers can play HDR. I know AV1 HDR10 works. But HEVC HDR videos would require that you install the HEVC OS decoder from the MS Store. And I don't know which profiles they would play.

[phainedev]

Ok cool, thanks for the info. I'll just keep Hardware Acceleration off for now.

I'll grab the HEVC Video Extensions and see if I can get browser HEVC HDR working too.