Troubleshooting

The problems resellers meet most often, and what to do about each. Every answer links to the page with the full steps.

Playlists

A playlist will not refresh

Read the message on the failed refresh first. It says what went wrong.

• Could not reach the provider: The provider did not answer M3UTool. When the same link works in a player on your own computer, the provider is refusing M3UTool, not your link. Providers often drop connections they do not recognise, which looks like an outage. Ask your provider to allow it.
• Your provider refused this download (provider code …): The link itself is fine, but the provider blocks the address the request came from, or the line is tied to another device. Open the same link in VLC to confirm, and ask your provider to allow it.
• Download failed (HTTP 429): The provider is slowing down downloads because the playlist was fetched too often. A source that keeps failing waits longer before each new try: 5 minutes, then 15, 30, 1 hour, 2 hours and 6 hours. Update now skips the wait, so pressing it again and again makes it worse. Give it time.
• Domain mismatch: Your provider now streams from another address than before, so the refresh stops. This protects your playlist from a link that was taken over. When your provider really moved to a new server, click Tools, then Change provider…, keep New provider and type the new address. Your channels move with it and the next refresh finds them all. More in Change stream addresses.
• Anything else: Usually the line: it ran out, it has no free connections, or the password changed. Test the login in a player.

Channels went missing after a refresh

A refresh never destroys anything. The channels are in one of these places:

• In the bin: The provider removed them. Restore them from the bin, or wait: when the provider brings the stream back, it returns on its own with your edits. See The bin.
• Hidden: They are still in your editor, but your customers do not see them. See Hide or delete.
• Never imported: Their group was not in your selection. See Choose groups.
• Not shared with that customer: When you see them and one customer does not, check that customer's groups. See Group access.

Checking streams

Channels show offline

1. Check them again: Open the Check channels window and choose Only the offline ones under 2 Options. See Run a check.
2. A few channels stay offline: The provider dropped those streams. Look for a working copy of the channel, or set up Fallbacks so playback moves to a working copy on its own.
3. A whole group or playlist is offline: Test your provider login in a normal player app. When it fails there too, the problem is the line.

A channel can work and still refuse one customer: when all their devices are already watching, the next one is turned away. More in Not working channels.

Checking is slow

A check opens every stream the way a real player does, and your provider line only allows a few streams at once. More connections on the line is the real fix. Tell M3UTool the real limit in Playlist settings, under Provider accounts, so checks stay inside it: a number higher than your provider allows gets the line blocked.

The console at the bottom of the editor shows what is being tested now. Pause frees the line when you need it, and Resume carries on. More in How checking works.

TV guide

The guide is missing or wrong

• Set the country first: Guide matching uses the group's country. Click the group on the left and pick its Country in the panel on the right, then click Map guide under Tools. See Map the guide.
• Wrong programmes: The channel is matched to the wrong source. Browse guide in the channel's detail panel shows other sources, so you can pick the right one. See Match a channel by hand.
• Right programmes at the wrong hours: Move the guide for that channel. See Guide time shift.
• Wrong hours in one customer's Smarters only: That player shows the guide hours off. Set Guide clock on the customer's Your source tab.
• No guide anywhere: Small, local and PPV channels often have none. Turn on Dummy guide or add your own events. See Channels without guide data.
• Sports and event channels: They have their own answer. See Live sports.

Logos

Logos are missing or wrong

Set the group country first: logo matching uses it to pick the right country's version of a channel. Then open Match logos, click Find logos and then Use N logos. For one channel, pick the logo by hand in its detail panel. More in Match logos automatically and Pick a logo.

Customers

A customer cannot sign in

Check these in order:

1. Username and password: Letter for letter. For the app, give a new activation code instead. See Activation codes.
2. Expired: Move the expiry date and they are back. See Expiry and renewal.
3. Paused: The switch at the top of the customer shows Paused. Switch it back to Active.
4. Device limit reached: Their next device is refused until one stops. See Devices and connections.
5. An old server address: When you changed your domain, their player may still have the old one. See Customer links.

Branding or a custom domain does not show

Add the domain under Branding, create the CNAME record it shows at your DNS provider, then click Verify. DNS takes a while to spread, so try again after a few minutes. Make primary switches your customers' links over to it.

When the branding itself looks wrong, check that you edited the right playlist: a playlist's own branding wins over your default for all playlists. More in Branding and custom domain.

Self-host

Problems on your own install, such as Docker not running, a refused download or a sign-in link that ran out, are answered in Self-host FAQ and on the self-host install pages.

Still stuck

Open Tickets in the left rail and tell us what you already tried. The steps above are the same order support would walk you through. More in Support tickets.