[Docker] Default ffmpeg path is not being displayed

[LeoVerto]

When starting jellyfin from docker with an empty config dir the ffmpeg binary path is empty whereas it should default to /usr/bin/ffmpeg.

[sparky8251]

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is just a display bug yes? FFMPEG has worked for me despite that box being empty before.

If so, it might be fixed by #412 and it definitely belongs as part of #122.

[cvium]

Where is it shown? If it's Settings -> Transcoding, then it is not fixed by #412. I'm not even sure it's a bug.

[louisefindlay23]

It makes transcoding fail for me until I set it.

[sparky8251]

That's new... Got logs of it failing? Might have to look in docker logs as well as the normal Jellyfin logs.

[louisefindlay23]

This is the docker logs - not sure where jellyfin logs are -

log.txt

[hawken93]

For next time, this would be easier to read if attached as a file:)

[nvllsvm]

Changed a comment to have the log in an attachment.

[ploughpuff]

Question for UI devs please. Is it possible to write directly into field txtEncoderPath (src/encodingsettings.html, src/scripts/encodingssettings.js) from a method in class MediaEncoder? If so, how please?

I've worked on improving the FFmpeg path discovery and this is the final missing link to resolving this issue. I need to update that input textbox without writing to the config/encoding.xml file. Then we can display the FQPN to the encoder but it wouldn't be remember for next start (unless user clicks save! of course)..

[ploughpuff]

So writing directly to .txtEncoderPath is a no go, and probably the wrong approach anyway.

What we can do is always write the current FFmpeg path to the xml so it is displayed to the user. That will fix this issue but presents another.. On restart, if CLI switch --ffmpeg is given, or for whatever reason the Custom path becomes unavailable, then the users Custom path in xml would be lost and over-written with a System $PATH. Not ideal, but is solved by creating a new entry in the xml specifically to record the Custom user entered setting. We therefore need two entries in the xml: 1) only gets set from the Transcode page (via user update/submit), 2) String to reflect the current path to FFmpeg being used.

I've put a change-set together and shall raise a PR soon for people to review.