Native crash when switching back to main TS content after HLS ad with custom DataSource

Hi Media3 team,

I’m experiencing a native crash when switching back to a main TS content after playing an HLS ad. My setup is as follows:

Setup

• I use a custom TunerDataSource that implements a circular buffer and continuously streams TS from a multicast/QAM source.
• Main content is played using this TunerDataSource.
• HLS ads are preloaded and played via a MediaSource switch.

The player flow:

• Main TS content is playing via TunerDataSource ( custom implementation of DataSource).
• Pause main TS, switch to HLS ad (preloaded via preloadManager or even without preloading, direct mediasource switch).
• After ad ends, I switch back to the main TS content.
• If I reuse the previous TunerDataSource for step 3:
• After 3–4 iterations of this ad switch, the app crashes with native SIGSEGV in MediaCodec / codeclooper / faultaddr.
• If I create a fresh TunerDataSource instance for every main content switch: No crash occurs.

My observations:

Crash seems related to ExoPlayer / MediaCodec holding stale native buffer references when the same DataSource is reused after a full media source reset.

Scenario – TS → HLS ad → TS (Direct Switch)
Description: Main content uses a custom TS datasource, switch to an HLS ad, then back to the main TS datasource (letting buffer overwrite happen).

Result: Crash occurs (native crash in MediaCodec_loop / SIGSEGV / fault addr).

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Scenario – TS Pause & Resume (Safe Resume)
Description: Main content uses custom TS datasource, pause the player, let the circular buffer fill, then resume playback.

Result: No crash observed.
Conclusion: Buffer overwritten is not causing this crash.

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Scenario – TS → PreloadManager Ad → TS
Description: Main content uses custom TS datasource, switch to an ad via PreloadManager, then switch back to main TS datasource.

Result: Crash occurs.

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Possibly, Switching between different types of media sources (custom TS ↔ HLS/PreloadManager) is causing native-level crashes.

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Questions

1. Is this expected behavior in Media3 when switching between different types of media sources (custom TS ↔ HLS)?
2. What is the recommended approach to safely reuse a custom TS DataSource across MediaSource switches (TS → HLS → TS) without creating a new instance every time?
3. Would you recommend implementing a “reset” mechanism in the custom DataSource, or avoiding prepare() when switching back to the main TS content?
4. I want to achieve smooth transitions between main → ad → main content without triggering native crashes. How can this best be handled using Media3?

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Any guidance or best practices for handling this scenario would be highly appreciated.