Request for Shaka Player Upgrade for Vega: Content Steering Failover Issue in v4.8.5

Vega Open Beta Bug Reports
1

:warning: Before you continue

(Please review the troubleshooting documentation as instructed)

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Bug Description

1. Summary
Request to upgrade Shaka Player for Vega due to Content Steering failure in v4.8.5-r1.2
The current Shaka Player version provided for Vega (v4.8.5-r1.2) fails to perform Content Steering failover when the primary CDN encounters a server error (500). We have verified that this issue is resolved in Shaka Player v4.16.12 (upstream web version). We request an updated package based on v4.16.12 or later to resolve this issue.

Bug Severity
Impacts operation of app

2. Steps to Reproduce

  1. Launch the Vega app integrated with Shaka Player v4.8.5-r1.2.
  2. Start playback of a stream that utilizes Content Steering (with Primary and Backup pathways defined).
  3. Use Charles Proxy to intercept network traffic.
  4. Confirm the player is requesting segments from the Primary CDN.
  5. Enable the “Rewrite” (or Map Remote) tool in Charles to force a 500 Internal Server Error response for requests to the Primary CDN.
  6. Observe the player’s behavior.

3. Observed Behavior
The player does not switch to the Backup CDN defined in the Content Steering manifest. Instead, playback stalls or throws a fatal error after retrying the failed Primary CDN.

4. Expected Behavior
Upon receiving 500 errors from the Primary CDN, the player’s Content Steering logic should trigger a failover and automatically switch requests to the Backup CDN (Pathway) to continue playback seamlessly.

4.a Possible Root Cause & Temporary Workaround

  • Root Cause: This appears to be a bug in the older Shaka Player v4.8 core logic.
  • Verification: We tested the exact same stream and conditions using Shaka Player v4.16.12 on a standard web browser. In v4.16.12, the failover to the Backup CDN works correctly immediately after the 500 error simulation.
  • Workaround: None available in the current Vega package (v4.8.5-r1.2).

5. Logs or crash report
N/A

6. Environment
SDK Version: N/A
App State: Foreground
OS Information: N/A

7. Example Code Snippet / Screenshots / Screengrabs
N/A (Issue is internal to the Shaka Player package provided by Vega)

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Playback Issues

Player SDK: Shaka Player (Vega package)
Player SDK Version: 4.8.5-r1.2
Audio Codecs: N/A
Video Codecs: N/A
Manifest Types: HLS/DASH with Content Steering

Q: If applicable, please provide your media/content url
N/A

Q: Are there any special headers required to reproduce the issue you are facing?
N/A

Additionally please provide the following if possible
See “Steps to Reproduce” for Charles Proxy setup details.

:backhand_index_pointing_right: Additional Context

Comparison Test Results:

  • Shaka Player v4.8.5 (Vega Package): FAIL (Content Steering failover does not work).
  • Shaka Player v4.16.12 (Web Upstream): PASS (Content Steering failover works correctly).

We strongly request Amazon to release a newer version of the Shaka Player package (v4.16+) for Vega to support stable Content Steering functionality.

3

Hi @yuma_koga,

Welcome to Amazon Developer Community!!

Thank you for the detailed bug report on the Shaka Player Content Steering failover issue in v4.8.5-r1.2.

Our team is investigating this issue and will provide an update as soon as we have more information. We appreciate you providing the comparison test results showing that the failover works correctly in Shaka Player v4.16.12, which will be very helpful for our investigation.

Thanks for helping us improve the Vega platform.

Warm regards,
Aishwarya

4

Hi @yuma_koga,

To help us investigate this issue further, could you please share the logs, contents, and TAR files from Vega Studio for us to look into this in detail?

These logs will help our team analyze whether the issue is specific to the Shaka Player version or if there are OS-level factors involved.

Warm regards,
Aishwarya

5

Hi Aishwarya,

Thank you for your response.

Regarding the logs, I am concerned about sharing internal server URLs publicly. However, I have verified the issue using a generic reproduction test.

To isolate the root cause, I tested using the standalone Shaka Player Web SDK (running on a standard browser).

Verification Results:

  • Shaka Player v4.8.5: The Content Steering failover FAILED (Same behavior as Vega).

  • Shaka Player v4.16.12: The Content Steering failover WORKED successfully.

This confirms the issue is a bug within the Shaka Player v4.8.5 core logic itself, independent of the Vega OS.

Please consider upgrading the package to v4.16+.