Plex - Unreliable?

Technology and Internet
#1

G’day,

I have been using Plex for over a year now, mostly without much issue other than some naming convention issues from time to time… with my iMac, then Mac Pro serving as the server, and XBox One S as the player.

In the past few weeks, I had several days where Plex simply wont work on the XBox. The first issue it was giving me was not being able to see the server, despite having made absolutely no changes to anything whatsoever - it literally was a case of my wife using it, going out to get the kids, coming home, and then having the issue.

Now, Plex can play files that are on the dashboard thingy, but if you just go into a folder, then choose a movie / tv show, it says “nothing to see here”.

I’ve rebooted the XBox and the Plex server app…

No change.

I checked, and the XBox app has no updates pending.

In both of the above cases, you can sit and watch everything perfectly on the MacPro (server window).

Using google, I see that I’m not alone with both of these issues (though not specifically in the same time frame).

No one seems to have an actual answer to solve the issue - some people offer suggestions, but no one seems to know 100% what’s going on or how to remedy…

Any magical insights here?

cheers and thanks.

cosmic

#2

I’ve found it can be hit and miss too for me - I’m using Plex on an AppleTV 4K and on numerous occasions it will say that it can’t find the server, despite it being on and up. Often a reboot of both the AppleTV and the server will solve the issue but it’s still really annoying!

#3

I was using Plex (not with an XBox though) and had ongoing issues with it.

Switched over to Emby and been trouble-free since.

#4

I have Infuse (Infuse 6 - An elegant video player | Firecore) as my alternative to Plex. Also not with Xbox

#5

It has been rock solid for me for the past 2-3 years. I used to use RasPlex as the client on a Pi, but now just use the native WebOS client on my LG TVs. The iOS and Android clients are also rock solid.

My library is shared with about 10 people who have a range of clients across PS4, Xbox, Samsung, LG, AppleTV and all of them are rock solid accessing my server too.

Maybe you need to tweak some of your server settings.

#6

I find that if I do happen to have issues with Plex, its usually because there’s a server update I havent done.

1 Like
#7

Thanks for the replies.

@kyte Am installing an update that I’d ignored… will see if helps.

#8

Given the clients tend to update automatically (especially on Smart TVs), you really need to stay on top of the server updates.

From time to time I’ve had legitimate issues. Recently there was a client update on WebOS that broke DTS, which in turn caused any file with DTS to buffer repeatedly and become unwatchable. However once this was discussed for a few days on the Plex forums and some root causes were identified, the team released a new update very quickly to resolve the issue.

I run my Plex Server in a Docker container on an Unraid server now. It truly is rock solid. With my 900/500 internet connection I consistently have around 5 streams playing every night, ranging from 4K direct play, to 1080p transcoding. I think my record is about 10 concurrent streams, mostly 1080p, all buttery smooth.

I have a few other containers running some other cool tools such as Tautulli (previously Plexpy) which shows me detailed info about streams in progress, and Ombi which allows my shared users to request things that I can approve/deny.

Have to say, Unraid is AWESOME.

#9

I’ve become one of those nut jobs who doesn’t trust auto update options… But might tick the box for this …

1 Like
#10

Well in saying that I certainly don’t auto-update my PMS. But I’m in the server daily and if I do see an update I check the release notes before installing it.

#11

Similar story here, running on my QNAP serving ATV4 and iOS devices without any issues. The server app does need to be updated manually, but I’m in there regularly enough that it’s pretty much always up to date.

#12

If you don’t auto update sometimes it pays off if there are problems. I always wait a week. But then I am a natural skeptic.

At the risk of derailing this thread, Hawk, for home use what size NAS do you recommend for a house with five iPhones, an iPad and four computers to be backed up, and Plex an AV library of about 2 TB?

I was thinking four disk bays, but just start off with two disks. That should cope with expansion. But for the above purposes would two bays be enough, given HDDs are getting bigger and bigger?
I have been eyeing off the Synology 918S or the QNAP TS-453be.

NAS Recommendation
#13

You’ve answered your own question. 2TB.

How you cater for that in a NAS depends on how much data loss you’re willing to live with. If you just want all the storage you can throw your media at, then a RAID0 4 bay is fine and just fill up the extra bays as you grow your content. If you want to be able to lose a disk or two then RAID5 or RAID6. Which means in a 4 bay NAS only 2 or 3 of the drives will actually give you useable space. The other drives will be for recovery if one of the useable drives fails.

I have a 24TB Unraid server at the moment. That consists of 1x 8Tb Parity disk. 1x 500Gb SSD Cache, and 4x 4TB drives, and an 8TB drive. In that arrangement I can stand to lose a drive and still be able to recover the data. If I wanted to be able to lose 2 drives I’d need to add another 8TB Parity disk. There’s also a 250GB SSD in there which sits outside the array, just for my virtual machines. I don’t care that much about data loss since it can all be “found” again.

#14

Been a Plex user for over 5 years, been rock solid for me.

Server on a Mac Mini, clients Apple TV or iOS.

1 Like
#15

Seems to be running OK again now (after upgrade).

If it had only been 1 issue I’d probably not have been so frustrated… But a second issue within a week of the other… It was… err, frustrating. :}

Will keep an eye on it and see how it plays out.

1 Like
#16

No issues here, Plex server on Mac mini (High Sierra) and client on Xbox One.
I keep everything updated however (except for updating to Mojave on that machine as it’s now too old)

#17

Another +1 for unRaid with Plex (plus Sonarr/Radarr/SABnzbd) dockers and Raspberry Pi plex clients, haven’t had any issues in over a year of use - just remember to install updates as they become available (as with most software :slight_smile:)

2 Likes
#18

The team at Plex is super proactive. The forums are great too - they also use Discourse and a fair few of the developers contribute there! Usually if an update breaks something they’re very quick to release a fix. So as mentioned a few times here, be sure to keep on top of those updates.