Server Version#: Media Plex Server Version 1.21.1.3830
Player Version#: 5.6.1 for Samsung platform
<If providing server logs please do NOT tu(File removed) rn on verbose logging>
Hi all,
First thanks for the opportunity for support you are offering with your forum.
Let’s go down to the business, or better to the problem.
Set up:
Media Plex Server Version 1.21.1.3830
Widows 10 pro
Intel(R) Core ™ i7-5930K CPU @ 3.50GHz 3.50 GHz
32GB Ram
GTX980ti (x2)
Server and TV in the same living room, room not that big indeed (sigh…)
Cable Internet (Ziggo, Amsterdam centrum) 256Mbps download; 25Mbps upload, quality very good, full speed at any hour of the day.,
Client Plex version: 5.6.1 for Samsung platform
QE75Q70R TV Samsung
Connected with both LAN/5Ghz WIFI
Issue:
Until one week ago with the same set up I could play all the 4K I have flawlessly, now they are unplayable due to continuous buffering.
A mystery, only thing that I changed was adding more movies to my collection.
Any specialist that can help me please?
thanks in advance
The setting you mentioned was on “original” for local and 4Mbps for remote.
I assumed I’m in local (same network) and I changed it to “20 Mbps 4k”.
Unfortunately it made things much worse causing worst ever buffering…
But it seems something has changed, look at this part of your logs. I can’t find a profile for your tv:
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.062 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Found session GUID of ut4ibiiov6cqryxbvtq1g8up in session start.
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.064 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] TranscodeUniversalRequest: using augmented profile Generic
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.064 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Downloading document http://127.0.0.1:32400/library/metadata/4794?includeBandwidths=1&offset=-1&X-Plex-Incomplete-Segments=1&X-Plex-Session-Identifier=6ncz4jdeak8emsjf6ypll7lg
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.065 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Auth: authenticated user 1 as inokkina@gmail.com
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.069 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] It took 0.000000 ms to retrieve 110 items.
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.070 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.070 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Selecting best audio stream for part ID 9699 (autoselect: 0 language: en)
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.070 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Audio Stream: 17095, Subtitle Stream: -1
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.074 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing aac_mf (encoder)
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.089 [9536] INFO - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - MFT name: 'Microsoft AAC Audio Encoder MFT'
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.098 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Selected protocol dash; container: mp4
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.098 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: analyzing media item 9624
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.098 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Direct Play is disabled
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.098 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): media must be transcoded in order to use the dash protocol
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/truehd
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/ac3
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/ac3
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/ac3
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/ac3
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/ac3
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Audio Direct Streaming is disabled, so video's audio stream will be transcoded
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.099 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing aac_mf (encoder)
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.101 [9536] INFO - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - MFT name: 'Microsoft AAC Audio Encoder MFT'
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.102 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream audio stream due to profile or setting limitations
Dec 22, 2020 19:03:26.103 [9536] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): selected media 0 / 9624
The audio is transcoding. Plex Media Server must remux (direct stream) the media after converting the audio. This normally is not an issue, but it is best to direct play media if possible.
Dec 22, 2020 18:23:05.834 [3592] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015): Audio Direct Streaming is disabled, so video's audio stream will be transcoded
Dec 22, 2020 18:23:05.836 [3592] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream audio stream due to profile or setting limitations
Dec 22, 2020 18:23:05.837 [3592] DEBUG - [Transcode] Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=4794 codes=(General=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK.) media=(id=9624 part=(id=9699 decision=transcode container=mp4 protocol=dash streams=(Video=(id=17094 decision=copy width=3840 height=1600) Audio=(id=17095 decision=transcode bitrate=1032 encoder=eac3_eae channels=8 rate=48000))))
The Plex app on Samsung TVs will not direct play TrueHD or dts audio streams. The audio will be transcoded to a supported format. Dolby Digital (AC3) and Dolby Digital Plus (EAC3) with 5.1 channels or less should direct play. Unsure about EAC3 7.1.
If possible, choose a audio stream that direct plays, such as AC3/Dolby Digital and see what happens. Also, make sure to leave subtitles off, at least while troubleshooting.
You can monitor playback status via Plex Dashboard.-> Now Playing. It will show if either the video or the audio is transcoding.
I had a short test always on the same movie with VST disabled and it didn’t buffer for the little I let it run, I will test it more extensively today night though.
However the video quality seemed going down, is this one of the possible " other problems" you mentioned?
I have a 5.1 (Sonos play bar connected via optical cable to the TV), however the buffering is happening with all the 4K movies and, most important, it used to work exceptionally well until very few days ago.
Perhaps uploading more Logs would help?
However I will test on AC3/Dolby Digital, unsure on how to leave the subtitles out, I don’t use those usually except for Asian Movies, please advise if you can.
Also some doubts about your question on which Audio Stream I’m using.
does it come with the movie? or I can choose that?
Sorry I’m not any much of a technical person when it comes to streaming
It will not affect the quality. The problem that will occur is that some times the player will request for transcoding and the server will say no. For this reason, you won’t be able to play that title.
How’s the speed test on your tv and server? Check if someone changed one of them to a slower network. At last I would connect both to a wired network for testing.
I meant to turn subtitles off in the Samsung Plex app while playing the movie, which it seems you are already doing.
No need to remove the subtitle track from the movie file.
Why it matters:
The Plex app for Samsung (and LG) Smart TVs is limited due to the low-end CPU in most TVs.
Enabling PGS or VOBSUB subtitles forces a video transcode.
Enabling ASS subtitles may force a video transcode.
If the audio is transcoding, enabling SRT (text) subtitles forces a video transcode.
The CPU in your server is not powerful enough to transcode 4K movies. Even if you had a Plex Pass to enable hardware accelerated transcoding, the 980 Ti would not help, as it cannot decode 4K HEVC movies. Same for the onboard Intel graphics in the i7-5930K.
The above is why many times the first replies to a new forum thread are: a) is the audio transcoding?; b) make sure you have subtitles turned off; and c) what is displayed in Plex Dashboard?
Plex defaults to the first audio track that matches your language settings, whether or not that audio track will direct play or must be transcoded.
On the movie pre-play screen, select More. You should see a new menu to with a choice to select an audio track. If available (and in correct language, etc), select the Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio track, as it will direct play.
These are screenshots from my LG. Unsure if Plex on Samsung looks exactly the same, but it will have similar options.
Movies from Blu-ray discs have multiple audio tracks, each in a different format.
If the primary audio track is Dolby TrueHD, then, per Blu-ray standards, the disc must also include a Dolby Digital (AC3) audio track. If the primary audio track is dts-HD MA, then the disc must also include a dts audio track. Other formats are also supported, but those are the ones you’ll find on the majority of Blu-ray discs.
If you rip a Blu-ray disc using MakeMKV or similar tools, you will see the available audio tracks.
If you acquired the movie by other means, the person(s) that ripped/transcoded/etc may or may not have included other audio tracks.
Just noticed your server is using the WiFi port. If the wired Ethernet port (and associated router/switch) is 1 Gbps, suggest you return to using it if possible.
In your Plex Server settings, set the Preferred Network Interface to the Ethernet port. As noted in the docs, You will need to restart Plex Media Server if you change this setting (you can just restart Plex Media Server, you do not have to reboot the PC).
If you do not need WiFi connectivity on the Plex Server, you can disable the WiFi adapter in Windows. This would prevent Plex from switching back to WiFi, as the interface is disabled.
Also, make sure your TV, if using WiFi, is using 5 GHz, not 2.4 GHz, channels. The latter is bandwidth limited and may cause issues with high bandwidth media such as 4K movies
WiFi is a shared medium. Having both the server and the client (TV) on WiFi reduces network throughput. It may not be an issue with lower bitrate streams, but can cause issues with 4K, due to the amount of data traversing the network.
Concerning VST
Ok, I tested it longer and VST disabled doesn’t help, still buffering therefore I enabled it again.
Concerning the speed test
both TV and PC are on the 5ghz WiFi, and both exceed the 200Mbps when tested with 25Mbps in upload, and nothing changed lately with the WiFi settings/setup
About wiring both devices
I did it however Plex doesn’t work (for me) when both server and player are in LAN, neither it did with Server in Ethernet and Player in WiFi.
It works with Server in 5ghz and Player wired or in 5ghz as well.
Regarding the subtitles
Checked and got it.
Q70R shouldn’t be that bad as CPU, but OK end users pay a lot getting nothing, no news!
About the CPU Server
i7-5930K ( pass mark score of 13620) isn’t enough for transcoding 4k, ok a bit old I know it not looking into a CPU replacement though.
Got it for the two GTX980TIs I sort of knew that.
Regarding the Audio
Thanks, I know how to change Audio track, I asked thinking there was something else at a deeper level.
I tested AC3 on three movies and it is worst than the buffering as I got stuttering and/or Plex Player hanging/crashing let’s always keep in mind that everything worked great till few days ago with any primary Audio tracks (sorry for repeating my Mantra but it’s true).
Regarding the Port/WiFi
I have always used it in WiFi 5ghz (Server); WiFi 5ghz /(Wired Player), Player mostly in wired for the reason you just mentioned: not to share the throughput,
however it used to work both ways and I always double check that I’m on the 5ghz channel for the Server.
I just switched temporary (by a flying cable) to ethernet for testing and as said to CostaHT it didn’t work with both devices in LAN.
Last but not least, of course, I don’t have any intention to have any wire crossing my living room!
Any chance the problems started when you updated PMS, possibly to 1.21.0.3616?
What is the CPU utilization on your server when playing the movie, and how much is used by Plex processes? Utilization from Plex should be minimal, as everything is direct playing.
You updated from PMS v1.21.0.3616 to .3830 on 22 Dec.
Do you remember when you installed .3616? It is not captured in the logs (they only go back to 21 Dec).
Plex keeps backup versions of PMS in the Updates folder in the Plex Media Server install directory (at least it used to). The file/folder dates might show when you installed any updates.
I couldn’t find the Plex Update Folder however, from my Windows Download Folder I can see downloaded .3616 on the 11th Nov and .3711 on the 2nd Dec and I cannot remember problems with either of the two releases.
Eventually on the 22nd Dec I moved to .3830 trying to fix the 4K issue.
I will upload a new log once I get the buffering again, any suggestions on what better to do that please?
Set the Plex app on the Samsung to log to the server (settings -> advanced). Choose debug level if you’ve a choice. On my LG the log to server setting is not persistent. It times out after 8 hours. I think it is the same for Samsung.
Test with a video that worked OK before the problems cropped up. Attach the Plex XML for that video to the thread. The forum does not permit .xml attachments, so zip it, change to .txt, etc. before attaching.
Sorry FordGuy61 I have actually made the log and downloaded it before reading your last message, not easy with the family craving for the TV so I did it while they were having dinner.
However for now a basic log and an explanation of what I did.
Watched a bit of Watchmen and V for Vendetta both with primary Audio AC3 5.1,no transcoding, confirmed by the Dashboard. --> NO BUFFERING
Changed movie to Ready Player One with TrueHD7.1 and after 10 minutes the buffering started, checked on the Dashboard and saw the transcoding for the Audio track --> YES BUFFERING
Switched to AC3 5.1 without starting over the movie from the begin and streaming didn’t even start, basically a black screen.–> BLACK SCREEN
I restarted the streaming for RPO with Audio AC3 5.1 and it had run for less then 10 minutes flawlessly until the Stuttering began with so few FPS that it felt I was watching photos --> Heavy STUTTERING
When my family will leave the scene I’ll collect the LOG the way you taught me.
For now please, when you get the chance have a look at this one attached.
