Android video player broken since v6.16 (error "Unable to launch video activity")

General Discussions
1

Starting with Android app version 6.16 video no longer works. Downgrading to a previous release (6.15 or earlier) restores functionality. I’m no expert, but the most suspect log entry for me is:

i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.

Here’s a more complete log to show what’s happening once I press “play”. I’m happy to attach the full log if needed.

04-23 00:17:43.788  i: [UserAction] Click 'play' button in preplay activity.
04-23 00:17:43.790  i: [OneApp] User can execute command without restrictions because he is entitled.
04-23 00:17:43.791  i: [PlaybackManager] Preparing for The Simpsons - S03 E24
04-23 00:17:43.792  i: [DefaultPlaybackManager] Initial passthrough dialog should be only displayed on ATV.
04-23 00:17:43.794  i: [DefaultPlaybackManager] No codecs being downloaded.
04-23 00:17:43.794  i: [PlayQueues] Creating remote PQ.
04-23 00:17:43.795  i: [PlayQueueAPIHelperBase] No item path provided, will generate a new one
04-23 00:17:43.795  i: Fetching [method:POST] https://192.168.1.100:32400/playQueues?continuous=0&repeat=0&type=video&shuffle=0&uri=library%3A%2F%2F11e446b9-0f2c-40e9-b066-9813aa2b66af%2Fitem%2F%252Flibrary%252Fmetadata%252F1001&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F5509&X-Plex-Token=...oLjL
04-23 00:17:43.864  i: Creating MobileVideoPlayerActivity.
04-23 00:17:43.865  i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.
04-23 00:17:43.882  i: [Boot] MobileVideoPlayerActivity took 6ms to run create behaviours.
04-23 00:17:43.901  i: Resuming PreplayEpisodeActivity.
04-23 00:17:44.530  i: [PlayQueueAPIHelperBase] Result container=<MediaContainer mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" playQueueVersion="1" playQueueID="8081" size="41" playQueueSourceURI="library://11e446b9-0f2c-40e9-b066-9813aa2b66af/item/%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F1001" playQueueShuffled="0" playQueueSelectedItemID="66050" playQueueSelectedMetadataItemID="5509" playQueueTotalCount="638" mediaTagVersion="1523557276" playQueueSelectedItemOffset="61" />
04-23 00:17:44.532  w: [RemotePlayQueue] Couldn't find item with PQ ID=null in current window.
04-23 00:17:44.533  i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.1.100:32400/library/metadata/5509?checkFiles=1&includeExtras=1&includeRelated=1&includeRelatedCount=0&includeReviews=1&X-Plex-Token=...oLjL
04-23 00:17:45.300  i: Creating MobileVideoPlayerActivity.
04-23 00:17:45.300  i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.
04-23 00:17:45.314  i: [Boot] MobileVideoPlayerActivity took 6ms to run create behaviours.
04-23 00:17:45.337  i: Resuming PreplayEpisodeActivity.
04-23 00:17:46.870  i: Time out fetching http://172.25.144.97:32433/resources.
04-23 00:17:46.872  i: [conn] Device My-Server response time is Infinity ms
04-23 00:17:46.872  i: [conn] Connection FAILURE My-Server ~ Connection: http://172.25.144.97:32433 token used: false types: [myplex] state: Unreachable
2

Bueller? No one else experiencing this issue? No ideas? :confused:

3

I am experiencing the same issue. Also running 6.16 as well on my nvidia shield tablet

05-07 18:22:36.147 i: [UserAction] Click ‘play’ button in preplay activity.
05-07 18:22:36.221 i: [PlaybackManager] Preparing for Black Panther
05-07 18:22:36.226 i: [DefaultPlaybackManager] Passthrough is enabled.
05-07 18:22:36.246 i: [DefaultPlaybackManager] No codecs being downloaded.
05-07 18:22:36.256 i: [PlayQueues] Creating remote PQ.
05-07 18:22:36.257 i: [PlayQueueAPIHelperBase] No item path provided, will generate a new one
05-07 18:22:36.262 i: Fetching [method:POST] http://127.0.0.1:35498/playQueues?repeat=0&shuffle=0&extrasPrefixCount=0&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F268448989&uri=library%3A%2F%2F619e0579-a709-4f93-b028-11113f45ecbf%2Fitem%2F%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F268448989&type=video&continuous=0
05-07 18:22:36.274 i: [pms] /127.0.0.1:36596 - POST /playQueues
05-07 18:22:36.493 i: [PlayQueueAPIHelperBase] Result container=
05-07 18:22:36.499 w: [RemotePlayQueue] Couldn’t find item with PQ ID=null in current window.
05-07 18:22:36.506 i: Fetching [method:GET] http://127.0.0.1:35498/library/metadata/268448989?checkFiles=1&includeExtras=1&includeRelated=1&includeRelatedCount=0&includeReviews=1
05-07 18:22:36.513 i: [pms] /127.0.0.1:36598 - GET /library/metadata/268448989
05-07 18:22:36.666 i: Creating MobileVideoPlayerActivity.
05-07 18:22:36.667 i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.
05-07 18:22:36.684 i: [Boot] MobileVideoPlayerActivity took 7ms to run create behaviours.
05-07 18:22:36.705 i: Resuming PreplayVideoActivity.
05-07 18:22:36.880 i: [pms] /127.0.0.1:36603 - GET /photo/:/transcode
05-07 18:22:38.986 i: [UserAction] Tap on mini-player ‘play’ button.
05-07 18:22:39.058 i: Creating MobileVideoPlayerActivity.
05-07 18:22:39.059 i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.
05-07 18:22:39.071 i: [Boot] MobileVideoPlayerActivity took 5ms to run create behaviours.
05-07 18:22:39.095 i: Resuming PreplayVideoActivity.
05-07 18:22:39.992 i: [UserAction] Tap on mini-player ‘play’ button.
05-07 18:22:40.026 i: Creating MobileVideoPlayerActivity.
05-07 18:22:40.026 i: [Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.
05-07 18:22:40.039 i: [Boot] MobileVideoPlayerActivity took 6ms to run create behaviours.
05-07 18:22:40.054 i: Resuming PreplayVideoActivity.

4

Update: v6.17 produces the same error. v6.15.2 is the last functional version for me. Please help and show some love to a Plex Pass supporter! :’(

5

Update: same issue with v7.0.0.5371. I got my hopes up with the changelog indicating a fix for devices with no Google Play Services, but alas - back to v6.15.2 for me unfortunately. @Plex team PLEASE FIX THIS ISSUE! (Maybe the all caps will get someone’s attention finally? :stuck_out_tongue: )

6

I am still having the issue on my stock Nvidia shield tablet with gapps installed. This is getting very frustrating.

7

New android version 7.0.1 is working again.

8

Not here. Same issue with v7.0.1. Music plays correctly but video does not start.

9

Same here. I’m not able to play any videos since updating.

10

@amandyke said:
I am still having the issue on my stock Nvidia shield tablet with gapps installed. This is getting very frustrating.

What is included in that package? We included a fix for Google Play Services. I’m not aware of other missing Google products that can cause this.

@john6555 said:
Not here. Same issue with v7.0.1. Music plays correctly but video does not start.

Are you seeing the same “unable to launch” error from before? If not, please provide the log.

11

@“MovieFan.Plex” thanks for your response. Yes, I am still seeing:

[Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.

12

@“MovieFan.Plex” gAPPS is Google Play Services. I just updated to 7.0.2 and am still unable to play local synced or even streaming content.

I’m getting the same error as john6555:
[Video Player] Unable to launch video activity as application is not initialized or invalid player specified.

13

Can you guys provide me the full log?

@amandyke said:
@“MovieFan.Plex” gAPPS is Google Play Services.

What version of Google Play Services is installed?

14

@“MovieFan.Plex” I have Play Service 12.6.85 installed.

Attached is the log from my device from when it was restarted last night and I started syncing some stuff (which hadn’t finished by the morning)

15

FYI, still facing this issue on v7.0.3

16

The devs have identified the issue. No ETA on a fix, but they are working on it.

17

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:
The devs have identified the issue. No ETA on a fix, but they are working on it.

Here’s hoping it’s fixed quickly.

18

@amandyke said:

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:
The devs have identified the issue. No ETA on a fix, but they are working on it.

Here’s hoping it’s fixed quickly.

Just to check. Are you running a custom ROM?

19

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:

@amandyke said:

Here’s hoping it’s fixed quickly.

Just to check. Are you running a custom ROM?

No, bone stock.

20

@amandyke said:

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:

@amandyke said:

Here’s hoping it’s fixed quickly.

Just to check. Are you running a custom ROM?

No, bone stock.

You sure? Your logs show you have an NVidia Shield tablet running Android 7.0. AFAIK, NVidia never released 7.0 on that device.