Browsing by folder unreliable to the point of being unusable

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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1

Server Version#: 1.30.2.6563
Player Version#: 9.13.1.37459

I have an audio library which I access by folder and over recent weeks it has become almost impossible to access content.
The problem doesn’t seem to be server specific (recreated it on a mini server running on my Raspberry pi) It doesn’t seem to be player specific as I recreated it on two Nvidia shields and on android TV. All are running the latest version of the android app so I think there may be a problem with the android app itself. I have tried closing the app, clearing the cache and reopening but the problem always returns.
The symptoms are: not being able to see any folder contents, pressing back and then not being able to navigate and this pattern can repeat up to 12 times before I can eventually access the files in the folders. This doesn’t affect my other libraries as they aren’t accessed by folder. Other libraries have a flat structure but Audio has a media type - ie Audio books followed by author/collection followed by book and then the chapter files. This browsing issue means that I have to back out often all the way to the root directory in order to see the folders the files are located in.
Anyone else having this issue?

2

Now on client 9.14.0.37895 and still a problem

3

Yeah, I always experienced this same issue on my Android TV with my music library…

4

Client now on 9.15 and no change

I have tested on an Android phone and cannot replicate the issue, it seems to be specific with Android TV.
Another element of this that seems peculiar is that when I browse this library by folder the root directory appears correctly but as soon as I navigate to the next levels all the text changes to caps. To my recollection the Android TV app has always done this but I can see no reason why it should.

5

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.1.6716
Player Version#: 9.16.0.38553
Exact same problem, still getting a completely blank page when browsing folders
Curiously, it seems to to either work on a retry or take 12 attempts to access the files in the folder

I have scoured the debug logs to see anything that indicates a problem, I can see communication with the IP address of the player:

Feb 16, 2023 20:13:05.856 [16620] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.0.15:45612 (Subnet)] GET /:/websockets/notifications (9 live) #2d9 TLS GZIP Signed-in Token ([username]) ([name of my client])
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:05.856 [16620] DEBUG - WebSocket: Performing handshake from origin
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:05.856 [16620] DEBUG - Beginning read from WebSocket
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:08.638 [26428] DEBUG - WebSocket: client initiated close
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:08.638 [26428] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of close
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:08.638 [26432] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 2: End of file
Feb 16, 2023 20:13:08.638 [26432] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.0.15:45612] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (9 live) #2d9 TLS GZIP 2782ms 4 bytes

Anyone able to shed light on why browsing by folder is so problematic for Plex?

6

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.1.6733
Player Version#: 9.16.1.38616

No change, retried browsing by folder on the NVidia Shield and still the library page went blank 5 times before eventually being able to navigating to the content.

7

There were some memory leaks recently fixed but if you are on latest update would need your android logs and server logs to add to a bug report.

There is a 9.17 beta you can try if you want. Release Announcements - Android TV beta - #601 by romancamelia

8

Thank you for your response, I was starting to wonder whether I was logging in the wrong place!

android logging.txt (4.0 MB)

Plex Media Server.log (1.7 MB)

Hopefully something jumps out at you.

The thing that perplexes me the most is that when the page goes blank and I select library to refresh the page the folders appear for the briefest moment before the refresh completes. It’s almost like the Android TV version cannot display the content it sees.

It seems odd to me also that when navigating into a folder the folders inside all appear with all caps folder names. The root directory appears correctly but each child directly does not.

9

Just to reiterate, this happens when browsing by folder on multiple servers (2x windows, 1xRaspberryPi) and on multiple android TV clients (3x Nvidia Shields, 2x TVs with android TV installed)
I’ve easily had this problem for 6 months, probably longer.

10

I see a bunch of connection stack trace errors to what seems to possibly be old servers “openflixr” and “BigRig3” are they current servers?

that has always done that.

11

Openflixr, RPIMediaCentre and BigRig3 are current and running
My primary server is BigRig2, family then move to BigRig3 if there are any problems with the primary

12

As an update:

I thought I might have helped matters by running the vacuum command following the steps here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/repair-a-corrupted-database/

It seemed to help but only very briefly.

13

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.2.6739
Player Version#: 9.17.0.38861

Problem still evident. Still getting a blank page when I go to browse by folder and have to retry multiple times before the content becomes visible.

16

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.2.6783
Player Version#: 9.17.0.38861

The problem is still evident, browsing to subdirectories to locate audio files still presents with a blank screen which can take multiple attempts to ultimately access.
I should reiterate that to multiple members of my household this renders Plex useless. If they can’t access the content they want through Plex they will go to Spotify/Podcasts/YouTube.
I have shown them how to search by Artist to access but as the folders are in numerical/chronological order and the albums are in alphabetical order this alternative is worse than simply getting the browse by folder to work.

Your help and feedback is appreciated.

17

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.3.6819
Player Version#: 9.19.0.177

The problem is still evident, browsing to subdirectories to locate audio files still presents with a blank screen which can take multiple attempts to ultimately access.

Your help and feedback is appreciated.

18

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.31.3.6868
Player Version#: 9.19.0.177

The problem is still evident, browsing to subdirectories to locate audio files still presents with a blank screen which can take multiple attempts to ultimately access.

19

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.32.2.7002
Player Version#: 9.21.2.1271

The problem is still there, browsing to subdirectories to locate audio files still presents with a blank screen which can take multiple attempts to ultimately access.

20

Now on:
Server Version#: 1.32.3.7089
Player Version#: 9.23.0.1746

The problem is still there, nothing has changed.
I posted this issue almost 6 months ago and I’m wondering is there something wrong with how I’ve raised it? Have I not provided the information needed to help fix this?

21

Adding an update, now on:

Server Version# 1.32.6.7371
Player version# 9.29.1.3693

The problem is still there, unchanged, no approach from anyone from support, no useful solutions or potential fixes to test. I have no other way to report problems with the Android TV app but this feels like shouting into the void.

Music library > browse by folder > select a folder > blank screen, repeating the process eventually gives me access to my files.

The android TV app has a rapidly growing number of bugs. Is it not important for the application that interfaces with the Plex service to work as intended?

22

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