Plex Media Server - 1.25.2.5319 on Ubuntu 20.04.3
Plex Web - 4.66.1
Browser - Chrome 96.0.4664.110 on Windows 10
Greetings. I recently found that I cannot play stream .ts files created by Plex DVR on Plex Web. All other file types play normally in Plex Web, and I can play/stream .ts files in Android apps.
I was unsuccessful in playing the following files in Plex Web on Dec 28. The issue happened in both Edge and Chrome browsers patched to the latest release.
Kung Fu (2021) - S01E03 - Patience.ts
Supergirl (2015) - S06E06 - Prom Again .ts
That’s not necessarily surprising. The browser is the least capable environment when it comes to playing videos. In this case it cannot deal with the AC3 audio streams and therefore requires the server to transcode the audio stream (while copying the h264 video).
I barely use Plex Web for playing videos. I primarily use it for application monitoring (Did the show record? What have users been watching?).
But I feel that if a feature is advertised, it should work as advertised. The Plex Web and Plex Web App Player documentation states to use “the latest browsers”, which I am. There is no mention of operating systems, so I assume that the features are tested and supported as long as the browser requirements are met. If this is not the case, then the documentation should be updated.
Right now, it sounds like there is a feature available, but the feature does not work as expected, so users should use a work around instead.
I noticed that the Plex Web (4.66.1) embedded in with the current Plex Media Server (1.25.2.5319) is experiencing the issue, but the Plex Web (4.72.0) embedded with app.plex.tv is not experiencing the issue.
My apologies. I did not realize the Plex Web logs were not included in the Log Bundle generated in the Plex Web Interface.
Attached are Plex Web Logs (461.9 KB) and a PMS Log Bundle (3.6 MB) from 12:05 PM EST to 12:20 PM EST on December 29, where I attempted to play 2 Plex DVR recordings (.ts files) from the local Plex Web app. I attempted to play the video files for 3 minutes each,. I noticed that after 3 minutes, the transcode process stopped.
I wonder what you consider the issue in this case.
You can throw a lot of different media at your Plex Media Server. If a player platform cannot deal with it, the server will transcode the “culprit” track… that’s part of the features of Plex. I doubt it’s guaranteeing anywhere that it’ll direct play all formats on every browser platform – knowing full well those browsers can barely play basic h264 video and aac audio.
As you’re pointing out that the transcode stops at some point… is your video failing to play? I’m not sure but given audio transcoding is cheap, maybe the server rushes through the full audio track (which it probably cannot do with the video).
The issue is that I cannot play .ts files (the output of Plex DVR) in Plex Web. The .ts video files fail to play in the local Plex Web interface that is embedded in my implementation of the Plex Media Server.
In that case you had me confused… I’ve been understanding you had been playing that video for 3 minutes when you noticed the transcode process ended.
Based on the logs this seems to be the timeout for the transcoder when it perceives the client to have stopped playback (180 secs). I’m not super familiar with the Plex Web logs but even those seem to imply the video had been paused?!
The issue is that the video never plays in the Plex Web UI. I select the TV Episode from the Library, and I press the “Play” button. I am then forwarded to the player screen, where the circle spins in the middle of the player, and nothing else happens. This will continue for more than the 3 minutes it takes for the transcoder process to time out. I eventually have to hit the stop button in the player screen to exit and return to the previous screen.
Is the volume which holds the Plex data folder mounted in a way which prevents code execution? (i.e. the noexec parameter has been used with the mount command)
The transcoder is enabled, and there are no restrictions on the Plex data folder.
I tried to perform some additional testing earlier this morning, to see if a particular format (720p vs 1080i) was causing the problem. I performed a reboot just before testing. I recorded on 3 different channels for 5-10 minutes. The playback on all 3 recordings (1 720p and 2 1080i) was normal. I then went back to play the 2 problematic recordings (both 1080i), and playback was now normal.
So I’m not sure what the difference was before and after the reboot, but everything now appears to be operating as expected. I will continue to monitor over the next week to see if the issue re-occurs.
