Device cannot play this video format at 1920 x 1080 on one Fire TV 4K but fine on identical device

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1

I have a puzzle here.

I have 2 new Fire TV 4K sticks with Plex app installed streaming a MKV 1080p video (MPeg2 encoding). One of these identical devices it does direct play. On a 2nd of these devices it transcodes with the reason “device cannot play this video format at 1920 x 1080”.

Originally I did set the 2nd device up on a different TV, but then while trying to debug I did a factory reset and hooked it to the TV that is working to rule out the TV and on the same TV that works, this 2nd device transcodes instead of direct plays.

It is the strangest thing. I have tried removing all authorized players from my plex settings, then re adding them thinking there may be some sort of cached setting.

Any suggestions?

2

Make sure both FireSticks have the same version of the Plex app. Current version is 7.9.0.8349.

With both connected to the same TV, compare the FireStick video settings (not the Plex app, the FireStick itself). See if the one that transcodes is different than the one that doesn’t. Adjust accordingly if needed.

If the resolution on the FireStick is set to auto, you might try forcing it to match the resolution of the TV - 4Kp60, 1080p60, etc.

Compare Plex app settings for both. See if one that transcodes is different from the one that doesn’t. Adjust accordingly.

In the Plex app, set Refresh Rate Switching = Off. This feature has sometimes caused problems in the past.

If none of the above help, then probably time to pull logs from both firesticks and the server.

3

Thanks for your help. the PLEX versions match (I checked that out earlier), I will check the other video settings on the fire TV stick and try turning off refresh rate setting.

Do you have some links on how to pull the logs from the fire sticks and the server?

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4

I found the problem. The Fire TV OS version on the Fire TV Stick had not auto updated yet so it was an older version. Nice to know they are fixing things like this in their updates.

Thanks for helping me focus on the Fire TV Stick itself instead of the PLEX App and configuration!

As a side note: the place for checking/installing Fire TV updates does not match the fire TV online documentation. New path: Settings / My Fire TV / About.

5

Glad you have things working.

FYI, a good reference is Amazon FireTV Device Specifications. It shows what audio/video codecs are supported, etc. Wasn’t needed in this case. Just a good reference to have on hand.

Also, if you ever do need to pull logs, see Plex Media Server Log Files. This will download a zip file which you can attach to a forum post. Just drag it into the window where you’re typing and it will attach.

To set logging levels, go to PMS Settings -> General (Documentation)

  1. Select “enable debug logging.”
  2. Do not enable verbose logging unless specifically requested. It gathers too much info.
  3. Do not select “Allow tokens in logs” unless specifically requested by Ninja/Employee/etc., and never post logs w/ tokens to the forum (or any other public place). This is a security issue. The tokens are effectively passwords. Somebody with your token could access your PMS system if you’ve remote access enabled.

To pull logs from FireTV devices

  1. In Plex app, go to Settings -> Advanced. Set Network Logging = On.
  2. While still in settings, in the lower right corner of the screen, you’ll see an overlay that says “Logs available at http://firetv_ip_address:32500/logging.”
  3. Point a browser at that address. You’ll see a page with a bunch of text. Save it to a text file.

The procedure is similar for other clients.

6

Thanks for the great info on log capturing.

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