Server Version#: 1.21.0.3616 (Synology)
Player Version#: 8.9.2.21619
Greetings,
I’m getting “Unable to Play Media” over Cell (T-Mobile) playing video files. Music plays and pictures display okay. Using WiFi the videos play okay. I’ve searched the forum topics and see others with this issue, but no solutions yet.
I’ve tried uninstalling and re-installing the android app (on a Moto x4), changing settings to use the lowest quality, tried using my wife’s phone, restarting the server, tried different files. Nothing helps.
I’m attaching two log files, one when it works on WiFi and the other when it doesn’t on cell.
Hi trumpy81,
Thanks for the quick reply. I tried your suggestion, but still get the “Unable to Play Media” error. BTW, I forgot to mention the error displays immediately on opening the video file.
Thanks for the info. It seems strange that the file plays using WiFi. I would think the same transcoding needs to take place on the server. I can try re-encoding that one video to test. Any suggestions on what application to use to do the re-encoding?
Just some more info: I had a Plex Server on a PC, but I wasn’t able to get remote access working because I run a VPN all the time (I spent many hours trying to work around using forum topics). I can also try to re-install the server on the PC, disable the VPN and give that a try. Thanks.
Okay, I read through the log snippets you provided. I see where on the last line it mentions can’t direct play and not enough CPU for conversion.
So I re-encoded the one file I’m using to .MP4 and made sure it played using WiFi. However, I got the same error again.
I installed the server app on my spare PC and added both files (original .MOV and .MP4) to the library. Both played using cell network. So, I’ll need to move all media files to the PC and find a workaround for getting past the VPN (ExpressVPN) or turn it off and remember to turn it on when using BT
It’s interesting… I sometimes can’t stream using Plex on cell data, but I don’t get any errors. The app lets me select the movie to play, then immediately restarts as if I closed the app and opened it again. Then a few minutes later, still a different cell tower but getting the same speed test results, the same movie will work fine. I’ve tried forcing a transcode to the lowest mbps, forcing direct play. When Plex doesn’t play, Jellyfin plays fine… it’s generally repeatable by tower, so I’ve theorized that there’s something about what Plex does that certain cell towers don’t like.
I hate having to run two media servers, but when you’re trying to keep kids entertained on long car rides, you do what you gotta do. Lol. Though it’s entertaining hearing them say “uh oh, we’re getting close to Sheboygan. Switch to Jelly!”
