[Fixed] Playback endlessly buffering after normal playback in Plex Web on all 1.25+ server releases

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

2022-07 Update - The issue described below appears to be resolved as of 1.27.1.5916. Others noticed it resolved only as of the latest server version, 1.27.2.5929. As I can no longer reproduce this issue on the current version, please post new logs if you continue having problems as a logging change in the latter release mentioned above may better help to diagnose them.

Server Version#:1.25.8.5663 (broken until 1.27.1.5916)
Player Version#:Plex Web (any)
Server OS: Windows 10 (x64) 19044

Every 1.25 version and beyond of the Plex Media Server is causing playback to stop and endlessly buffer after normal playback at specific points when played via Plex Web remotely (plex.tv), locally (LAN IP), or even from the server itself (127.0.0.1). I am consistently able to reproduce this issue at the same points of media playback and revert to 1.24.x to get around it where playback always works without issue. On 1.25+ some media will play for more than ten minutes, some will stop after a minute or so, but always at the same point for each title.

Non-Web players like Chromecast don’t seem to have this issue.

Attaching what should be clean logs which have (hopefully) had identifying information removed (xxxxx).

Plex Media Server Logs_2022-03-25_15-53-55-redacted.zip (15.5 KB)

2

Just to add another voice here, I had similar issues and had to roll all the way back to 1.24 to relieve them.

1 Like
3

Same here, I rolled back to 1.25.7.5604 and the problem went away.

4

Aye, same here. Can anyone point me towards a 1.24 version I can roll back to? All I have in my Updates folder are 1.25.1 through 1.25.7 and it seems like this issue persists with all 1.25. All web players are transcoding content that used to be direct play and buffering constantly.

5

The last stable version I keep reverting to is 1.24.5.5173. You can find old release builds here: GitHub - axlecrusher/plex_download_urls: Archive of Plex mediaserver download URLs

Make sure and select a build for your OS! For Windows it is called PlexMediaServer-1.24.5.5173-8dcc73a59-x86.exe and I’ve had no trouble downgrading using the following steps:

  1. Exit Plex Media Server by right-clicking its icon in the taskbar and choosing “Exit”
  2. Uninstall Plex using the normal “Add or remove programs” or “Uninstall program” function from the Control Panel in Windows
  3. Run the new (old) setup file and install Plex normally

You can also do it as a repair install by pointing to the new (old) file during the uninstall process, but I prefer starting fresh. The Plex databases and other local files should not be uninstalled or changed during this process, but you can back them up manually before attempting if you want to be safe from: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\

1 Like
6

Still broken on 1.25.9.5721.

7

Still broken on 1.26.0.5715, which is the first 1.26 release I’ve tested. Updated the thread title to reflect that the issue persists on all releases 1.25+.

For reference, I’m testing using Plex Web via local and network (4.76.1 via localhost, 4.79.4 via plex.tv). Results are consistent across browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox).

8

Still broken on 1.26.1.5798.

9

Thanks for testing, you’ve saved me from doing any upgrades =) … Still haunting the 1.24 build

1 Like
10

Still broken on 1.26.2.5797.

11

I am fairly certain I have the same error. Have had it for a while now and it started occurring around version 1.24 if I’d guess. Have not tried to downgrade, so have not used Plex since.

Plex Media Server Version 1.26.2.5797
Windows 11 (21H2 22000.675)
Device is webOS (LG OLED65CX6LA) (Plex App)

Here are some logs where I suspect it goes wrong. I know it started to endlessly buffer after a couple of minutes of playtime, more specifically it started buffering at the timestamp 2022-05-28 21:13 (as I checked the system clock in Windows when it happened).

Would really wish Plex support could look into this as Plex is unusable. I have full logs if needed.

May 28, 2022 21:12:59.345 [19832] DEBUG - Client [zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea] reporting timeline state playing, progress of 643088/8571646ms for guid=, playbackTime=237152ms ratingKey=227 url=, key=/library/metadata/227, containerKey=, metadataId=227, source=
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.347 [19832] DEBUG - Play progress on 227 'The Cool Movie' - got played 643088 ms by account 1!
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.348 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] User is Foo (ID: 1)
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.348 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Device is webOS (LG OLED65CX6LA).
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.348 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Profile is Generic
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.348 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/227.
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.348 [19832] DEBUG - Statistics: (zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 1 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
May 28, 2022 21:12:59.349 [16980] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.55:36298] 200 GET /:/timeline?key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F227&ratingKey=227&state=playing&time=643088&duration=8571646&playbackTime=237152&playQueueItemID=64&context=home%3Ahub.continueWatching&row=0&col=0 (7 live) GZIP 6ms 861 bytes (pipelined: 27)
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.393 [19832] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.1.55:36298 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F227&ratingKey=227&state=playing&time=653132&duration=8571646&playbackTime=247202&playQueueItemID=64&context=home%3Ahub.continueWatching&row=0&col=0 (7 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Foo) (LG OLED65CX6LA)
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.395 [19832] DEBUG - Client [zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea] reporting timeline state playing, progress of 653132/8571646ms for guid=, playbackTime=247202ms ratingKey=227 url=, key=/library/metadata/227, containerKey=, metadataId=227, source=
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.398 [19832] DEBUG - Play progress on 227 'The Cool Movie' - got played 653132 ms by account 1!
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.398 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] User is Foo (ID: 1)
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.398 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Device is webOS (LG OLED65CX6LA).
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.398 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Profile is Generic
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.398 [19832] DEBUG - [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/227.
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.399 [19832] DEBUG - Statistics: (zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 1 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
May 28, 2022 21:13:09.404 [16980] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.55:36298] 200 GET /:/timeline?key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F227&ratingKey=227&state=playing&time=653132&duration=8571646&playbackTime=247202&playQueueItemID=64&context=home%3Ahub.continueWatching&row=0&col=0 (7 live) GZIP 10ms 861 bytes (pipelined: 28)
May 28, 2022 21:13:14.088 [0112] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:51260] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP 20006ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 26)
May 28, 2022 21:13:14.102 [19832] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:51260 (Loopback)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Foo) (Chrome)
May 28, 2022 21:13:14.102 [19832] DEBUG - Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).
May 28, 2022 21:13:18.758 [0112] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.55:36294] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP 20004ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 15)
May 28, 2022 21:13:28.693 [15984] DEBUG - player zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea was last refreshed 10 seconds ago
May 28, 2022 21:13:30.741 [6720] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: SSDP departed after not being seen for 20.737651 seconds: 192.168.1.56 (Sarahs sovrum)
May 28, 2022 21:13:34.102 [16980] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:51260] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP 20000ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 27)
May 28, 2022 21:13:34.115 [19832] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:51260 (Loopback)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Foo) (Chrome)
May 28, 2022 21:13:34.115 [19832] DEBUG - Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).
May 28, 2022 21:13:38.705 [17248] DEBUG - player zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea was last refreshed 20 seconds ago
May 28, 2022 21:13:39.002 [13728] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: Parsing SSDP schema for http://192.168.1.56:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:39.002 [13728] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.1.56:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:48.713 [6720] DEBUG - player zer1xg94ap637h667jr855ea was last refreshed 30 seconds ago
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.010 [14716] DEBUG - [HttpClient] HTTP simulating 408 after curl timeout
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.010 [13728] ERROR - SSDP: Error parsing device schema for http://192.168.1.56:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.011 [8376] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: SSDP departed after not being seen for 25.171559 seconds: 192.168.1.101 (Familyroom)
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.011 [13728] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: Parsing SSDP schema for http://192.168.1.101:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.011 [13728] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET http://192.168.1.101:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.025 [14716] DEBUG - [HttpClient] HTTP/1.1 (0.0s) 200 response from GET http://192.168.1.101:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.026 [13728] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: found 1 SSDP devices via http://192.168.1.101:8008/ssdp/device-desc.xml
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.026 [13728] DEBUG - NetworkServiceBrowser: SSDP arrived: 192.168.1.101 (Familyroom)
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.119 [16980] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:51260] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP 20003ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 28)
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.130 [19832] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:51260 (Loopback)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (7 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Siniz) (Chrome)
May 28, 2022 21:13:54.130 [19832] DEBUG - Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).
May 28, 2022 21:13:56.061 [16980] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 121: Tidsgr�nsen f�r semaforen har uppn�tts
May 28, 2022 21:13:56.061 [16980] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
12

Is there any way to get support looking at this? Not sure what the correct way to get attention to this is.

13

version 1.26.2.5797.
Having the same problem using app.plex.tv on Opera browser.
I notice it only happens for me when watching the old shows. For example 1.7Mbps 480p video will endlessly buffer every few minutes while 2.6Mbps 1080p stream can be watched uninterrupted for its entirety.
Problem remains the same on local network, remote and even on the server itself.
Works fine on mobile, plex for windows and samsung smartv app.

14

Still broken on 1.27.0.5897.

1 Like
15

No one from Plex is going to help us. They don’t even have tech support. What you see is what you get. They expect us to pay for this garbage that can’t successfully complete playback of even one video and they don’t even support the app itself. Ridiculous. This topic will close after you’ve been ignored for three months

16

Initial testing shows the issue is FIXED as of 1.27.1.5916!

Please post if you continue experiencing the issue as described above. Looking at the patch notes, I am guessing a fix to the audio transcoder included in this update is what corrected (or at least altered) the playback issue:

(Transcoder) Audio could drop out partway through playback when remuxing videos with very long keyframe intervals to DASH (#13411)

17

I just updated to 1.27.1.5916. Still buffering to a stand still.

18

Thank you for testing so quickly! I apologize if I spoke too soon. I have been watching the same piece of media I have been testing with since my original post and have not had any buffering yet after more than an hour of playback! Normally it stops within minutes.

I will continue testing on my end and report back if I run into any problems here too.

20

1.27.2.5929 So far so good for me. windows server

21

Not occurring as frequently, but using 1.27.2.5929 the buffering is still happening. Also seeing remote playback default to SD if there’s a single 1080p stream going anywhere at the same time. Tried downgrading to 1.24 (the last time Plex worked properly for me) but the program would continually close after 10 seconds.