[Fixed] Plex server not available (browser issue), how to fix?

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Server Version#: 1.14.1.5488
Browser: Chrome 71.0.3578.98 (Official Build) (64-bit)

In my home network, I have 2 Plex servers (transitioning from an old NAS to a newer one). I also have a friend who is setting up a new Synology NAS with Plex, and I have visited them to help them set it up from my own laptop I brought with me to their network. So somewhere along the line, I had them enter their Plex account login, although I cannot recall or reproduce this flow from memory…

And since I returned home, I have been unable to reach my own servers via the app.plex.tv/desktop link! Even other shared servers of other friends are now unavailable from my laptop’s browser!

It must be some sort of cookie or cache, because I can reach my (and others’ servers) fine from another device, also with Chrome, both within as well as outside of my own network. If I change to incognito mode in Chrome on my laptop, I can also reach all servers just fine! Just not from a “regular” browser session…

I also can connect (both insecurely and securely) from within my network directly on the webapp at the private IP address of the NAS (e.g. https://192.168.1.111:32400/web/index.html), so perhaps it’s an issue with my Plex account?

I’ve already completely cleared my cache, cookies, etc. and restarted Chrome, but that does not solve my issue. I still get a message “The server “” is unavailable”.

I hope someone out there might know of a way to somehow reset some credentials or link to some data that causes this issue for me…

With kind regards,

Garfield

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Did you try signing out and back in using your credentials.?

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Well ofcourse I did, sorry for not mentioning that ;). I’ve signed out of everything I could think of, even the servers themselves. I’ve signed out of Chrome, out of all servers, out of my Plex account, cleared the cache and cookies…

But still, after signing in again and claiming the server, it still says “Server unavailable”, but only from this one browser on my laptop. All other devices, and even the incognito and guest modes on the same browser/laptop work just fine…

4

You could go into server settings and remove that browser as an authorized device. Are you using email/facebook/google login?

Plex will have to answer this one.

5

Thanks for your replies Tiebierius, but that’s also already tried…

I’m using a regular e-mail login account, and have signed out and in several times, also removing the browser as an authorized device.

I agree with you that this might be up to the Plex team to help solve :wink:

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Dear Trumpy81,

Thanks for the pointer to the FAQ! :wink:

I tried the steps mentioned under “If the above fails,…”, by:

  • signing the server out,
  • signing out of my Plex account,
  • restarting Plex,
  • navigating to the Plex’s IP and signing in to my account,
  • claiming the server, again signing in to my account,
  • signing into my Plex account at plex.tv.

Still, this does not help my issue I’m afraid! I have been trying just about every way of accessing my servers, and it seems the only thing not working, is the secured access to my servers via https://app.plex.tv/desktop…

The things that do work:

And it looks like the only thing that currently does not work is:

So it boils down to just the secured access via the Plex app portal not working. Hopefully this narrows the possibilities down a bit.

Do any of you have some more ideas or things for me to try?

With kind regards,

Garfield

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If this is still happening with just this laptop, have you looked at it’s DNS settings? DNS Rebinding

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Well, I don’t see how that would be relevant, since this behaviour only occurs in my regular browser session(s), and not in an incognito or guest session from within the same browser on the same laptop.

So I’m still convinced it must be some remnant leftover from signing in to this friend’s Plex credentials to claim their server into their online account from my browser.

I just cannot figure out what leftover, and how and where to find it and clean it up. I might try to completely wipe all settings/cache/data from Chrome on my laptop, but only as a last resort.

Like I said before, everything works fine from all other browsers/devices, both securely and insecurely, both from within as well as from outside my own network. I’m looking for the magical tip to point me to the actual Chrome setting or storage location where the Plex app stores some data outside of the regular cache or form submission etc, since I already cleaned that several times to no avail…

The mystery continues!

10

If I may suggest a very basic test?

  1. Stop PMS on one of the NAS boxes
  2. Open the Plex share using FileStation on that NAS
  3. Navigate down Libary/Application Support/Plex Media Server
  4. Rename Preferences.xml to Preferences.xml.old (Keep this window open)
  5. Go back to your browser, sign out of Plex/web in the upper right corner
  6. Start Plex on the Syno
  7. Open an incognito tab
  8. Open http://ip.addr.of.syno:32400/web
  9. If it fails you respond, Stop Plex, Grab a ZIP of the Logs directory from that Syno
  10. Attach it here please for me to examine.

Should it respond

  1. Begin normal setup (we will be skipping steps)
  2. Sign in (this better work. If not, check your Syno DNS settings and external connectivity)
  3. When it asks for the Server name. Give it a “Test” name (obvious for later removal)
  4. Skip over section creation. Your sections already exist
  5. You will find yourself at the Dashboard, sections intact
  6. Only thing you’ve lost are your Settings. (soft reset to default).
  7. Step through them. Something should jog your memory.
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Thanks for all the suggestions! I haven’t yet taken the time to try this, but I might do so in a few days…

Since I have most (if not all) logins saved in a vault, and bookmarks etc are synced, I might also just wipe everything related to Chrome, and start it up again…we’ll see how my mood is :wink:

I’ll let you know what I’ve done and how that turned out…

Thanks again all for the input!

With kind regards,

Garfield

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Well, today I finally decided is was time. I’ve moved my Chrome profile folder, so it would start with a freshly created, clean profile. And guess what :wink:

It actually worked as I hoped, now I can browse my Plex servers via a secure connection through the Plex App URL (https://app.plex.tv/desktop), just like before.

All in all, the operation was almost too easy, and maybe someone else may profit from my findings. So here I’ll mention the steps I took to clean my profile:

  1. Shutdown/exit/close all Chrome windows/instances,
  2. Find the location of your Chrome profile: https://www.howtogeek.com/255653/how-to-find-your-chrome-profile-folder-on-windows-mac-and-linux/ This can also be accomplished by visiting the URI chrome://version and checking for the “Profile Path:”,
  3. Move the profile folder somewhere out of the way (or delete it if you really don’t care about having a backup),
  4. Open Chrome and complete initial setup.

And that’s it! If you have sync setup, it will automatically restore all synced content…

Thanks for bearing with me! If someone from the mods could mark the subject with [fixed] or something to that effect, others may find this thread more readily :wink:

Garfield

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