Server Version#: Version 1.18.4.2171
Player Version#:
Version 1.18.4.2171
Plex : what a pain in the ass ! I used it for a long time now and had endless buffering problems. Recently I purchased a DS218+ because I was sick of the mac mini as a plex server and… still buffering problems. I read that hardware acceleration could fix it. I bought a lifetime Plex Pass and… still buffering problems PLUS a big green bar at the bottom of the movie and… movie completely pixelated as if Plex can’t decode the file. This problem disappears when I uncheck the hardware acceleration and… still buffering problems.
Oh and it can’t play 4K movies (buffering you know…)
What I have : PS4 with Plex app, DS218+ and internet via optical fiber.
How about the DEBUG (not VERBOSE) logs (the ZIP file) of attempting playback fore about 10 seconds?
I will verify what’s going on with the buffering.
As for the video issues, Engineering hasn’t fixed it yet. Every time someone updates their installed package, they need remove the problematic driver on a Synology.
I can show how to delete it, without using SSH, if needed.
Hi Chuck, thanks for your quick reply ! I read that you worked a lot on Synology and Plex so it’s great to have your help here (even if I’m a little pessimistic…).
Here the Zip File, I tested Plex last evening from my home (01/07 at 21h45), HW on, HW off. If you need more logs, just ask !
I remember that just when I purchased the Plex Pass (less than a month) the buffering issues were gone (well, not for 4k movies but I was so glad to watch 1080 movies in original quality that it was not important). And I installed an update from Plex : I didn’t think that this video issue could come from this update. If this can be resolved by deleting a driver on my Synology, I will be happy to do it !
I watch a lot of movies with subtitles (I’m not a native speaker as you can guess by reading my poor english ), and I know this can be a reason for buffering (in settings I choose "burn subtitles : only image formats).
I have no problem when I watch movies on my phone, far from my home, and that’s really cool, but in my living-room…
Thanks for the logs. The green bar / pixelated output you have is a known issue with PMS versions 1.17.0 and above in conjunction with the ApolloLake CPUs (which your Synology uses).
There are a couple remedies available. Depending on which usage case you have will determine which is best for you.
The easiest to test is to uninstall the package, download 1.16.5 from the Synology Package Center instead. This predates 1.17.0.
If this version doesn’t suffer from the 30-second startup pixelation and works ok with subtitles (if you use them), it’s ok to stay there for a while while the problems are worked out.
If that’s not acceptable, the other option is to delete the offending iHD_drv_video.so from the Plex installation files (restarting Plex after) and testing again. If that works for you, then you’re ok until you install again (a copy is included in every SPK file).
Should neither of those work out, we’ll evaluate what’s happening further. I’ll look at the video XML and, understanding your playback requirements, see what we can come up with.
So I finally managed to find an older version of the plex server and as you said no more video issue. Great ! You said that if I want to update the version I 'd have to erase iHD_drv_video.so, is that correct ?
I didn’t say that before but I noticed a thin (green maybe ?) line on the bottom of the movie, just between the black bar and the picture of the movie (hope it’s clear !). It’s not a real problem, it can’t be seen most of the time except when the scene is dark. This thin line wasn’t there when I used the mac mini as a server. And there is no line between the top of the picture and the black bar at the top. Strange…
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-01-11_16-27-31.zip (2.6 MB)
Anyway, there are the logs for my attempt to play a 4K file yesterday. Don’t know if you can do something… It buffers every 3 seconds.
), and I know this can be a reason for buffering (in settings I choose "burn subtitles : only image formats).
