How to get casting from Chrome to Chromecast Audio working?

General Discussions
1

Hello!

In two different households I have a similar setup:

  • Chromecast Audio connected to the WiFi
  • My one single laptop with Google Chrome
  • In both setups I can establish the connection to the Chromecast Audio (confirmation sound)
  • Both network setups are identical. Same router, same subnet, IPv4 only.

In one setup (A) I can perfectly chromecast from my laptop to the Chromecast_Audio, in other (B) I get the following error:

Playback Error: An error occurred trying to play this item.

So, what’s the difference?

Setup A (works great)

  • No Plex server in the LAN, and streaming happens via relay servers
  • Chromecast Audio connected to the WiFi
  • Casting from Google Chrome just works
  • Casting from Android App works instantly
  • Casting from Chrome from https://app.plex.tv

Setup A (lots of problems)

  • Plex server is in the LAN
  • Chromecast Audio connected to the WiFi
  • Works fine: casting from Chrome from https://app.plex.tv
  • Doesn’t work: Casting from Chrome from http://myPlexServer (direct connection in LAN). Error message: “Playback Error: An error occurred trying to play this item.”
  • Casting from Android App works only after a delay of 10-20 seconds. Playlist shown in App is stuck. Demo video of defect. Defect reports here and here.

Looking for a solution

  • What settings in the server could I try to change to get chromecasting working smoothly in the LAN, where the Plex server is located?
  • Into which log file shall I look? For which entries?

Solutions explored based in help provided below

  • Disabled secure connections in the server settings. Restart. Didn’t help.
  • Told the server what the local subnet is (in case it couldn’t figure it out itself): xxx.xxx.xxx.0/24. Didn’t help.
2

I have no experience whatsoever with Chromecast, but here are a few ideas:

  1. if there are problems in a network where the server itself is located, it has very often to do with ‘secure connections’
    These are usually mitigated by implementing these measures: https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1400116/#Comment_1400116

  2. sometimes you must give Plex a little ‘nudge’, so it recognises your Chromecasts as being in the local network: Settings - Server - Network - ‘Show Advanced’ - “LAN Networks”
    Put here the ‘network address’ of your internal, private network (e.g. 192.168.2.0/24)

  3. if the server runs on Windows, empty this checkbox:

    iatnag06mrd1.png1280×767 22.7 KB

  4. never, ever use WiFi for your Plex server

3

Can you describe your network setup B with more details? Sounds like maybe a double NAT so things are taking a while to resolve themselves.

4

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:
Can you describe your network setup B with more details? Sounds like maybe a double NAT so things are taking a while to resolve themselves.

Thanks. Updated the description. Both networks are set up the same way. One router, IPv4, etc. What really bother me is, that is works perfect when the data is streamed from setup B via relay servers into setup A. But inside the network B itself there seems to be a communication issue, if the server talks directly to the Chromecast in the local network. I made also another observation:

So a detour is better than the direct connection?

5

@kulmbacher said:

This does point to a NAT issue within your network.

Both networks are set up the same way. One router, IPv4, etc.
This doesn’t help. I need details.

6

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:

@kulmbacher said:

This does point to a NAT issue within your network.

Both networks are set up the same way. One router, IPv4, etc.
This doesn’t help. I need details.

Thank you!

Plex Server and laptop (Chrome web browser) and Chromecast_Audio are in the same subnet (192.168.178.0/24), use the same DNS and gateway to internet. There is only one single router. PlexServer is connected via LAN, laptop and Chromecast_Audio via WiFi.

Happy to provide more information.