Intermittent issues when playing back on Samsung Smart TV

Plex Players Smart TVs
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Server Version#: PlexMediaServer-1.15.6.1079-78232c603-x86_64.qpkg
Player Version#: Samsung UE55ES7000 Plex App version 2.012

Odd situation when attempting playback using Plex (having been running this for 3+ years). With certain files I get the following error after around 30 seconds of ‘spinning wheel’:

‘unable to connect to the content server’

However, I can then select another file and play that back without issue. All are in the same format (MKV).

I’m also seeing some buffering issues on another (newer) Samsung TV.

I have updated to the latest version of Plex Media Server (which is running on a QNAP TS-251+) but this has had no effect.

I’m curious to hear if anyone else has started to see these issues, and why it is only affecting certain files. Happy to provide log files if that would help.

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Yes it started with only certain movies no rhyme or rhythm…but now on all Samsung app…all movies give this message

3

Same here. I’m not able to play any Plex content on my Samsung Smart TV. The “unable to connect” appears every 10 seconds or so until it finally quits playing. I connected the TV directly by network cable to the router and it’s the same thing.
I have an Apple TV downstairs on another TV (not a smart one) and there I can play any Plex content without issues. If I bring the Apple TV upstairs and connect to this Samsung TV I can still watch everything either by WIFI or Network Cable. So that makes a strong case that’s something related to the App for Samsung.

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So it seems a few people have an issue here.

I’ve also tried running playing from a web-app of the server on a MacBook Pro and that also now has buffering issues. Looking at the NAS at this time its CPU is running a 99.9% - so I’m guessing this is the problem (Plex Media Server process well into the 80% range).

I can only assume this is down to a combination of NAS Firmware and Plex Media Server. I am starting a roll-back of the media server to see if this is the issue. However, the furthest I can currently go back is Version 1.15.4.993. (Firmware on NAS is 4.3.6.0923 Build 20190425 (QNAP TS-251+)

Does anyone have a resource for downloading earlier versions of the Plex Media Server? I have done this previously on the Plex Support page but this doesn’t seem to be an option anymore.

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Looks like this is a general issue from the Plex Media Server upgrades which has affected the Samsung (and some other) Apps. See thread here:

I’m now looking to get an older version of the Plex Media Server to roll back to.

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Plex Media Server - #253 by StSimm1

PMS v1.15.3.835 seems to have addressed the ‘report play progress’ issue. Did anyone try that (or later) server version against Orca’s client? (I had to roll back to v1.14 a while ago to get it back to a solid experience)
Thx for any feedback!

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I’ve rolled back to Version 1.13.5.5291 - not tempted to try a newer version currently!

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Great… let’s hope it will work again! Thanks!

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A friend and I have started seeing buffering issues that happen at approx. 3 second intervals. This behavior started in the last month. We both have Samsung Smart TVs. For troubleshooting I have an Apple TV 4k 64GB with the PLEX app installed connect to the same Samsung Smart TV. I have no buffering issues playing movies on the Apple TV 4k that have constant buffering issues using the PLEX App on the Samsung Smart TV. I have tried reinstalling PLEX App on the Smart TV with no change in the constant buffering behavior. Any help would be appreciated. Apple TV is a workaround, but would rather just use the PLEX App on the TV itself.

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Hice downgrade de una versión anterior que tenía en USB y no pasa funciona correctamente la reproducción evidentemente es la última actualización de la app de Samsung xke en los otros dispositivos ya se android Mac e iOS funciona correctamente aún no probé en shield para saber si pasa lo mismo

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During playback, can you go to the web dashboard and post a screenshot of the Now Playing section?

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