[Intermittent Problem] Latest Plex Server Update Breaks Compatibility with Samsung TV

Plex Players Smart TVs
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Plex server told me that an update was available (plexmediaserver_1.16.3.1402-22929c8a2_amd64.deb) so I downloaded and installed it. About an hour later I attempted to continue watching a video on my Samsung TV. I had started the video a couple of weeks ago and it was playing fine then, but this time I got a playback error (incompatible media or some such … I didn’t write the message down). Thought maybe a file had gotten corrupted somehow, even though I verified it would play in VLC. Attempted to play another video. Got the same error. Guessing that the update was the cause, I rolled back to plexmediaserver_1.16.2.1321-ad17d5f9e_amd64.deb. Everything works fine now. Looks like the latest update, at least for Ubuntu, breaks playback on at least some Samsung TVs.

Server: Mint 19.1
Player: Plex for Samsung 3.105.0 on Tizen 2.4.0
Broken Plex Server: plexmediaserver_1.16.3.1402-22929c8a2_amd64.deb
Last Working Plex Server: plexmediaserver_1.16.2.1321-ad17d5f9e_amd64.deb

Aside: Is there a better place to report this? I’ve never seen an actual showstopper (should have prevented release) bug in Plex.

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If you will recreate the problem, stop playback as soon as you see it, wait 30 seconds, settings - server - troubleshooting - download logs.

Attach the zip file here and I’ll look at it.

What do you mean by “breaks compatibility” ?

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I’ll have to wait until family members are no longer using the server. Should be able to get you some data later tonight or tomorrow.

“Breaks compatibility” means that the latest version of the Samsung TV app is incompatible (apparently) with the latest version of the Plex server. Since the server was the most recently changed, it’s the one that broke the Plex client/server system.

Incidentally, the TV app (version in my initial report) was already having difficulty with recent Plex servers. I frequently see the “lost connection” error while watching on my Samsung TV. I do not see a similar problem on any other viewing platform.

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You’re still not describing how you define “broke”.

What you do seem to be pointing out is the player application and not the server.
Is this more correct?

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I’m not familiar enough with the inner workings of the Plex system to make an educated guess as to which (Samsung client or Plex server) is out of spec. Presumably at least one of them is. It’s possible they both are.

My best guess is that the Samsung client software is out of spec. But that’s only a guess. If correct, the latest server release only “broke” the system in the sense that the system (Plex server & Samsung client) worked prior to the release, and now it no longer does. But it’s also possible that the latest server software contains a bug that causes the problem I’ve observed. I can’t know. But something changed in the server between the previous release and today’s release that makes it no longer possible to play video using the Samsung Plex client.

I wouldn’t get too hung up on the word “breaks.” I wrote that post headline from the perspective of a Plex user, not the perspective of a software engineer (which I also am). I simply wanted to let other Plex/Samsung users know that upgrading to the latest version of the Ubuntu Plex server may break their ability to watch video on their TVs.

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Plex is a client - server system (obviously).

  1. PMS asks the client (the Samsung app) what the TV is capable of.

  2. Next, it sends that back to PMS.

  3. PMS looks at what you want played and finds the best (least server work possible) way to send the file.

  4. Once decided and starting to send, it sends blocks of data out to the app which hands it off to the TV to display.

What’s “broken” depends on the TV, any audio equipment connected to it, and most importantly the details of the file being played.

You refer to VLC. VLC is a ‘thick client’. It reads and renders in the same app.
it’s entirely a different ‘animal’.

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Reinstalled plexmediaserver_1.16.3.1402-22929c8a2_amd64.deb
Tried to play the videos that refused to play last night on my Samsung TV.
Could not reproduce the problem (that I saw multiple times last night).
Verified that the Samsung app had not changed (Still 3.105.0 on Tizen 2.4.0).

I’m going to chalk this one up to some problem with the original upgrade process. FWIW the method I used to upgrade (and downgrade and upgrade again) was “sudo dpkg -i <plexmediaserver__amd64.deb”

I can still send the logs if you want. Presumably the log data from last night is still available if you want to take a look. But as far as I’m concerned the issue is closed (unless I see it again).

Let me know if you want the logs.

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If it was a fluke, there is no need chasing it. Catching it, while it is happening, is best.

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Problem happened again.

Error shown on the TV is “Multimedia file format not supported”
Error code: PLAYER_ERROR_NOT_SUPPORTED_FILE(AVPlay)

Plex is: plexmediaserver_1.16.3.1402-22929c8a2_amd64.deb
Player is: Plex for Samsung 3.105.0, Tizen 2.4.0

Logs attached.

Bear in mind that this is a video file 1.16.2 & my TV have no trouble playing. Guess I’ll roll back to 1.16.2.

Happy hunting.

EDIT: Removed link to my log files.

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that is a player problem.

The player app is not recognizing the TV’s capabilities and asking PMS to send something which can’t be played.

I can’t help with this, sorry, but will retag for the TV teams to look at.

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Thanks for looking into it. I’ve now seen the same problem with 1.16.2. Weird how I’ve been using that one for weeks without a problem and now the same error multiple times in three days over multiple server versions. Ain’t software fun? :slight_smile:

My family is not going to be happy if I can’t make this go away. :expressionless:

EDIT: POSSIBLE WORKAROUND

After seeing this problem over multiple versions of the Plex server and after ChuckPA’s diagnosis of it as a player problem, I realized I might know of a workaround. I have noticed that several streaming apps on my Samsung TV eventually stop working and can only be resurrected by power cycling the television. By “power cycle” I mean unplug the TV for 30 seconds or more and then plug it back in. Simply turning it off and back on again will not work around these problems.

I unplugged my TV, waited, and plugged it back in. When I attempted to play the formerly “unsupported format” video, it once again plays fine. I don’t know that unplugging and re-plugging actually made the difference, but I’ve seen it work across multiple Samsung TV streaming apps.

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