Network Structure:
Server IP Address: xxx.xxx.1.3
HDHomeRun Connect IP Address: xxx.xxx.1.23
AppleTV IP Address: xxx.xxx.1.12
Roku Premiere+ IP Address: xxx.xxx.1.14
Mi Box S IP Address: xxx.xxx.1.16
Issue:
Increased buffering and lockups when viewing OTA from the HDHomeRun using the Plex DVR/OTA software.
Symptoms:
When setting up the HDHomeRun CONNECT Duo within the PMS settings it will show the HDHR with the following IP address 169.254.48.4:80. If you try to add the device using the actual IP address (xxx.xxx.1.23) the device cannot be found. This is what the settings look like when it is added:
Now when watching something using the Plex Guide if you view the Tuner Status of the HDHomeRun you will see the resource is being used by this IP Address: 169.254.100.100. With those settings there is nothing but Buffering and lockups while trying to view any OTA channel. Also the CPU on the NAS stays at peaked with Plex Transcode being the only process using all the resources. If you use the HDHR Viewer 2 (1.1.4) Plugin to view the OTA broadcast there are no issues and it shows the proper IP address of where the data is getting streamed too and where the data is coming from. Also there is no increase in CPU usage at all. The effect of the issue is across all streaming players I own. Only device that has no issue is if I watch OTA through the Web App on a PC.
I know the issue isn’t within the HDHomeRun CONNECT Duo as viewing any channel using their applications through the PC, iPad, iPhone, or Google TV work without issue. With all of this it seems the problem is located within the PMS software itself.
A 169.254.x.x address is displayed when a device is unable to properly reserve an IP address. Remove your reservation and reboot the HDHR to see if DHCP is working. Once it has an address you can reserve that one or inspect the MAC registered to see if you had a typo.
If your address is 169.x, then the device isn’t getting a DHCP lease as Tiberius mentioned. Clear out your reservations on the router and make sure it is getting an IP cleanly.
It is getting the proper IP Address. the only place it is showing an improper one was in the screenshot I posted. I can go to the HDHomeRun using its IP Address and it shows up properly within the Router. Every device can see and use the HDHomeRun except the actual Plex Media Player. It works with the HDHR Viewer 2 (1.1.4) plugin. Again it seems like there is a major issue with the PMS Software.
Some of your symptoms will be the limitations of what you have to work with.
Your QNAP is probably blocking full access to the HDHR device, visit “Control Panel” > “System Settings” > “Security”> “Security Level” , if not already temporarily “Allow all connections”. If that doesn’t resolve it then what is your firewall/router and are you using VLAN’s.
HDHR app vs Plex: The HDHR apps handle MPEG2 streams natively whereas Plex depends on the client to specify capability for playback which in most cases is asking for h.264. Your QNAP’s cpu is limited in this regard and adequate operation will depend on Plex activating the CPU’s GPU for HW transcoding. If you have a stream going and the status doesn’t say MPEG2TS->H.264HW then this will have to be looked into but it will be specific to you. Is your Plex in a docker/vm or installed via package manager?
People have been asking for Closed Captioning and Subtitles, there is less that can direct play and more that has to be processed before sending. Support for Plugins going away might indicate that you are experiencing a clash between the HDHR viewer and Plex trying to control the tuner.
This confirms my suspicion that the client is requesting the QNAP to transcode the audio and video.
Things to try: (Not all at once)
1.On the client set the video to original.
2.Blank out the “Transcoder temporary directory”, if it is having trouble downloading the codec it will choke.
3.(Really far down the rabbit hole)
Plex’s hands are kinda full right now with blow back from the Roku and IOS updates but posting the zipped up logs usually gets an employee’s attention, start a live stream and wait for it to fail plus a couple minutes before zipping them up.
