Hello Plex People!
I have been using Plex for a long time but this is my first time posting… I have an issue that I am about ready to pull my hair out on. If this is the incorrect spot to post, please let me know and I’ll re-post!
I cannot recall when, but it has been happening for a while. If I am viewing Plex on my computer (via app.plex.tv) it will eventually go into a never-ending buffer. No ridiculous usage of RAM/CPU or anything of that nature. I can refresh the page and it will start loading again but eventually repeat the issue. I have let it sit in the buffering state for up to 2 hours to see what it would happen, but it never gets past “buffering”. Plex Dashboard reports buffering but gives me no other info that stands out as the culprit. It does this for almost every movie/TV show in my library.
What I have found out is if I change the video to “Convert Automatically” the issue goes away. At first I thought this was something to do with my AMD CPU but I couldn’t understand how a single stream would bring a Ryzen 5 3600 to its knees that easily. So I grabbed a Dell OptiPlex 3040, installed Server 2019 and a fresh install of PMS, moved a single movie to it and made a new server. Signed into my Plex account and let it play. About 20 minutes into the movie the same issue popped up. At this point I am now blaming my network. I make the adjustments to PMS to have it play offline and disconnect the network cable from the OptiPlex 3040 and reopen the browser and head to 127.0.0.1:32400. Issue occurs again after a few minutes of playback.
I reach out to a friend who also uses Plex and they invite me into their libraries. I start a movie and it plays the entire thing through without issue. I switch it from the ~2Mbps selection over to Original 3.8Mbps and it does the same exact buffering thing.
My TV and iPhone on the same network - No issues.
My IoT computer that is on a separate VLAN that puts it into “Remote” instead of “Local” - No issues.
My computer with “Convert Automatically” selected - No issues.
Can replicate on unRAID Plex Docker, Dell OptiPlex 3040 running PMS for Windows, and a friends server (unknown specs)
Can replicate with Microsoft Edge and Firefox.
Dell OptiPlex was a fresh install of Server 2019 and a fresh install of Firefox (no addons/plugins).
3 Plex Servers, all the same issue. I am fully ready to believe that I am doing something so stupid it is crazy but I am simply at a loss here. I have attached my logs in hopes that someone can spot my mistake and help me get back on track or tell me what setting I need to have so that I can just start Plex on my computer and run with it as I currently have to make that adjustment every single time I load it up.
Thank you!
