Many videos only play if optical passthrough is enabled

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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Server Version#:1.18.4.2171
Player Version#:7.26.0.14578

So, as people might already know, there’s a “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost” error on Amazon Fire Sticks when playing certain popular media formats using Plex v6.13 or higher, and the issue seems to be related to certain audio formats not transcoding. These files play fine on 6.12 (or when using the Plex add-on with Kodi). For the first time since 6.12, however, these file types are working again with Plex 7.26.0.14578. However, they only work if optical passthrough is enabled.

I will happily post some logs with and without optical passthrough enabled, but since my posts are usually ignored, I’ll save my time and wait for them to be requested.

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how is your system actually set up if not optical ( what is connected to what and how). what are the audio settings of the device itself

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Requesting. :grinning:

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It’s a Fire Stick plugged into the HDMI port of a TV from 2008. There are no external speakers, and the audio settings of the TV are pretty basic. I pretty much only have a setting to choose between RAW and PCM, and neither makes a difference. The Fire Stick settings are on the default settings.

The problem can be replicated with just about every TV I throw at it.

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Here you go. Here’s what I did before dumping the log:

  1. Uninstall and reinstall 7.26.0.14578 client, so all settings are default settings
  2. Attempt to play Westworld S01E01 (fails with “Playback has stopped because the connection…” error)
  3. Switch audio passthrough from “disabled” to “optical” (HDMI passthrough also fails with the playback error, but that’s not in the log)
  4. Attempt to play Westworld S01E01 (it transcodes and succeeds in playing)
    logging.txt (285.1 KB)
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So, I’ve been playing around with this and the latest beta, and with both versions, pause and resume playback controls are a laggy with optical passthrough enabled. With audio passthrough disabled, everything works fine, except the aforementioned “playback has stopped because” error with certain file types.

Any progress on this? I’m reverting back to 6.12 for the time being.

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Is there going to be any response to this?

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Thank you! Your workaround is working for me too - now I have a sound in movies again.

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I’m still investigating why the optical options have an affect if you are not actually using it.

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Minor update: I tested the new 7.28.0.15170-beta on my Firestick, and these are my results when trying to play many of my files.
Attempt #1: Default settings (which includes the new player) - The video still refuses to play, but the error is different. Instead of receiving the “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost” error, I receive the “An error occurred while attempting to play this video. Please try restarting both the Plex Media Server and this app” error. Note: Restarting the client and server doesn’t change anything.
Attempt #2: Default settings with new player, except optical passthrough is enabled - Playback is successful.
Attempt #3: Default settings with old player - I get the old “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost” error.
Attempt #4: Default settings with old player and optical passthrough enabled: Playback is successful.
The logs for these four attempts, in order with S01E01 of Westworld, are attached.
logging.txt (409.1 KB)

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Any progress on this? There were several individuals posting about this same issue today. This is not a minor problem.

@BigWheel, perhaps you can help? The issue is very likely related to the audio.

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