Hello,
No matter that I have followed the instructions to the letter, I cannot reconnect to my NAS. I have experienced this situation once before, about a year ago, but since I have been able to see my stuff, its been fine. So why its all disappeared puzzles me.
Many thanks in advance of you can help me out.
Can you mount the nas drive?
Yes. I am on a Mac and I connect to it by choosing Connect To Server>afp://DiskStation.local
Months ago, I used to see the NAS listed on the desktop, just like an external USB drive for instance, but I seem to have lost that functionality somehow. Plex has worked as it should for ages after I lost that functionality.
Thanks.
Is there anyone who can help? I am ok with deleting all my info (not the movies etc) and starting again.
Thanks, Ben
I have found out how to download my logs, and can post them if that’s helpful. Do I upload that whole folder of 74 files or should I just upload one (or more) of them?
So I am using Version 1.13.3.5223 of PMS on a Mac with OSX 10.13.5.
My error is that even though it is mounted, “The server “DiskStation” is unreachable.” I am logged into both PMS and the web page using the email address I am registered with.
I have attached the log files.Archive.zip (6.4 MB)
hey I just saw your response (sorry Im still getting used to the new forums). Let me look and see if I can get an idea of what’s happening. Ill circle back
Hey I want to make sure I understand the issue.
You can mount the drive on mac without issue. With the drive mounted, what is it exactly that’s not working?
Thank you for your comments. I can mount the NAS on my Mac by going to Connect To Server and selecting afp://DiskStation._afpovertcp._tcp.local . (I am not sure how I did it previously, but I used to just be able to double click on it right from a Finder window on the desktop.)
Regarding Plex, with the web app, I can’t connect to the NAS. I get the message “The server “DiskStation” is unreachable. Make sure it’s running, double check your network, and try again.” when trying to connect to it on the left of the Plex Web window here :http://127.0.0.1:32400/web/index.html#!/server/1ee9029a98235f1692f0501cc183494bbf0b5997/dashboard
Stop Press: I think I found out why the NAS isn’t available - Apple changed how servers appear on the desktop: http://fplanque.com/dev/mac/network-share-icon-desktop-mac-osx
My NAS still isn’t shown despite following what was suggested, but I will persist.
OK so this isn’t a plex issue. There’s an issue with Mac mounting the Synology.
I actually have the same setup (Mac running PMS and media on a Synology). If you aren’t seeing the Synology on the right of the finder window, there can be a couple reasons for that. It doesn’t mean you can’t mount the drive but the easiest way of simply clicking the Synology icon obviously won’t work if it’s not there. First, go into finder menu-preferences-pick the ‘sidebar’ tab and make sure everything under servers is checked. If it’s not there, then the drive isn’t mounted. Go to ‘connect to server’ like you were doing before and mount it that way, and then go back into finder preferences and make sure it’s checked.
When you start the Mac, how are you automatically mounting the drive on start? Im assuming you want this (instead of doing it manually) so plex always can access the drive? In order to accomplish the you should have the mounted drive selected in your startup items. I would make sure that it’s the very first item in the list. I have some more to add to this that’s good to know in regards to Mac and mounting drives but do this first and let me know how that goes.
Thank you MeatBall. In Finder preferences>Sidebar, I have slected everything I can see which refers to ‘Server’ - I noticed that under Shared in the Finder window, the 2 enties I have there (including the Synology) are hidden by default, which I thought was odd.
Once I had connected to the NAS in Go>Connect to server>afp://DiskStation._afpovertcp._tcp.local, I could indeed see the contents of the NAS. I am sure we suffer with problems connecting to our internet router, and that this may be the key to sorting out my Plex issues.
I wonder if you could let me know how I automatically mount the NAS on start? Yes, this is indeed what I want I think. All I seem able to select as Login Items are applications, not servers.
Many thanks for your help!
I have now lost the NAS as one of my devices (listed on the pull-down on the left)! Even though I can log into Plex web, I can only see the computer it’s running on (this one) but no NAS.
From my wireless network, I have a range extender as the coverage in our house often isn’t great. Could the presence of this be a cause for Plex to lose sight of my NAS? The NAS itself is plugged directly in the router, although we have our router in the cupboard under the stairs, which I think I read somewhere is a bad location.
Please tell me where I can go to get tech support on my Plex problems? Thanks.
Well, I’ve surprised myself (someone who’s not too technical) by getting Plex back, whilst looking for something I thought was unrelated. I had Plex package in Synology DSM not running (no idea why it got turned off), and so of course it wasn’t showing up in Plex web or anywhere else.
I feel slightly dumb, but far more enlightened (not to mention relieved!)
Hey I’m sorry it took so long for me to respond. I have a horrible time navigating the new forums and still haven’t gotten my arms wrapped around it.
I’m a tad confused, you mentioned running PMS on the Synology in your last post but the OP stated you were having issues mounting the Synology from your Mac (indicating your running plex on the mini). What am I missing? I’ll keep an eye on this but if for whatever reason I don’t respond within a day you can DM me and it should reach my inbox.
Edit- I read your previous post. Couple things, a good wireless signal isnt the best way to run Plex server as you can run into intermittent connectivity issues as you described. Using an extender because of a weak signal will certainly magnify the issue.
But I still come back to my original question- which device is running PMS- the synology or the NAS?
Thanks so much for getting back to here! It’s all quite a steep learning curve for a partially-technical dunce like myself. I will definitely be in touch if you are unable to post on here any further.
I currently have the following gear: a Synology NAS, wirelessly connected to my iMac. On the iMac, I have PMS installed. I also have Plex installed on DSM (Disc Station Manager) on the NAS. (I realise I may not be doing things correctly!)
Currently, all my movies are appearing as expected in the Plex web app and on my TV and iPad. For some reason, all my TV Shows are not (even though they exist on the NAS (confirmed by checking with DSM.) On the NAS, I have the folder structure ‘Media> Movies / Music / Other Videos / Photos/ TV Shows’ at the top level of DSM.
I will physically move the NAS and connect it to the iMac with a wired connection. Will a USB connection work ok?
Many thanks again!
hey ok, so you only need plex media server on one device. I would delete the one you dont choose to eliminate further confusion.
The iMac is going to be more powerful and easier to player lots of different types of files types/sizes without worrying about processing power. Running PMS on the Synology may not perform as well as the processor isn’t going to be as powerful (I dont know what Synology, iMac or types of files you have but generally this will be true). The upside to hosting PMS on the Synology will be you won’t have to map a network drive as PMS and your media will be in the same place. Also the Synology is a more convenient device to ‘set and forget it’. The downside is what I mentioned earlier, re: processor.
You’re probably going to want to get a little familiar with plex and the server-client relationship and some basics of what’s required from a media server. It doesn’t have to be a massive under taking, just the general idea as it’s going to make bit more sense and help you decide what hardware you want to use.
Thanks for your reply.
I didn’t quite grasp that I had two installations of PMS, I thought they were one and the same. Now it’s more obvious what’s going on.
My files are a mixture of AVI, MKV and MP4. Occasionally, I get an error message saying that my hardware is not powerful enough to process the file; now I see that this is in relation to the PMS installation on the Synology, since as you say the iMac is going to be more powerful. Do you know a good NAS that I could upgrade to (doesn’t need to be Synology)?
The ‘double’ installation of PMS I have is presumably why files/groups of files seem to occasionally not be available (for instance, currently none of my ‘TV Shows’ files are available, despite existing on the NAS at the same folder level, as well as a few other frustrating quirks (which probably aren’t quirks at all!). I will delete PMS from the iMac and see how I get on.
the double installation on the same local network will definitely cause issues with a player being able to access your files.
As far as a NAS that can play media well. Lots of people will use a NAS as a centralized plex server. The key points to be aware are the file codecs, what it can play directly without needing to transcode. Additionally bitrate, if it has to transcode the file bitrate- the larger the bitrate the more processing power will be required. A lot of people get around this by converting files to a type that your machine can play directly (so no transcoding is required). I personally would rather not have to deal with it but you’ll definitely find plenty from both sides.
There aren’t a ton of ‘off the shelf’ NAS machines that have intel i3, i5 or i7 chips in them without spending a small fortune. They’re out there, Qnap makes them. I believe Synology has some too (I haven’t looked but I believe this is true). Most of them have some variation of an atom/arm cpu which is where the processing power can be a factor.
I ended up building my own as Your money goes quite a bit further but I understand that not everyone has the desire or bandwidth to do this.
All that said, if you’re just serving media to yourself you dont need to go spend a fortune on a new nas. Some old repurposed windows/mac machine will work just fine and will give you more processing power than most standard NAS machines you can buy. Hope this helps.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
