Network receiver does not see Plex Media Server after PC reboot

General Discussions
1

Hi, hoping to get some assistance from the Plex gurus.

Issue: wireless DLNA client does not detect Plex Media Server after a PC reboot.

Plex is installed on a QNAP NAS (TS-470 Pro) running the standard Linux OS
NAS is connected via Ethernet to a router supplied by my ISP (Netgear C6300)
PC running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 is also connected via Ethernet to the router
DLNA client is connected over 2.4GHz wireless to the router. Client is a Marantz network receiver (M-CR510)

Whenever I reboot the PC (not often, usually only after Windows updates or other software that requires a reboot), the network receiver cannot detect Plex Media Server. This seems odd since the PC is not actually running Plex Media Server. The NAS where Plex Media Server is installed runs 24/7 and is rarely rebooted.

Internet radio functions perfectly on the network receiver at all times, so the problem does not appear to be related to the wireless network connection.

The Plex app on my mobile phone also works perfectly, so it doesn’t appear to be a problem with Plex Media Server availability/broadcasting as such.

The issue can be resolved temporarily by rebooting the router (which is a pain in the ■■■■ as it takes a couple of minutes to come back up).

Get the feeling that a simple tweak to Plex or the router is all that is required, however I’m not very savvy when it comes to networking and have no idea what to try. Any suggestions?

2

If it is the Plex DLNA Server that is failing to announce its availability regularly (through SSDP Multicasts) after the initial launch then that could explain the issue - however I would expect the fix to be restarting the server rather than restarting the router. I presume it is these SSDP Multicasts that tell the rest of the network the availability of the DLNA Server

01:47:41.485485	192.168.1.178	239.255.255.250:1900	SSDP	NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
Host: 239.255.255.250:1900
Location: http://192.168.1.178:32469/DeviceDescription.xml
NTS: ssdp:alive
Cache-Control: max-age=1800
Server: UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50 Platinum/1.0.4.11
USN: uuid:63a935e6-0cab-fae6-add1-44236b16b689::upnp:rootdevice
NT: upnp:rootdevice

01:47:41.536358	192.168.1.178	  239.255.255.250:1900	SSDP NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
Host: 239.255.255.250:1900
Location: http://192.168.1.178:32469/DeviceDescription.xml
NTS: ssdp:alive
Cache-Control: max-age=1800
Server: UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50 Platinum/1.0.4.11
USN: uuid:63a935e6-0cab-fae6-add1-44236b16b689
NT: uuid:63a935e6-0cab-fae6-add1-44236b16b689

01:47:41.587038	192.168.1.178	239.255.255.250:1900	SSDP	NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
NOTIFY * HTTP/1.1
Host: 239.255.255.250:1900
Location: http://192.168.1.178:32469/DeviceDescription.xml
NTS: ssdp:alive
Cache-Control: max-age=1800
Server: UPnP/1.0 DLNADOC/1.50 Platinum/1.0.4.11
USN: uuid:63a935e6-0cab-fae6-add1-44236b16b689::urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:MediaServer:1
NT: urn:schemas-upnp-org:device:MediaServer:1

could you see what SSDP Multicasts are being generated to inform local devices that DLNA server is available on TCP port 32469

When I ran wireshark I could only see the SSDP packets at the beginning

I

3

Thanks for the reply. Will learn how to use Wireshark and report back.

4

I have discussed this with the Plex Devs and the feedback i have is that the DLNA clients normally send Broadcasts looking for DLNA Servers and the Plex DLNA Server would reply to that

So when running wireshark - see what udp communications take place

5

If there are issues with SSDP, restarting the router may resolve them

6

@sa2000 said:
If it is the Plex DLNA Server that is failing to announce its availability regularly (through SSDP Multicasts) after the initial launch then that could explain the issue - however I would expect the fix to be restarting the server rather than restarting the router. I presume it is these SSDP Multicasts that tell the rest of the network the availability of the DLNA Server

could you see what SSDP Multicasts are being generated to inform local devices that DLNA server is available on TCP port 32469

When I ran wireshark I could only see the SSDP packets at the beginning

I was actually wrong. The Plex DLNA Server is announcing itself through the UDP SSDP Multicasts every 15 minutes.

Need to establish what the DLNA clients are doing in terms of udp ssdp searches

7

Just to tidy up this topic… seems the issue was with the DLNA client, not Plex.

I’d previously used the option to establish wireless network settings by plugging in an iPhone via USB, with resultant inconsistency in the client detecting the Plex server. Recently I performed a full reset of the client and used WPS push button to establish the network settings, which had proven troublesome in the past. After several attempts the client finally connected with the router and I haven’t experienced any problems since.

Suggestion to anyone having problems with Marantz gear & Plex - use WPS push button to create the wireless network settings.