On-going connection issues

[bward149]

My connection issues to an extent still remain. I can connect to the Plex server on my Synology NAS much of the time, but at other times I cannot. I believe that the problems are connected with my internal network connection, but I am not a technician, so I am not sure. Plex gives me vague error messages, such as ‘Something went wrong. It looks like something went wrong. Please try again.’ Lots of orange spinning circles when I try to select something.

It’s all the more frustrating, as my Panasonic smart TV is only about 10 feet from my Fritzbox router (and the NAS, which is physically connected to the router), and I have two repeaters either side of the TV. I have restarted the internet stuff multiple times.

I use an Amazon Fire 4k streamer, which runs the Plex player. I recently changed one of the player advanced settings, ‘Allow insecure connections’ from ‘On same network’ to ‘Always’ which made a modicum of difference but not as much as I’d hoped. All my issues seem to have started when I changed ISP and got its Full Fiber service. Things were much smoother (but slower) with my previous ISP.

Recently, I went through quite a lengthy process of trying to improve my performance, largely helped my user FordGuy61 Terrible performance - #97 by bward149 I executed his script to rebuild the database (DBRepair.sh) - is this something I should try again?

So I at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed really. Any advice is appreciated.

[trumpy81]

On The Fire TV Plex app, you want to set ‘Allow insecure connections’ to Never.

Open Plex/Web and go to Plex Settings > Server > Network > Secure connections and set it to Preferred. Click on Save Changes.

If you are using wireless connections, do NOT place the device/s too close to the router, that can degrade the performance rather than increase it, in some cases.

Install a WiFi Analyser program on your smart phone and use that to check the signal strength between your devices and the router. You want to have the highest signal strength possible, even if that means moving things around.

Of course, some routers perform better than others in this respect, but it is still worth checking and keeping it in mind.

Ethernet (cable connection) does not have this problem.

Error messages like Something went wrong. It looks like something went wrong usually do not indicate network issues, although they cannot be ruled out, the message/s often indicate problems with playing your files.

That may be connected to the file being transcoded, but it may also be that your file is damaged in some way and that is causing Plex to fail when transcoding the file.

It may also mean that the file has not been properly analysed in Plex, so open Plex/Web, locate the file in question and click on the ellipsis (bottom right of poster) and select Analyse.

Then go back and try playing the file again.

If that does not work, then consider re-encoding the file using HandBrake or similar or you may elect to download a new copy of the file from a different source and try that.

Add the newly created/downloaded file to your Plex library in place of the old file, make sure Plex has analysed the new file and then try playing it again.

These options won’t apply in every case, but they may get your files playing just the same.

You will need to determine the best course of action based on what you know about the issue at hand.

Plex will transcode your files for a number of reasons:

1. The file bitrate may be too high for your device
2. The device may require certain network protocols to be used
3. Your local network may have limited bandwidth at the time
4. The file/s codecs may not be fully supported by your device
5. The file/s resolution may be too high for your device

And there are probably a few more reasons, which don’t come to mind right now.

HTH

[bward149]

Hi, many thanks for your previous posting. The issue I seem to have is actually getting to a meaningful/populated screen, i.e. a display of my current movies/TV etc. rather than playing a particular file. Often, all I get is a seemingly endless spinning yellow circle (that’s I get the ‘Something went wrong’ error), although after multiple tries, I can eventually get to play items. Plex seems to be trying to show me at least the Home Screen of a movies/show, if not actually the item itself. That’s what has led to to think that it’s a network problem.

This morning, I was able to play a TV show, but returning to it after a break now all I get it the spinning circle or a message that the server is unavailable. Give it 15 minutes and a restart, and everything plays perfectly. I will play around with the location of the outer and repeaters, as you suggest.

[trumpy81]

Based on your reply above, it may be worthwhile performing a database check and repair on your server.

ChuckPa (employee) has made a script available for that purpose and you will find it here: DBRepair - ChuckPa

You will find instructions to use the script on the site above. If you have any questions though, just holler and no, it is not as difficult to do as it may first appear.

There are a number of steps you must follow though, so read through the instructions completely and then read through them again while following the instructions. That way you will have some idea of what comes next etc…

Make sure you have followed my first two instructions from my previous post and set Secure connections etc.

If you added any port forwarding rules to your router settings at all, it may be worth removing those while you carry out this testing etc.

It is unlikely they will effect your local access, but just to be safe, it is worthwhile doing.

You can add any port forwarding etc. later, once you have established a smooth running server.

[bward149]

That’s really great info, thanks again. I am actually familiar with ChuckPa’s script, and went though a few weeks of familiarising myself with a few scripts and using Mac Terminal for basically the first time - kind of a crash course, so I will have another go with executing that script. I will make sure I have followed your other instructions, too and will let this posting know how I get on.

BTW do you think that there’s any advantage/need to have a separate user account for myself (as account owner)?

[trumpy81]

@bward149

BTW do you think that there’s any advantage/need to have a separate user account for myself (as account owner)?

I am not sure of the context of your question.

For Plex, you only need a single Plex account with Plex Pass applied.

For your NAS, you really only need a single user account with admin privileges, but if you share the NAS with other members of your family etc. then you may want to set up user accounts for them without admin privileges.

It is your choice on how you want to manage things.

Try to keep it simple, complexity can bring a whole set of unexpected headaches.

[bward149]

Yes, sharing my account with my partner is what I was referring to. We use it in order to keep differences in how far one person has progressed watching a TV series, say.

I will look into simplifying it; Plex has been fairly frequently been mixing up what’s displayed on the Home screen, with the ‘wrong’ user getting shown, i.e. I see what my user should be shown and vice versa.

[veeejay]

Do you have anything in the field “List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth”? If so, someone may think they’re in their account, but in actuality they are in the main admin profile since that field will allow clients to bypass authentication and only uses the admin profile/account..

[bward149]

Thank you. I don’t think I do but I will check. I have never had to change anything that far into the system, so probably not.

[trumpy81]

I see now, you were referring to Plex Home.

Unfortunately, I have never used Plex Home, so my knowledge about it is limited.

As for displaying the wrong users info etc. when that happens always refresh the browser page, sometimes the info can be caught in the cache.

For more info regarding Plex Home, see this page:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/203815766-what-is-plex-home/

Make sure you check the links on that page also, lots of valuable information there.

Have you tried repairing/optimising the database yet?

[bward149]

Have you tried repairing/optimising the database yet?

Not as yet, as I am still trying to navigate around my system in Terminal. I have done this before, so I should be able to get there again (in this thread: Terrible performance - #74 by Disgustipated ) I think I am still in my Mac Home folder (according to ls), rather than PlexMediaServer on my NAS, where DBRepair lives.

And I have been temporarily confused by the two threads I created, and misread user veeejay’s comment. I don’t use Plex Home either, but your link looks very interesting.

[bward149]

With a bit of application (i.e. reading up on how to do it) I am ‘in’ to the folder in Terminal, where DBRepair.sh lives. So in theory, it’s now just a case of running the script. I’ll report back when I have done that. Thanks for your patience.

[bward149]

This is the result, does it look ok?

./DBRepair.sh stop auto start exit

grep: /proc/1/cgroup: No such file or directory

grep: /proc/1/cgroup: No such file or directory

grep: /proc/1/cgroup: No such file or directory

grep: /proc/1/cgroup: No such file or directory

[2025-12-01 12.51.30] Error: Unknown host. Current supported hosts are: QNAP, Syno, Netgear, Mac, ASUSTOR, WD (OS5), Linux wkstn/svr, SNAP, FreeBSD 14+

[2025-12-01 12.51.30] Current supported container images: Plexinc, LinuxServer, HotIO, & BINHEX

[2025-12-01 12.51.30] Manual host configuration is available in most use cases.

[2025-12-01 12.51.30]

[2025-12-01 12.51.30] Are you trying to run the tool from outside the container environment? Manual mode is available. Please see documentation.

[bward149]

I have started the save process, as described here (post 91) Terrible performance - #91 by bward149 which I know takes a little while to complete.

[trumpy81]

Open terminal and type in the following, press enter after entering each line.

Assuming you have extracted the DBRepair.sh file already.

1. ssh adminuser@NAS-IP-Address (use the NAS adminuser password)
2. sudo bash
3. cd /volume1/PlexMediaServer
4. chmod +x DBRepair.sh
5. ./DBRepair.sh
6. Follow the onscreen menu

In DSM Control Panel > Terminal & SNMP you are able to change the port number used by ssh (good for security), if you have done that, then add -p port number to the first command.

The second command gives you ‘root’ status.

The third command assumes you have DSM 7 installed on the NAS and you have placed the DBRepair.sh file in the root of the PlexMediaServer folder.

The forth command makes sure the .sh file is executable.

The fifth command runs the script, don’t forget the period at the beginning of the command.

Start by selecting option 1 (Stop PMS) and make sure it has stopped in Package Center.
Then select option 2 (automatic)
Then select option 7 (Start PMS). Make sure Plex actually started in Package Center.

With a little luck, that should improve things for you, fingers crossed.

[bward149]

Thank you. Could I just check, as Terminal generated an error. If I have it right, I typed in ssh cinerama21@217.155.223.50 (my NAS user account name and NAS IP address as displayed by my router software) but the error “ port 22: Connection refused “ (did you mean to literally type in ssh adminuser@NAS-IP-Address ? I assume not, as that also generated an error.)

I am definitely in the same folder as where DBRepair.sh lives.

[TheLivingBubba]

@bward149

port 22: Connection refused

SSH on your Synology is turned off then. On your nas, Control Panel → Terminal & SNMP, Enable ssh.

[trumpy81]

Did you not read where I instructed you to add -p port number if you changed it in DSM Control Panel > Terminal & SNMP?

If you changed it from the default port number 22, then your instruction would look something like this:

ssh adminuser@NAS-IP-Address -p 55

As pointed out by @TheLivingBubba you do need to enable ssh on the NAS.

Also, you are NOT using the correct address range for your LAN. You are currently using a WAN address, which will confuse Plex and may be the cause of your issues.

Your LAN must comply with RFC1918 and use one of the address ranges shown here:

Private network

You need to correct that in your router settings.

[bward149]

I do have SSH switched in DSM and the port is 25, even the last time I tried it. I am getting the following output in Terminal, so it’s a bit of a puzzle. I am going to back into the thread where I was successful in running the DBRepair script. I think am definitely in the PlexMediaServer folder, where the script lives, but I guess I can’t be. Here’s the Terminal output.:

Mac-mini:PlexMediaServer baward$ ssh cinerama21@192.168.0.22 -p 25

ssh: connect to host 192.168.0.22 port 25: Network is unreachable

[trumpy81]

Are all of your devices now using 192.168.0.x?

Are you sure your NAS is at 192.168.0.22 and did you Apply after changing the port number in Terminal & SNMP?