Server Version#:
Player Version#: 2025.15.0 (1053)
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
All OTA live tv channels fail to load with a message “A server with the specified hostname could not be found”
log-2025-05-05T19_01_10.569Z.zip (25.2 KB)
They would need the full set of server debug logs and app logs from the same event to fully understand what is going on.
But from what you have provided it looks like you have setup a Synology Me DDNS which is interfering with Plex’s Server plex.direct dns entry so the server can’t be found locally and switches to the remote address where it fails from transcoding.
What isn’t known is if the server is having issues setting up *.plex.direct (DNS Rebinding) or if your plex.snoopbiggie.synology.me is being fed from local DNS or did you put it into server settings.
Here you go
plex-media-server-logs-2025-05-13-1747166091948.zip (1.7 MB)
log-2025-05-13T19_54_23.831Z.zip (133.5 KB)
I had it in the ‘custom server access URLs’ server setting, I removed it and still get the error. This is not a dns issue.
This last worked on version 2025.14.0 (1037)
To me it looks like the problem is in the MediaDecisionEngine as it is choosing not to direct play the live tv video stream.
05/13/2025 16:22:57:940 [emcleanqaw2t2gmk9lr7uhq0lcnll8p] INFO [MDE] Application decision, directPlay: false, directStreamVideo: false, directStreamAudio: true
05/13/2025 16:22:57:940 [emcleanqaw2t2gmk9lr7uhq0lcnll8p] INFO Cannot direct play with protocol: hls, codec: h264. Reason: Live TV direct play is not allowed
05/13/2025 16:22:57:941 [emcleanqaw2t2gmk9lr7uhq0lcnll8p] INFO Cannot direct stream with protocol: hls, codec: h264. Reason: Live TV direct stream is not allowed
Subsequently it tries to transcode and that’s when the hostname not found error occurs but the real problem is with the initial decision not to direct stream.
Note that version 2025.14.0 (1037) of the iOS app similarly chooses not to direct stream but its transcode sessions work. Transcoding broke sometime after this version but again the root issue is the MDE’s decision not to direct play Live tv.
Updating to ios client 2025.17.0 fixed the hostname error for me. I can watch most OTA channels locally even though plex is still insisting on transcoding the video stream.
Since the update however there are a few OTA channels (CBS and NBC) that only display a black screen. Can only get those to play if I’m already watching on another client or if I’m recording, below you can find client and server logs for this.
I am on 2025.18.0 and had this issue.
Turns out it was a DNS issue.
My T-Mobile router was providing DNS.
I manually changed to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 and now it works!
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