PBS is not recording

General Discussions
1

I have tried to record PBS shows and none record.

I can click on the guide and watch PBS shows but when I check the Library under TV shows for shows I tried to record, the PBS shows never show up.

I am running Plex Server on a QNAP NAS. I have the latest version of Plex Server installed. I have Motor Week schedule to record weekly and they never record. I just clicked on another PBS show and clicked on record and checked the Library and the show is not recording.

When I check activity, it says the show is being recorded but I cannot find where. All other channels that I record work fine.

Please let me know if others are having this issue and if there is something that I can do to resolve it.

2

Please post PMS version, debit logs, etc.

Makes it much easier to troubleshoot the cause of your issue.

3

Ok… a little bit more information needed:

  • QNAP Make/Model
  • QTS Version

Unless you have a very specific reason for having 2 Ethernet cables plugged in with different IP’s, let’s unplug one of them so we only have 1 NW connection as well.

4

I have a QNAP TS-459 Pro II running firmware 4.6.2 which is the latest firmware. I unplugged the 2nd Ethernet cable.

I am running PBS 1.14.1.5488 which is the latest version.

I removed the NAS from the Plex Server, I restarted the NAS and claimed the NAS again in Plex Server. All of the TV shows that said were recording are not showing up in activity.

The NAS I have does not support transcoding. I checked the supported NAS boxes that supports transcoding and I am considering purchasing the Thecus N2810 Pro and 2 TB WD Gold drives. Before I spend $600+ on the new hardware, I wanted to use my current NAS to make sure everything works.

5

So I think I have an idea of your problem… your NAS is just plain to old/slow for what you are asking it to do.

Typically the spinning icons you sent me a picture of are caused by 1 of 3 things related to your DVR recording.

  • You have the DVR option set to Transcode (i.e. covert from an mpeg2 stream to a h.264 stream). This will take FOREVER on your slow CPU.

  • You have checked the DVR option to Remove Commercials options

Live TV & DVR (Set Up and Manage)
https://support.plex.tv/articles/225877347-live-tv-dvr/

Since the jobs didn’t finish when you stopped/restarted, it is trying to continue to finish them.

Even on my system (Ryzen based TS-877), it does take a little while to run remove commercials/transcode the items. I also see the occasional failed thumbnail message. No biggie to be honest on that one.

As for newer/beefier NAS, the Thecus isn’t really using anything special (using same Intel CPU’s others are). They are probably a “minority” in terms of % of Plex NAS brands vs. Qnap & Synology.

I would stay with WD Red or Red Pro as those are the NAS rated drives versus Gold.

If you are looking for a newer NAS to replace your current one, since you have 4 tuners, I wouldn’t go down to a 2-drive NAS if you frequently have several programs recording at the same time. You need the IOPS the additional drives give you.

The N3150 CPU in the Thecus N2810Pro is already like 1+ generations back of where Qnap/Synology have gone.

If you are looking to do Plex and want some lifespan for Transcoding, I would look at say the QNAP x53Be family as a starting point which have support for HW-based 4k transcoding.

An easier/cheaper option would be to keep your QNAP NAS and use it strictly for Plex Storage.

Buy an Nvidia ShieldTV + USB Thumbdrive (doesn’t need to be too big) and run your Plex Server/DVR usage on that (make sure and have hardwired 1GbE connection for it). You will point the Nvidia Shield TV PMS server back to your QNAP NAS for all of it’s Library storage, etc.

The Nvidia Shield TV PMS supports HW transcoding, will connect to your HD HomeRun, etc.

You can get the Nvidia Shield TV + Thumbdrive for under $200.

See here for more information re: PMS on Nvidia Shield TV. https://support.plex.tv/articles/221099988-setting-up-and-managing-plex-media-server-on-nvidia-shield/

I think that is your best option as your QNAP I assume is running fine for your other needs.

6

I appreciate your advice and council on diagnosing my Plex issues. I bit the bullet and ordered a TS-453be NAS. I will remove the drives from the TS-459 Pro II and use them for now and eventually replace them with the WD Red NAS drives in the future.

I have 1 Gig Ethernet throughout my house so I have many options on where to put the new NAS.

I will check out the Nvidia Shield. I currently have a Fire Cube TV and the 2nd Gen Fire TV that I am using now. I know that the Shield is a lot better than the Fire TVs.

Thanks again for your help!

Ray

7

You need to backup all your data/app configs to an external USB HDD.

When you put your existing disks into your QNAP, your really should wipe/recreate the whole NAS configuration. The storage layout/etc. is completely different under the covers with Storage Pools, Snapshots, etc. All of which is going to require a wipe/reformat of your existing drives.

In fact since your existing model is so old, I am not sure if the new model will even support reading your existing drives as-is.

8

Thanks for your recommendations. I have not used the NAS in years so I doubt that anything on the drives needs to be backed up but I will check. The only apps on the NAS are those that came with it and the only one that I am using now is the Plex app.

I checked the QNAP website to see if the drives that I have are compatible with the TS-453Be NAS and it does not show that they are compatible. They are WD enterprise drives so I hope I will be able to use them. If not I will order WD Red Pro drives.

I read the NAS drive installation information and it says that the drives will be reformatted so I will give them a try and see what happens.

Thanks for your help!

9

You most likely will be fine with the WD Enterprise drives (I have some HGST in mine). I would though do a full wipe of the drives in your old NAS prior to installing them in the new one after you have backed up all your data.

Yes QNAP will wipe any drives installed EXCEPT if it determines the drive were FROM another QNAP. This sometimes causes quirky behavior.

10

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.