Same issue as others on this discussion. Running Plex server plugin 1.10.1.4602 in a Freenas jail. All was great until the FireTV client updated to 6.13… Now every video stop, immediately or erratically, regardless of numerous attempts to adjust Quality/audio/direct settings etc.
2-24 14:42:52.186 i: [Exo2VideoPlayer] Switching video surface to use a standard surface.
02-24 14:42:52.220 i: [FF][MediaPeriod] Releasing.
02-24 14:42:52.224 e: [Exo2VideoPlayer] Player error detected
02-24 14:42:52.224 e: An exception occurred: com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException
02-24 14:42:52.224 e: Stacktrace: com.google.android.exoplayer2.ExoPlaybackException
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.a(SourceFile:444)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.c(SourceFile:423)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.a(SourceFile:897)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.video.d.a(SourceFile:477)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.render(SourceFile:570)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.j.h(SourceFile:560)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.j.handleMessage(SourceFile:306)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:98)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135)
at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:61)
Caused by: com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer$DecoderInitializationException: Decoder init failed: OMX.MTK.VIDEO.DECODER.AVC, Format(0, null, video/avc, 1327000, null, [720, 480, 23.976025], [-1, -1])
… 9 more
Caused by: android.media.MediaCodec$CodecException: start failed
at android.media.MediaCodec.native_start(Native Method)
at android.media.MediaCodec.start(MediaCodec.java:634)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.mediacodec.MediaCodecRenderer.c(SourceFile:415)
… 8 more
Same issues: Server version 1.11.3.4803 (Windows)
Client: FireTV2 (Android client Plex app: 6.13.7.3458)
As others have noted, if you force the max quality to 720p/3Mbps it can transcode, but Direct Play or using higher/original quality fails outright with the aforementioned errors.
Really making life difficult…hope there’s a fix really soon with this Exoplayer v2!
Same issue as everyone here. Everything plays fine on our two Roku boxes, nothing plays on our Fire TV Stick. Yesterday a few recorded TV shows wouldn’t play. Today nothing works on the Fire Stick. Can someone tell me how to check the version of Plex on the Fire Stick?
@ronwes said:
Same issue as everyone here. Everything plays fine on our two Roku boxes, nothing plays on our Fire TV Stick. Yesterday a few recorded TV shows wouldn’t play. Today nothing works on the Fire Stick. Can someone tell me how to check the version of Plex on the Fire Stick?
Since it usually automatically updates, you can check the version on the Amazon App store (same as my post above) - or you can go to your Plex server>Settings>Devices and see which player you have - it has the client version listed there.
This is frustrating. I have tv show episodes that are encoded using the exact same settings where one will direct play, but the other will try to direct play and fail, then transcode and only play if the video quality settings are low enough. I suppose there could be something new in the app that the server can’t handle without needing a fix too, but this only started for me after the app was updated to 6.13.7.3458.
I have the latest version of the app working fine on my Nvidia Shield TVs, Pixel 2 XL, and Fire sticks. I was experiencing problems with my Fire TV Gen 2 boxes. After uninstalling the latest version and reverting to the 6.12 version, make sure and turn off auto updating of apps in the settings menu of the Fire TV or you will have issues again when the app inevitably auto updates. Hopefully the devs are aware and working on a permanent fix for the next update.
I used the “Downloader” app which is available in the Amazon app store. See here for more info about the app: Downloader App | AFTVnews
Before you can install any app outside the AppStore, you have to go into your settings and enable installation of apps from unknown sources. This is under the developer options section on the Fire TV. When you first run Downloader, it has a section where you can enter the URL address of the file you would like to download. Enter the URL as I posted above: Plex: Stream Movies & TV 6.12.0.3239 APK Download by Plex, Inc. - APKMirror
The version that you will want to download is the arm, Android 4.1+ version, nodpi. See the image that I have attached. It is the one with the really crappy looking red star beside it.
After installing the previous version, make sure to go into settings and when you are there go into the Amazon AppStore settings and disable auto-updating of installed applications. Otherwise, you are going to have to do the whole process again when the Plex app auto-updates. Sadly there is no way to just disable auto-updates for just the Plex app. So be aware that in doing this, you will disable auto-updates for other apps such as Netflix, Hulu, etc.
I noticed this issue last night when playing back a recorded TV show. I uninstalled the Plex app from my 2nd Gen Fire TV, disconnected power to reboot the Fire TV, then reinstalled the Plex app. I’m still having the same issue. The Plex app is version 6.13.7.3458, as noted by other folks in this thread.
I was able to run the recording on my iPhone with no break in playback, so this tells me there’s an issue with the Fire TV app not the server or the recording itself.
I’m getting very frustrated with the lack of QA coming from Plex. I am a PlexPass subscriber, so I have some skin in this game (the cost of the subscription). This is no way to treat a paying customer. I love the idea of Plex - the ability to avoid multiple tuner/DVR device lease fees and access my content from anywhere - but recent trouble on the Plex Media Server side and now this issue with the Plex app on Fire TV is driving me loco crazy.
C’mon Plex, get your sh*t together before you lose your paying customer base.
The version that you will want to download is the arm, Android 4.1+ version, nodpi. See the image that I have attached. It is the one with the really crappy looking red star beside it.
How do i know what version to use? I tried with 6.o+ before, because i thought that was my FireTV version? When I go to Fire Settings>>About it reports Fire TV Home Version 6.0.0.4-005. But using this version gives a “parse” error. Have i used the wrong version?
How do i know what version to use? I tried with 6.o+ before, because i thought that was my FireTV version? When I go to Fire Settings>>About it reports Fire TV Home Version 6.0.0.4-005. But using this version gives a “parse” error. Have i used the wrong version?
First, know that Amazon used a forked version of Android to produce the Fire OS on its tablets and streaming devices. This means that it is based off an older version of Android. The latest Fire OS runs off a version of Android 5.0 (if I am not mistaken). Also, you have to know the type of processor used in your device. Most mobile devices and streamers are based off the arm architecture. The exception to this is the Nexus Player which has a x86 Intel processor inside.
So, for most devices (including the Fire TV box and sticks) the version that I placed the red star by will work with no issues. The second option is for arm64 bit chips such as the Tegra processor in the Nvidia Shield TV or the latest Snapdragon chips in the Pixel 2, S8, Note 8, etc. And the third apk would be for the nexus player or any other device that has an Intel chipset.
You downloaded the wrong version. Try the top one and you should be good to go. I just did so on my in-laws Fire TV boxes that were remotely linked to my server and their playback issues are totally resolved.
Never mind. The message said to click here, and Downloader doesn’t show me the link. After clicking about everywhere, I finally got it to download. It’s a pleasure to be using a working version! Thank you, brucestephensrx!
I have same issue with my 4K FireTV Boxes only it will play 1080p video and will not play 480p video. Since my server is Synology, I went in to the Amazon app store and found DS Video is now available direct download. I installed it on the FireTV and now I have access again to all my 480p and 1080p library.
In the past DS Video was not available as an Amazon app and had to be sideloaded into the FireTV using an android device and had to be manually updated.
I can now wait til Plex corrects the current app.
Same, the reason I love plex is that “It just works”… I was really surprised to see this issue appearing.
Come on Plex people, Android version is clearly broken since 2 weeks, rollback to previous version while working on a fix, or if not possible at least communicate a bit.
Side note: transcoding to a lower quality kinda solves the issue for me.
