Same… 
Seems to have been discussed here as well: [BUG] Transcoded videos over LAN using Android & Android TV client fails
Experiencing a similar problem on my OnePlus 7 Pro (Plex Android v7.27.0.15018 (57fc93ee)), the player settings reports that the phone supports: dts, ac3 & eac3. But not Dobly TrueHD.
I’ve tried everything from clearing the apps cache, to re-installing it and restarting the Plex server. Nothing resolves this problem.
In the past if I started a 4K HDR movie with Dolby TrueHD the movie would play perfectly fine on my phone. I think the server was just transcoding the TrueHD to AC3. I could alternatively select the movie’s built in compatibility (AC3) audio track and it would also play but the server would not transcode the audio.
However, now if I try playing any video with TrueHD audio i get this error, the server won’t try and transcode the TrueHD stream automatically.
Too add to this my entire anime collection is either in AAC Stereo or FLAC Stereo/5.1. Not a single video will play now on my phone.
I’ve checked the servers settings. Transcoding is set to automatic as it has been for years and both server and client are up-to-date.
In the case of anime, it’s not the audio causing the transcoding, but the subtitles. If I select no subtitles the video plays perfectly on my phone.
So seems there is a rather major issue with the latest server’s ability to transcode audio.
God I wish they would test their updates before release, but I suppose when you release an update every 5 minutes this is not possible.
Seems I can only play content that requires no transcoding. Server version 1.18.4.2171
I’ve tried server version 1.18.2.2058 and I have the same problem. So maybe this is a problem with the mobile app.
Tested on an iPhone 11 pro, and this problem does not occur with any content which needs to be transcoded. I don’t have another Android device to test unfortunately.
Tested using my phones LTE connection, setting the Plex to not limit cellular playback quality. This bizarrely fixes the problem. Plex still reports that the video is transcoded as required for my anime subtitles (AAS). “The selected subtitles require transcoding to maintain their appearance.”
Tested on another on another WIFI with remote streaming quality set to max, and again it works flawlessly. The server automatically transcodes the TrueHD audio to EAC3.
2 Likes
Can confirm disable new video player got things going for me on my Sony android tv for anyone looking for a quick fix. Thanks to the user above who posted that
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Wow… Fantastic find.
Turning off the new video player worked for me too.
Amazon fire tv stick. plex version 7.27.0.15018
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On my Sony Android TV, I tried turning off the new player and the plex.direct whitelist entry in the router. I had no luck. I switched over to a Fire TV 4K stick with the new player off. I plan to test it for the week.
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Please tell me plex is aware of this issue? It’s happening a lot. Even the Android client on my phone, and there is no way to turn off the “new player”. @sa2000 ?
1 Like
I don’t think Plex is going to fix the issue. It has been present on the Firestick for two years. I recommend downgrading to an old version of Plex (or better yet, switching to Jellyfin instead) to fix the problem.
Let me add my two-penneth.
I suddenly started getting “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost” every time I chose a video to play on my firestick. The wheel would go round for a minute and then the message would show without the video even starting. Whatever you do, do not try re-installing it is virtually impossible to do a clean install:
And then when you do eventually get back I have ended up with two servers both with same names but one unreachable. Of course I am also still getting “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost”.
What I do not understand is if I use the DLNA server directly from my TV it works albeit play back is not quite as good as if via the firestick when it was working and you do not have all the features with DLNA. Clearly despite what the message says connection has not been lost if my TV can connect. There is something fundamentally wrong with the whole programme which simply patching it up is not going to cure.
Thanks so much, i have add ‘plex.direct’ in to my FritzBox router and now works!!!
Thanks Sir.
Someone once said that if you have nothing good to add to a conversation then don’t.
This is why I will say nothing about plex’s new video player 
Work around: Install Kodi (on you android tv or Nvidea shield or etc…) with the plex plugin. set plex to auto start if Kodi is launched, you will get a similar experience as with plex. (it actualy is plex but then true Kodi) https://troypoint.com/install-plex-kodi/
Using this helped me as well on my firestick that suddenly stopped working, disabled the new player and it worked.
For me I found it only affecting shows with subtitles, if I disabled the subtitles then the show would play.
Not sure an easy thing to troubleshoot as console didn’t really display and error/error shown was just connection to server has been lost.
1 Like
Found this marathon thread after experiencing this error on Plex app on an Amazon FireTV (not Stick).
tl;dr: After trying a bunch of stuff in a fug of ignorance, then reading through this thread, switching ‘use new player’ off did the trick.
My problem files played fine through practically any means I wanted, including plex clients elsewhere on my LAN, on cabled PCs running Plex in a browser, to WiFi Android phones running Plex app. Failure only on Plex App on Amazon FireTV, which gave the ‘wheel of wait’ and then the “Playback has stopped because the connection to the Plex Media Server has been lost” error.
Server is Plex under Windows 10 (current version)
Client is Plex app on Amazon FireTV
Local cabled LAN through 10/100/1000 hub
All settings default (more info available if anyone needs it).
Problematic media is .mkv 1920x1080@23.9fps, H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part10) (avc1), audio A/52B (E-AC3).
Things that didn’t work:
Rebooting everything
Reinstalling Plex server
Reinstalling Plex client
Changing Audio passthrough settings
Manually transcoding file to lower bandwidth (720p)
Defragmenting hard drive of server (the file was in the last 80gb of a 2Tb HDD - you never know)
Things that did work
Settings->Advanced->Use New player: OFF
4 Likes
Settings->Advanced->Use New player: OFF
Turning off new player did not fix this problem for me at all.
Symptom: None of the Movies or TV shows starts playing, except the ones with very low bitrate and 720p, they start loading, then I get the same error mentioned in the title.
Server: 1.18.5.2309 (Windows), Intel Core i7-7700, 32GB Ram - “Large Send Offload” disabled on the NIC
Device: Sony Android TV (KD-43XF8096), Android TV version: 8.0.0 (there’s no newer version)
Plex for Android client app version: 7.27.1.15203 (5c57babb)
Server setting in short:
Encryption: preferred
Network: LAN - between Sony TV and Server: Ethernet, same VLAN, same Subnet, wired, 1 Gbit
Router: pfSense (on strong hardware), DNS resolver already has the setting: server:private-domain: "plex.direct"
It’s trying to start the direct play, then ends up in error, then falling back to transcode, finally playback ends up with similar error. Did not paste the log about the transcode failure, it’s similar to direct play. Plex client on Apple TV 4k just plays fine without any error with the latest version of the client Plex app. I have PlexPass, however this doesn’t matter I guess.
Log (Android TV client app) - New Player disabled (copy and paste the point):
Memory Usage: 431.46094 / 1566.1055 Threshold: 192.1875.
[FF] ********************************************************
02-05 14:23:59.587 e: [Exo2VideoPlayer] Player error detected
02-05 14:23:59.587 e: An exception occurred: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
02-05 14:23:59.588 e: Stacktrace: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:397)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:101)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:164)
at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:65)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at android.media.MediaCodec.native_queueInputBuffer(Native Method)
at android.media.MediaCodec.queueInputBuffer(MediaCodec.java:2334)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.n(SourceFile:1115)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.render(SourceFile:654)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.h(SourceFile:575)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:326)
... 3 more
02-05 14:23:59.608 i: [video] Direct play failed, attempting to transcode
02-05 14:23:59.613 i: [ConnectivityManager] Device is under Ethernet
02-05 14:23:59.615 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Starting media decision for: MizĂşjs, Scooby-Doo? - S01 E11 (part index 0)
02-05 14:23:59.616 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Transcode server selected: PlexMediaServer
02-05 14:23:59.619 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Analyzing media: 1916x1076 2866kbps (Container: mp4, Video: h264, Audio: ac3)
02-05 14:23:59.621 i: [FF] ********************************************************
[FF] Statistics:
[FF] ********************************************************
State: Idle Loading: Yes Auto Play: Yes
Surface: None
Position: 0:00 Duration: 21:21
Window Start: 0:00 Window End: 21:21 Position in Period: 0:00
Period Position: 0:00 Period Duration: 21:21
Video: OMX.MTK.VIDEO.DECODER.AVC
- Initialise Time: 190us Initialised: 1 Released: 0
- Input Buffers: 5 Output Buffers: 0
- Skipped: 0 Dropped: 0 Max Dropped: 0
Audio: OMX.MTK.AUDIO.DECODER.DSPAC3
- Initialise Time: 73us Initialised: 1 Released: 0
- Input Buffers: 8 Output Buffers: 0
- Skipped: 0 Dropped: 0 Max Dropped: 0
Memory Usage: 430.51172 / 1566.1055 Threshold: 192.1875.
[FF] ********************************************************
02-05 14:23:59.622 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Unable to direct play; Direct Play was attempted but failed, fallen back to transcoding
02-05 14:23:59.624 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Content source doesn't support decision making
Log (Android TV client app) - New Player enabled (copy and paste the point):
02-05 14:02:36.614 i: [ConnectivityManager] Device is under Ethernet
02-05 14:02:36.631 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Content source doesn't support decision making
02-05 14:02:36.631 i: [MediaDecisionEngine] Decision: CanPlay: true CanDirectPlay: true CanDirectStreamVideo: true CanDirectStreamAudio: true CanDirectPlaySubtitle: false CanTranscodeSubtitle: false CanDisplayVideo: true
02-05 14:02:36.631 i: [LoadControl] New bitrate: 2866, Maximum: 2866
.....
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FF] Container[mp4] No Title - 2,9 Mbps, 21 mins [CT: 1579508360000us, ST: 0us, SRT: -9223372036854775808us].
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO]
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] Stream #0:0
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] (und)
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] : Video: h264, 1 reference frame (avc1 / 0x31637661), none, 1916x1076 (0x0), 0/1, 2673 kb/s
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] , SAR 1:1 DAR 479:269
02-05 14:02:38.111 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] ,
02-05 14:02:38.112 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] 23.98 fps,
02-05 14:02:38.115 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] 23.98 tbr,
02-05 14:02:38.116 i: [FF] VideoStream[0-h264] 1916x1076 [SAR 1:1, DAR 479:269]. H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10 - Unknown Profile (video/avc), 2,7 Mbps 21 mins 23,98fps, No Title / Unknown (und), 2 / 35 bytes, Default .
02-05 14:02:38.122 i: [FF] AudioStream[1-ac3] 2 channels over 3 (stereo), 48000 Hz, 0,0 padding. ATSC A/52A (AC-3) - Unknown Profile (audio/ac3), 192 kbps 21 mins 0,00fps, No Title / magyar (hun), 0 bytes, Default .
02-05 14:02:38.123 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] 90k tbn,
02-05 14:02:38.128 i: [FFmpeg] [INFO] 90k tbc
02-05 14:02:38.129 i: [FF] UnknownStream[2-Data] bin_data binary data - Unknown Profile (null), ~6 kbps 21 mins 0,00fps, No Title / angol (eng), 1 / 43 bytes, .
02-05 14:02:38.136 i: [FF] Stream ignored as codec type is unknown.
02-05 14:02:38.137 i: [FF] Video decoder doesn't support h264 (video/avc).
02-05 14:02:38.141 i: [FF] Video decoder doesn't support ac3 (audio/ac3).
02-05 14:02:38.141 i: [FF] Audio decoder doesn't support ac3 (audio/ac3).
02-05 14:02:38.802 i: [TranscodeSession] Updating session status
02-05 14:02:38.814 i: [TranscodeSession] Direct Play
02-05 14:02:38.979 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] decoderInitialized [2.58, 0.00, window=0, video, OMX.MTK.VIDEO.DECODER.AVC]
02-05 14:02:38.987 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] audioSessionId [2.59, 0.00, window=0, 345]
02-05 14:02:39.030 e: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] playerFailed [2.63, 0.00, window=0]
02-05 14:02:39.030 e: An exception occurred: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
02-05 14:02:39.030 e: Stacktrace: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:397)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:101)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:164)
at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:65)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at android.media.MediaCodec.native_dequeueOutputBuffer(Native Method)
at android.media.MediaCodec.dequeueOutputBuffer(MediaCodec.java:2622)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.a(SourceFile:1437)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.render(SourceFile:653)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.h(SourceFile:575)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:326)
... 3 more
02-05 14:02:39.031 e: [Player][ExoPlayer] Playback error detected
02-05 14:02:39.031 e: An exception occurred: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
02-05 14:02:39.034 e: Stacktrace: com.google.android.exoplayer2.i: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:397)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:101)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:164)
at android.os.HandlerThread.run(HandlerThread.java:65)
Caused by: java.lang.IllegalStateException
at android.media.MediaCodec.native_dequeueOutputBuffer(Native Method)
at android.media.MediaCodec.dequeueOutputBuffer(MediaCodec.java:2622)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.a(SourceFile:1437)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.e.b.render(SourceFile:653)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.h(SourceFile:575)
at com.google.android.exoplayer2.o.handleMessage(SourceFile:326)
... 3 more
02-05 14:02:39.035 i: [Player][Timeline] Handling player error
02-05 14:02:39.035 i: [Player][Timeline] Playback stopped (error: true)
02-05 14:02:39.039 i: [PlaybackTimeBehaviour] Time: 0 IsStarted: false
02-05 14:02:39.049 i: [ExoPlayer][EventLogger] decoderDisabled [2.65, 0.00, window=0, video]
02-05 14:02:39.072 i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.1.140:32400/:/timeline?bufferedTime=1664&duration=1281408&guid=com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb%3A%2F%2F80119%2F1%2F11%3Flang%3Dhu&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F36582&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=8354&ratingKey=36582&state=stopped&time=0&timeStalled=2&timeToFirstFrame=0&token=.........-Plex-Client-Identifier=803e88ed2fdd4a56-com-plexapp-android&X-Plex-Token=.......
02-05 14:02:39.107 i: [Player][Timeline] Player error not known by server, likely to be a client configuration error
02-05 14:02:39.108 i: [Player] Error reported: PlaybackInterrupted (null)
02-05 14:02:39.113 i: [Player][Timeline] Playback stopped (error: false)
02-05 14:02:39.114 i: [PlaybackTimeBehaviour] Time: 0 IsStarted: false
02-05 14:02:39.119 i: Fetching [method:GET] https://192.168.1.140:32400/:/timeline?bufferedTime=1664&duration=1281408&guid=com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb%3A%2F%2F80119%2F1%2F11%3Flang%3Dhu&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F36582&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=8354&ratingKey=36582&state=stopped&time=0&timeStalled=2&token=..........-Plex-Client-Identifier=803e88ed2fdd4a56-com-plexapp-android&X-Plex-Token=.......
02-05 14:02:39.134 i: [TranscodeFallbackBehaviour] Detected direct play failed, falling back to transcode
1 Like
Hello @sixones. I have plex built in on my skyworth 65UB7500 4K Android TV. My TV is connected to a 5.1 DTS/Dolby compatible surround system (LG LHB625M) through optical cable. Audio is set to dolby digital in Androidtv’s settings. Optical passthrough is ON (AC3 & DTS both checked) in Plex app on TV. When I play a movie (irrespective of whether it is on local network or remote plex share), when I increase/decrease volume , I get the connection lost error. When I disable Optical passthrough, the issue is not happening but I lose quality audio amd defeats the purpose of watching movies. Can you give me a solution, please.
I have a similar problem whereby plex works without error when optical passthrough is disabled but throws error on any movie when optical.passthrough is enabled ac3 & dts is on. So what is the solution to this issue after your research.
1 Like
Firstly, how exactly is this not fixed or even addressed by Plex @ManuelPG ? I’ve canceled my Plex Pass, as I cannot use the app anymore.
I’m baffled as to what is even causing transcoded direct play to fail. If I disable subtitles, on anime, I can watch streams fine over my Wifi, but as soon as subtitles are enabled (causing transcoding on the server), I get this error. However, if I disable my wifi and stream over LTE then everything works perfectly.
And as I said in my previous comment, my 4K HDR movie’s with TrueHD are also unplayable as the DD TrueHD has to be transcoded to EAC3 and this again causes the error.
This has made the Plex app for my OnePlus 7 pro virtual unusable. This does NOT happen on my parent’s iPhones, so this is not my network, it’s purely down to the Plex Android App!
Does anyone have a good alternative to Plex as it is apparent that they are either not going to fix this or are not even aware of the problem. I’ve tweeted Plex and sent PM, but everything goes ignored.
1 Like
This is a problem with certain file types on many Android devices. My Firestick and two cell phones (different brands) all have the exact same problem. Even worse, this problem has been around for two whole years. Despite my willingness to help and the logs that have been provided, Plex apparently has no desire to fix this problem, let alone acknowledge it. I feel like I’ve been posting to the forums every week for months trying to help get this problem fixed, but I don’t know why I bother.
@sixones, what’s going on?
I recommend using Jellyfin instead of Plex. In addition to not being completely broken on Android clients, Jellyfin also offers Plex’s paid features for free, since it’s open-source.
1 Like
Hello @Voth24, i’m equally baffled to note that you all have been experiencing this issue for so long yet without a proper solution. What is your experience with Jellyfin? I’m going to try it now since you’ve mentioned it. Do you think I can hear 5.1 sounds with optical passthrough on without any annoying error?
Jellyfin doesn’t support as many clients as Plex right now. It’s relatively new. However, it’s open-source and growing quickly. I currently switch between Plex and Jellyfin because I have a Roku TV (which I can technically use with Jellyfin by using the Emby client on it, but that’s probably not going to last as an option). If Plex doesn’t get their act together, I’m ditching them and going 100% Jellyfin once a proper Jellyfin app is released for the Roku.
Other than that, Jellyfin works wonderfully. You can also use options like hardware acceleration, user accounts, bandwidth controls, etc. for free. If all of your devices have Jellyfin client options, I’d recommend making the switch now.
