Hello
I have a strange recent issue.
If 2 people use a chromecast on different ips and separate accounts the 2 sessions seem to merge and the dashboard playback cycles on the same playback tile in Plex between the 2 files being played.
It’s almost as if they are both signed in on the same account playing files.
Any ideas how to diagnose?
I am running the server on latest public release.
I’m seeing the same issue. Any Chromecast version (Ultra, 2, 1) are all merged together - server alerts are being flooded with “user started playing” messages, even when playback is paused.
ATV4 and PS4 playback is still correctly shown separately.
Also seeing a lot of direct play content pausing after 20 seconds, which plays fine on other devices, but not sure if that is related…
Yeah and I cant narrow it down.
I have not updated Plex or Windows it started happening last Thursday.
I also have the API linked to switch off lights so it was also triggering them as well like something from Poltergeist.
As you said its any Chromecast
IF 2 seperate Plex accounts play anything on a Chromecast (Different houses) it causes mayhem.
When did it happen for you?
And i thought it was just me. Same issue here. Got maybe 25 alerts in 40 seconds.
Two chromecast gen 1, the reporting go nuts.
Also noticed that it switched the show or movie between the users, showing wrong on both users.
Shows as direct play 0 kbps.
I think the issue started for me last Thursday.
My Chromecast updated yesterday, but issue remains.
I might try moving onto the Beta version of PMS to see if that helps.
I’ve only been casting using an Android device (same with my remote users), which updated the Plex app last week, might try with an iPhone when I get home this afternoon.
I am having this exact same issue as well… Glad its not just me! Hopefully we can get this fixed!
FYI - I’m on the Beta Branch - Noticed it on Friday
Anyone had any luck getting this fixed?
I’m also having issues streaming to the Chromecast - Plex Dashboard and Tautulli both show direct play, but with no other details about file or bandwidth used. Playback will then pause, and you can’t resume. Seems like it is H264 / AC3 5.1 content that has the problem…
Anyone else seeing the same?
EDIT: If I cast from Chrome (Windows 10, or even the android device from earlier testing), it works like it used to - I’m not bundled in with another Chromecast session and it shows if it is direct play or transcoding, with the Mbps of the file. Once I take over the session with a mobile device (iPhone / Android Mobile or Tablet) and stop / start the video it is back to being bundled in with other users.
Glad I’m not alone then.
For reference, I updated to the Beta release and the problem is still the same.
I’m guessing we are probably the small user base using Chromecasts with Plex
Gday
I agree with you that the beta release has not resolved this issue yet.
It’s almost like the plex server settings are being ignored.
Yeah, it’s strange as it appears most of us just got the problem even without any updates to the Plex server itself.
The problem exists in both the plex pass and public releases of the Windows Plex Server.
Did anyone get any theorys?
Cant seem to find an email address for Plex support.
I’ve been having this exact same problem for almost a week now. I’ve been trying to find a fix myself, I even factory reset the Chromecast Ultra which happened to fix it on 1 device for a few days, casting from iOS. But for someone else with a Chromecast Ultra, casting from Android, it did not fix it but casting from web app seemed to fix the issue for them.
I originally thought it was related to the Chromecast 1.42 firmware update but person #2 actually had their Ultra on 1.40 still and this was happening. I think it is more of a Google issue than it is Plex issue. I also was following a recent topic which Plex put in a fix for the Chromecast Audio issue with the 1.42 firmware and I thought would have actually fixed this issue, but it didn’t.
The biggest annoyance out of this issue is the fact that it pauses or completely stops the users content after (normally) 20 seconds of playing, more so at the beginning of playing than later.
Same here!!
Tautulli is going crazy, getting 100 “start playing” messages in minute.
2 people, both using Chromecast, CPU is fine tho but its freaking annnoying.
I’m sitting on a DS918+ with version 1.16.6.1592
Is this all related to the new plex transcoded ?
Chromecasts load the “app” directly from Plex’s servers when you request to play something. The Chromecast is really just a glorified Chrome browser running in kiosk mode. The most likely problem here is that code has been changed on the Plex app on Plex’s side of things. If sessions are being bundled together (and the Chromecast app also appears to be ignoring bandwidth settings etc) then it suggests that the Plex code is encountering a Javascript error and all sessions local and remote are being assigned with the same sessionid. I’ll have a look in a bit and see what my logs say when I start a few Chromecast sessions in succession.
No, it’s a problem on Plex’s side of things - not ours.
This sounds a lot like this…
I am having this exact same issue!
I can have everything run fantastic when it’s on the devices themself like android, Webplayers and the pc player.
Once more than 2 users starts streaming to their chromecasts PMS start showing one or the other user every other second, Tautulli goes insane and sends me notifications every second constantly.
As ApexAftermath stated this seems to be an issue with chromecasts only as they are the only devices and they go to direct stream no matter what setting they are run at (never shows transcoding even when they are).
I have tried everything! Turning off hardware transcoding, removing patches for hardware decoding and removing the drivers pass through of my nvidia card, nothing helped so far.
Please for the love of god can some one from the plex staff take this issue serious and look into it?!
Asked one of my users to cast from chrome instead of the iOS/Android app. Now it works and reports the transcode, quality etc. This is not the case when a user uses ios or andriod app. Its all direct play and thats just not possible.
There’s a new update come out today.
Has this fixed anything for us?
I got this bug for over 2 weeks and it pisses me off. The dev team needs to fix this asap.
Why else should we pay each month for the plex pass, if they won’t fix it?
I’ve been a happy Plex server user, for years and I love it.
But this bug pisses me off.
Reinstall, change settings etc etc.
Nothing helps 
