Plex Android TV Client Has Issues Seeking and Resuming High Bitrate 4k Files

Plex Media Server
,
1

Server Version#: 1.30.2.6563
Player Version#: 9.14.0.37678

The Plex Android TV client on my Chromecast with Google TV either buffers forever (spinning circle), or shows the “try again, check your connection” message ONLY when seeking OR when resuming from where I left off.

My setup:

  1. The server is dlex running via Docker in a Proxmox LXC Container.
  2. Client is Chromecast with Google TV (Android TV).
  3. Both the client and server are on ethernet (using a 3rd party adapter for the chromecast so it gets ~300mbit in speed tests).

The things is:

  1. if I play the exact same file from the start it works fine - and will play through the whole movie without a single hiccup.
  2. Casting the same file works perfectly fine for all 3 scenarios (playing from start, resuming, and seeking).
  3. Playing on other clients (Windows, web, Android) works fine as well.
  4. Lower bitrate files seem to work fine as well, this is easiest to reproduce with higher bitrate movies (60mbit+).
  5. I spun up a new server on my windows PC (5900x CPU) and I’m getting the exact same issue.
  6. This is happening on new files as well as old files that have worked flawlessly in the past.

Wondering if I can get some help on where to go next with this, thank you. It appears to be an issue with the Android TV Client.

Logs as follows for all 3 situations (successful start from beginning, failed resume, failed seek):

Play From Beginning:
client-successful.log (32.3 KB)
server-successful.log (46.6 KB)

Resume Playing:
client-resume-fail.log (28.6 KB)
server-resume-fail.log (71.3 KB)

Seeking:
client-seek-fail.log (52.9 KB)
server-seek-fail.log (69.1 KB)

2 Likes
2

bumps

3

UPDATE: Tried a brand new CCwGTV just to see if there was something wrong with my device. The new device experienced the exact same issues.

4

Can you share a video that has the problem with me via Plex? Theres nothing coming up in the logs sadly so will need to try and replicate from my Google TV.

5

I have exactly the same issue, can’t seek 4k Dolby vision movies on the CCwGTV.

1 Like
6

What is the best way to share a file? Since it’s copyright material is there a maximum time I can send?

7

You can either share via Plex to my username (sixones), or create a sample - though be sure to check the sample replicates the problem.

1 Like
8

You could also try this build to see if it solves your problem;

Armv7: https://artifacts.plex.tv/android-experimental/9.17.0.38636-b9e2b563/PlexForAndroid-9.17.0.38636-b9e2b563-Armv7aGooglePlay.apk

1 Like
9

I’ve gone ahead and shared a library with a file that is causing issues. The new build did not solve the issue.

1 Like
10

Thanks, will take a look on Monday and see if I can reproduce.

1 Like
11

Any update?

2 Likes
13

I have the same problem, in version 9.19.0.177

14

Any update?

15

Updates?

16

Any updates? I believe the library is still shared.

17

I’m seeing the same issue, does anyone have an update?

18

Updates?

19

Updates?

20

I can confirm this is still an issue as my Android TV is unable to seek or resume playback. It however works fine when playing the video from the start.

11-17 19:38:12.376  i: App version: 10.3.0.4685 (942744788)
11-17 19:38:12.377  i: Nano server version: 1.32.5.7516-8f4248874
11-17 19:38:12.378  i: FFmpeg version: 2.0-8217c1c0546
11-17 19:38:12.394  i: Treble version: 2.1.0.587
11-17 19:38:12.395  i: ASS version: 0.16.0
11-17 19:38:12.397  i: Manufacturer: TCL  Device: BeyondTV  Model: BeyondTV2  Product: BeyondTV2  Version: 11

Attaching a log from session which resumed playback from “Continue Watching” at around 80% watched.

logging.txt.zip (33.3 KB)

21

I have been experiencing similar issues as well documented here:

Recently I have just been using Jellyfin to play any high bitrate files and plex for everything else. I really wish Plex would offer additional player support such as external players or libVLC like Jellyfin does as I find their interface lightyears ahead of Jellyfin or Emby, but constantly dealing with buffering for high quality files is a big tradeoff.

Has anyone found any tips or tricks besides just not using Plex?