Server Version#: 1.22.0.4163-d8c4875dd
Player Version#: 5.11.1
Platform Version#: 10.0.19041.6737 (XBox One)
Since being forced to update to the new version of Plex for XBox (PFX) I’m encountering a few issues.
Firstly, is there no way to roll back to the old version of PFX so that I can opt out of Early Access and go back to the old version, which worked pretty much perfectly?
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When I connect Plex for Windows (PFW) to PFX, PFW freezes and I have to exit. Sometimes it freezes immediately, sometimes it’s after a few minutes of playing music.
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When I connect PFW to PFX and play music, sometimes PFW lags behind - ie, it shows the previous track is still playing when in fact Plex for XBox has moved on to the next track, and the Track Progress bar freezes.
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The on-screen clock in PFX doesn’t always show the correct time - it’s as though the clock freezes.
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Media Keys on my PC don’t let me pause or skip tracks when I’ve connected PFW to PFX (this actually pre-dates the new version of PFX - I’m guessing you’ve dropped support for Media Keys altogether? If so, that sucks. It might seem like a small thing to you, but it’s a big thing for users). Having to open/switch to PFW on the PC and click on the Pause/Skip buttons on screen, instead of just being able to use Media Keys, is frustrating.
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On PFX, on the Now Playing screen, when a music track is playing, I select the three dots (More Options) to go to Settings > Playback Options, and sometimes I can’t then go back to the Now Playing screen: it gets stuck on the Settings > Playback Options screen. The only way to get off that screen is to close PFX. EDIT: This one hasn’t happened since so was probably an instance of the app (PFX) as a whole freezing, which it still does at times.
Further issue identified:
Playing music files (vbr mp3’s and mp4’s), Buffering - both at the start of the track and midway through - is more prevalent than it was with the old version (though it happened occasionally there too). Usually it lasts for a few seconds, but sometimes it buffers for maybe 30 seconds and then I get an error message and have to restart PFX.
I’ve switched from PFW to using Plex in the browser connected to PFX. So far, after a few hours of use (playing music files only), I’ve not experienced a single issue: no buffering, no crashes (at either end), and both Plex in the browser and PFX remain completely responsive. Even the on-screen clock in PFX is showing the correct time.
The issues I’ve been experiencing since PFX was updated seem only to arise when Plex For Windows is connected to Plex for XBox.
EDIT: no, I spoke too soon. Having used Plex in browser linked to PFX for most of the day, playing music files only, some issues do still occur: occasional buffering, and sometimes Plex in Browser lags behind - ie, it still shows the previous track as playing when PFX has moved on to the next track(s).
Just a bit more info, in case any Plex Devs pick up this thread:
My setup is: Plex Media and Plex for Windows on a Windows 10 PC (fully updated) linked by WiFi to a router, with the XBox One then linked by ethernet cable to the same router.
I’ve only noticed the issues when playing music across my network, never when playing video across the same network (though, to be honest, I rarely use Plex for video these days).
My music files are mp3 and mp4, mostly vbr but some cbr too. I’ve been paying attention but can’t say I’ve noticed any pattern to when PFX or PFW freezes: sometimes it’ll be when playing an mp3, sometimes an mp4, sometimes vbr, sometimes cbr.
When the app freezes - whether it’s PFW on the laptop or PFX on the XBox One - quitting and restarting the app fixes the issue temporarily, but sooner or later it will freeze (or, in the case of PFW, fall behind sync) again.
The same issues do occur when using Plex in browser instead of PFW, only slightly less frequently.
Thanks.
Just me then? Is that because I’m the only person using Plex for XBox as a music player? Or do others use it for music and aren’t experiencing these issues? If it’s just me, then maybe it’s something to do with my network setup or anti-virus or something.
If any other users who are using Plex for XBox as a client, Plex for Windows on their PC, and they’re not experiencing any crashes or freezes or any of the other issues I’m seeing, I’d be grateful.
Update (and shameless bump):
There’ve been no updates to PFX since I first logged this (as far as I know, anyway), but there have been updates to PFW and Plex Media Server. The issue persists though.
Sometimes I can have a lucky streak where (music) track after track will play without issue, but other times I’ll get ‘buffering’ on PFX a few minutes into pretty much every single track. When it buffers, I can skip to the next track (using the XBox remote or using PFW) and it’ll do so, but if I just wait instead, after about 30 seconds of buffering PFX will then show the error message (or, occasionally, will just crash and I’ll be returned to the XBox home screen). If it doesn’t crash but I see the error message, usually I can then get back to PFX’s home screen, but sometimes PFX is unresponsive and I have to manually exit and restart it.
Sometimes when I play the first track after launching PFX and PFW, instead of playing, it just buffers on PFX straight away. Again, I can skip to next track and usually that works, but sometimes that track will buffer too.
I’m still monitoring file types (mp3/mp4, cbr/vbr) but still haven’t spotted a pattern.
It looks like I’m the only one having this issue, so I’ve tried troubleshooting my home network: going wired-to-router instead of wifi; changing router; uninstalling and reinstalling drivers; even resetting Windows 10. No luck. No other programs/apps seem to suffer similar symptoms. And, ultimately, the issues only began after the update to PFX, so I can’t help think that’s the source of the trouble.
Hopefully this’ll be another one of those mystery issues that quietly disappears after the next update to PFX.
I can confirm I am using many of these a day (5 xboxes, multiple laptops) for music and do not see this at all.
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Thanks for taking the time to respond, @pcreapers .
I honestly don’t know what else to try, in terms of troubleshooting.
I can see that you’re a Plex Pass user. The cynic in me can’t help but wonder whether these issues will suddenly evaporate if I too become a Plex Pass user. 
are you using the server on a windows 10 PC you share with gaming?
No, I don’t use it for gaming. I barely use the XBox for gaming these days. It’s pretty much just a media hub.
But its your general use desktop - not just for plex? Also IF you wanted to prove plex pass theory (I disagree with but have seen some strange stuff!) you could buy a month.
It’s a laptop rather than a desktop, but yes, it’s my general use laptop. So while it’s running the Plex Media Server and Plex for Windows, it’ll also be doing other stuff over the network (web browsing, VPN while I’m remote working, etc). But even when I leave the laptop alone and am just listening to music on Plex for XBox, these issues occur.
I use Windows firewall and Malwarebytes Premium AV. I tried disabling those (separately at first, and then at the same time) but the buffering, freezing and crashing still occurred in Plex for XBox.
Buffering only occurred very rarely when I was using the ‘old’ version(s) of Plex for XBox, before March this year, and it would only happen for a second or two then the track would continue playing; and I had none of the other issues I’m now getting (total freezes of PFX, crashes of PFX, PFW lagging behind and showing that the previous track is playing when in fact PFX has moved on to the next track). These are all symptoms that only arose with the last big update to PFX. Which - until you said you weren’t experiencing any of the same issues - made me think it must be down to the update to PFX.
Could it be that my home network is a bit… flaky, and that something in the new version of PFX is more susceptible to flakiness of the network than the old version?
Hi, @pcreapers.
I’ve tried changing the settings on PFX and PFW so that it never allows Insecure Connections (it was previously set to allow them on the same network), to see if that has any effect. I’ve also changed my laptop’s wifi adaptor setting to never put the wifi to sleep to save power.
So far no buffering or other issues, but it’s only been an hour.
Can I ask - given that you don’t get any of the issues I’m having: do you have PFX and PFW set to never allow Insecure Connections?
Thanks in advance.
OK, I’ve officially given up on hoping to be able to resolve this myself. I’ve spent a day playing around with settings (in PFX, PFW, Plex in Browser, and network settings in Windows), disabling firewalls, swapping out ethernet cables, uninstalling and reinstalling apps, clearing caches - everything. You name it, I’ve tried it.
I’ve even signed up to PlexPass.
None of it has made any difference. At best it’s gone about an hour without any buffering issues, freezes or crashes, but that’s it.
I keep coming back to the fact that before the update to the new version of Plex For XBox, these issues hardly ever occurred.
I’m done with Plex For XBox as a platform for streaming music locally. It’s broken. I’ll make do with Cast To Device on the PC and Groove on the XBox. It’s basic, but at least it doesn’t cause countless hours of frustration.
I hope to come back to this topic at some point in the future, when another update to PFX quietly fixes these issues.
A bit embarassing, this, but it was only after I’d thrown my toys out of the pram, as I did here, that I realised there was one thing I’d not tried.
And obviously that one thing was the thing that worked.
For anyone else suffering this issue, this worked for me:
- Uninstall Plex from your XBox One
- Fully power down your XBox - as in, remove the power cable
- With the power cable removed, clear the XBox’s cache by pressing and holding the XBox power button for a few seconds (that’s the button on the console itself, not the controller). Do this a few times, just for fun. (Apparently that’s the way it’s done. Yeah, I’m sceptical too, but what the hell, may as well).
- Reconnect the power cable and turn on the XBox.
- Reset the XBox: go to Settings > System > Console info and select Reset Console. You don’t need to do a full reset; you can choose the option that keeps your games and apps. Be advised though: resetting your console will sign you out, so you’re going to need to make a note of your account login and password if you don’t know it already. And while you won’t lose your apps, you will have to sign into things like Netflix when you restart, so you might want to make a note of those logins and passwords too. Yeah, it’s a bit of a ballache, but trust me, it will fix Plex.
- Wait for the console to reset and restart, then sign back in.
- Re-install Plex and marvel as it streams music from your local server exactly as it used to - no buffering or freezing or crashing.
The only fly in the ointment, for me at least (YMMV) was that Plex misbehaved for a little while - not in the buffering or freezing or crashing sense, but it did that annoying thing where it makes you sign in every time you launch it, and it refused to save my settings so I had to change them a couple of times. After that little tantrum though, it seems to have accepted who I am as a person and how I like my Plex to operate, and we’re getting along just fine.
Obviously I spoke too soon (again). This didn’t completely fix my issues - though it did improve things considerably. I’m still getting occasional freezes and crashes of PFX, and PFW is still occasionally falling out of sync with PFX so still showing the previous track playing when PFX has moved on to the next track. Again though, this is occurring far less frequently than it was doing before I reset the XBox and reinstalled PFX.
Oh now this is interesting: there’s been an update to Plex Media Server (1.23.3.4707-ebb5fe9f3), and in the Release Notes, one of the things that’s been fixed is an issue with the Server crashing during a library scan when it encounters certain file types. Could that be what was happening, I wonder? Were the crashes actually at the server rather than PFX, were they happening during periodic (background) library scans, and was that causing PFX to freeze or crash?
(Polite request to devs: it would be really nice if in the Release Notes, with things like this, you would be a bit more specific, to help people like me who are spending what feels like a large part of their lives troubleshooting Plex issues. I know you want to keep Release Notes brief, but still, throw us a bone, eh?)
I’ve updated to the latest server. Let’s see if there’s any improvement…
Nope, still not fixed.
PFX still freezing (though not actually crashing so far; give it time though), still losing sync between PFX and PFW.
Still the same as it was before, in other words.
I’m still a PlexPass holder. Can I get some support on this, please, Plex?
PFX is much improved since I reset my console and reinstalled it, but it’s still not great: no actual crashes so far, but it does become unresponsive (though it keeps playing the tracks in the Now Playing list even when it’s not responding) and it does still buffer mid-track (and sometimes at the start of the track). When it buffers at the start of the track, occasionally it stops buffering after a few seconds and plays the track. But when it buffers mid-track, it never recovers - I have to manually skip to the next track or back to the start of the current track.
And when I’ve got PFW open and connected to PFX, I’m still getting the issue where PFW will ‘lag behind’: PFX has moved on to the next track but PFW is still showing the previous track. This sometimes coincides with PFX having gone unresponsive, but other times not.
What’s most interesting though is that other Plex users, on another forum, have told me they won’t use Plex for XBox as it’s so flaky. One of them recommended using Plex on a Roku device, so I’ve got hold of a Roku and am now running Plex on that. And guess what? It’s working like a charm. So, same network, same Plex Media Server, same music file types, same connection to Plex for Windows on my laptop, and I’m using it in exactly the same way I would use Plex on the XBox - ie, ‘pushing’ music from Plex For Windows on my laptop. And it’s working perfectly.
Ergo, the problem - as I’ve always suspected - is with Plex For XBox. Devs, you did something in that last big update (around February 2021) that broke Plex For XBox as a music player.
