I’m in the middle of migrating my Plex setup from an aging Mac Mini to a brand-new Intel NUC, and I’m running into a frustrating wall with the Plex HTPC client on Linux.
My Goal:
Move away from using the Mac Mini as both Plex server and player, and instead:
• Use the Mac Mini only as the Plex server (for now)
• Use the Intel NUC as a dedicated Plex HTPC client (and eventually also as the new server)
My Current Setup:
• Client device: Intel NUC (fresh hardware)
• OS: Kubuntu 24.04 (fully updated)
• Current server: Mac Mini running Plex Media Server
• Plex HTPC client: Tried Flatpak, Snap, and even AppImage
• Network: Wired, same LAN/subnet, no firewall or VLAN isolation
• Account: Signed in successfully on both server and client
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The Problems:
When the Plex HTPC app runs:
• It logs into my account correctly
• But it does not see the Plex server on the Mac Mini
• It also does not detect the Plex server running on the NUC itself
• Manual server IP entry (e.g. 192.168.50.82:32400) fails with “unavailable”
• Other devices (browser, phone, etc.) can access the Mac Mini server fine
When using Snap or Flatpak builds:
• Both versions crash immediately on launch with core dumped
• Debugging shows missing shared library: libswresample.so.4
• Plex expects outdated FFmpeg versions not included in modern Ubuntu
• Symlinks and env hacks (LD_LIBRARY_PATH, etc.) didn’t help
• The Flatpak sandbox prevents injecting system libraries directly
Tried the AppImage from knapsu.eu:
• It launches, but still doesn’t discover any Plex server — not even localhost
• So I’m stuck between crashing clients and running clients that don’t connect
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What I’m Looking For:
• Is anyone running Plex HTPC on Linux in 2024 successfully?
• What distro are you using (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, etc)?
• Which install method? (Flatpak, Snap, AppImage, manual build?)
• Is there a combo that still works for reliable, direct LAN discovery and playback?
Honestly, I don’t care if I have to switch to a different distro — I just want a working setup that doesn’t rely on the web app.
Yep. I run it (PlexHTPC 1.70.1) on Pop OS 22.04 LTS from its flatpak installation. I’ve observed no crashes, and it finds all of my local servers without the need for manual connections.
Automatic server discovery generally requires a couple of things:
Both the client and server being signed in to the same Plex account.
For DNS name resolution, the client needs to use a DNS server which doesn’t enforce DNS rebinding protection (CloudFlare’s 1.1.1.1 is my general recommendation).
There are potentially other network and configuration considerations, depending on your setup.
O I did nothing with any of my network settings on the NUC. It got an ip and I could use internet so I didn’t give it much thought.
I do think I may have destroyed the plex htpc installation during the troubleshooting process. I’ll try and do a clean install and configure my network settings further today.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Here’s what I’ve tried and confirmed:
What I’ve Verified
• Plex HTPC Flatpak and AppImage both tested (including 2.58.1 from plex.tv)
• Clean Kubuntu 24.04 install
• Both client and server are wired, on the same LAN and subnet
• Firewall is disabled on all devices
• Both client and server are signed into the same Plex account
• Changed DNS to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) and verified it’s active using resolvectl
• Removed Snap + Flatpak versions and cleaned all leftover configs
• Captured GDM traffic with tcpdump → confirmed that discovery packets are being sent and received between the NUC (client) and Mac Mini (server)
What’s Still Not Working
• Plex HTPC (Flatpak & AppImage) does not discover any server, including one running on the same NUC
• Manual server IP entry fails with “Unavailable”
• Even with clean network config and verified GDM traffic, Plex HTPC UI shows no servers at all
So, LAN discovery is working at the network level, but Plex HTPC is either:
• Not processing the GDM responses correctly, or
• Failing to initialize server connections due to internal library mismatches or token issues
At this point, I’m assuming it’s an incompatibility between modern Ubuntu 24.04 libraries and the outdated Plex HTPC builds.
I’m going to try switching to Pop!_OS 22.04, since several users reported Plex HTPC 1.70.1 (Flatpak) works fine.
I don’t understand why plex does not give more information about compatibility or even updates it anymore.
So, I managed to get it running with one problem left. The plex htpc Linux I downloaded from plex.tv doesn’t want to go into player kiosk mode. When I click on the full screen mode it just says in the wever interface.
Plex HTPC v1.70.1 is broken on Linux (Snap/Flatpak)
• Even without sandboxing issues, it fails to detect local or remote servers.
• Re-linking to your Plex account succeeds, but server list remains empty.
• plex.direct resolves to 0.0.0.0, even though the server is clearly functional.
Plex HTPC fails silently
• No Plex HTPC.log is created under Flatpak config
• Snap logs are minimal and don’t show any connection attempts
• Network traffic confirms: the app isn’t even trying to discover servers
This is not a network, firewall, or OS issue
• Server accessible at 192.168.50.82:32400/web
• Other Plex clients work fine
• Avahi/mDNS confirms no server seen, and tcpdump shows no GDM discovery traffic
Even older working versions (e.g. 1.15.0.863) are affected
• They load with the correct “TV UI,” but still fail to see any servers.
• Plex probably changed something in token handling, API behavior, or TLS validation that older clients don’t cope with.
It’s either a bug or an intentional regression
• Plex HTPC has been neglected (most updates now focus on Desktop or mobile)
• No new Linux builds are published outside Snap/Flatpak
• Plex’s own forums and Reddit show others with identical complaints but no official fix
Is anyone form plex staff that could provide me with I deferent install package that is not snap or flat pack? Cans download it anywhere.
I don’t know what is wrong with your particular system but both the flatpak and snap work just fine. I use the snap daily on an Ubuntu 24.04 machine (I’ll likely change to the flatpak because of snap’s falling popularity in Linux). Your mention of no logs created (along with several other things you stated in previous messages such as missing libraries) indicate to me that your snap/flatpak installation is broken and not a problem with the app.
I presume you mean the fully qualified domain name (such as 192-168-1-2.1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef.plex.direct). If so, then DNS resolution on your machine/network is faulty. You should look into this.
FWIW, the Plex for Linux and Plex HTPC apps have NEVER been released on Linux outside of snap and flatpak. If you have one that isn’t a snap or flatpak, it didn’t come from us. For example, the AppImage is not from us because we cannot release an AppImage without violation of licenses.
Thanks for the reply. I am trying to sort this thing out with ChatGPT for the past two days and keep getting stuck at this. I’ll look into the DNS part today.
This is my second attempt at Linux ever and I’m struggling hard. I’ll report back if I get more info. Hope you are willing to look at it to figure out why it’s not seeing any servers. Thanks at least for taking the time to read the post.
