This started recently. My plex environment has been rock solid. I’ve been able to stream content with no issues up until last week. Now when I stream content every 5-10 mins payback stutters and when playing 4K content the stream pauses every 5-10 mins during playback. I’ve checked the server configuration, network configuration, resource utilization and haven’t found anything. I’ve turned off hardware acceleration and the problem is the same; no change in behavior.
I’m hoping the team here can see something in the logs that I can’t…
Something happened on your server or network, and Plex could no longer send device discovery packets.
This message is repeated several thousand times in Plex Media Server.4.log and .5.log. Dec 28, 2020 07:19:04.906 [0x7000080ff000] WARN - NetworkServiceBrowser: Error sending out discover packet from 169.254.195.198 to 239.255.255.250: No buffer space available
The message does not appear in more recent logs, after an apparent PMS restart (beginning of Plex Media Server.3.log).
From what I see in the logs, it looks like the Plex clients are on the 192.168.1.50.x network and other household items, such as lights, are on the 192.168.1.25.x network.
Suggestions:
Set a preferred interface for Plex Media Server in Settings -> Network. Choose 192.168.50/en7, as it seems that is where the Plex clients are located.
Perform a network restart.
Power off the Mac hosting Plex and all routers, switches, access points, etc in the network. Make sure all devices have been powered off for at least a minute.
Restart the network, working from the Internet out towards your devices. First restart your ISP modem/router. Let it fully boot. Next restart whatever is connected to the ISP device (the RT-AC1200?). Let it fully boot. Work your way out, “away from the wall” so to speak, a device at a time, until they are all restarted.
Restart the Plex server.
Monitor the Plex Media Server.log files for the “No buffer space available” message.
If the problem keeps reoccurring, you’ll have to do a deeper dive to see what is happening.
Turn off HDR Tonemapping in Settings -> Transcoder. From other threads I’ve read, it is still a work in progress. Probably best left disabled for now.
Leave hardware acceleration enabled. The i5 CPU in your Mac cannot transcode 4K in software.
Expect to see transcoding when using Chrome. Web browsers have limited codec support. Try Plex for Mac/Windows instead. It will direct play many more codecs than Plex Web.
With the AppleTV, it appears you are playing 4K on a 1080p device or somebody is changing the ATV settings. Either way, this is causing the video to transcode:
From Plex Media Server.2.log (repeats multiple times): Dec 28, 2020 22:52:59.104 [0x70000d1e3000] DEBUG - [Transcode] Wonder Woman 1984 2020 Webdl - video.width limitation applies: 3840 > 1920
Thank you so much for getting back to me. The 192.168.50.x network is for the lutron light system. Everything else including plex clients are on the 192.168.25.x network. I use the mac mini as a terminal server to manage the lutron environment. I’ll set Plex to to use en4 and disable HDR mapping and let you know if there is an improvement.
Dang. Not sure how I misread where the Plex clients are located. They logs are clear. My eyesight apparently not so much. Time to clean the glasses I guess…
Thanks for the correction. Let me know how things work out.
