I'm new to Plex, but not new to applying hacks to Apple devices. I posted this over at Mac servers forum. It was suggested I post it here.
I had Plex Connect working with my Apple TV 3 for a couple of days, but this morning they aren't playing well this morning. Basically, when I have my Network DNS set to Manual with the IP address that my Plex is on, Trailers app just says Trailers is Unavailable and renders the rest of my Apple TV content inaccessible without changing back the DNS setting to Automatic.
Only after I reset the WiFi connection does the Apple TV work, which also sets DNS back to Automatic, meaning Plex won't work.
I'm with Brighthouse Networks, if that would matter.
This happens all the time here, but u don't have to reset the apple tv, just change the DNS back to "normal" whatever that is for you, back out one step, and then change the DNS to what is required. The ATV setting for DNS is manual here. This works everytime... for some amount of time (hours / days / a few weeks). A major annoyance, but not worth my time troubleshooting (is it plex-connect, my ATV or my network or my mac mini, dunno). It's been that way since day one, over a year ago, and I've updated everything on my system many times since (several versions of the server, plex connect scripts, ATV software, OSX, etc). My guess is that, judging by the number of people having the same problem, that this is an inherent flaw in the entire getup. I hope to be proven wrong, but not holding my breath.
My guess is that there is a issue with your network or atv wifi hardware (atv unlikely but possible). When the Apple TV is initialized it pulls down a storefront.xml that loads all the apps otherwise if it cannot pull down this file it just says computers and settings as apps on the home screen. If your Apple TV loses connection from its wifi signal be it the aTV wifi radio or your router wifi radio the apps stay there because it’s already pulled down the storefront.xml file. When you flip your DNS from manual to auto it temporarily gets connection and you are able to use PlexConnect and all your other apps until some hardware issue happens and you lose the wifi connection. In order to figure this out you will need to figure out the culprit. You could do these following things to find the culprit:
Run a temporary Ethernet cable to the appletv and see if the issue persists
Replace your router or put a AP somewhere and join that network instead
Swap out the Apple TV and see if the issue persists
Good old process of elimination will be the key to fixing your underlining issue(s).
I figured out the issue. I wanted to get back here and tell how I fixed it.
I'm not sure how it developed, but I'm at least encouraged to know it happens to others and is relatively normal. It's a small price to pay to have the content on my external drive in one location.
I had rejoined my network a couple of time which reset DNS. That not working is what prompted me to post. When you do that, you also have to delete and re-add the profile in the "Send Data to Apple" section. I figured since it was unchanged on the surface it was fine. I'm assuming it's a sessions issue.
Works like a charm now. Thank you for your input!
Pecinko, I had tried to reset the Apple TV, hard and soft.
Yeah. This one seems hard to track down. I have had a hell month or so ago. Everything was working fine and then I updated PlexConnect and atv sw on the same day. My guess is something changed in iOS that is causing this issue. Situation got much better after updating to latest ios on atv but just happened to me a few days ago, after working flawlessly for about 7 days or so. Restarting atv did the trick this time.
There's already another thread on this issue and more threads posted about it before that.
All I know is that the same thing happens to me and I've tried a ton of fixes and nothing works, so I wouldn't hold your breath or waste time continuing to hunt down a fix.
Multiple routers
Wired ATV connection
Wireless ATV connection
Multiple Mac mini's (with multiple OS versions)
Set ATV to never sleep
Updated Plexconnect to every new release
Multiple ATV's
Multiple locations (moved).
I've had huge changes to my setup and Plexconnect still disconnects every so often and I then have to just set the DNS back to automatic or restart the ATV. Once that's done the issue is fixed for a random amount of time. I've come to accept it's a problem that's not going to be fixed in my situation, as if I can switch out Apple TV's, change all of my network hardware, multiple computers in which PMS/Plexconnect is running, and living in totally different places with a different ISP, I'm convinced there's nothing else I can do because it's a problem on setups that aren't even similar.
My solution ? Buy an Harmony remote... It switches off the TV + the aTV. I never had this problem. Also, my PlexConnect is running 24x7 100% of the time.
Hmm… I’m on Brighthouse too but don’t seem to have these issues. My setup has both Pleconnect & PMS running on an iMac with a dedicated IP(.131). I also have dedicated IP’s established for my two atv3’s, one wire connected via powerline and the bedroom one is via wifi. Once the setting.cfg is created. I logged out and edited it to turn off all hunting instead forcing each to the properly dedicated IP. It’s been working for quite some time. If we don’t use the bedroom atv for a number of weeks sometimes we have to go into settings on the atv and tell it to ‘restart’ which always gets it connected back up.
