Server Version#: 1.31.3.6868
Player Version#:77.0.30.8287-6dae31a4f-Plex
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
Since installing the latest server update on Macbook Air there seems to be a problem that Plex continues to drop the connection with my external HD which I use to store media. The drive will be on the same internet network, mounted to my desktop, but Plex won’t acknowledge it. This has happened twice now.
Each time I’ve had to delete my pinned libraries and re-attach everything to get it working again.
The one thing I’ve noticed when adding the files back to my server is that Plex has a 1 behind the name for my backup drive. It’s something that I didn’t add but appears when looking for folders. The backup drive is also external. Both are connected to the Macbook via a USB hub.
Is this to indicate what USB port the drive is connected to? Or something else? Could this be the source of the issue? That I need to ensure the drives stay connected to same USB port? Or does anyone else have any input?
I’ve been able to fix this each time it has happened for now, but I’d like to find out anything I can and not have to keep correcting it. I enjoy my streaming, am a lifetime subscriber, and this is the first time I’ve had such a problem with Plex. Thanks for any help.
From your description, it definitely sounds like the computer is treating the drives as new drives for some reason, rather than recognizing them as an existing drive it knows about. In such a case, the underlying path to that drive (and files on them) would change, because the computer is creating a new/different “mount point” for them in the filesystem.
When that happens, Plex would not be able to find the files at location where they were originally specified and thus would no longer be able to access the files until/unless (1) the drive got re-connected to the original mount point in the filesystem or (2) you edit the library in Plex to point to the new location for content.
To be clear, if this is indeed the problem, it shouldn’t have to do with the actual physical USB port you use. It’s about the computer recognizing the drive and whether it treats it as “new” or not. That said, using a USB hub certainly makes it more likely to encounter such issues. Some things you might try:
Connect the drive directly to the computer, rather than through a USB hub.
Try an “automounter” app, which will attempt to re-mount existing external drives. (Here’s an example web search for possible options.)
If/when you disconnect the drive, make sure that you Eject it from Finder before physically disconnecting it (failure to do so could potentially cause this sort of issue or, even worse, corrupt the drive content in extreme cases).
Ultimately (and assuming the theory above is accurate), the fix here is to get the computer to not treat the external drive as a new drive when it gets connected and to instead recognize it as an existing/known drive.
Thank you for finally responding to this. I was beginning to wonder why I paid for lifetime membership.
Not possible to directly mount the USB anymore - thank Apple for that. I run on a MacBook Air and they eliminated the USB port. The only way to use it is via a hub.
What is an automounter going to do that my simply remounting a drive again doesn’t already? that seems like waste of money.
The drives are constantly falsely ejected. Even while I’m working and haven’t moved. They remount almost immediately. I’ve seen numerous posts on Apple’s site that this is a problem for many people since they made the design change. So basically you’re telling me that I can’t fix this ?
Assuming your external drive is USB-A, you can certainly connect it directly using a “USB-C to USB-A” or similar dongle.
That could certainly be consistent with a USB hub interfering and causing issues.
That said, I’ve also personally experienced some drive ejection weirdness since I switched from an older Macbook Pro to one of the newer Apple Silicon systems, though I have no idea if it’s related to the hardware or to running a newer macOS. For me, I’ve never had a drive spontaneously eject during regular use, but when I woke from sleep, the system would complain that the drive wasn’t ejected properly. Never had that kind of thing on the old system. I started using the Jettison app myself, which auto-ejects on sleep and then mounts the drive again when the computer wakes.
Anyway, “automounting” type tools could certainly help here, as they typically contain some extra smarts that try to match the drive to existing info and make sure it’s mounted the same way, but it’s not a guarantee.
Can’t get a single reply and I’m a lifetime subscriber!