Plex Media Server on Synology 920+ (Issues Playing Media) Please Help!

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Server Version#: 4.34.4 (Synology 920+)
Player Version#: 7.7 (Apple TV 4K)

Hello,

I recently created a new Plex Media Server set up on a Synology 920+ NAS. This is my first time running PMS off of a NAS. Previously I had used a Mac Mini as my PMS.

After transferring all my media onto my NAS & setting up folders, etc. I am having issues playing some media files. I am not sure what the exact issue is, but it appears that older files (downloaded pre-2015) are not playing on my Apple TV. These files appear to play fine using the Plex Web player and when I play the file using VLC, but when trying to play via Apple TV, the file tries to play, but times out & I get the error message “Something went wrong playing your media. Please try again. Conversion Failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.” This seems to happens to 1080p files with a bitrates ranging from 2.2Mbps to 10Mbps.

I have hardware acceleration on as well as my setting set to “Make my CPU Hurt.” When I played these same files through my Mac Mini as a PMS, they played fine through my Apple TV and without any issues, but now will not play if it is through the Synology 920+.

After some research, I attempted the Synology NAS Plex H.265 Performance Fix (https://nascompares.com/2020/07/30/synology-nas-plex-driver-fix-for-h-256-hevc-ds920-ds220-ds720-and-ds420/). But this has not helped.

Wondering if this is a settings issue because my sense is the 920+ should be able to play these files without any issues, especially on my local network.

Looking for any support! My logs are attached.

Thank you!

Plex Media Server Logs_2020-10-25_12-16-44.zip (3.7 MB)

2

From what I’ve been reading, there’s a driver issue that’s impacting the hw-accelerated streaming on the x20 models of Synology. Maybe you can double-check if your fix is in line with this workaround:
https://forums.plex.tv/t/synology-faq-questions-answers-and-a-few-how-tos/490215/32

3

Thanks. I tired that work-around, but haven’t noticed any change. Not sure if maybe I did it incorrectly.

5

Thanks. I thought my media files just could not be in the same folder as the Plex system & metadata files. I will move the files now. Thanks

6

I removed my media from the Plex folder and re-created my library from scratch. I am seeing improvement, but I am still having issues playing back certain videos both locally & remotely. Sometimes a video will play only on my Apple TV and not from my browser and vice versa. Remote clients are not able to play videos well (videos freeze at 33%). Not sure what the issue is now.

(File removed)

8

Thank you for your reply. I attempted to make the permission changes you suggested in File Station, but after I check both the boxes you named, it never saves my option. So although it shows that Plex is the owner of the folder, when I click to enable “Apply to this folder, etc.” it does not save this option when I return to it (it appears unchecked). Any idea why this is happening?

Forgive my ignorance, but how do I check using ffmeg for errors? I am not familiar with this tool.

Thank you!

10

Hi, ok thanks for clearing that up. I’ve Googled ffmpeg and see it is a tool to download. Was hoping for more of your insight for how to best use it for my Plex needs. I will keep searching, thanks.

So if I am understanding correctly, the permissions change you suggested is not supposed to be saved. I will continue to test to see if that fixed anything. If the issues still persist is it worth re-visiting these permissions? Trying to get a sense of possible solutions to the issue.

Thanks

12

I’m unclear on the first part of your question. When I click the box “Apply to this folder, sub-folders and files” nothing happens. It registers and that’s it. When I close and re-open the properties page the option is unselected again. I tested video playback after the change and the same issues continue to persist. (File removed)

14

Are you able to respond without being rude? If not, don’t respond. I’m looking for support, not an attitude.

1 Like
16

Clearly I can’t answer simple questions, I guess I need more complex ones to get it. Do you have any more complex questions for me to try?

18

Can you actually ask more complex questions? Just curious. Sometimes simple questions aren’t helpful.

20

That was certainly a few more words, but not a very complex question (shout out to google for you though). You have a fundamental lack of what it means to educate or teach others, as I was attempting to learn from you, but you do not seem interested in actually teaching anything, so that’s unfortunate because ppl like you give this community a bad name & waste others time.

Have a great day.

24

@bxtito

Trumpy and I are discussing your situation.
There is some information missing which would help clarify a great deal.

Would you mind doing the following for me?

  1. Restart PMS
  2. Let it sit completely idle for 3 minutes
  3. Now download the logs ZIP file
  4. Attach that ZIP file here

I have a suspicion about what’s happening but need additional information first

26

@bxtito

Are you there?

27

Yes @ChuckPa , I am here thanks. Attached are my logs.

(File removed)

28

Thank you for that.

I am seeing several problems here.

  1. You are storing 1 episode per folder. This isn’t how it should be. It appears as if your download client setting need correcting / or (probably better) Use a renamer like FileBot or TheRenamer to proper structure your media.

  2. Because of how you’re structuring , Linux itself is running out of directories to monitor. (Its default is 8192 directories). You’ve grossly exceeded that using this current structure.

Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.574 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E09.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.574 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E10.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.574 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E11.720p.HDTV.x264-KILLERS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.575 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E12.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.575 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E13.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.575 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E14.720p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.575 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E15.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.575 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E16.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] DEBUG - [Notify] Now watching "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S02E16.720p.HDTV.x264-AVS[rarbg]/This.Is.Us.S03E18.1080p.HDTV.x264-LucidTV[rarbg]"
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E01.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E02.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E03.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E04.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E05.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.576 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E06.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E07.1080p.WEB.x264-TBS[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E08.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E09.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E10.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E11.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E12.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
Nov 03, 2020 17:40:59.577 [0x7f9067735700] ERROR - [Notify] Failed to add watch for "/volume1/Media/TV Shows/This is Us/This.Is.Us.S03E13.1080p.WEB.H264-METCON[rarbg]" (28: No space left on device)
  1. The transcoder needs 2 of these Notify slots to work. The file organization has used up everything. The choice is to increase the number of slots (presuming you have enough memory) -or- correct how the media is structured.

Granted , this might have worked for a long time but it’s been luck and that luck ran out.

We can help you with this but there is some media curation work to be done in addition to properly configuring your downloader program (yes, I can plainly see it)

How would you like to proceed?

29

Wow thanks so much for this insight. I had no idea. I guess I have been lucky because this has been my Plex set up for many years. I would like to correct my file naming organization. I will do the media curation and correct the configuration for my downloader program.

I have used the download client Transmission along with the program Hazel to organize my media files. Are you saying that I should have every individual episode in only one folder for each show? So that for each respective show, I would have maybe one folder that would house all episodes for said show.

Thanks again.

30

Here’s how it should look (abstracted + an example)

Top level folder-shared folder /
   Series Name/
      Season nn/
         Series Name - SxxExx - Optional Episode Title.ext

As example using your content:

/volume1/Tv Shows/
   This is Us/
     Season 01/
       This is Us - S01E01 - (the title goes here).ext
       This is Us - S01E02 - (the title goes here).ext

Notice how each season gets one folder.
Also notice how the names are uniformly formatted and clean of superfluous junk.

That “junk” makes matching slower as well as increasing the risk of mismatch

I use . for my delineators and that’s ok as long as no conflict with the name itself. If conflict, - must be used.

[chuck@lizum The Mandalorian.500]$ ls -laR
.:
total 20
drwxr-xr-x  4 chuck chuck 4096 Oct 30 04:09 ./
drwxr-xr-x 53 chuck chuck 4096 Sep 27 23:00 ../
drwxr-xr-x  2 chuck chuck 4096 Nov  1 01:20 Season 01/
drwxr-xr-x  2 chuck chuck 4096 Oct 30 04:09 Season 02/

./Season 01:
total 25014532
drwxr-xr-x 2 chuck chuck       4096 Nov  1 01:20 ./
drwxr-xr-x 4 chuck chuck       4096 Oct 30 04:09 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 2682847946 Nov 13  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E01.Chapter 1.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 3194551256 Nov 15  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E02.Chapter 2 The Child.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 2482757346 Nov 22  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E03.Chapter 3 The Sin.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 2670824683 Nov 29  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E04.Chapter 4 Sanctuary.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 2172948277 Dec  6  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E05.Chapter 5 The Gunslinger.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 3569986093 Dec 13  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E06.Chapter 6.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 3471360518 Dec 18  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E07.Chapter 7.mkv
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 2873444980 Dec 27  2019 The Mandalorian.S01E08.Chapter 8.mkv

./Season 02:
total 3513716
drwxr-xr-x 2 chuck chuck       4096 Oct 30 04:09 ./
drwxr-xr-x 4 chuck chuck       4096 Oct 30 04:09 ../
-rw-r--r-- 1 chuck chuck 3598031909 Oct 30 04:09 The Mandalorian.S02E01.Chapter 9- The Search.mkv
[chuck@lizum The Mandalorian.501]$

All this is & can be done by FileBot in minutes. It looks at the name you give it, performs an internet match and shows you the names it wants to use as final name.

When you confirm, it does all the work (copy/nove and rename) to make it as you specified it.

I use the format /nas/tv/{n}/Season {s.pad(2)}/{n}.{s00e00}.{t}

{n} = name
{s}= season number
{s00e00} is the season & episode identifier using 2 digits for each
{t} is the episode title.

Following me?

I have 186 full series. (11,583 files) It takes about 5 minutes to perform a full reorganization

Starting from cold, if it takes more than an hour , I would be surprised.
This is independent of playing with some sample files to make sure it’s the way you want it.

31

Thanks for all this. I apologize for my ignorance, but I am a little lost around how to actually do this. Are you referring to the renaming of the actual downloaded file or something in the organization I would be adjusting in Synology? When you give examples of how it should look where are you referring to exactly? In the Plex log? In Synology? I’m just unclear what I’m looking at in the examples you shared (chuck chuck, The Mandalorian).

It sounds like FileBot is the best solution to address this issue. I have not used FileBot before. Would I just input the format you shared?

32

I’m sorry. You’re looking at a linux directory listing.

What you’ll be doing is both renaming and restructuring how the files are on the Synology.

Let me show you how the names look when cleanly structured.

They would look like this

[chuck@lizum Star Trek Picard.511]$ cd ../../*/*Manda*
[chuck@lizum The Mandalorian.512]$ ls -1R

  Season 01/
  Season 02/

Each episode would be stored in the appropriate Season folder.
If you look at the entire series, as an upside down tree, it will look like this:

The Mandalorian/
  Season 01/
    The Mandalorian.S01E01.Chapter 1.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E02.Chapter 2 The Child.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E03.Chapter 3 The Sin.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E04.Chapter 4 Sanctuary.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E05.Chapter 5 The Gunslinger.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E06.Chapter 6.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E07.Chapter 7.mkv
    The Mandalorian.S01E08.Chapter 8.mkv
  Season 02/
    The Mandalorian.S02E01.Chapter 9- The Search.mkv

On Synology, you’d see the Series (Mandalorian on top)
In that first folder, you see the two Season folders.
When you click into Season 1, you;d see all the files in Season 1.

Am I making sense?

I use FileBot. It is well worth the $6/year for it. RedNoah writes and maintains some seriously good software