After using plex for a little over a year, I have encountered numerous problems, most of which have to do with transcoding (I believe).
On the plex web GUI on Windows PC:
-Can not identify any chromecasts on network
-Will only play MP4 files with direct play and direct stream enabled in Debug settings
-remote access shows its down, but works with MP4 files only
-upon resetting server and reconnecting to web GUI Remote access shows its up, but when
clicked on goes back to saying its down.
-Plex will identify chromecasts in PMS windows app; however, every file fails including MP4s
Android PMS client:
Will crash once upon starting EVERY time
Identifies old deleted media even when library files are re-scanned
Files sync to device perfectly - still can only be played if they are MP4 files
-MP4 files dont play directly from plex off home network, but can be played in a slow and choppy manner from one outside player that I never would have guessedā¦ GOOGLE PHOTOS?
Iām at my wits end. I have enabled debug logging but am unsure of which files to look at and what I am looking for. Errors donāt seem to show up very cut and dry from my novice eyes (#learntocode?). Any help would be greatly appreciated with any one of these plethora of issues: preferably the inability for the server to transcode any video files.
First, welcome to Plex, believe me, with this Forum and community youāll get the errors out and will learn to love Plex. I use Plex now for 10 years and love it so freakinā muchā¦
So first of all, give us some specs of the Server-System. You use Windows (maybe you should install Ubuntu, itās far better for a Server, in my opinionā¦). Do you only use the Browse as Clien? Chromecasts only show up in Chrome, when you use a Browser and the WebGUI.
Do you have all your Media on an internal Disk, or maybe an external USB-Drive?
The transcoding heavily depends on your CPU, normally a modern CPU can handle transcoding of a single file very easy, do you have anything else running in the background?
Does a Virus-Scanner destroy your system in the background (Virus-Scanners do nothing good for you anyway)?
Do you use a Firewall that blocks anything Plex might need?
As for the Android App, I canāt help, because I donāt have an Android Phone, but are you shure you use the official Plex-App?
I use five 2TB WD Enterprise drives for my storage.
I was unclear as well. My server is running off of FreeNAS OS. The web GUI that I referenced is on a windows machine where I manage the server from.
As for the antivirus I donāt think that is an issue as Iām using FreeNAS. I have allowed Plex through my DMZ and opened the correct ports for FTP and UDP in my router as well.
The Android app issues I have can easily be fixed whenever i figure out the server transcoding issue Iām sure, so no worries.
So, your Server should easily handle 2 transcoding streams, I thinkā¦
It comes down to config-stuffā¦
Personally I use OpenMediaVault, but there it was easy to get it all running.
Do you use Plex in Docker or is it a native Installation?
Are you sure all devices are on the same subnet? Can you ping the chromecast units from your PC?
MP4 is only a container. DP and DS depend on the codecs involved too. If somethings are not working, youāll need to provide details on the codecs too.
Remote access has nothing to do with the type of files. It either works or doesnāt. If playback doesnāt work, that has nothing to do with remote access.
There have been issues with that page not reporting properly. I wouldnāt rely on that page to know the actual status of remote access.
Do you mean the Windows Store app? That app does not support many codecs so if the transcoder is causing issues, this is not surprising.
Check your PMS Library settings. āEmpty trash automatically after every scanā. Files you remove are sent to Plexās trash and must be emptied manually unless the above is enabled.
Iām confused on this. All synced files are saved as MP4 so if files have successfully synced, they should all be MP4. IOr do you mean you can only sync MP4 files?
Please playback a video that fails and them provide the PMS log (or the entire log file).
Thanks for the detailed response regarding my issues, moviefan.plex Iām busy right now, but later tonight once the kids are asleep Iāll respond with as much info as I can. Thanks again.
