Server Version#: 1.13.5.5291-6fa5e50a8
Player Version#: N/A
DSM Version#: DSM 6.2-23739 Update 2
NAS Model#: DS1515+
To put this bluntly, Plex has become more unstable that a troubled child on crack on my NAS. I can’t pinpoint the exact point the issue started. However, it’ll be working fine for a while. Then I’ll either try to connect to it on my home network or a friend will attempt to connect remotely and the server will be unavailable. If I look at the Package Center or Resource Monitor, it shows up as running. I’ve tried to stop and restart the server through Package Center, but to no avail. If I restart the NAS completely, it will start working again properly. I have not detected a pattern.
I’ve gone so far as to completely uninstall PMS, wipe out the Plex share, and reinstall from scratch. After that, I’ll re-add my media files. Same behavior. I’m honestly at a loss. I don’t want to have to periodically reboot my NAS, just to have my media server work. It’s been rock solid up until now.
As I posted, I recently reloaded the NAS and reloaded all of my media, so yeah… that’s probably where that’s coming from. I don’t Optimize too frequently. In Scheduled Tasks, all of the options are selected… “Backup database every three days”, “Optimize database every week”, etc. The only option that is unchecked is “Update all libraries during maintenance”. I did go ahead and select “Scan my library automatically”. Could that be causing it?
When you’re adding or removing a lot of media at one time is when the database becomes the most fragmented. As it fragments, it takes longer and longer for queries to complete. When it reaches threshold, it starts timing out and PMS becomes unstable / unusable. This usually manifests as the dashboard becoming slower and slower to load until it reaches the point of “Failure loading the dashboard”. That’s the point we try to avoid because cleanup is a manual step.
I tell new PMS users to add media in smaller blocks. In general; one section at a time, allowing it to complete scanning and processing before optimizing the db and starting on the next section. At no time, add more than about 5000 items (which often happens with music and photos). In these cases, add the sub-folders in small groups. PMS will allow some 200+ subfolders to be listed as being part of a library.
The has the benefit of maintaining a physical locality of reference in the DB. Different records in different tables are grouped together physically . It’s not entirely quantifiable but it is demonstrable.
Going forward, if you add a section at a time and allow to complete fully before advancing, then manually optimizing, you’ll do fine.
So, yesterday it was running fine. I had performed a restart and it was stable. I didn’t add much new content. Made sure I optimized the DB, but other than that, nothing else. Today, I go in (http://:32400/web/index.html) and it’s just chewing away trying to connect. Eventually, Plex comes up, but my server shows as being unavailable, while the others I connect to are fine.
I understand that to be some portal and not a proper browser connection.
Also, In the http:// that should include 127.0.0.1 or the IP. It is otherwise ambiguous and could jump to v6 or anywhere if so enabled and cause a mess.
@trumpy81 - I made the changes you mentioned (bonding 0 and 1, disconnecting 2 and 3). So far, it’s still somewhat unstable.
@ChuckPa - I am not sure what the webMAF device is. I have 2 Xbox Ones attached, 2 Chrome browser sessions, 1 Windows Plex app version, 1 iOS device, and the server itself listed in the Device list.
@trumpy81 - Funny you should ask… For example, I was watching my Plex server just last night without issues. I had added maybe one TV episode yesterday. So, not a lot of new material added. This morning, I get up and see a message from a friend that my server is acting up again, so I log in to look. Server Unavailable.
This is the type of thing it’s been doing lately. It was rock solid for the longest. I’d never had a bit of trouble out of it. Now… it can’t see to run a day without locking up/becoming unavailable. I could try turning it off and back on from the Package Center, but it will not help the situation. It typically requires that I reboot the NAS completely. No other services on the NAS seem to be affected.
Attaching logs. Plex is currently in an Unavailable state, at the time these logs were compiled. Logs.zip (4.3 MB)
