Plex on Shield TV crashing when starting playback

[GLaDOSDan]

Server Version#: n/a
Player Version#: 8.6.0

Since the latest 8.6.0 update I can’t play anything on my Shield TV Pro (latest gen). Reinstalling the app etc makes no difference.

As soon as I start playback, the app closes. This happens with any type of content, including Plex’s own content or my content.

Logs:

09-09 15:25:41.295 i: Fetching [method:GET] https://vod.provider.plex.tv/library/metadata/5f0e67f12e629900401c0624?asyncAugmentMetadata=1&checkFiles=1&includeExtras=1&includeReviews=1&X-Plex-Token=...FAbM
09-09 15:25:41.632 i: Fetching [method:GET] https://vod.provider.plex.tv/hubs/metadata/5f0e67f12e629900401c0624/related?count=20&excludeElements=Actor%2CCollection%2CCountry%2CDirector%2CGenre%2CLabel%2CMood%2CPart%2CProducer%2CRole%2CSimilar%2CWriter%2CPhoto%2CVast%2CTopic&excludeFields=summary%2Ctagline%2Cfile&includeEmpty=1&includeExternalMetadata=1&includeLibraryPlaylists=1&includeMeta=1&includeRecentChannels=1&includeStations=1&includeTrailers=1&includeTypeFirst=1&libraryHubsOnly=1&X-Plex-Token=...FAbM
09-09 15:25:41.765 i: [ImageTranscodeBuilder] Unable to transcode request
09-09 15:25:41.776 i: [ImageTranscodeBuilder] Unable to transcode request
09-09 15:25:41.780 i: [ImageTranscodeBuilder] Unable to transcode request
09-09 15:25:42.691 i: [OneApp] User can execute command without restrictions because he is entitled.
09-09 15:25:42.705 i: [PlaybackManager] Preparing for Croc
09-09 15:25:42.730 i: [DefaultPlaybackManager] No codecs being downloaded.
09-09 15:25:43.547 e: Fatal exception occurred.
09-09 15:25:43.547 e: An exception occurred: java.lang.RuntimeException: Canvas: trying to draw too large(132710400bytes) bitmap.
09-09 15:25:43.547 e: Stacktrace: java.lang.RuntimeException: Canvas: trying to draw too large(132710400bytes) bitmap.
at android.view.DisplayListCanvas.throwIfCannotDraw(DisplayListCanvas.java:229)
at android.view.RecordingCanvas.drawBitmap(RecordingCanvas.java:98)
at android.graphics.drawable.BitmapDrawable.draw(BitmapDrawable.java:545)
at android.view.View.getDrawableRenderNode(View.java:20486)
at android.view.View.drawBackground(View.java:20422)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:20221)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19105)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:19958)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:4333)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:4112)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19096)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:19958)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:4333)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:4112)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19096)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:19958)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:4333)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:4112)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19096)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:19958)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:4333)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:4112)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19096)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:19958)
at android.view.ViewGroup.drawChild(ViewGroup.java:4333)
at android.view.ViewGroup.dispatchDraw(ViewGroup.java:4112)
at android.view.View.draw(View.java:20233)
at com.android.internal.policy.DecorView.draw(DecorView.java:792)
at android.view.View.updateDisplayListIfDirty(View.java:19105)
at android.view.ThreadedRenderer.updateViewTreeDisplayList(ThreadedRenderer.java:686)
at android.view.ThreadedRenderer.updateRootDisplayList(ThreadedRenderer.java:692)
at android.view.ThreadedRenderer.draw(ThreadedRenderer.java:801)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.draw(ViewRootImpl.java:3505)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.performDraw(ViewRootImpl.java:3309)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.performTraversals(ViewRootImpl.java:2603)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl.doTraversal(ViewRootImpl.java:1538)
at android.view.ViewRootImpl$TraversalRunnable.run(ViewRootImpl.java:7520)
at android.view.Choreographer$CallbackRecord.run(Choreographer.java:949)
at android.view.Choreographer.doCallbacks(Choreographer.java:761)
at android.view.Choreographer.doFrame(Choreographer.java:696)
at android.view.Choreographer$FrameDisplayEventReceiver.run(Choreographer.java:935)
at android.os.Handler.handleCallback(Handler.java:873)
at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:99)
at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:193)
at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:6721)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method)
at com.android.internal.os.RuntimeInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(RuntimeInit.java:493)
at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:858)

[thezoneplex123]

I am having exactly the same issue.

[jesusmc]

Hi, sorry to hear you’re experiencing problems with the app.

In order to investigate the issue, any chance you could provide app logs following https://support.plex.tv/articles/201573117-android-android-tv-fire-tv-logs/ ?

Thanks in advance

[GLaDOSDan]

Hello,

Which other logs do you want? I included the stack trace where the application crashes in my original post. I can’t see any other information in the log file that would be related to this issue?

Dan

[jesusmc]

Well, full app logs will help us have more information about the “context” in which the crash happened. Does it happen regardless the type of content (the piece of logs posted only show playing an item from “Movies & TV” source)?

Thanks

[GLaDOSDan]

Okay - I’ve figured it out.

I’ve been running my SHIELD device with an adjusted window manager resolution as per the instructions in this post:

Reddit - The heart of the internet

This has worked fine for the last 9 months or so. But it seems Plex doesn’t play ball with these settings with the latest update. I’ve reverted back to 1920x1080 for the UI and playback now works correctly. I suppose this explains why there’s so few posts about this issue here, as I imagine this configuration is relatively uncommon.

@thezoneplex123 you may be interested in this also.

[thezoneplex123]

Yes this I also had enabled developer options and activated the “Show all supported modes in custom display modes”. When I deactivated this option Plex will now play all files.

The issue is now the UI looks like its made for children or old people who cant see, all the icons are huge which makes it cumbersome to navigate around the app.

Is there anyway this can be resized?

[cyr0nk0r]

I am having the exact same problem. Strangely enough, Plex ‘live tv’ will play. But anything that is a ‘movies’ or ‘television’ if its my own local media or plex’s movies … plex will crash.

Same errors as you’re getting. I have also modified the resolution via developer options.
When did this 8.6 get released? Because I was watching movies as recently as 2 days ago (wednesday 9/8) and now 2 days later nothing will play.

Is Plex aware of this bug and are they doing anything to address it?

[brownie112]

I’m having the exact same issue. I have a 4k oled 65" and no way I’m going to use 1920x1080 for the UI in order to “FIX” this issue.

I agree to the above poster: "Yes this I also had enabled developer options and activated the “Show all supported modes in custom display modes”. When I deactivated this option Plex will now play all files.

The issue is now the UI looks like its made for children or old people who cant see, all the icons are huge which makes it cumbersome to navigate around the app.

Is there anyway this can be resized?"

[chrisashford_outlook_com]

I’m also having this issue. My work around is to launch content from the app on a phone which seems to work OK.

[cjo]

Can confirm, this happens with not all of my collection but most. These last few updates have been horrible. Why mess with a good thing?

[DaveBinM]

This has been resolved in 8.7 Release Announcements - Android TV beta

While it is possible to enable this developer setting, it’s certainly not intended for everyday use, nor something that Android officially supports for general day to day use.