Plex online app not connecting to Linux Plex server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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1

Hello,

During the last 12 hours or so, the online Plex online app, Mac OS X Plex app, and my Plex iOS apps have alll stopped recognising my Linux-based Plex server.

PMS version 1.13.5.5291 is installed under Linux Mint 17 in the Linux box (mediapc).

However, my iPad’s iOS app marks it as “offline” and http://app.plex.tv says “The server “mediapc” is unavailable”.

PMS on mediapc appears to be set up correctly: I can sign in, access my media libraries from the NAS as normal, and mediapc is listed under my account’s “authorised devices” list and Settings… Devices.

mediapc can access the internet and my local network.

It has a dedicated and unique IP address, which hasn’t been changed.

The Mac and mediapc are both on the same subnet.

I have tried:
• completely removing and reinstalling PMS,
• completely removing and reinstalling an earlier version PMS I know is stable on mediapc,
• restarting PMS via mediapc’s terminal, and
• disabling “Secure connections” in PMS in mediapc.

None of those helped my Mac or iOS apps to connect to the mediapc server.

I have also tried to follow the steps listed here: https://support.plex.tv/articles/204281528-why-am-i-locked-out-of-server-settings-and-how-do-i-get-in/

However, the folder “/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/” on mediapc is completely empty. I’ve checked its contents by running ls when logged in as root, to make sure files aren’t hidden from the regular user account.

Any suggestions how I should proceed to fix this?

Thanks.

  • Richard
2

Richard,
If /var/lib/plexmediaserver is empty, the first question which must be asked: Did the system suffer an abrupt power off / outage?

If you haven’t, then you’ve suffered a catastrophic system corruption / damage of PMS either by some script / tool or a file system fault.

If file system fault, we might be able to recover the bulk, if not all, your existing data (which will need to be verified but it’s better than starting over).

Evidence of the system attempting to recover will place orphaned files in /lost+found. They do not have file names. They exist as their #nnnnnn i-node number. Browsing through them (as root) will let you discover directories. While a directory’s name may be lost (converted to number) the names within it will be maintained in most cases.

Does any of this apply to you?

3

Not since the last time I did a complete uninstall and reinstall of Plex, which was a few hours ago.

That folder is empty. I checked it using Terminal while logged in as root.

4

I missed where you had completely removed / deleted everything before coming here.

Might I suggest coming here first in the future? It might save you the discomfort you’re now experiencing.

I am going to need your logs. Plain and simple.

Grab them manually please. Create a tarball of the Logs directory under “Plex Media Server” and attach it

5

I said I had uninstalled PMS under “I have tried” in my first post.

Might I suggest you read posts asking for more carefully in the future, so you don’t waste your time or the OP’s.

As other requests for help I have made in this forum have gone unanswered, or taken up to a week to be answered, I normally fix problems with Plex myself.

I’ve attached the PMS logs and the Linux logs.

Logs.tar.gz (3.1 MB)

Plex Media Server Logs_2018-08-11_20-44-03.zip (260.6 KB)

6

MIght I suggest you take into consideration that
A. I’m human
B. You’re not the only person I’m here to help
C. I’ve been at this for 8 hours today, On Saturday. I already have my 50+ hours in for the week.

Now, without further delay, I shall read the logs

7

Thank you for pointing them out to me.

  1. In the future, please do not enable VERBOSE logging unless specifically requested due to the extremely limited log buffer sizes
  2. DEBUG logging is the default, Kindly leave it as such
  3. This being the status of the logs, having only captured a few minutes of actual elapsed time (thanks to verbose mode), they provide no insight to the actual events or root cause.

I would like you to recreate and recapture the problem, DEBUG logging only please.

8

My job also involves long hours. But I do not use the rude and unprofessional tone when I deal with the public that you have done with me in this thread. That behaviour has no excuse.

As I am not going to tolerate your attitude any more, so pass this task onto someone else to deal with.

9

One other thing: where are the QNAP PMS logs coming from and how are these logs related to your question about your Linux Mint PMS server?

And please never just delete the server and start from scratch. This is really only required in very rare cases.

Please recreate the problem and post logs with disabled Verbose logging of your Linux Mint PMS.

10

I have installed Plex directly on my QNAP NAS, as I am unable to access my media library using Plex via the Linux box. This is not a fix though, as the NAS’s processing power is extremely low.

I have attached the logs. As I do not know what caused this problem, the closest I can get to recreating it is re-installing Linux PMS.

On a hunch, I disabled the firewall on Linux Mint. When I did app.plex.tv was able to connecto the Linux PMS mediapc. When I turned the firewall back on, app.plex.tv could not connect.

I have checked the firewall rules using gufw, and the firewall rules match those set out here:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201543147-what-network-ports-do-i-need-to-allow-through-my-firewall/

Plex Media Server Logs_2018-08-11_23-01-33.zip (1.3 MB)
Logs.tar.gz (3.0 MB)

11

So let’s focus on ufw, because according to your last reply that’s the issue. Please post the output of sudo ufw status. You can remove all lines that are not relevant to PMS if you like.

12

This is the output from ufw. The connections that aren’t linked to Plex will likely be to the NAS, where my media library files are located, and for RealVNC, which I use to access Linux desktop.

To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
Samba                      ALLOW       Anywhere
22                         ALLOW       Anywhere
8324/tcp                   ALLOW       Anywhere
32411/udp                  ALLOW       Anywhere
5900/tcp                   ALLOW       Anywhere
80                         ALLOW       Anywhere
443                        ALLOW       Anywhere
17500                      ALLOW       Anywhere
192.168.1.130 1900/udp     ALLOW       192.168.1.130 1900/udp
192.168.1.130 3005/tcp     ALLOW       192.168.1.130 3005/tcp
192.168.1.130 5353/udp     ALLOW       192.168.1.130 5353/udp
192.168.1.130 32410/udp    ALLOW       192.168.1.130 32410/udp
192.168.1.130 32414/udp    ALLOW       192.168.1.130 32412/udp
192.168.1.130 32469/udp    ALLOW       192.168.1.130 32469/udp
Samba (v6)                 ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
22 (v6)                    ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
32400/tcp (v6)             ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
1900/udp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
3005/tcp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
5353/udp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
8324/tcp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
32411/udp (v6)             ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
32412/udp (v6)             ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
32413/udp (v6)             ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
32414/udp (v6)             ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
5900/tcp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
80 (v6)                    ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
443 (v6)                   ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
17500 (v6)                 ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
34200 (v6)                 ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

80                         ALLOW OUT   Anywhere
443                        ALLOW OUT   Anywhere
17500                      ALLOW OUT   Anywhere
192.168.1.130 1900/udp     ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 1900/udp
192.168.1.130 3005/tcp     ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 3005/tcp
192.168.1.130 5353/udp     ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 5353/udp
192.168.1.130 32410/udp    ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 32410/udp
192.168.1.130 32414/udp    ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 32412/udp
192.168.1.130 32469/udp    ALLOW OUT   192.168.1.130 32469/udp
80 (v6)                    ALLOW OUT   Anywhere (v6)
443 (v6)                   ALLOW OUT   Anywhere (v6)
17500 (v6)                 ALLOW OUT   Anywhere (v6)
34200 (v6)                 ALLOW OUT   Anywhere (v6)
13

Please add 32400/tcp allow for IPv4 :wink: That’s the only really important port. The others are “nice to have”.

14

I added 32400/tcp and Plex apps can connect to mediapc now.

I have not made any adjustments to firewall settings myself before today. So updating to PMS 1.13.5.5291, or applying updates to Linux Mint that were distributed later in the week, are the other ways I could see that happening.

Thanks for the quick fix.

15

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