Plex Pass Sync - Only syncing to 50%/Waiting for Server - Mac/IPhone

General Discussions
1

Hi everyone,
I know this has been a common issue on here and I’m sorry for creating yet another thread, but I’m having troubles sifting through the previous forums and understand what steps I should take.

I’m having troubles with the Plex Pass sync. It only gets to 50% and says it’s waiting for the sever. It just started happening a few weeks ago. I was only ever successful once, and now it can’t even complete one file. Everything is up-to-date. I’m running off of Mac and trying to sync with my iPhone 7 Plus.

Can someone give me a step by step way to remedy the problem (and a fairly simple breakdown at that)? Is it my file formats?

Thank you very much!!!

2

I’m also looking for a solution for this!

Thanks!

3

Each case needs to be investigated with logs from both the server and the Plex app and screenshots

The last case that was investigated was found to be due to having initiated syncs for different users on the device.
See https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/251899/sync-stuck-waiting-for-server-at-50

See this post on the diagnostics needed

4

Sorry.
I don’t mean to be daft, and I consider myself fairly tech savvy, however, I can’t make heads or tails of these forums/threads. I feel like I’m walking into the middle of a conversation.

How do I access my logs? Or turn them on? Is that just what’s going on under the status tab? If each case needs to be investigated who do I send my logs to in order to find a solution?

I only have one login/one user profile. It’s possible I was trying to sync both from my phone and from my laptop in and around the same time, hoping one would sync, but even if I just do my phone or laptop, it doesn’t finish. It’s always stuck at 50%/Waiting for server.

(I don’t mean to be rude, as I can tell you’ve helped a lot of people, but I find it frustrating, that I’ve now paid for a service I can’t use properly and there’s no proper tech support to help. Forums are great if they’re speaking to the lowest common denominator, but I haven’t been able to find one on this subject).

A step by step guide on what I need to do would be helpful here. I.e. Go here, click this, copy that, send here. etc.

If you could please provide some more assistance, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

5

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Sorry.
I don’t mean to be daft, and I consider myself fairly tech savvy, however, I can’t make heads or tails of these forums/threads. I feel like I’m walking into the middle of a conversation.

How do I access my logs? Or turn them on? Is that just what’s going on under the status tab? If each case needs to be investigated who do I send my logs to in order to find a solution?

I only have one login/one user profile. It’s possible I was trying to sync both from my phone and from my laptop in and around the same time, hoping one would sync, but even if I just do my phone or laptop, it doesn’t finish. It’s always stuck at 50%/Waiting for server.

(I don’t mean to be rude, as I can tell you’ve helped a lot of people, but I find it frustrating, that I’ve now paid for a service I can’t use properly and there’s no proper tech support to help. Forums are great if they’re speaking to the lowest common denominator, but I haven’t been able to find one on this subject).

A step by step guide on what I need to do would be helpful here. I.e. Go here, click this, copy that, send here. etc.

If you could please provide some more assistance, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

I will go through it here

First just to clarify that - support documentation is available on the support.plex.tv web pages

Log files are covered in individual sections for the apps / server and also linked support pages given here
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201869908-Log-Files

I did provide a link in my earlier post to where I mentioned before how to go about getting the logs and the post linked to the 3 support pages that covered the logs and enabling logging
https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1335048/#Comment_1335048

I will go in more detail

First enable verbose logging on the Plex for iOS app
In the app, go to Settings / two-finger touch area within the Settings page to bring up the Debugging menu item - gets added to the list of settings
Select Debugging and enable verbose logging and exit

Then ensure the server has debug logging enabled
In Plex Web app on the server, go to settings / server / general / show advanced and ensure Debug logging is enabled

Restart the server to get fresh logs created

Initiate a new sync - one that has not been attempted to be synced before

When you get the problem - take a screen capture and note down the time

Get the Plex for iOS diagnostic logs emailed to yourself, through
Plex for iOs, Settings / two-finger screen touch to bring up Debugging setting. select it and select Email Debugging Data
Email it to your email address - it will be a zip attachment which you should save to your computer to upload later

Get the Plex Media Server logs, Settings / Server / Help / Download Logs
Save the zipped logs on your computer

Post here details of what was being synced, what the outcome was and attach screenshots and zips from Plex for iOS and Plex Media Server

Would be good if you could tell us what improvements you think we should make to the support pages linked above - the 3 specific ones covering ioS logs, plex media server logs and reporting issues

6

Hi again,

Thank you for the step-by-step. I’ve attached the screen shot and the server log zip. I was able to initiate verbose debugging, but was never given the option/nor could find the option Email Debugging Data. The two finger touch didn’t work. I just did “Show Advanced Settings.”

I did follow the Settings-Server-Help-Download Logs path so that’s the zip I’ve provided. If you still need more please let me know.

I’ve attached the Screen Shot and the Downloaded Logs. It was approximately 1:44 EST when I tried to download the video. I even tried a short-30 min comedy in hopes that a smaller file would help. It did not.

See attached. And thank you for your help.

(The attachment button was not working. Tried 2 different browsers). Please let me know if the didn’t attach properly.

/Users/nataliesilverman/Desktop/Screen Shot 2017-01-13 at 1.44.08 PM.png/Users/nataliesilverman/Downloads/Plex Media Server Logs_2017-01-13_13-47-08.zip

7

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Hi again,

Thank you for the step-by-step. I’ve attached the screen shot and the server log zip. I was able to initiate verbose debugging, but was never given the option/nor could find the option Email Debugging Data. The two finger touch didn’t work. I just did “Show Advanced Settings.”

I did follow the Settings-Server-Help-Download Logs path so that’s the zip I’ve provided. If you still need more please let me know.

I’ve attached the Screen Shot and the Downloaded Logs. It was approximately 1:44 EST when I tried to download the video. I even tried a short-30 min comedy in hopes that a smaller file would help. It did not.

See attached. And thank you for your help.

(The attachment button was not working. Tried 2 different browsers). Please let me know if the didn’t attach properly.

/Users/nataliesilverman/Desktop/Screen Shot 2017-01-13 at 1.44.08 PM.png/Users/nataliesilverman/Downloads/Plex Media Server Logs_2017-01-13_13-47-08.zip

I do need matching set of logs from the iOS Plex app and the server.

There was an issue recently with attaching to forum post but was fixed - so it has either come back or one needs to clear browser cache - but since you tried different browsers - it is unlikely to be that. This is being raised with our forums service providers.

Do you have any dropbox or google drive etc you could upload to and share links here ?

8

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Thank you for the step-by-step. I’ve attached the screen shot and the server log zip. I was able to initiate verbose debugging, but was never given the option/nor could find the option Email Debugging Data. The two finger touch didn’t work. I just did “Show Advanced Settings.”

The two-finger touch was on the Plex for iOS app settings page
The verbose logging was for the Plex for iOS app setting and if you could not bring up debugging screen then you did not do that

The tip on the support page explains how

Tip!: The Debugging menu item is hidden by default, simply long-press on the settings screen with two fingers to enable

9

The attachment button is still not working, in case you wanted to inform those who need to know.

I’ve got the logs from my phone as well. I do have DropBox…where should I send the files?

Thanks.

10

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
The attachment button is still not working, in case you wanted to inform those who need to know.

I’ve got the logs from my phone as well. I do have DropBox…where should I send the files?

Thanks.

Yes - there is an issue for attaching files that was referred to Vanilla Forums.

Please do upload to Dropbox and share link here

11

Here’s the link. Thank you!

12

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Here’s the link. Thank you!
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

Thank you for the screenshots and all the logs.

I have been looking at the evidence provided for the sync on the 13th January.

The server logs were taken at 13:46 after the sync request processing got completed at the server end
What I could see was the following
The conversion / transcoding started at Transcoding start Jan 13, 2017 13:42:12
It completed successfully at 13:44:06
plex.tv was notified of the successful completion of this and availability of sync for the iPhone

The iPhone logs show the iPhone app was not running between 10:13:11 and 17:52:37.
Later on (after 17:52) when it was active it did not get any notification of sync being ready. Not sure if it was still in place by then. If the sync was still available at that time when the plex for ios iPhone app was activated, then would have need the Plex Media Server logs then as well.

If you can reproduce the problem - initiating a sync on the web client whilst the Plex for iOS app is sleeping or not running and then later on when the app is running to see if it gets notified of the sync being available still - logs from both ends and also if the sync does actually get downloaded to the iOS app if the sync button is pressed on the app

13

Hi! Thanks. If I understand correctly, I need to make sure both my computer app and my iOS app are running at the same time. If the pranked continues then I need to send you those logs again?

I’m away from my computer, but will do it when I return home in a few days.

I have another question in the meantime…
I’m running my Media Server from a Drobo 5D, so I should continue to run it regularly and not from a NAS setup?

With that said, more often than not, anytime the Drobo restarts, updates, or disconnects(and then reconnects), my Plex says it can not find the server…even though it’s clearly mounted on the desktop. I do hard restarts of both, yet I find the only way to solve this problem is to delete every single Plex file from my computer, from the Application Support folder in my Library and re-uploading every file. Is there a better way?

Thanks!

14

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Hi! Thanks. If I understand correctly, I need to make sure both my computer app and my iOS app are running at the same time. If the pranked continues then I need to send you those logs again?

I’m away from my computer, but will do it when I return home in a few days.

I have another question in the meantime…
I’m running my Media Server from a Drobo 5D, so I should continue to run it regularly and not from a NAS setup?

With that said, more often than not, anytime the Drobo restarts, updates, or disconnects(and then reconnects), my Plex says it can not find the server…even though it’s clearly mounted on the desktop. I do hard restarts of both, yet I find the only way to solve this problem is to delete every single Plex file from my computer, from the Application Support folder in my Library and re-uploading every file. Is there a better way?

Thanks!

when you start a sync from the web client end then it will start, it will convert and it will be ready to get downloaded by the iOS app. The plex.tv system would try to make the iOS app aware that the sync is ready. If the mobile device is not available then there would be a sync ready to be downloaded next time the device and the app available. There may be an issue where notifications get lost in such cases and it may be necessary for you to select the sync button on the iOS app when the app is running and it should then check with the server and with plex.tv for the current sync items

If this is not working, i need logs from both sides, screenshots at completion of sync and when the iOS app is available with screenshots from both the web client and the iOS app

Of course it would best when syncing to ensure that both server and iOS app are running

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
I have another question in the meantime…
I’m running my Media Server from a Drobo 5D, so I should continue to run it regularly and not from a NAS setup?

Your media server is running on a Mac and that is fine. If the media itself is drobo 5D then that would the right thing to do as opposed to running Plex Media Server on the Drobo. It is ARM processor so not sure if it would be ok for transcoding - but this would be a question for the linux forum / NAS forums

@“Natalie Silverman” said:

With that said, more often than not, anytime the Drobo restarts, updates, or disconnects(and then reconnects), my Plex says it can not find the server…even though it’s clearly mounted on the desktop. I do hard restarts of both, yet I find the only way to solve this problem is to delete every single Plex file from my computer, from the Application Support folder in my Library and re-uploading every file. Is there a better way?

I do not have full logs from you covering the period of time just after launch so not sure about your setup - however, the information i have from plex.tv indicates that your server is running on a Mac computer with Mac OSX 10.12.2. It appears to be directly connected to the internet with a public IP . I presume it is the media that is on the Drobo 5D and you have it directly connected to the Mac? I am not familiar with the Drobo 5D. So is any of this on the Drobo ?

/Users/nataliesilverman/Library/Caches/PlexMediaServer/
/Users/nataliesilverman/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

These paths need to be available and accessible all the time whilst Plex Media Server is running

I think you to clarify the setup. What is on the Drobo 5D - to understand why restarting it affects the availability of the server

15

This was all really helpful. Thank you.
I will try syncing with both the web client running and my iOS. I will send you logs if the problem still persists.

My setup is simply my Drobo 5D (so the 5D is not a NAS) is connected to my iMac with a firewire. I’ve downloaded Plex Media Server. And when selecting libraries, I choose folders directly from my Drobo 5D. My Drobo contains all of my media, but does not have any other software - just the Drobo software and firmware. Should there be other information, other paths on my Drobo directly?

I believe these are running at all times, but am not sure how to check that.
/Users/nataliesilverman/Library/Caches/PlexMediaServer/
/Users/nataliesilverman/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

I’m going to re-upload everything since I was forced to delete all related files (even those in the two folders listed above). Once it’s set up again, I will try syncing the media.

Thank you!

16

Nevermind. Got it working!
Will try the sync today and send you logs if I run into problems.

Hi again.

I’ve hit another problem. My remote access will not work. It says it’s activated for a split second and disables immediately. I’ve checked and my router is setup for UPnP. So I’m not sure what’s causing the problem?

Can you shed any light?

Thanks.

17

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Nevermind. Got it working!
Will try the sync today and send you logs if I run into problems.

Hi again.

I’ve hit another problem. My remote access will not work. It says it’s activated for a split second and disables immediately. I’ve checked and my router is setup for UPnP. So I’m not sure what’s causing the problem?

Can you shed any light?

Thanks.

You can switch from uPnP to a manually setup port forward to local tcp port 32400 for the IP of the server and then tick manually specify port and enter the public port. Raise separate forum topic if help is needed but first have a look at the support pages
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200484543-Enabling-Remote-Access-for-a-Server
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200289506-Remote-Access
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200931138-Troubleshooting-Remote-Access

18

Hi. I was about to send you my logs when my server went offline again. I’m trying to get that fixed. I made progress with the syncs, but I’m getting error messages now. Will send once I get it back up and running. Thanks.

19

@“Natalie Silverman” said:
Hi. I was about to send you my logs when my server went offline again. I’m trying to get that fixed. I made progress with the syncs, but I’m getting error messages now. Will send once I get it back up and running. Thanks.

If you have a different problem now, please raise a new forum topic

20

I have. No one is answering.