Server Version#: 1.26.0.5715
Player Version#: Latest on Shield
I’m encountering an issue with Plex that I have never encountered before. I have a lifetime Plex pass and I have been using the exact same hardware for over five years (PMS running on a Windows 10 machine that’s used as a media server).
I tried watching a very large 4k video recently (.mkv around 40GB) and all it does is buffer constantly. Completely unwatchable. I ran a moderately large 4k video instead (.mkv around 24GB), and it played without issue. I then tried another large 4k video file (.mkv around 60GB) and that didn’t work either. There are no appreciable differences between the files except the file size. All files are 4k HDR10 x265 with 7.1 audio. Some of the files are just longer in duration, hence the larger file size.
The issue is not my network speed. I can stream the 40GB and 60GB files using VLC without any issue at all. Buttery smooth.
The issue is not my player. The result is the same whether I use the Plex app on my Shield or the browser interface in Chrome.
I have Google’d the issue and found a number of threads about Plex not having enough space to transcode. The installation drive has 84GB of free space, but whatever, maybe that’s not enough. So I directed Plex to use my entire media drive (D:) for transcoding instead. The D:\ drive has over 1.2TB of free space. Plex created a folder called D:\Transcode, so I know Plex is following my commands. But, the problem persists. Very large files won’t play without endless buffering.
I have been watching very large 4k videos using Plex without issue for years until very recently. The prevailing theory about giving Plex more space for transcoding hasn’t fixed the problem. And I believe the Shield app would be direct playing instead of transcoding anyway. There was also a similar thread posted here a few months ago, but that user resolved their issue by upgrading their network. My network is not a problem, as proven by smooth streaming using VLC. Are there any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.
