That was extremely beneficial and a nice, thorough overview for me. You are much more experienced in all this that’s for sure, but I am learning and trying hard to share my experiences.
Correct, Syno is not crashing, nor the server environment. Only Plex stops for inexplicable reason(s).
I can try that but like many music lovers, my mood can change during my walk so downloading playlist(s) may not match that mood but it is a good thing to have as a standby. And I certainly have room on my 512GB iphone for my music. I can do that certainly. In fact, there are times when I bring my iPod Classic 7th gen (final model) and it is a good safety net.
This is a really interesting suggestion that I’d not considered as it relates to this. Here is what I had set. Can you please suggest where I should have them?
Wi-Fi caching - 15 tracks
Cellular Caching - 5 tracks (is what I had, I’ve now changed that to 25 - is that proper?)
Cache size - 512mb - should I increase to 1, 2, 4, 8 GB or more? Would this help?
Network Speed - Unlimited
Exactly.
Ditto.
Could you explain this a bit more? The Access Point you switched to and so forth is what I’m trying to understand on your end and then as it could relate to mine (and things I could do to improve).
I agree it doesn’t happen with the same song file. Interesting that it seems to be iPhone users specifically. That’s a bummer but I’m sure this will get figured out.
I’ve not done this with Plex before so with the massive amount of work I’ve done as things have progressed from my first Syno (720+) to the second (423+) and now my 1621+, I am very, very cautious. Is there a way to back up everything just in case? I do have things backed up in many forms but just want to make sure.
Thank you again for your excellent feedback! I’m looking forward to hearing back more.
I’m sorry that happened but also glad so that it’s something the community and Plex devs can get pinpointed - though Atomatth has already suggested the beta release related to the transcoding fix might be the solution. What is your opinion on that (not trying to challenge anyone here, just for general observation)?
What were you listening to at the time (iPhone? Android?)…
There are lots of folks here way beyond me in experience. You’re doin’ excellent.
We all start somewhere and all have different experience levels for these things so no worries. It’s easy to cross communicate in these areas so nobody worthwhile is judging anybody for it.
Some days I just want my Sony MD player back!!! I’ve got a Touch, Nano and a clip Shuffle around here somewhere too. I use the Touch for handing music control off to others in the car or at home without having to hand my actual phone over.
The “download” option is a lot more limited than the full app but I use it for times I can’t connect back to the server (like on an airplane). Smart playlists will auto-update so I have a few of those I have setup as downloads so I always have something to play for a few hours.
For Settings→Playback→Caching here are my settings:
Wifi\Cellular cache ahead: 40 tracks
Cache size: 1GB (Plex will hold onto tracks it’s already played, this is probably overkill for me)
For Settings→Downloads here are my settings:
Quality - Max
Everything else enabled so smart playlists auto-update and such and “prefer downloads” at Always.
You manage how much space it takes up just per playlist… I think. That’s how I do it anyways. Someone else can chime in with more specifics maybe if that’s a question (or search for another topic on PlexAmp download functions maybe).
This last time the Plex server locked up I didn’t notice until I was done with chores because my caching kept playing the queued tracks. I won’t notice the “crash” unless I do something in the PlexAmp that requires checking back in to the server. Having 40 tracks ahead cached is about 2-3hrs of music.
Sure!
I have 3 wireless access points in my home - meaning 3 different wifi connection points that devices can use. This helps make sure I have good wifi coverage around my house (which has old construction with wifi killing materials in the walls), backyard and a detached garage. As I move around the house or go to the garage and around the outside of the house my device will switch to the AP that provides the best connection. This hoping could replicate a similar situation as “going remote” if the bug is related to communication\network route changes. I could see a bad communication loop in the server eventually locking it up (odd but possible).
Well…. I’m on the beta now and had the bug today so that wasn’t the fix. It was still a good idea to try it out and see if it helped and having more information, even if it’s a failure, can help with troubleshooting.
So if you were inclined to try it to get a fix… it doesn’t seem to be a fix so there’s probably less inclination for you to upgrade to the beta.
If you want to though…
Totally fair to be safe! Backups are king!
Here’s the generic “backup your server” article: https://support.plex.tv/articles/201539237-backing-up-plex-media-server-data/
So for Syno the easiest way is to just copy the entire Plex Media Server directory if you have the space but you can skip the caches folder to save some space. This FAQ from ChuckPa gives you file locations (and lots of other good Syno info in that FAQ topic - not sure why it isn’t pinned under the Synology specific forum but it’s in the “tips, tricks” forum area): Synology FAQ - Questions, Answers, and How-To's - #18 by ChuckPa
I think you should have a “Plex” share though and that’s where it’ll be (I used to run Plex on Syno but it’s been a bit now and can’t remember - QNAP you gotta do a trick).
It might be good to setup a regularly scheduled backup for it. You should be able to setup a Hyberbackup task on your Synology if you wanna automate it (I backup mine every week so I don’t lose too much watch history).
You don’t have to backup your media for this process just that directory.
If you have to do a restore you essentially just copy back that directory. I have never had to do that even with several upgrade\downgrades under my belt on Synology and QNAP but it’s always good to be safe.
So far the current beta has been pretty stable and out for a few weeks now without any obvious gotchas.
If you wanna do a bit more you can use ChuckPa’s DBRepair tool to help with Plex Media Server maintenance as well. Includes backup\restore option but it’s more of an SSH\Terminal app and some folks aren’t comfortable with that but this is pretty well detailed tool.
GitHub: GitHub - ChuckPa/DBRepair: Database repair utility for Plex Media Server databases
At this point, it’s clearly a recurring problem so should be replicable but pinning the right scenario down might be hard to do for such a small user base impact. Hopefully a dev will get some inspiration and can draw out the missing info based on their more intimate knowledge of what’s happening in the apps.
So as Plex Media Server and PlexAmp update we’ll just keep trying things and uploading logs and hopefully it’ll get narrowed down.
@Atomatth … so umm… 2nd crash today… so more logs.
I was listening to music while typing up these posts and it happened. Wasn’t moving around and definitely not remote but it’s possible an AP hop happened in there even though I was stationary (I don’t have that being logged on my network so can’t confirm but it’s not uncommon in the location I was at in my home for a device to switch AP).
I also have various access points, including a strong one on my lanai (I think it’s a Luxul one, but have to check, but it cost about $700 as I recall). Connection in my house is never (or rarely) an issue.
And I agree, I don’t think I’d upgrade to beta just yet.
Thank you for this. I do back that up to my Hyper backup as well as two different attached USB’s. So I will backup from my 1621+ to my 720+ for lots of stuff, everything I would need. All content such as movies are backed up to my computer as well as external drive(s). Save, and save again is my motto.
I have used that and it’s part of my arsenal so to speak.
That should cover me as my walks (or workouts) are usually around 60-90 minutes.
My current theory that I’m going to try to target is that something is happening after the currently cached items are played through and a new set of tracks are being fetched. There is also something to do with the phototranscoder (album art) when these new tracks are fetched.
The thought occurred to me to mention related to your last post - is that what would cause Plex to go into “Manually stopped” on my Synology NAS (which is why it stops playing as you know)? If it happens, it is always triggered by me skipping a song(s) or bringing up a new playlist - always when away from WiFI.
Smarter minds than me will surely figure this out. I thank you again so much for staying on top of this for us.
Atomatth, can I delete the logs I posted here of my crash (i.e., did you download and get whatever info you need from them)? Since some usernames include identifying names, I don’t want to keep them up forever.
