Server Version#: Version 1.29.1.6260
Player Version#: Version 1.55.0.3278-c6164b3c
I have a plex macOS server. It is a 2012 Mac mini server with and i7 4 core processor and 16 gigs of ram. Only think I run on this is the plex server.
Most of the newer videos I place on it that are .mp4 files. will stutter during playback. This happens on the MacBook Pro laptop I use to watch the videos and also I have a Amazon Fire Cube 2nd gen that I use the plex app on.
This happens if I am connected to the server via ethernet or Wifi. This only started to happen a few months ago and I have tried everything I could find on the web that said it was a fix and still have the issue.
I have checked what codec was used on the mp4 files and both HEVC and H264 codecs seem to stutter. I check the Plex dashboard and the bandwidth is fine and also the CPU and Memory.
I would really love to get this working on the Amazon Fire cube as that is where I mostly watch the movies from.
The more interesting questions about what’s showing on your dashboard are:
Are those files being transcoded and if so what parts (video/audio/subtitles)? Any transcoding done using the i7’s iGPU (hw-transcoding)?
Are your streams considered local, remote or indirect?
What’s the required bitrate listed on the dashboard for those movies?
More questions:
Have you verified the available network bandwidth in your home network? – there’s quite a difference in wired vs. wireless connectivity (e.g. with regards to how easily they’re impacted by outside aspects)
I tried both direct play and transcoding and both had playback issues.
The stream in local on my network.
The bitrate was low in the dashboard under 4mbps
I have verified the network bandwidth. I tried it over my Wifi which is wi-fi 6 and usually get around 800mbps and also connected via ethernet.
I am a systems engineer so I have a lot of experience in trouble shooting, but the fact was nothing fixed the stuttering issue I was having. I spent many hours working on this issue and finally got fed up. I even swapped out all my networking gear and tried using a 2013 Mac Pro with 12 core CPU and had the same issue.
I tired everything and finally gave up and ended up moving over to EMBY. It is SO MUCH BETTER. The streaming quality is far better, I no longer have any stuttering, I can now stream 1080p movies out side my network with out having any issue where as before if I tried streaming 1080p out side the house it would say it could not convert the video.
I now can also create different accounts with passwords for different family members in my house and control what libraries they can access.
