PS4 Buffering

Plex Players Gaming Consoles
1

I have not been able to play any videos at anytime since installing the Plex app on my PS4. Just constant buffering. I assume since I’m playing an mp4 with AAC audio that it is direct play and there is no transcoding involved. I am using a wireless connection and my computer has an AMD Phenom II N830 Triple Core 2.1 GHZ processor and 4GB of RAM. Yes I know my computer is out of date and the processor isn’ the fasest in the world, but I can play videos just fine on my Amazon Fire TV. I’ve gone through just about every topic in this forum and tried every trick and tip I could find on the internet and still nothing. Below are the answers to the questions that someone had on a pinned post on this forum. Any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

The XML media information for the library item you tried to play

<Role](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/id1qIb7cZs2eQno90KsKwG8VLGN.jpg)id=“117” tag=“Michael Nyqvist” role=“Viggo Tarasov” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/bDjPDDiSna8FN5rqHdheg2wIYYo.jpg”/><Role id=“118” tag=“Alfie Allen” role=“Iosef Tarasov” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/4q6yzSMi8Q5XeIn5A1yUD1tEfwq.jpg”/><Role id=“119” tag=“Willem Dafoe” role=“Marcus” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/A1uyY0KbYSR8fk7Wkdbs2VfsBw1.jpg”/><Role id=“120” tag=“Dean Winters” role=“Avi” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/l6yaRWtG1yjkdKo4oGk2SMBx64x.jpg”/><Role id=“121” tag=“Adrianne Palicki” role=“Ms. Perkins” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/iaJuVBKWN9G532b6sWX5SwSt18d.jpg”/><Role id=“122” tag=“Omer Barnea” role=“Gregori” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/oBNeyaNaZ5hoh84XISKWt4RteLV.jpg”/><Role id=“123” tag=“Toby Leonard Moore” role=“Victor” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mNmFB7OxcwLIQm3ovnHFL0PNtsN.jpg”/><Role id=“124” tag=“Daniel Bernhardt” role=“Kirill” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/gsIWvByH4lzQdTgMswQWqiAQOql.jpg”/><Role id=“125” tag=“Bridget Moynahan” role=“Helen Wick” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/sNdD2Cos4aecowtWPpd0hcM8izY.jpg”/><Role id=“126” tag=“John Leguizamo” role=“Aureilo” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/wlcCiSjmcXHJCG7WATmbwYIRnmX.jpg”/><Role id=“127” tag=“Ian McShane” role=“Winston” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/pY9ud4BJwHekNiO4MMItPbgkdAy.jpg”/><Role id=“128” tag=“Bridget Regan” role=“Addy” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/uzVNdcPD2drMUKmT73xuKKYXBzB.jpg”/><Role id=“129” tag=“Lance Reddick” role=“Hotel Manager / Charon” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/5t4j7zvsjG5UyVxBJzly5OUMR3x.jpg”/><Role id=“130” tag=“David Patrick Kelly” role=“Charlie” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/ujvmeyBvEJ7gkvww0OYDBlbxOTT.jpg”/><Role id=“131” tag=“Clarke Peters” role=“Harry” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/7a3OTcJlncY32LDvdTjLS6bTMxh.jpg”/><Role id=“132” tag=“Kevin Nash” role=“Francis” thumb=“http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/mmbhdSwlmfBj9LCH9I4QoPgjDN0.jpg”/><Extras size=“9”>

  • Playing locally? What was the selected local quality? Yes
  • Playing remotely? What was the selected remote quality? No
  • Which audio stream were you listening too? AAC
  • Does the bad behavior happen on all videos some of the time? Happens on all videos, all the time
  • Or, some videos all of the time? No
  • Are the problematic videos mostly MP4/M4V? Yes MP4
2

what codec are the videos encoded in it could be transcoding and the computer not keeping up.  Do you see the cpu usage spiking when you try to watch somthing on the ps4 ?

notes+ looks like your file is a h264 should be direct playing

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/204377253-What-media-formats-are-supported-

3

@bal3wolf

shouldn't we have a "reference" file for future testing? This would ease trouble shooting to my opinion,

Like some of being posted here http://cybernetnews.com/xbmc-high-bitrate-sample-videos/

4

im just a user like you trying to help when i can so im not sure most times when the plex employs post they ask for a sample of file your having trouble with.

5

To be honest with you it's ridiculous that this is taking so long to sort out... I've had the issue for months.. and still waiting ... No wonder people stick to Apple TV which works perfectly.

6

To be honest with you it's ridiculous that this is taking so long to sort out... I've had the issue for months.. and still waiting ... No wonder people stick to Apple TV which works perfectly.

Don't like it... stop paying for PP and go to another platform.  The devs have said on multiple occasions that they're working to sort it out.  Also, working in a small team myself, I understand these things take time.

7

I agree dAT_SLoth people need to realize plex dont employ 1000s of people to code and test over and over till every bug is out the app is beta for a reason. Ps4 is not the only app they have to bug test and release fixes for they have tons of platforms they code and maintain. Heck even look at big game companies per say sometimes they reason games with huge bugs that mess or break gameplay and takes months to get it all sorted out.

8

I agree dAT_SLoth people need to realize plex dont employ 1000s of people to code and test over and over till every bug is out the app is beta for a reason. Ps4 is not the only app they have to bug test and release fixes for they have tons of platforms they code and maintain. Heck even look at big game companies per say sometimes they reason games with huge bugs that mess or break gameplay and takes months to get it all sorted out.

Your point plus... I'm sure the vetting process is ridiculous through Sony.

9

Has anyone discovered PS4 settings that help or affect this issue in any way?

10

not me so far...

11

Don't like it... stop paying for PP and go to another platform.  The devs have said on multiple occasions that they're working to sort it out.  Also, working in a small team myself, I understand these things take time.

Thanks for the advice, did just this today.  Canceled plex pass.

12

Don't like it... stop paying for PP and go to another platform.  The devs have said on multiple occasions that they're working to sort it out.  Also, working in a small team myself, I understand these things take time.

it's weird seeing that this is the mentality here.

People complain about said item, other people say stop paying GTFO not try to help in getting info to fix the problem.

Time is understandable but no blog update or anything regarding the matter is kinda ■■■■■■■■■■■

I agree dAT_SLoth people need to realize plex dont employ 1000s of people to code and test over and over till every bug is out the app is beta for a reason. Ps4 is not the only app they have to bug test and release fixes for they have tons of platforms they code and maintain. Heck even look at big game companies per say sometimes they reason games with huge bugs that mess or break gameplay and takes months to get it all sorted out.

you don't need 1000 people to code or test over. 

granted it does take time but I have a hard time believing the same amount of coding going into a video game is going to an streaming app.

I've been supporting plex since the beginning and LOVE IT, I just wish they was a bit more informative regarding the PS4 version.

13

I couldn’t agree more. Plex is a sophisticated product but its not even close to the scale of a video game - at least in terms of sheer programming. I believe this problem is fundamentally with the PS4 system itself though. Especially when you consider how well Plex works with every other platform in terms of buffering.


Sony is fanatical about the levels of security involved with this platform. It’s why there’s no hex editors or game save editors like almost every other console has had.


Just a quick example of that. The old game editor Gamegenie last year discovered an exploit through a hidden wifi signal from the PS Vita to the PS4 in which they could maybe access some gamesaves. It’s been almost ten months and they’ve made no other progress.


Now I understand that’s a completely different situation but the point is that the PS4 is an incredibly secure piece of hardware made by a company that rivals government agencies when it comes to secrecy.


I strongly suspect the buffering problem is not with Plex or their team but rather with Sony. I believe once this has all played out we’ll find the buffering problem had to do with Sony not providing enough access to their system.


Having said all that I think its perfectly reasonable for us to expect at least some sort of information from Plex on the status.


Seriously, what would it cost Plex to simply make a statement saying “we and Sony are working on the problem and will keep you updated as progress goes forward”?!


It’s literally the least they could do.