QNAP tvs-473 problems - plex server not found?

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Hi everyone,
I am having recurrent difficulty with finding my plex server (after almost a year of problem-free service).
after troubleshooting NAS connectivity with QNAP (for now), I tested the PLEX server, and seemed to work (it even seemed to work with my HD home run TV tuner). now, it stopped working again. I tried loading PLEX from the QNAP homepage, and the intranet web page won’t load at all. tried stopping and restarting the service, no difference.

any tips would be most appreciated.
thank you!
Karl

In a bizarre twist, I can access the QNAP server from my phone, but from my laptop it intermittently cuts out like it is now… ugh. See image (will try to upload another image in a second)

I am running macOS Mojave 10.14.1,
Any help is greatly appreciated!

image

What happens when you try accessing Plex on your QNAP directly.

http://Qnap.Ip.Address:32400

server not found

Please show screenshots from your QTS NW & vSwitch pages (detailed view) and your NIC view showing ip/etc.

Will try to get those to you ASAP. (I’ll plumb around the settings / configuration pages to try to find the appropriate info). Safe to assume NW = network?

Hello @MwC_Trexx, I have attached (hopefully) the right screenshots.
I think this is more of a QNAP issue, because for the past ~3 weeks it has been dropping connections frequently. Only randomly could I get in right now to get these screen shots.

Many, many thanks in advance for any guidance you can give.

Your empty DNS servers are likely the cause of your problems.

What is you Qnap connected to…router, cable modem, etc??

net gear nighthawk router.
I am on spectrum internet.
I wonder if a firmware update (either net gear or QNAP) may have caused this behavior, since it was the same hardware setup since the very beginning

BUT, you definitely have my attention. What would you suggest as the next step?

If I may provide secondary guidance?

Please look here.. Do not concern yourself with DDNS at this point.

Look at the Overview.

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It shouldn’t have, but you never know.

So here is how you should have things configured.

Spectrum Cable Modem → Nighthwawk Router (DHCP/DNS) → QNAP (direct connected or via switch in the middle).

  • Nighthawk Router is configured as 192.168.1.1
  • Nighthawk DCHP Range is say 192.168.1.2 - 254 (default settings).
  • Nighthawk DNS: Pulled from Spectrum ISP

Changes you will need to make on the Nighthawk:

  • Either set DHCP reservation for QNAP OR adjust DHCP Scope and hard-code QNAP Static IP

Personally I set a DHCP reservation for my QNAP’s that way if something gets reset/fubar’d on the router where say DHCP range changes from 192.168.1.x to 192.168.0.x, I am still good.

See here how to set static reservation on your Nighthawk:

Changes on your QNAP

Once you have the DHCP reservation setup on your Nighthawk, make sure you SINGLE NW connection from your QNAP to Nighthawk is configured to use DHCP for both IP & DNS settings.

See here for more info (ignore port trunking, etc. for now).

After setting all this up, I would reboot the qnap to make sure it comes back up clean with the settings we want.

He wasn’t referencing DDNS, but getting error’s that DNS wasn’t configuring properly which I have seen occasionally on the QNAP forums (they made some under the cover changes in DNS post 4.3.4+).

hello @MwC_Trexx , so I just spent an hour with QNAP tech support. the conclusion he had for now is to switch back to DHCP (instead of a fixed IP address), and have to do a step by step process of elimination (ethernet cable from router to adapter 1 on QNAP, if problems occur then router to adapter 3, then router to adapter 4). he suggests a separate ethernet cable from router to adapter 2 and keep that plugged in at all times. does that make sense?

I also looked at your link on Nighthawk and everything looks correct. should I make the changes you suggested on the QNAP now, or wait for a day or two to see if problem recurs?

Well what QNAP is doing is using NIC port #2 as your “QNAP Nic” and then having you run a 2nd separate IP / cable for Plex (not leveraging LAG/Teaming/etc.).

I don’t to be honest know why that would be needed unless they think you have a bad NIC port.

Simplest setup is 1 cable between QNAP & Router (use DHCP or static IP doesn’t really matter).

Majority of the time these issue boil down to incorrect settings on router/qnap (Plex or nw/vswitch).

The trouble is some of them are very difficult to troubleshoot/etc. w/o being on the systems/screens/etc. directly.

So, I’m happy to report that the problem was fixed (I think after QNAP senior tech support switched me from static IP to DHCP)!
I definitely agree some behind the scenes firmware changes happened that caused this mess.
Question though - is it still possible I have a bad NIC card on the QNAP? The tech support suggested I keep the shielded Ethernet cable from NIC 1 -> one of the router ports; and add another Ethernet cable from NIC 2 -> a second port on the router. Should I just unplug the second cable to see if the problem reoccurs?

Not to speak poorly of anyone doing tech support hahahahaha

It sounds like your situation wasn’t actually resolved. All they did was get it working.

DHCP is NOT the answer. If the system can’t handle a static IP, it’s firmware.
Roll back the firmware to where it was stable.

If you truly have a failing port… Unplugging one and testing under extreme load (extended iperf3) will ferret it out. Then swap and repeat again.

Hi @ChuckPa & @MwC_Trexx,

I hear you about the tech support comment - I feel like it “fixed” the problem without necessarily “fixing” the problem.

On the plus side, not having any more server disconnect issues for the past two weeks.

On the minus, now I have to either disconnect the cable from port 2 -> router, or do the iperf3 stress test.

Thanks to all for this journey to an ultimately good outcome!

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