Remote access works for several minutes then goes offline and Plex Server crashes

Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364 on Mac

Hello

I’ve searched this forum already but could not find a solution. Problem I’m having since yesterday (no changes on my side): Remote Access does not work anymore. I have to restart server everytime when remote access goes offline since server crashes then. I also have contacted my ISP in case something has changed there but in the meantime I wonder if someone has similar issues or a fix…

Thanks for any help!

Plex Media Server Logs_2022-11-19_15-02-15.zip (1.2 MB)

I didn’t see the cause, but someone else might. In the meantime,
Please cycle the power on every device in your network including the Mac.
Start PMS and reproduce the crash, but don’t start PMS after that.
Look for the PMS Crash Log before it gets uploaded and deleted.
It should be in here:

/Users/sfreek/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/1.29.2.6364-6d72b0cf6

copy it and REDACT any personal info in the copy, like your token if it’s there.

  1. Right click → Compress, and you’ll have a zip file of the copy.
  2. Zip up your logs manually using the command below.
  3. Drop both zips into your reply, thanks.
cd ~/Downloads && zip -rj "Plex Media Server Logs_$(date '+%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S')" ~/Library/Logs/"Plex Media Server"

No issue here, I do agree with Nibbles Cycle all devices is good place to start.

I’m wondering if you are using UPnP, if so try turning it off and Manually port Forwarding and restart all devices again. Then check if the correct credentials have populated Plex’s Remote Access settings

The other possible that can cause that issue is a VPN and Killswitch or using a different DNS other than the VPN provider default in their app.

Hello @nibbles and @SE56 and Good morning here from Switzerland

Many thanks for your inputs and the will to help me!

I’ve cycled through all devices, including network and restartetd them several times before even writing here in the forums and even checked all the parameters of Remote Access which I did not change so far and which worked until Friday evening after I restarted my Mac Mini M1… Port Forward is set to manual and there’s also no VPN in place, except other DNS than ISP provides… Was thinking of a Problem with DNS too since I use Open DNS with filters, but A did it work until Friday evening and B I’ve also already changed DNS servers to non filtering Servers but issue of Remote Access / crashing stays the same…

It seems a very odd thing because I’m not sure now if server crashes and remote access goes down because of it or remote access crashes and server goes down with it. And server seems to crash in an oddly way because there are no crash reports as mentioned from @nibbles in designated folders but PMS ist highy unresponsive and I can’t even reach it over local machine via 127.0.0.1:32400, I have to restarted PMS to get it to run for about half an hour before same issue happens again…

I’m a bit stranded here and don’t know what else to do besides rolling back or start over. Already tried a re-install of newest PMS, did not work either…

Again, thanks for any help on this I hope we can resolve it!

EDIT: Did a rollback, does not solve the issue. :frowning:

EDIT 2: Managed to capture some Screenshots of the console when the issue happens cause there are no Crash Reports. I see something about a incomplete TLS handshake and connection reset for my WAN IP. Could this cause Plex to abandon network after every half an hour? I remember something similar with certificates, they had to be “reset” somehow in order to connect to my server again., but I don’t know who did it and if that would be the solution… And I’m seeing SSDP Parsing for Nework Devices like my “hue bridge” and “fritz WLAN Repeater”. What are they doing there? I already unplugged them, changes nothing…

console screenshots.zip (589.1 KB)

Hi again. please read through this support page and make sure you have NAT-PMP and UPnP disabled. Port forward to 32400

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289506-remote-access/?utm_source=Plex%20Forums&utm_medium=Sidebar&utm_campaign=Plex%20Forums

Hi again, thanks for replying

everything is setup accordingly, UPnP is off and the Port Forwarding works correctly for around half an hour. Then it disconnects and Server goes in unreachable and unresponsive state. If I try to connect to reactivate Remote Access via http://127.0.0.1:32400 directly on the machine PMS is running on, I get a connection timeout… Only restarting PMS fixes it for another half an hour…

Thanks!

1 Like

Have you tried using a different port for WAN

You may have to check with your ISP if they have implemented CGNAT.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200931138-troubleshooting-remote-access/

Thanks, will try another port. Regarding CGNAT I already wrote a mail to my ISP’s Support…

UPDATE: Seems to be PMS getting unresponsive after half an hour and not even the remote access connection! I’ve tested it disabling Remote Access after Restart of PMS and it did get unresponsive again after half an hour without connection to the internet! Question now is what to do since I already reinstalled PMS and it did not work and there are no crash logs available?

Thanks!

Do you run any anti virus? Try turning it off, or at least live protection.

No, no Antivirus installed. Only thing I have installed ist “Clean my Mac”, but as already said until a Restart on last Friday it all ran flawlessly…

EDIT: Could it be some rare deadlock-issue? I’ve read in other threads that this could happen: Plex gets unresponsive but did not crash entirely so no crash logs were generated?

1 Like

I would not be using Clean my Mac… Danger, Danger Will Robinson

Thanks for the input! Did uninstall CleanmyMac, restartet machine and restartet PMS. Issue persists, after about half an hour it all gets unresponsive but not crashing entirely, so no crash reports :frowning:

Only this:


Thanks!

Restart the PMS computer.
Start PMS without remote access.
Wait for ½ hour or so until after it has crashed.
you were given a command to generate server logs
it wasn’t so I could have fun typing.
If you’re shy, say so, but life is short.

Good morning from Switzerland, thanks for getting back to me.

I’m sorry I did not mean to bother you in any way!

OK, I did as you said, I used the command you’ve provided to generate logs, after PMS gets unresponsive. Unfortunately the folders in which the crash reports should be located are still empty. Of course I did as you said and looked into them before restarting PMS…

Many thanks for your time and help!

Plex Media Server Logs_2022-11-21_09-19-35.zip (2.3 MB)

screenshots crash log folders.zip (392.4 KB)

thanks for the logs i’ll have a look.
my crash folders are often empty too :slight_smile:

It looks like your screenshot a few posts above zeroed in on what I also saw.
It looks like you have a few things going on beyond a stock install of PMS.
Maybe you have Webhooks running a Phillips Hue.
There’s a also a bunch of scrobble entries and talk of ViewStateSync. So I wonder, do you have this truned on? https://support.plex.tv/articles/sync-watch-state-and-ratings/

I would unplug that Phillips Hue and remove the webhooks, then retest.
if it still fails, turn off sync watch state and retest.
Hopefully someone from Plex will comment if this looks familiar.

Thanks for your fast reply!

Will switch off Viewsync to test, already did unplug my hue bridge, no change, no webhooks either, but i do run Tautulli and Ombi but also switched them off completely and it had nothing changed…

Odd thing is, that it all worked well until I made a restart of the machine on Friday and did a Check with Harddisk Utility…. Also odd that it happens after half an hour of running PMS…

I hope there is a solution soon because i depend on Plex, have it in use for many years and would hate to seek another solution!

Thanks!

EDIT: Would it make sense to open a new thread since it don‘t seem to be an issue of remote access or just „hope“ that somebody from plex gonna look into this thread, what do you think?

EDIT 2: Switched off Sync Watch State, issue persists and PMS goes into some kind of deadlock.

Okay that’s good info about when it started. I too would be concerned if my Plex server was down. It’s always possible that you could reword your topic, but let me ask around to see if there another set of eyes on your logs :slight_smile:

@ChuckPa

Are you online to assist, sir? The users’s PMS crashes every ½ hour with Remote Access, and I can’t test when I am behind CG-NAT.

@nibbles Thank you very much for all your efforts!

Would be great if someone from Plex could look into this, many thanks in advance!

1 Like

I am here.

From where I sit (USA), the port is not open using IP and port number at plex.tv

Hello @ChuckPa thanks for your fast reply and for looking into this!

The reason why you don’t see open port at the moment maybe that my plex server is already unresponsive again, it seems to not totally crash (no crash logs unfortunately) but goes into some kind of deadlock, (so that I can’t even reach it on local machine over it’s 127.0.0.1…-IP) and therefore also closes down remote access… When I restart PMS you will see open ports for about half an hour again before it goes to another deadlock… Please let me know when to restart so you can check… (I live here in Switzerland and it’s already almost 10pm, but I would stay awake if I must)

Did you also see the logs or shall I attach them here again?

Thanks!