Server Version#: 1.31.1 up to and including the Latest for Mac.
Player Version#: Latest for all OS.
For several months now the server stops functioning. Connected clients will receive a content unavailable or ‘something went wrong’ error on screen. They let me know, I check and the PMS icon is still in the menu bar, so it did not quit or crash. Yet it is no longer serving any content so I have to quit and restart the PMS app. This can happen every 10 minutes or only twice a day, there appears to be no consistency.
Clients are local (iOS, Apple TV and Mac) and a few remote (Mac, iOS, Apple TV, Windows)
Activity monitor shows no unusual CPU/RAM/Drive activity related to Plex either. On one of the Plex facebook groups people seemed sure my NVME was failing (which it may have been, it was dodgy) so I replaced that a few days ago. Issues persist and all hardware on this machine checks out.
Attached are the logs I got from Settings > Manage > Troubleshooting. The ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports holds nothing plex related so that is not included. EDIT: Logs in comment below
The logs may show the issue clear as day, I just have not been able to make sense of it.
Here is a detailed log of the testing done today, the entire timeframe is included in the logs.
13:52 - Start PMS to enable debug
13:53 - Restart PMS
13:58 - Local client (Apple TV) starts watching content
14:18 - Apple TV playback stopped, connection lost
PMS still running in menu bar, responsive when I click on it so the app has not crashed
Verified on server machine with Plex app, “no content available”
14:20 - Restarted PMS
14:22 - Added a movie file and kicked off a media scan
14:27 - Local client (Mac) started watching content
14:44 - Apple TV stopped playback again
Mac continued playing
14:46 - Restarted PMS
Mac never skipped a beat, it probably had plenty in the buffer to not even notice.
15:11 - Apple TV stopped playback again
Mac continued playing, I left PMS on to see how long it would take the Mac to throw an error.
15:17 - Mac still playing, I stopped playback and tried to resume, it would not resume (showed spinning circle in Plex client)
15:18 - Restarted PMS
15:45 - Apple TV playback stopped by user, no issues since last restart. Mac still going.
15:46 - Started Plex app on server machine, found “no content available”, The other Mac client is still going, unknown how long ago PMS stopped serving.
Mac client has 40 minutes left in a movie at this point, not restarting PMS until that client throws an error
16:32 - Mac client finished the movie without issue, but was unable to load up a new file or see the home screen due to “no content available”
16:33 - Restarted PMS and exported logs.
Currently using version 1.31.1, but up until yesterday I was running the latest version and had the exact same issues.
Thank you for the server logs and detailed chronology
For this failure, the server logs shows the Plex for Apple TV app was direct playing the media and the periodic playback state update to the server was coming in up to 14:16:32. The server was still running and continued to receive playback state updates from other Plex apps.
For this failure, it would be necessary to also see the corresponding Plex for Apple TV logs to see why the app stopped sending requests to the server. The server failed the Direct Play segment request at 14:17:33
Aug 18, 2023 14:17:33.466 [0x700009a5e000] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 587218944 bytes: 32 - Broken pipe
Aug 18, 2023 14:17:33.466 [0x700009a5e000] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.100.151:49701] 206 GET /library/parts/115489/1670614691/file.mkv (10 live) #a92 TLS 721810ms 587218944 bytes (range: bytes=5666-)
I can’t see a request from the local app on the server machine in the log at/after 14:18 to see why you got “no content available”
The last set of requests to be processed by the server were at 14:19 from local IP 192.168.100.178 - a Mac on the local network and the requests were the periodic playback state requests relating to a paused playback.
I see that you have Secure Connections set to Required on the server and there is evidence of DNS Rebinding Protection being in place within the local network - I do not know at this stage if it is a factor.
Next time this happens - also try this url on the server in a browser - if the server is processing requests then you should get a 401 response http://127.0.0.1:32400/web
This is exactly the same as the earlier example
The Apple TV on 192.168.100.151 was sending updates for playback (for I believe a Plex Home user) - last update came at 14:43:30 - again I would need to see the corresponding Plex for Apple TV logs to establish why it stopped
For the Apple TV on 192.168.100.151, playback state updates to the server were coming in up to 15:09:13 with state = playback in progress. At 15:09:15 a status of playback was stopped was sent to the server. I do not know why the app sent that and would need the corresponding Plex for Apple TV logs to see what was logged
For the Mac Plex app on 192.168.100.178, I can see status = playback in progress up to 15:17:08 then status goes to paused and stopped at 15:17:27. An error status is returned at 15:18:32 . I do not know why the app set the error status - the corresponding logs from the Desktop app would be needed
I do see an error set by the server relating to this - I will follow this up - but the app had already indicated an error state - what version of the Plex Desktop app were you running ?
Could you make sure you are current versions of both server and client - what is the reason for the server being on 1.31.1
For the Mac client on 192.168.100.178 I can see status of playing media up to 16:31:06 and then state of paused
At 16:31:28 the plex app closed its connection to the server. Would need the app logs to know why
At 16:34 the server was shut down
None of the logs have any indication of PMS freezing - There appear to be issues but for each case would need to see the diagnostic logs from both sides - the client app and the server
Hi @sa2000 thanks so much for taking the time to analyze the logs and break it down. I have attached the Apple TV logs spanning the same time frame, and the logs for the Mac client.
what version of the Plex Desktop app were you running ?
The Mac client uses version 1.76.2, it auto-updates on launch so should always be the latest.
what is the reason for the server being on 1.31.1
I’ve read in several places that downgrading to that specific version fixed issues for others, so wanted to give it a shot.
Additional information that may or may not be useful:
When I use the Desktop App on the Mac Pro (1.76.2), same machine that runs Plex Server, video playback never gets interrupted. I can finish whatever show or movie I am watching without issues. However when the content ends, and I then click home, or the next episode, the app will say the server can not be reached, content unavailable, retry connecting. I then restart PMS and the Desktop app reconnects after a few seconds. Whatever I was just watching will show as being only partially watched, even though I finished it. Usually, for a show, this is 50% or less.
The log history for the Desktop App on the server machine does not go back far enough to capture the above mentioned test time so I could not include those. I will try the browser URL test next time this happens on the server machine.
A firewall is in use in this house but none of the LAN traffic is managed/monitored. It only focuses on WAN traffic. This firewall has been in use for over 2 years so while I doubt this has any relevance, I figure I’d mention it just in case.
The server machine uses firewall software as well (Little Snitch) but Plex, PMS and all dependencies are whitelisted. This software has been in use for well over a decade and has never affected Plex or PMS.
Both internal and external drives connected to the server machine are set to never sleep. The system itself also never sleeps.
I did another test tonight @sa2000 , all on the local server machine.
1:19 (am) - Start PMS
1:19:49 - Mark last completed episode as watched
1:20:19 - Start watching new episode
1:27:00 - Pause
1:30:00 - Resume
2:05:19 - Episode done
Autoplay did not show thumbnail for the next episode, when the countdown finished and the next episode tried to play, it showed a spinning circle for a while and then threw up a dialog saying “Playback error - An error occurred loading items to play.” I always stop an episode as credits roll so never deal with autoplay usually.
2:06:50 - Tried to load 127.0.0.1:32400 in a browser, it timed out.
2:07:13 - PMS restart
The episode I just finished watching is 41 minutes and 57 seconds in length. The home screen showed that episode as only being 17 minutes and 39 seconds in with 24 minutes left. This means the server stopped marking playback location at 1:41-ish.
No library scans were done in this timeframe.
Forgot to update PMS, so still running 1.31.1.
When the server is not acting weird, pulling up that localhost URL works and redirects to a login page “app.plex.tv/auth/#!?clientID=”.
Attached are the PMS and Plex App logs for this time period. I hope they can offer some additional insight. LatestServerLogs.zip (175.3 KB)
Initial feedback - I am coming to think my suspicions that I mentioned before may be having a part
I see that you have Secure Connections set to Required on the server and there is evidence of DNS Rebinding Protection being in place within the local network - I do not know at this stage if it is a factor.
The Apple TV log shows a request at 14:16:37 that never got to the server and got timed out. Further logged errors later in the log suggest it is to do with DNS Rebinding Protection on your network.
Could you try with the server Secure Connections settings changed from Required to Preferred and see if that makes a difference. If problems persist even with the Preferred setting - please let me have fresh logs from both sides
Please restart the server and the device after making the change to the server setting just to make sure the new setting is picked up
Update:
Please also look at the Plex client app settings and if there is a setting for allowing fallback to insecure connections, set it to be allowed within the same network that the server is also on
Looked at the desktop app logs and I see similar errors on the https plex.direct urls which I suspect is to do with DNS Rebinding Protection. I will wait for you to look into the DNS Rebinding Protection
Further to my earlier response, when amending the Server Secure Connections, also check the Plex apps settings
And change what you have for Allow Fallback to insecure connections from Never to On same network as server
I have not checked the Apple TV app settings for the Desktop app we do have this setting
Thanks @sa2000 will do.
For now, should I stick with PMS version 1.31.1, so as to not introduce new variables to this case/issue, or update to the latest?
I have set the server and all local Mac Apps to the suggested settings (preferred on server, fallback on clients). Could not find any such settings on Apple TV.
Did a test from Apple TV and within 10 minutes of finishing an episode of a show, playback stopped when trying to load the next episode.
So I added the “server:private-domain: “plex.direct”” to the pfSense firewall DNS Rebinding Exclude list as suggested on the Plex support page and am trying again. Will report back in a bit.
@sa2000 going on 4 hours of continuous playback both local and one remote client, no issues. It looks like the DNS Rebinding Protection thing was the culprit.
Why it suddenly started doing this, even though I have not touched DNS related settings in over a year, I have no idea. How DNS Rebinding Protection works and how it caused the issues, I’m hoping you have an explanation just to satisfy my curiosity (if you have time). Either way, it’s working now so I very much appreciate the help!
Would you recommend I set the server and all clients back to never allowing insecure fallback, and Required? I set it up that way years ago as I figured it added security.
Suggest trying only making this whitelist change and putting back the secure connections settings and see if this resolves the problem for both the ma desktop app and Apple TV
I cannot say why now this is an issue - any router firmware update ?
I will change the title of the topic to be closer to what was happening as the Plex Media Server was not freezing
I would like to establish if the issue is fully resolved on both Plex for Desktop and Plex for Apple TV with just the single change of
adding the “server:private-domain: “plex.direct”” to the pfSense firewall DNS Rebinding Excludes
So could you put back the client setting for desktop to never fallback as before and also the server secure connections setting back to “Required” and try again
And were there any other plex client apps impacted or just these two ? I would like to refer to the development teams and would need diagnostics from the server and the client app for any app that fails without the exclude in the pfSense firewall
