Server Version#: 1.42.2.10156 (always kept up to date)
Player Version#: unknown Roku
I started a thread a month or so ago in the Server section because I was experiencing repeated and frequent server crashes. Some good folks there looked at some of my logs and the only real suggestion was that it was perhaps related to my media files.
I think I’ve confirmed that is not the case. I had a remote user watching X media file in its entirety one day, and then another remote user watching the same (“X”) media file the next day who experienced 3 server crashes at different points in the film. The person with the crashes was using an external Roku (OS version unknown). Now I know that seems like flimsy evidence, but there’s at least one other user I know of who definitely had crashes using Roku.
I myself have one Roku TV (built-in OS) and haven’t seen crashes lately, but then I don’t watch Plex on that TV too often. Plus perhaps there’s some difference between built-in Roku (“Roku TV”) and external Roku devices. I can tell you that my Roku TV is on version 14-something (which I mention because there’s a pinned thread in this forum about playback issues on Roku OS 15).
I have had a couple of reports of crashes from a frequent user who does NOT use Roku, but after thinking about that I’ve intuitively concluded that this person’s crashes were caused by someone else watching on Roku at the same time. No way to confirm that at this point, but I intuitively feel it’s correct. I have another very frequent user who lives on the other side of the country (USA), never uses Roku, and has never experienced a crash.
Anyway, used to be a big Roku fan. Probably bought a dozen of those things over the years, but because of this issue I want to move away from them. Recently had to find a device for a basement TV that isn’t watched very often. I had an old Chromecast hooked up to it, and recently went to watch something on Plex and it just wouldn’t play the file at all. So I decided to look for a generic Android-based player box and settled on the ONN 4K Android box from Walmart for just $19.88. Very happy with it so far, can’t beat the price, and I feel it will be stable over the long haul.
I’m just posting this wondering if anyone else has noticed this going on with Roku. I don’t know if it’s a programming issue on the Plex side or something with Roku, but I can’t believe people aren’t screaming about it. I’ve used Plex for over 10 years and it’s historically run just fine for months or even years at a time. It’s on a dedicated Mac Mini that does nothing else. But recently I was getting crashes almost daily for a while.
