Server disconnects - Screen goes black during playback

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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This has been happening for months and no one seems to be interested in fixing it - you need to downgrade to PMS 1.40.4.8679 (or older) to fix this issue:

Download the apk from: Plex Media Server 1.40.4.8679 (smb) (nodpi) APK Download by Plex, Inc. - APKMirror

It’s very important that you don’t uninstall PMS and then attempt to install the above apk manually for two reasons:

  1. You’ll lose all your libraries (which you can of course restore from a backup, but hassle)
  2. When PMS is installed from any source other than the Google Play Store it does not have full access to NAS or external drives, causing multiple issues.

To downgrade PMS on Nvidia Shield, you need to use ADB commands. The easiest way to do this is wireless ADB via a computer on the same network.

Here are the steps in high-level:

  1. Set up ADB on your computer (Google for instructions)
  2. Enable Developer Options on Nvidia Shield (Google for instructions)
  3. Enable Network Debugging under Developer Options, note the IP address, e.g. 198.168.0.2
  4. On your computer, open ADB, connect to Nvidia Shield
    → run adb connect <IP address>:5555
    replace <> with your IP address above, e.g. adb connect 192.168.0.2:5555
    → you may be prompted on Nvidia Shield to grant access.
  5. Copy PMS downloaded from apkmirror (version 1.40.4.8679) to Nvidia Shield
    → run adb push "<path to download>" /data/local/tmp/plex.apk
    replace <> with the full path to the downloaded apk file on your computer, don’t omit double quotation marks, the full path should include the file name and extension at the end, e.g. adb push "c:\downloads\com.plexapp.mediaserver.smb _1.40.4.8679_(smb)-1128392242_minAPI23(arm64-v8a) (nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk" /data/local/tmp/plex.apk
    you may want to rename the downloaded apk before this step to make typing the command easier
    FYI, this step will rename the downloaded apk while copying it to Nvidia Shield
    FYI, the command syntax is adb push <path_to_file_origin> <path_to_filr_destination>
  6. Install as downgrade
    → run adb shell pm install -d /data/local/tmp/plex.apk

You should get an affirmative prompt after steps 5 (line that says 1 file pushed) and 6 (Success).

After this PMS should come back online automatically, you can confirm the downgrade was success by checking the app info on Nvidia Shield or in the Plex settings.

If this doesn’t work for you

  • Restart Nvidia Shield after the downgrade, then leave it to run for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards, open Plex Player, and check settings to see if PMS is showing.
  • If still doesn’t work, you may need to start from a fresh install. Back up your PMS database and preferences.xml first. Then uninstall PMS on Nvidia Shield. Reinstall PMS from Google Play Store. Open Plex Player, go to settings and setup PMS. Accept all default choices, allow it to create blank new libraries. Let it run for 5-10 minutes to make sure everything runs. Don’t touch it, add/remove libraries, scan for media, etc. At this point attempt downgrade. After successful downgrade, make sure PMS is still running. If all good, move PMS data directory to internal (user accessible) or external, stop PMS, then restore your backed up database and preferences.xml. Start PMS from Plex Player settings.
  • If above still doesn’t work, your preferences.xml may be buggy, delete it, restart Nvidia Shield and see if PMS runs. If resolved, you have to change PMS settings through the Plex web app as all settings would have restored back to default.
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