Strange 401 returned when attempting to play live tv via Chromecast

Live TV & DVR
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Server Version#: 1.24.3.5033-757abe6b4
Player Version#: Plex Web Player + Chromecast firmware 1.49.250946
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun CONNECT 4K/firmware 20210624
Guide/Lineup name: “plexair-madison—Live TV & DVR” - or what is this asking for?
Using XMLTV?: no, not sure, what?
Channel number/Name: any/all channels affected (ie. no channels play successfully via chromecast)

Pasted at the end of this post is what I see in the PMS log moments after I click “cast” and select my chromcast on the LAN. Please note, this is completely expected and intentional use of RFC1918 addressing. This Chromecast is on wifi, and can reach the PMS I’m testing with via normal routing across a normal IP network.

Background: the Chromecast is not on the same subnet as the PMS. The PMS runs on a “public” internet-reachable IP. The Chromecast is NAT’d to the Internet at large and can reach everything else I try. The Chromecast is NOT NAT’d when it hits the PMS. I have tried NAT’ing the Chromcast before it hits PMS, and there is no change in behavior - PMS merely thinks the host is “WAN” vs “allowed network (WAN)” in those cases; PMS still returns a 401 when Chromecast appears to “come from” a “Internet” public IP.

I don’t know if Chromecast ever worked in playing live TV from PMS, as I have no prior experience with this situation. All I know is this doesn’t seem to work at this point in time. Of course I’d like it to work.

Can play live TV from web browser, Apple TV, Roku, and iOS plex apps just fine. Issue seems to crop up here when the app hands off playback to the Chromecast player; Chromecast tries to fetch the URL that it was directed to fetch by PMS (shown below), and then that PMS barks back a 401 (HTTP Unauthorized) to the Chromecast, which seems…like a bug.

This same Chromecast player is also able to play recorded TV shows from the same PMS, as well as content from other libraries on this and other PMSs. It seems as if live, specifically only live, is broken.

I’ve tried adding 10/8 to the “allow unauthenticated” list on the server config to no avail.

Oct 03, 2021 12:02:18.886 [0x7f9e296d1b38] DEBUG - Request: [10.90.1.147:44941 (Allowed Network (WAN))] GET /livetv/sessions/e4879c74-35be-4bc7-a583-81c92a283a4d?own=1 (28 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token ()
Oct 03, 2021 12:02:18.887 [0x7f9e296d1b38] DEBUG - Completed: [10.90.1.147:44941] 401 GET /livetv/sessions/e4879c74-35be-4bc7-a583-81c92a283a4d?own=1 (28 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 482 bytes
Oct 03, 2021 12:02:19.044 [0x7f9e296aeb38] DEBUG - Request: [10.90.1.147:44940 (Allowed Network (WAN))] GET /tv.plex.providers.epg.cloud:23/grid?type=1%2C4&sort=beginsAt&endsAt%3E=1633280400&beginsAt%3C=1633284000 (28 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token ()
Oct 03, 2021 12:02:19.044 [0x7f9e296aeb38] DEBUG - Completed: [10.90.1.147:44940] 401 GET /tv.plex.providers.epg.cloud:23/grid?type=1%2C4&sort=beginsAt&endsAt%3E=1633280400&beginsAt%3C=1633284000 (28 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 482 bytes

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This problem isn’t limited to server-linux. I am experiencing exactly the same problem as tkapela but am running a Windows 10 desktop as my server. All other functions are fine. For me, this problem is limited to Live TV streaming via a chromecast. Streams fine to all other clients in my house.

I’ll pull version info when I get house this evening and edit information into this post.

Thank you.

2 Likes
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Thanks for confirming this is affecting more than merely the linuxed edition of PMS.

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Now, how to get the attention of someone to fix?

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I have also tried a gen 2 Chromecast and a Gen 3. Moved both to different access points… In all cases, everything works for streaming from my tuner card except the Chromecast.

Yes - it sure would be nice if there was some method to ask for support other than a community board. At least something that would tell us that they are aware of the problem and looking into it.

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Also running into this issue, but all the devices are on the same subnet. I can’t cast live tv from the android app or web app to either of my chromecasts. I get these two 401s when attempting to cast:

Oct 11, 2021 04:49:42.173 [0x7f58c4d59b38] Debug — Request: [10.0.0.16:47620 (Subnet)] GET /livetv/sessions/ed088290-73da-4796-9e27-a7289d523d91?own=1 (13 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token ()

Oct 11, 2021 04:49:42.173 [0x7f58c4d59b38] Debug — Completed: [10.0.0.16:47620] 401 GET /livetv/sessions/ed088290-73da-4796-9e27-a7289d523d91?own=1 (13 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 482 bytes

Oct 11, 2021 04:49:42.244 [0x7f58c4d59b38] Debug — Request: [10.0.0.16:47621 (Subnet)] GET /tv.plex.providers.epg.cloud:2/grid?type=1%2C4&sort=beginsAt&endsAt%3E=1633926600&beginsAt%3C=1633930200 (13 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token ()

Oct 11, 2021 04:49:42.245 [0x7f58c4d59b38] Debug — Completed: [10.0.0.16:47621] 401 GET /tv.plex.providers.epg.cloud:2/grid?type=1%2C4&sort=beginsAt&endsAt%3E=1633926600&beginsAt%3C=1633930200 (13 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 482 bytes

Playback works fine on the android app and web app and no 401s appear in the log.

Server version: 1.24.4.5081 (linux/docker)
Chromecast firmware: 1.49.250946
HDHomeRun CONNECT DUO firmware: 20210624

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Also unable to cast live TV to Chromecast. Everything else works except casting live to to Google Chromecast.

Server: running on macOS Catalina
Client: iOS casting to Google Chromecast
Tuner: HDHomerun

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This functionality was previously working up until recently. It seems that it works in some updates and is then broken in others. I really need to disable PMS updates so that I dont have to constantly fight with this.

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Seems like it should be an easy fix since it was working recently. Hopefully we can get a response from someone at plex, or is there another way of reaching out?

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Same here. It used to work - then recent Plex update borked it. Unable to cast LiveTV from Windows Chrome Web, iOS, Android App, Android Chrome Web, due to compatibility error.

Just in time for football season.

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Will plex.tv do something? Emby is working great and it is not removing working features to users. It is been over a month without being able to cast live tv to chromecast.

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So, reverted to previous version of PMS 1.24.1.4931 on a whim and LiveTV to Chromecast is again working. I didn’t try all versions from current but just picked and got lucky.

Specifically, I run PMS on FreeNAS (FreeBSD).

Not aware of any other issues with this version yet - hope this helps.

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Thanks snowfan84. I reverted back to 1.24.3 first. Didn’t work. Then went to 1.24.0 (don’t have anything between. 0 and .3). Chromecast is now working with live tv again!

Finally… football on the big screen again!

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Poke - how might we get the attention of the coder folk to fix this issue?

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Indeed.
I just attempted to update to 1.25.2 (Dec 8) and get the same “Sorry! Something went wrong” message immediately when attempting to stream a Live TV channel through my Chromecast. Within 1.25.2, I was able to stream to other PCs and Android phones without issue. All of my other streaming service apps work fine with the Chromecast. All of my other content in Plex (movies, TV shows, music) streams to the Chromecast just fine. This is tied exclusively to the “Live TV & DVR” functions. I have (once again) downgraded back to 1.24.0 in order to get the functionality back.

As this thread has been active since the beginning of October WITHOUT any comment from the Plex team WHATSOEVER, I think my patience and desire to stay professional is wearing thin…

It would no longer be “nice” for the developers to comment (let alone actually fix) the issue. They damn well better get their acts together and (at the absolute bare minimum) say that they are aware of the issue. As we have all said multiple times - if there is something wrong with our setups - at least have the courtesy to tell us what we are doing wrong so we can fix it.

Please don’t blow us off (we are ALL paying customers) and blame it on the Chromecast. If this is the case - THEN TELL US THAT MUCH. I doubt that this is the case though as EVERYTHING ELSE WORKS with my Chromecast.

While I’m venting - improve your customer service. Have other methods (more direct) to contact support for help. At the least for the paying customers. If you’re going to rely solely on a forum for providing support then you had damn well better answer ALL issues.

2 Likes
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Replying to keep this thread open. Why haven’t we heard from Plex support yet? I tried reverting to 1.24.0 and was once again able to cast to chromecast, however within a few days, Plex stopped recognizing my HDHomerun flex.

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Seems to be the same problem as both of these threads:

On server version 1.24.2.4973 (QNAP) plex hardware transcodes the HDHomeRun CONNECT DUO to my Chromecasts, but on subsequent versions it does not appear to attempt to use HW transcoding and Live TV fails without ever beginning.

Why isn’t Plex acknowleding this problem?

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This is still ongoing for me and other users. Bumping to keep thread alive.

1 Like
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I just found this thread and I can confirm that I was facing the exact same issue.
I first updated to the latest version of PMS, which is 1.25.9 right now which did not work for me.
After downgrading to 1.24.1, I can successfully stream live TV from Plex on Chromecast with no other server changes.
It looks like the Plex team need to figure out what changed and why it’s not working anymore.
Also I’m adding my comment here to keep the thread open.

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@PlexInfo Can you do something, or tag someone else who can help?