It does. I usually keep that turned off but sometimes I turn it on when I need to print something wirelessly. Looks like I forgot to turn it off last time. I’ll make sure it’s off when I run this test.
If they were burned into the video stream it would a) cause a video transcode, and b) the subtitles will be visible.
What does happen when direct playing is that Plex sends the entire media file, including unselected audio and subtitle tracks to the client.
Plex then expects the client to play the selected tracks and discard any unselected tracks. It wastes some bandwidth, but it reduces the load on the Plex server which does not have to remux the file.
AFAIK, the Apple TV handles things OK (as does the Android TV client on the Shield).
The Samsung TV has a limit on the total number of tracks in a stream and rejects the stream if it goes over the limit. The Plex server then has to direct stream (remux), or sometimes transcode, things to make it acceptable to the Samsung TV.
Personal Preference: I try to remove unnecessary audio & subtitle tracks before adding media to my server. I don’t mind spending the 5 - 10 minutes up front to avoid a problem down the line.
Alright. Here are the fresh logs. It played for about 2 seconds before buffering. I let it try to play for about a minute which gave me about 5 seconds of movie time.
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-12-06_15-26-07.zip (1.8 MB)
I see, I saw in the logs where it says that Direct Play was not available and that it was copying both the audio and video streams. I guess for some reason I thought that probably indicated that it was adding the subs to the stream or something. I’m still learning how to read those logs 
Wasn’t trying to step on any toes.
Could you check the IP address of the Apple TV? It should be visible somewhere in the Apple TV settings.
If I’m reading the logs correctly, it is 192.168.5.70.
If that is happening, then the AppleTV is getting assigned an incorrect IP address, possibly by the Eero.
That would cause all the traffic between the server & the ATV to be routed via the eero instead of direct from server to client.
If the ATV does have a 192.168.5.x address try two things:
-
Make sure the ATV is configured to use the Ethernet, not WiFi interface. I don’t know if it does this automatically or if it is a configuration setting (I don’t have an ATV to check).
-
Remove the power from the AppleTV for ~30 seconds. Then restore power, turn it on, and check the IP address. Hopefully it has a 192.168.4.x address.
Join the crowd. There’s a ton of stuff in there I don’t understand. 
That’s weird! You were right on the IP address. This is both before and after the restart.
I went into my EERO settings and it said that device was not connected. To be safe, I blocked it from the network and then restarted again. Got the same thing.
I might be wrong about the addressing. It might be OK.
I searched for some eero info and found they’re doing some things differently than most routers.
Please check the IP settings on your Mac Mini, specifically the Subnet Mask. If it is 255.255.252.0, then things are OK. It is in System Preferences → Network on my many years old MacBook, so might have changed locations.
Most home routers use a netmask of 255.255.255.0. That could indicate a problem if one device is on 192.168.4.x and another on 192.168.5.x.
Turns out eero uses a 255.255.252.0 netmask, so devices can have a 192.168.4.x to 192.168.7.x address and it is not a problem.
I wasn’t aware of eero’s addressing, so thought there was a problem.
Apologies for the unnecessary fire drill.
Yep, it’s 255.255.252.0.
No problem. Like I said, I’ll try anything at this point!
Any other ideas?
Any chance anyone else out there has any ideas?
One PMS setting change: Remove 192.168.5.0/24 from Settings → Networks → LAN Networks, if you have not already done so. I suggested that due to my misunderstanding of eero’s addressing setup. It is not needed.
If it is an option in the Plex AppleTV app, disable Direct Play and leave Direct Stream enabled. This should force Plex to remux the stream, sending only the selected video/audio/subtitle tracks.
Tautulli may show the container as being transcoded. The video & audio tracks should still direct stream, not transcode.
If forcing direct stream helps, then try remuxing the file with MKVToolNix as @Blkbyrd mentioned. This will copy the desired tracks into a new MKV container. You should then be able to re-enable Direct Play in the AppleTV Plex app.
Thanks for this, @FordGuy61. Went ahead and removed the network setting and will look for that option on the AppleTV. I am researching how to use MKVToolNix to remove all but the forced subtitles I want and to remove all unwanted audio tracks. I’ve also come across a tool called Tdarr that looks like it might automate some of those things, if I can ever figure it out!
Also, the hard drive I kept all my libraries on just failed. As I work to rebuild it, I’ve tested a couple 4K movies that are playing just fine, so far. I’m hoping that is maybe the solution, but I’m doubtful because it seems like it hasn’t been working longer than the drive was probably failing, but we’ll see.
Either way, if remuxing the files works, that’ll be a good solution. If not, I’m sure I’ll be back!
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
