Server Version#: 1.26.2.5797
Player Version#: 1.45.0
I am on my local wired gigabit network and start playing a video on another windows machine in Plex for Windows, it picks a quality setting of Original (4.8 Mbps, 1080p HD) for example. It will play fine for a minute or so, then it starts buffering and skipping. If I lower the quality to 4Mbps, 720p HD, then the media plays fine with the video being transcoded and the audio being direct stream.
If I play the content directly on the Plex Server computer, then it plays Direct Stream without issue. However, if I connect thru windows or any other device (iPhone or FireStick), then I am required to change the content Quality to 4Mbps, 720p HD. My question is why and how can I troubleshoot this?
I am the only local user of my LAN and I can’t find any network traffic that would be inhibiting playback at 1080p. My Plex Server is a i5-6600K @ 3.5GHz, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 210. The PC I am trying to stream to is i7-9700K @ 3.6GHz, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070.
I can’t post the Media XML because when I click “View XML” on either the server or the destination computer, all I get is a blank web page. But i’ve attached a screenshot of the Media Info window.
Can anybody help me troubleshoot why my wired gigabit network can’t play 1080p content thru Plex, but if I just open a windows explorer window and play it thru VLC, I can play the content with no issues?
Here is a snapshot of my bandwidth graph during the playback on the other windows device. I don’t know if its considered high or very high bandwidth. I don’t think so, but what are your thoughts?
That’s well over 100 mpbs. A “bit” high for a file which is supposed to have an average bandwidth of just 4.3 mbps.
(I am assuming that your file was the only playback at this time, as this graph is showing the combined bandwidth of all currently running streams.)
Your bandwidth graph is a strong indicator that this file suffers from the same issue as in the linked thread.
Here is an experiment for you:
Download and install mp3tag
(It’s free and has no known malware)
Open the folder with the video file in mp3tag
right-click on this episode’s video file and pick ‘Utils’ - ‘Optimize MP4’
After this is done (it may take a while as it has to re-write the file in full), trigger an Analyze in Plex. Then play the file again and monitor the bandwidth graph.
Any change?
After Optimizing the MP4 thru mp3tag, there was no difference in the bandwidth for the file. I get what you are saying that if says Original Quality is 4.5Mbps, 1080p HD and it is hogging around 100 on the bandwidth monitor.
I guess my questions at this point are -
I have a gigabit network with no activity on it. Even if it need to send 100Mpbs and I have 1000Mpbs available, why would it still buffer?
If the file is damaged or something, then why does it play when I tell it to use a quality of 720p 3Mbps and lower, but not any higher.
Why is the buffering only happening thru Plex? I have tried both VLC and Windows Media Player and played the file across the network without having to remux the file. I also placed a file in my OneDrive and can play the file thru there on my iPhone.
I have files from many sources and thousands of episodes and movies. Its just per"plex"ing me how all these files will need to be remuxed to play them successfully at full quality thru Plex.
I apologize for my ignorance on this topic, but i’m trying to wrap my brain around the insurmountable task of remuxing my entire library and further additions.
There is no need to remux the whole library.
Only those files which exhibit the issue.
For now just try to confirm my diagnosis. Use the method in the linked posts with MKVtoolnix. If you are not shy of the command line, you can use ffmpeg or mp4box as well.
Most of my files source from one place, so it is pretty much my entire library. But anyway, this is what I have found. Remuxing the file using ffmpeg with the commands in the other post made it a “useable file” by Plex.
When I use ffmpeg -i “input file” -movflags use_metadata_tags -vcodec copy -acodec copy -map 0 “output file”, it ignores the cover art and does not transfer the metadata. Could you improve on the above command to get me those pieces as well?
If not, I guess I can rebuild that data with MetaX. But I do literally have hundreds of files I need to do this too. So I am trying to make this a little less painful.
“You may want to add -map_metadata 0 too in order to preserve any metadata”
(I haven’t verified that it actually does what it says.)
It can’t hurt to include +faststart as well. This should result in Plex showing “Optimized for streaming: yes” in the Plex media info.
If you could write a few words on the prerequsite software (where to obtain, etc.) and how to use it, I’d like to include it in the Tips&Tricks forum section.
