Server Version#: 1.14.1.5490
Player Version#: 3.95.1
I have the Nvidia Shield TV. I listen to podcasts directly on the Shield, but mostly through my Android phone. I listened to podcasts on both devices yesterday afternoon. But starting this morning, I could not get any podcast to play on my phone. I tried podcast episodes that were already downloaded and ones that had to stream, but I always got the error: “Unable to play media”. This error even on an episode that I was in the middle of, so it worked yesterday.
At this point, thinking it was my phone, I restarted (no luck). I deleted the Plex app and reinstalled (no luck). I deleted cache and data, just in case something was left behind after uninstall (no luck).
Sitting at work, I use the web client to stream music, and the music library is working just fine. But, even in the web client, I get an error when trying to listen to a podcast: “Playback Error. An error occurred loading items to play.”
I was able to get my wife to restart the Shield, but no change. The error persists on my phone and the web client.
It is just podcasts. I’ve played music and a video from my TV show library and they work fine.
Any ideas on why just the podcast feature would be having this problem?
Yep, same here. Was listening to podcasts on Saturday just fine. I have MacOS server (not sure if the server even matters though) and trying to play on iPhone.
Yep, I’m running Plex server on my Nvidia Shield and I also get the same errors – On the Shield Plex says “Unable to play media” and from a browser in Windows 10 it says “Playback Error. An error occurred loading items to play.”
I run a PMS and my friend called me about the same time you posted this. She couldn’t get any of her podcasts to work. I logged into my account and podcasts worked just fine. So then she had me log in with her account, and sure enough podcasts did not work. I had a few other friends try, and podcasts did not work for them either. All of my friends that checked, do not have a Plex Pass and do not run a PMS.
At first I thought that anyone that does not have a Plex Pass, that the podcasts mysteriously stopped working. Now that I see this post and it was started by a Plex Pass holder, my theory of podcasts not working for non-Plex Pass holders is out the window.
I would say there is definitely a podcast service issue right now, I’m just not sure what since podcasts are still working for me.
I don’t think so. I’ve never played a podcast until today when my friend asked me to check.
I also clicked on several random podcast streams and they all worked. After reading your post and before typing this reply, I went in and clicked on about a dozen other random podcasts in different categories and they all worked.
No matter what I do, I cannot get a podcast to error out when logged in as me. If I log out and log in as my friend, no matter what podcast I click, they all error out. So weird…
Same here, seems to be a global issue related to plex backend somehow? Using Synology Plex Server and can’t play downloaded local podcasts but neither non-downloaded online podcasts. Is plex dev team aware of this issue?
I am also getting the “Playback Error - An error occurred loading items to play.” for podcasts, as well as for all of the other “Online” sources - News and Webshows. All of my local media is unaffected.
I apologize for the tag, but I think this issue should get looked into. You’re the only person in the forum that I know that has the ability to have this looked into by a developer.
Short recap:
Podcasts are not working for many users.
Podcasts are working for me.
It does not matter if you are a Plex Pass holder or not.
It does not matter if you have a PMS or not.
It does not matter what region you are in. https://status.plex.tv/ shows no outages.
Thanks everyone for chiming in. @cagey215, thanks for testing out on your system and another and providing notes.
I was hoping I’d get a reply telling me there’s a simple fix for the problem. But, many people having the same issue is probably the next best thing. It means it’s not my fault and to sit back and wait for a fix.
I listened to podcasts after 6:30pm US Eastern Time on Easter Sunday, 4/21. This morning, 4/22, around 6am, I couldn’t play anything. That puts the origin of the problem in a 12-hour window, if that helps anyone at Plex who reads this.
I have the same problem. Getting a 403 from https://play.provider.plex.tv that says <Error statusCode="403" error="Forbidden" message="'chrillep' does not have a linked Tidal account!"/>, which is true.
After linkin my Tidal account. I get <Error statusCode="403" error="Forbidden" message="'chrillep' has an expired Tidal subscription!"/>
But that shouldn’t block me from podcasts, news and webshows…
@chrillep, I think you might be on to something. I do have Tidal and podcasts are working for me. There might be a bug in a recent update that accidentally made it so podcasts can only be listened to if you also have Tidal.
At least I would hope that Plex is not going to require users to have a Tidal subscription just to hear the podcasts.
For those that the podcasts are not working… I would be interested in knowing the results of this:
I believe that Plex is still having a 30 day “try before you buy” special for Tidal subscriptions. If so, get the 30 day free Tidal subscription and see if your podcasts start working.
Just don’t forget to cancel the free 30 day trial before it is over. Hopefully the podcasts will be fixed before the free 30 day Tidal trial is over. That or we get an official announcement from Plex that Tidal will be required to hear podcasts… hopefully not though.
