Unable to start plex media server on nvidia shield when offline

[plex_knight]

prelude
Purchased an NVIDIA Shield for the sole reason of being both a Plex client and server for an offline environment (e.x. RV). I copied my media for my Plex server onto the unit (haven’t taken advantage of extended storage yet) and configured the Plex Client/Server with the unit online (required to setup the server and to perform the initial meta-fetch of my media).

issue
When the NVIDIA Shield is offline (no internet access), the Plex media server on the shield will not start.

observation
For simplicity, restarted the Shield for a fresh start. The Plex application and selection and starts up:

After a period of time (assuming attempting to access a remote instance), the following message (“No Servers Found”) is shown:

Selecting “continue” Plex shows a series of “Setting” options to work with:

Moving into advanced settings and moved into the “Plex Media Server” category:

When over the “Plex Media Server” option, the server reflects a status of “Stopped”:

Selecting the option presents another option to start the server:

After moving the status option to “ON” and selecting it, a status dialog is presented with the following message (“Starting Server - Please wait while Plex Media Server start”):

After a period of time (assuming a timeout), the status dialog goes away and the Plex Media Server option still reflects a status of “Stopped”.

investigation

Enabled debugging of the NVIDIA Shield and used adb to monitor system logs. Repeating an attempt to start Plex, I noticed a series of exceptions UnknownHostException in the logs (see attached for multiple examples of these exception with their respective stack traces, if helpful):

java.net.UnknownHostException: Unable to resolve host "plex.tv": No address associated with hostname
   at java.net.Inet6AddressImpl.lookupHostByName(Inet6AddressImpl.java:141)
   ...
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.bu.s(SourceFile:445)
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.bu.a(SourceFile:219)
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.MyPlexRequest.a(SourceFile:82)
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.bu.b(SourceFile:134)
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.bu.a(SourceFile:128)
   at com.plexapp.plex.net.MyPlexRequest.a(SourceFile:336)
   at com.plexapp.plex.f.b.n.a(SourceFile:30)
   at com.plexapp.plex.f.b.n.b(SourceFile:11)
   at com.plexapp.plex.f.b.s.doInBackground(SourceFile:22)
   ...

plex-server-exceptions.txt (16.9 KB)

I suspect that Plex attempts to query external resources for select features and is not properly handling use cases where an external resource is not available.

workaround

I found a crude workaround support having (an already prepared) Plex media server start0up without requiring internet access. Using a router flashed with AdvancedTomato, I configured an internal DNS with an override of the plex.tv host in dnsmasq (address=/plex.tv/127.0.0.1; I assume if one has their Shield rooted, they could just override the /etc/hosts file instead):

Connected the standalone router to the NVIDIA Shield and re-attempting to start Plex Media server results in the server being online:

other notes

• Plex 7.2.2.6114
• NVIDIA Shield v8.0.0 (kernel 3.1098-tegra; 7.0.2 (29.10.175.21))
• Issues is observed with and without server debug logging enabled.

conclusion

I suspect to properly run Plex media server on an NVIDIA Shield in an offline state requires a software fix. In the mean time, the workaround will suffice. Anyone experiencing this issue?

[ocyberbum1]

I am also interested in a fix for this, I want to run the same setup in my camper to replace the laptop im using now. Getting this to work with my laptop in the camper was tricky enough so i’m hoping more improvements will be done for us offline travelers

[Plex_in_RV]

plex_knight,

I will be using my Shield in an RV as well. Most of the time I will have internet access, but not always.

Forgive my ignorance, but where does the address=/plex.tv/127.0.0.1 come from? I will look at my router firmware to see if I have that option.

Thanks!

[plex_knight]

@Plex_in_RV, that value is a configuration entry for the dnsmasq service that is installed on the router I am using. It is using an override address capability which indicates the domain name plex.tv should point to the local host. This allows an unconnected instance to be able to resolve the hostname plex.tv (no more UnknownHostException exceptions since it points to itself) – and by chance, the Plex Media Server is able to start.

---

On a related note, this issue still exists with the most recent Plex Media Server version (1.13.5.5291) with default settings. I do see a note in the most recent change log which indicates:

Allow picking a specific network address to bind to (#8492)

I will try taking advantage of this option to see if it prevents a need for this workaround. If I find anything new, I will update my findings here.

[Plex_in_RV]

Thanks for the info. I will make sure I have the latest version, and double check my settings. And my router settings too. But I am not at the RV, so it will have to wait for a few days.

[mcoley]

I’m having similar problems. I have a network in my RV, but depending on where we’re staying, we may or may not have Internet access. I have three TVs. I put the Nvidia Shield with Plex on one (with two USB drives containing our movies). The other two have Roku’s with the Plex app. I’ve changed all three to not require secure connections (which is one thing that appeared to be causing problems). But when I’m at campgrounds with no Internet, I can’t access Plex from any of the TVs (the two Roku TVs or the Nvidia Shield).

I would really like to get this working. I may end up having to go back to DLNA servers. I was able to get those to work. I just wanted the nicer interface and metadata that came with Plex. But it’s useless if it doesn’t work.

[Plex_in_RV]

I went through the settings on my Nvidia Shield server, and turned off all of the automatic/scheduled Library scan updates and the Scheduled Tasks updates. After I made the changes, today I found that my server will start even when there is no internet connection!!!

I did not make any of the changes that plex_knight suggested, or any other changes to my setup that I know of. I admit I did not check to see if there was an update to Plex, but I doubt it since it has not been powered up for a week since the last attempt.

Eventually I will go through the settings again and determine which of the items I can turn back on and still get the server to start. Hopefully it is only one setting causing the problem and the rest can be turned back on.

Don’t give up! It is possible.

[plex_knight]

This issue appears to exist with the most recent version of NVIDIA Shield and Plex. From an unplugged/restart state, the local Plex Media Server will not start. The following is the explicit version information:

• Plex 7.6.2.7169
• Plex Server 1.13.8.5395 (smb)
• NVIDIA Shield v8.0.0 (kernel 3.1098-tegra; 7.1.0 (29.6.259.0))

Using the workaround mentioned in the original post, the Plex Media Server instance is able to start.

An additional observation, when browsing available servers from the Plex menu, Plex lists all server instances as "Offline" when there is no physical Ethernet cable plugged into the NVIDIA Shield:

However, when I plug in an Ethernet cable (e.x. from my router), it shows an alternative warning indicating the instances are unavailable with the message "Direct connection unavailable":

In the scenario where I apply the workaround, the local/internal Plex Media Server eventually starts (10 to 40 seconds):

---

@Plex_in_RV, I have attempted to make changes to disable automatic library scanning and schedule tasks. After applying these settings and performing a reboot, my local Plex Media Server instance still will not start. The settings in question which I have disabled: