Server Version#: 1.24.3.5033
Player Version#: 8.23.1.28053
Hi All, please help with my plex player issue only faced when using shield tv pro. Video played will randomly stop playing and constantly stay buffer. It will never continue playing unless app is fully closed and relaunched. This issue only happens on Shield TV, other devices running iOS does not encounter any problem when played from same server. Thanks in advance.
it’s impossible to know what is going on without more details.
how/what is the shield hooked up to
is it using wifi or gigabit ethernet
what does the plex server dashboard show, is direct playing both video and audio, or transcoding?
where are the client and/or server logs ?
you can paste or drag/drop logs zip and screenshots into a reply to help
have you read Plex, 4k, transcoding, and you ???
Hi sorry for not providing more info earlier, I was hoping to answer once more details are requested.
It is using gigabit ethernet, however its connected to a node (using mesh system)
I confirm plex dashboard served shows its direct play for both audio/video. (No transcoding taking place)
Have encountered this issue for even non-4k files. Attached is server logs for review. Encountered issue on playback at the following timestamps (estimate time) for the 1 video file played today. (File info: 1080p / Video: AVC / Audio: EAC-3 / mkv)
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-10-13_01-26-59.zip (1.9 MB)
Thanks for the support!
how is your shield set up?
is it plugged into a receiver or soundbar, or the tv directly?
is passthrough enabled in both the shield system settings, and in the plex app settings?
what tv is it ? are you using an hdmi 2.0 or newer cable?
this log snippit indicates that the player cannot direct play for some reason
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Selected protocol hls; container: mpegts
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: analyzing media item 1917
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: Direct Play is disabled
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264/eac3
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: Direct Streaming is disabled, so video stream will be transcoded
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.423 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
this one seems to indicate the server cpu not powerful enough to transcode
ct 12, 2021 22:17:30.456 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream audio stream due to profile or setting limitations
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.456 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Survivor - S41 E3 - My Million Dollar Mistake: selected media 0 / 1917
Oct 12, 2021 22:17:30.457 [14260] DEBUG - [Transcode] Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=1269 codes=(General=2000,Neither direct play nor conversion is available. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=4002,Not enough CPU for conversion of this item.)
what cpu/gpu of the server? I assume it is on windows from some of the logs
additional questions; do you have subtitles enabled for this video? double check and disable/set to none any subtitles and see if the video will play.
is the problem with all videos or just this one/certain ones?
This issue has become prevalent for me over the last 2 months and, looking at the number of issues experienced by others - is a significant, broadsweeping issue for many Shield TV and Shield TV pro users.
Happens to me, primarily on higher quality (4k/atmos) content, the same content that was working fine up until a couple of months back.
I’m over ethernet, so bandwidth is not a concern and my plex server iis a 64GB/8 core xeon so not a performance issue either.
That same content runs fine through the Plex app on Kodi on the same Shield. The issue lies in the Plex App itself or, on NVidia’s end. It’s certainly a recent development (less than 3 montns) with no clear changes that I can see having taken place.
Odds on this will rumble on for a long time by the look of other threads, so suggest installing Kodi on your shield and then adding the Plex app within Kodi and having Kodi auto-launch Plex. It’s about a second extra on launch but otherwise, an equivalent experience without any skipping or buffering.
how is your shield set up?
is it plugged into a receiver or soundbar, or the tv directly?
It is only plugged to the tv directly.
is passthrough enabled in both the shield system settings, and in the plex app settings?
Passthrough via hdmi is enabled for both plex & shield system.
what tv is it ? are you using an hdmi 2.0 or newer cable?
Its a Sony 4K LED TV about 3 years old. Hdmi 2.0 cable is being used.
this one seems to indicate the server cpu not powerful enough to transcode
Yes I noticed that as well, I just decided to forcefully transcode to test if it helps as the video stopped about 1min prior to this.
what cpu/gpu of the server? I assume it is on windows from some of the logs
Using an i5 9400 cpu. no gpu.
additional questions; do you have subtitles enabled for this video? double check and disable/set to none any subtitles and see if the video will play.
No subtitles were available for this video, however I have subtitles enable by default on plex settings. (use it for some other videos)
is the problem with all videos or just this one/certain ones?
Its a problem with all video. Some stop once in a 1 hours video, while some stop 3 or more times in a similar length video. The same video plays with no issues on other devices such as ipad.
I’m just wondering if there is something to do with the wifi mesh node which connects the shield via ethernet? I could maybe try connecting the shield via wifi to see if that eliminates the issue.
However please advise if the logs reflect any network issue found. As I noticed sometimes the playback stops with error “connection to server slow”. However at the same moment, I am able to instantly connect the plex server with other devices on wifi with no issues. Basically, this raises a question why the plex only on the Shield TV has the connection to server is slow.
To add, I have previously tried uninstall & reinstalling the server app on windows along with reinstalling the android tv app on shield tv as well. None of this got rid of the issue. This also includes installing 2 previous old versions of the server app and android app.
Hi Tim, thanks for sharing your experience as well. It at least gives me some assurance that I’m not the only once facing this. 
I’m facing this for about the same time as well, somewhere end of August this began.
I was also certain that bandwidth shouldn’t be it as I have no issues streaming other content on youtube etc.
I did read on the kodi app solution as well but wasn’t sure if that would fix it. Probably will give it a try now. I would think this might be a plex app issue as my Shield software upgrade has been disabled for a while (to avoid getting the latest update with google ads on home scree). Since the Shield still runs of the old version, only the Plex has been up to date.
However, I did try sideloading an old Plex app version from June & July and that didn’t help as well which leaves me entirely clueless.
Hmm, the fact you sideloaded an old version + still on an older version of the shield also gives me pause for thought as to where the issue might be for us.
Makes me think that perhaps it’s an issue with plexserver itself (via an update) that only manifests when playing on nvidia shield based plex app?
Testing older plex server versions is a much more annoying process of elimination
Just noticed you’re running a Windows Plex Server - my plex server is running on a jail in TrueNAS (yours is running on Windows) on a Xeon D-1521 (4 core) & 32GB of RAM.
Different servers - so lots of variables here.
But, same issue / same timing. Something has changed. I still lean towards it being the plex app on shield that is the culprit
Yea I’ve only manage to the plex server app downgrade once, the process is for sure tidiest and not looking forward this again. I’m starting to have the same thought that this issue only happens when the plex server tries to work with shield app.
My other devices have never replicate this issue and this is when playing the same exact video files. So its difficult to understand if the server is causing it or the app on android tv. In fact, it could even be the android OS itself. Some even said the culprit is Exo Player.
Yup which kind of helps because this identifies if the issue relates to our plex server or something else. Since we both are on 2 different variants of setup, it somewhat confirms here its nothing related to our respective plex servers. Plus I already confirm this since other devices play same videos flawlessly from the exact plex server.
Much agreed, doesn’t solve much for us but at least I conclude the same cause, either the plex app on shield or android/nvidia software/firmware.
Anyhow, thanks for confirming earlier the temporary alternative is using Plex via Kodi. Will keep you updated on the outcome if I no longer face any buffers.
Must say its sad to know this is the only outcome to avoid such a major flaw on going for 2 to 3 months now. Just hope plex support team is able to identifies the root cause and fix this soon or at least inform Nvidia about this bug if its their issue.
Yeah 100%. It’s good there’s a work around but the techie in me is disappointed that I can’t fix it native! (I’ve also seen a few references to exoplayer as the culprit)
if someone can upload a sample that consistently exhibits the problems, perhaps we can better get some dev attention.
I personally have not noticed any new issues on my shield (pro 2017), however I have been spending more time in xbox (gaming) lately than shield (plex).
a consistent sample + client logs + server logs (all DEBUG ONLY, no verbose) tends to go a long way to getting something resolved.
if this is an issue that is seemingly spreading wider, then the more info that can be consolidated, the better.
in any case, my recommendation is not to start tearing apart your server or network or doing anything drastic like starting from scratch (although if you have the resources and time to create a small limited test environment to cleanly and consistently replicate the problem, that would also be useful to have logs/sample for).
Hi, unfortunate update to share, it seems like the I experience playback issues while using plex on kodi as well. Similar type of issue where the video just stops and won’t play until I exit the app.
Hi, I have tried a different video file on Plex for Kodi and seem to face a similar playback issue. I guess the Kodi method may not work for all since I just faced it on a few videos. Out of 3 videos only 1 played till the end with no issues.
Following are the estimate time stamp when issue encountered for 2 different video files along with the new logs attached.
Please note, the 2nd time stamp is after the plex server was updated to 1.24.4.5081 which just got released. Thanks!
Oct 13, 2021 22:27
Oct 14, 2021 00:27
Anyone else facing this issue please kindly share your inputs. Also curious to know if latest Plex update helped at all on this issue. Thanks
Circling back here
Whilst my plex via kodi on shield work around “works” well enough, I did note that the plex server log still filled with all the same errors as the native plex app on shield, so I wasn’t content with the workaround.
Turns out - my issue appears to be with specific MP4s + DV profile 5 (which is what Apple uses for their content, and it just happens that I’ve been watching Ted Lasso and Morning Wars a lot so have been seeing the issue more than usual)
Not sure whether it’s something Plex will actually fix nor is it necessarily the same issue you’re facing BUT, essentially, I’ll just be sticking to MKVs for my high quality content from now on.
Thanks for this info, however I have revert to just the regular android tv app and still living with the issue. Sadly I still encounter the issue when using the kodi workaround as well. This has led me to a dead end as I’m now clueless on what else is left to attempt as a workaround.
Hi, I encountered the same issue today as well except it was work this time, video stopped playing 3 times in the same hour of single video.
Attached are the logs (issue took place 3 times at the hour of 4pm logtime: Oct 19, 2021 16:00)
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-10-19_18-04-48.zip (2.2 MB)
Kindly assist to check if you happen to find something unusual this time. Thanks
@youclideanme please feel free to assist and appreciate if you are able to share your input as well.
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