Problem is occurring on both my PS4 and PS3 running the latest Playstation OS and Plex app 2.4.34. Works fine on my other devices.
Server and PS4 are both connected to the same Gbit switch
Local content works fine, but when I try to play a video from one of the channels, or if I use the Watch Later option to watch a video from Youtube, there is a long pause and then I get the following message.
There was a problem playing this item.
The video did not start playing in time.
I’ve tried with Direct Stream enabled and disabled on the PS4 app but it makes no difference. Changing the Online Quality setting also does not seem to have an effect.
EDIT
It seems disabling Direct Stream and changing the Online quality to 8Mbps did seem to resolve the issue with channels… But the problem is still there when using the Watch Later feature. I have only attempted so far with Youtube videos so I’m not sure if the problem is playing Youtube videos or the Watch Later feature.
Edit 2
I just tested with a Vimeo video: Filthy but Fine in Vimeo Staff Picks on Vimeo
It plays fine if I go to the Vimeo Channel on my PS4
If I go to Watch Later and select the same video, I have the problem.
Do the settings for direct stream and online quality only effect channels and not videos played through Watch Later?
Do the settings for direct stream and online quality only effect channels and not videos played through Watch Later?
No, the settings for direct stream and Online Quality also affects WL/R.
We force transcoding on Watch Later and Recommended (WL/R) videos on the PS3; it refused to play them directly. I’m curious what happens if you try to disable Direct Play on the PS4, the videos may begin to play.
Will test it WL/R for YouTube and Vimeo videos later today.
It looks like there was an update to the Plex app on Playstation. It’s now 2.4.36. When I checked the video settings, they have changed back so…Online Quality is set to Original and Allow Direct Play and Allow Direct Stream are both checked.
I tested with these settings, and the Vimeo video played via WL, so I got excited. I then tried a few Youtube videos and they all continue to have the problem.
I disabled Direct play as you suggested but it made no difference. I also disabled Direct Stream and tested, still no luck. With both still disabled, I also changed the Online quality to 8Mbps 1080p to no avail.
The Vimeo channel and adding videos to my Watch Later queue via the Plex It! bookmarklet works like a charm on my PS4. No complications, I watched 6 videos. Direct Play and Direct Stream were enabled. Online quality was set to Original (the default settings).
YouTube was a different story. YouTube videos in my queue which previously worked no longer worked. Sometimes this happens when the link expires yet freshly added YouTube videos also did not work. The YouTubeTV Plex channel also did not work on my PS4. Disabling Direct Play and Direct Stream didn’t workaround the issue.
It’s unusual. Watching the app and device interact I can see the Plex application is correctly handing the YouTube video URL directly to the PS4. The PS4 then hangs when downloading the video. The Plex app waits 60s for playback to start then aborts with the “did not start playing in time” message. Pasting the same video URL into Chrome and the video plays fine.
Sorry I can’t find any silver bullets. I’ve filed an issue to investigate more as I work on our application update.
