# Plex Issues



## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

I just purchased my TiVO Bolt. Everything is setup great except for Plex working properly. I just cannot get it to do a Direct Play (no transcoding). I followed the instructions to the letter with Handbrake. 

Right now when I try to play a .MKV with H264 and AAC its seems like its going to start but just goes right back to the screen prior to playing. It does not even try. I currently have .MP4 with H264 and AAC but without the "web optimized" setting and it does a Direct Stream. But that direct stream will have video and audio sync issues if i stop the playback or fast forward.

Are there any Handbrake tips to get the encoding to work properly? I am all in with TiVO Bolt so if I have to re-encode my whole library I will. Or should I just be patient with a fix from TiVO/Plex?


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## Steve28 (Oct 12, 2009)

This happens to me a lot with the the built-in plex. My Samsung TV's built-in plex plays them fine via direct play. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

So you never addressed your broken Plex on the TiVO? My TV does not have Plex on it. =[ I would not mind doing Direct Stream if the Audio did not get out of sync.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

I was also thinking as part of my testing is to put my plex media server on linux instead of Windows 10, is anyone doing that?


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## shupp872 (Jan 1, 2014)

Try playing a file that wasn't encoded by handbrake. I know it sounds odd. But i have read others have similar issues when encoding a file with handbrake.

I have direct Bluray rips from MakeMKV (full quality video and audio). The video will always play direct stream to the Bolt. The audio will be transcoded because most blurays have DTS, which the TiVo does not support.

Just my $.02. It may be worth looking at.

The other issue of the audio delay / out of sync is a known issue. The Plex forums have quite a few people complaining of the issue. I would be hopeful for a resolution from Plex, but who knows how long it may take. It has been an issue for a couple months now.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

I will try that but my ultimate goal is to get Direct Play working or Direct Stream to work without sync issues. I will try that though.


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## shupp872 (Jan 1, 2014)

Sorry, i edited my post above to talk about the sync issues.

in my setup, direct streaming video, and transcoding audio, I don't have sync issues as long as I play a title from the beginning. Once i stop, pause, ff, or rwd, it goes out of sync. This is the sync issue bug i was talking about on the Plex forums.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

shupp872 said:


> Sorry, i edited my post above to talk about the sync issues.
> 
> in my setup, direct streaming video, and transcoding audio, I don't have sync issues as long as I play a title from the beginning. Once i stop, pause, ff, or rwd, it goes out of sync. This is the sync issue bug i was talking about on the Plex forums.


Ahh okay good, at least it is being talked about and is a known issue. I just want to be able to stop playback and come back to it without incident.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

If you prepare your video files in a direct streamable format they will play on the Bolt Plex app fine. Plex server should fix ones that are not but it currently just does not work.

The Plex specs say you need web optimized mp4 files with h.264 video. AC3 audio, no more than 640kbps.

If you will store your videos with these specs and embedded meta data and artwork, Plex will index and display them correctly almost 100% of the time and they will play fine. On the Bolt, there does not seem to be a limit of video stream size.

I use meGUI to encode and mux. Metagenerator to embed metadata and artwork. The files work and are in sync nearly 100% unless the original file is a mess. The good news is that if your files are prepared this way, they also play well on other Plex clients and on android and IOS devices.

Another tool that works well for recode and remux is a utility called mkv2mp4 and it can also look up metadata but does not build pytivo txt files if that is important to you. Its also been out of development for some time. MeGUI and metagenerator are actively supported and developed.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

Not sure if I tried AC3 audio. But I def had MP4 web optimized with H264 in Handbrake. I will try your recommended encoding.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

So whats interesting is I just noticed a video playing on plex that was direct play on the TiVo Bolt. It was an MP4 with H264 and AAC. But I noticed that Web Optimized was on this particular MP4. So now I am going to try to redo a couple of movies with the MP4 container and the Web Optimized option checked.

I didn't get a chance to test this last night.

I will let you know.


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## Jerky (Apr 8, 2016)

So after playing around for hours yesterday, I still do not have a working preset for Handbrake to get Direct Play to work properly.

HOWEVER, I noticed in Plex there is an optimize button. After optimizing a couple of videos, I got direct play to work flawlessly on the Bolt. Also there were NO audio sync issues after pausing, fast forwarding or playing later at a saved point. I don't know how the heck Plex is encoding these files but it seems like this may be the way to go. Also I can confirm doing it this way played on my Android Nexus 6P, iPad Mini, and Web Browser with Direct Play!!!

I think I will just use the Plex optimizer from now on, it's super easy. Also one tip, if you delete the original file, it will also delete the Optimized file, so make sure you copy the optimized file out before deleting the original. Or if you have the space, you can keep both.

Doing Direct Play with the Tivo is the ONLY way to stream in my opinion, too many glitches otherwise.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

I do not use handbrake, have had too many issues with the files it creates. Glad you found something that works for you. The tools I suggested above would have created files that direct play as well. Been working for my Tivos for some time now.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

Jerky said:


> So after playing around for hours yesterday, I still do not have a working preset for Handbrake to get Direct Play to work properly.
> 
> HOWEVER, I noticed in Plex there is an optimize button. After optimizing a couple of videos, I got direct play to work flawlessly on the Bolt. Also there were NO audio sync issues after pausing, fast forwarding or playing later at a saved point. I don't know how the heck Plex is encoding these files but it seems like this may be the way to go. Also I can confirm doing it this way played on my Android Nexus 6P, iPad Mini, and Web Browser with Direct Play!!!
> 
> ...


what optimize settings did you use in plex please?


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

New plex update today with several items of interest to Tivo users:

May 5, 2016, 2.6.3
We've added and improved several features while adding some device specific changes and fixes.
NEW:
Mobile server support. Access videos and photos stored on your iOS, Android, and Windows Phone mobile devices on your Smart TV.
Cloud Sync support. Access media hosted on a variety of cloud hosting providers.
At long last, video and photo playlists are playable.
An optional 12-hour or 24-hour clock can be enabled in the Settings > Main dialog.
Reworked search integration for easier navigation into and out of Search.
Users with only Watch Later and Recommended online content can use the application without a server of their own.
FIXES:
General: Improved handling of marking movies/shows/seasons/episodes watched or unwatched
General: Fixed empty screens displaying when viewing movie extras
General: TV devices will show up as available for casting from more mobile devices.
LG/General: We think squashed a bug which wreaked performance havoc on some devices.
PSX/General: Users with non-video-transcoding servers (NAS) can play transcoded music tracks.
PSX: Prevent application crashes viewing some premium music content.
PS4: Updated reaction to app being backgrounded.
TiVo: Remove the web optimized requirement for MP4 files. User feedback overwhelmingly suggests the change was - problematic for many users.
TiVo: Limit Series 5 Roamio and Mini running Opera SDK 4 TiVo devices to 720p.
Vizio: CNP safely accesses IP directly from Vizio system info.
KNOWN ISSUES:
TiVo: We're working with TiVo on several playback issues on Series 5 and 6 boxes. Including:

Series 5/6: out of sync audio after seeking a transcode or direct stream.
Series 5/6: inability to direct play all MKV videos.
Series 6: inability to play UHD content.
Vizio: Some televisions have trouble playing videos hosted on Google Drive.
While many mobile device videos play well we have run into issues with portrait videos played landscape and some videos recordings which aren't compatible with some televisions.

May 5, 2016, 2.6.4
FIXES:
TiVo: Series 5 and 6 boxes running system software version 20.5.9 are presented a constrained video direct play profile. This system software is expected to support MKV direct playback although it is not. Additionally this system software is not supporting UHD video playback on Series 6 Bolt boxes. The Plex app now detects this system software and will avoid direct playing MKV and UHD videos. MKV videos which would have Direct Played on Series 5 and 6 will now Direct Stream. UHD videos which would have direct played on a Series 6 Bolt will now Transcode to 1080p. We've confirmed the next TiVo system software update addresses these playback issues. The Plex app automatically detects newer system softwares and re-enables MKV and UHD playback.


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