Plex connection problems

[TerryVog]

I'm unable to use Plex my FreeNAS server. First I was unable to switch the service status to "on" in the installed plugins list, due to an 'unknown error' (very descriptive; I know). I decided to reboot the server. That helped a little. I was able to turn the service status on. But then I clicked PlexMediaServer under Plugins (on the left where the tree structure is). I got the modal dialog (as expected), with "Click here to access your Plex Media Server!" and "Disables security. May be needed for initial access." I clicked 'here' and got the dark gray page, but it sometimes says: 'The server "plexmediaserver_1" is unavailable'. Or 'There was an unexpected error loading the dashboard'. Or 'Playlists are unavailable for this server'. Very inconsistent. The only thing I can rely on is that I can't watch any movie.

Plex has worked reliably on this server for months. But the last few weeks I get all kinds of weirdness. How can I troubleshoot this?

I'm using FreeNAS-9.10.1-U2 on an Intel Core i3-3.40GHz with 8 GB Ram. It has 4 HDs with 3TB each. There is redundancy on it, so from the 6TB available space is 56% in use.

 

[kingtj]

I, too, have some questions along these lines!
I believe Plex has been running for a while without any problems on my FreeNAS, since I upgraded it to 9.10.1U4. But I was just accessing it via set-top boxes in the house (a Roku and an Amazon Fire).

One of my friends just complained that he couldn't see my shared video library (even though I could see his). I realized it was just a permissions issue, so I went into the Plex web UI to grant him access to my folders. That's when I ran across what you're describing. As soon as I tried to get to the Plex media server UI via the FreeNAS dialog under Plugins, it just did nothing. And then it looked like the whole Plex media server had just stopped running.

I had to reboot the FreeNAS to get it working properly again (and then just accessed the Plex UI directly by pointing my web browser to its IP address and :32400 as its port number).

It also appears that if I visit that installed plug-ins list, it always shows my Plex Media Server toggled to off - even if it's actually running. Attempting to click to toggle the switch just results in it shutting down and not wanting to restart until I reboot the FreeNAS again.

 

[Jailer]

I'm using FreeNAS-9.10.1-U2 on an Intel Core i3-3.40GHz with 8 GB Ram.

You need more RAM if you want to run Plex. 8GB is the bare minimum for running just a filer.

@kingtj you should start your own thread since your issue could be completely separate from the OP's. Of course we have no way of knowing since you haven't provided any details on your system as required by the forum rules.

 

[TerryVog]

You need more RAM if you want to run Plex. 8GB is the bare minimum for running just a filer.

Thanks, Jailer. Plex used to run fine on this machine, BTW. It probably needs more because newer versions of FreeNAS are more demanding.

But man, this is such a memory hog. My iMac has 8GB of RAM too, and it usually runs PhotoShop with at least 6 applications in the background, without any hiccups. And then there is my FreeNAS server, doing nothing but managing some files. "An extra task? I need more RAM to do that!"

I'll install more RAM and let you know if it helped.

 

[pirateghost]

Everyone forgets that zfs needs ram. It's not just "managing some files". It's an entire filesystem, raid controller, and data integrity system...