Plex playback crashes every minute (OR LESS!)

[ucrbuffalo]

HERE is the link that explains how to backup your PLEX data.

Just in case someone happens upon this thread and finds it useful, I would also recommend looking at this link and this link for backing up and transferring PLEX data.

Also, @HeloJunkie, thanks for the Save Config tip. I would have spent a couple hours trying to find everything, write it down, and reapply it on the new install.

 

[ucrbuffalo]

I can just put that ISO on the flash drive, after I reformat it, and boot to it to install, right?

Nope, gotta write the ISO to the install Flash Drive. Using the dd command in FreeNAS should be able to do it. I just gotta figure out a couple more things. In the example provided by the DOCS:

Code:

dd if=FreeNAS-9.10-RELEASE-x64.iso of=/dev/da0 bs=64k
6117+0 records in
6117+0 records out
400883712 bytes transferred in 88.706398 secs (4519220 bytes/sec)

So where did they store the ISO? Surely you can't put it on the same flash drive you intend to use as am installation USB?

 

[HeloJunkie]

So where did they store the ISO? Surely you can't put it on the same flash drive you intend to use as am installation USB?

You need separate install media. You can read more about the install HERE.

 

[joeschmuck]

I personally find it best to burn the ISO to a CD-R and then boot from that. Of course this means that you need either an internal or external CD-R drive to boot the disc from, I use an external USB DVD drive. The link @HeloJunkie provided has several options.

One thing you should do is remove your old USB Flash drive and install FreeNAS on a new/different flash drive. Put the original one to the side until after you have your system up and running because if you have problems, you could just put that flash drive back in and boot your machine so you can at least access your files without issue.

 

[gpsguy]

CD-R?

Since both you and the OP have a Supermicro server board, I'd expect you guys to be using IPMI. ;)

I personally find it best to burn the ISO to a CD-R and then boot from that.

 

[joeschmuck]

CD-R?

Since both you and the OP have a Supermicro server board, I'd expect you guys to be using IPMI. ;)

LOL, my test rig does not have IPMI however you are very correct sir, the OP should use IPMI assuming they know how to make it work. Sometimes it take someone else to point out the obvious, thanks.

 

[HeloJunkie]

I used IPMI on my SM board as a test, but it was painfully slow for some reason....

 

[ucrbuffalo]

LOL, my test rig does not have IPMI however you are very correct sir, the OP should use IPMI assuming they know how to make it work. Sometimes it take someone else to point out the obvious, thanks.

I used IPMI on my SM board as a test, but it was painfully slow for some reason....

My board has IPMI but I couldn't figure out how to make it work after a few days of tinkering, so I just gave up. Never had a real need for it anyway.

I personally find it best to burn the ISO to a CD-R and then boot from that. Of course this means that you need either an internal or external CD-R drive to boot the disc from, I use an external USB DVD drive. The link @HeloJunkie provided has several options.

Well, I'll have to go get a drive if I do that. I was looking into possibly using the dd method in FreeNAS, but like I mentioned, I'm not sure where to put the ISO for it to see. My next option was the Windows ISO tool, but it didn't like that it wasn't an actual WINDOWS ISO (since I assume the tool is for making a boot drive to install Windows).

One thing you should do is remove your old USB Flash drive and install FreeNAS on a new/different flash drive. Put the original one to the side until after you have your system up and running because if you have problems, you could just put that flash drive back in and boot your machine so you can at least access your files without issue.

Oh snap! I don't know why I didn't even think of this... Great tip!

 

[joeschmuck]

In order to create a bootable ISO on a USB Flash Drive, try Rufus. I prefer the "portable" version as I don't need to install it on my system.

Also, I understand the pain to get the IPMI working but once you have it figured out, it's well worth it.

 

[pirateghost]

How hard is it to use the ipmi? I never had issues with mine.

I often see this statement that people have a hard time with it, and I get confused.

 

[joeschmuck]

How hard is it to use the ipmi? I never had issues with mine.

I often see this statement that people have a hard time with it, and I get confused.

I tried to follow the guide from SM and install the required software and it was just a pain. Java didn't play well, etc... Now that I have everything setup it's a piece of cake and I use IPMI often, and that is the main reason for purchasing the motherboard I now have. There are still a few things I don't like about IPMI on my board but I can work around those.

 

[pirateghost]

I tried to follow the guide from SM and install the required software and it was just a pain. Java didn't play well, etc... Now that I have everything setup it's a piece of cake and I use IPMI often, and that is the main reason for purchasing the motherboard I now have. There are still a few things I don't like about IPMI on my board but I can work around those.

What software?

I powered on my server, got the IP for the ipmi, browsed to it from Firefox, and clicked on the console. It prompted me to open with Java, and it loaded right up. I never installed anything, never had to jump through hoops...

 

[joeschmuck]

SM comes with an IPMI software package. I started trying to use that and it failed. The IP address is what I eventually found to work but Java was not at the right version. Hey, if it could go wrong, it did. Now it works like a champ.

 

[ucrbuffalo]

UPDATE: The problem seems to be resolved.

So I ended up getting some very much needed help from a gentleman on the Plex forums who works for Plex.

After allowing him to remote into my PC to see what exactly was going on, it seems like somehow the Plugin broke itself (for lack of better understanding). We did a clean install of the newest Plex Pass version of PMS inside a generic jail. Originally I had tried this and had very slow results, which is why I went back to the plugin. But speed is no longer an issue.

Thank you to everyone on this thread for your help along the way. :D