Plex suddenly stopped streaming video

[RichDAdams]

Hello,

I have been using a RN102 for a few months, happily streaming films & other video's to my chromecast using the plex app (with an ipad as a controller, not that that should have any impact on my issue).

In the last week, whenever I try to stream a video, I am seeing the warning:

"unable to cast
This server is not powerful enough to convert videos."

At first I thought that perhaps it was just that video, so I tried to play other films & videos which have worked without problems and the same message is appearing. I have tried to disable AV (re-enables straight away once I realised it didn't make a difference), iTunes & spindown timing to see if something there has caused an issue.

Does anyone know a fix to this? It is only in the last couple of weeks, the server can still cast music & photos fine.

I assume that maybe Plex has just released a software update which has introduced new parameters for even attempting to stream video which would be sad but I wanted to see if anyone knew a workaround or another service that would allow me to stream my videos to my chromecast from my RN102?

Thanks

[mdgm-ntgr]

The 102 cannot transcode. If the video on your 102 is not in the right format or you wish to play subtitles that are not already burned into the video then you need to transcode.

So it was working before? What version of Plex have you installed now?

[StephenB]

An update to plex or the chromecast could cause this. AV and spindown won't.

You could try enabling ReadyDLNA on a test folder, and see if that resolves it.

Since the RN102 can't transcode, you are limited to the native formats and codecs supported by chromecast. There's a list here: https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/media

mp4 container format
h.264 or vp8 video
dolby digital, AAC, mp3, pcm, or vorbis audio

plex on the RN100 might be able to overcome the mp4 container format, but not the audio/video codecs.

[RichDAdams]

To mdgm:

Yes this was working before, and I haven't changed or edited the files. As an example there are videos that I made with my GoPro and they're mp4's.

I have version 0.9.7.28 installed.

To StephenB:

Thanks, I thought this might be the case. I already have ReadyDLNA enabled on the NAS settings and it is enabled within the folder I am trying to play videos from (and could before). Since this hasn't worked I suspect I may have to look at other options.

After further investigation (thanks for the prompt about Chromecast), it would appear to be an issue with an update to Chromecast because my ipad can play videos on it's Plex app.

I suspect that this means Plex have added new processor parameters to their Chromecast app.

Thanks for your help, if there is anything else you guys can think of then I would really appreciate any thoughts.

[BChar44]

I would install the PLEX client on another machine(like your desktop if you have one) and just point the library files towards your NAS. That is what I have running. Then you will be able to transcode without issues.

[StephenB]

BChar44 wrote:
I would install the PLEX client on another machine(like your desktop if you have one) and just point the library files towards your NAS. That is what I have running. Then you will be able to transcode without issues.

I think you must mean "install the PLEX server...".

I've done that also - the main drawback is that the PC needs to be up and running whenever you want to stream.