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Plex connection lost/unavailable

  • 3 June 2021
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  • Suso
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Hi! My Plex Server is running from a NAS, I use it from Sonos app with an Android movile. My wife use it from an IPhone, but we both have the same problem while listen to music from Playing List: Most of the time it works fine, but sometimes music stops showing messeges like "plex conection lost" or "server unavailable".
If i try to log out and log in again, may be the problem is fixed... or not.
Sometimes I can listen to only 2 or 3 songs before the music stops again. Sometimes I just can't conect to the server, no matter how many times I try to.
I have updated Plex Server and Sonos app versions but the problem continues.
I am very dissapointed because this makes the system unusable.
Any idea about what could be causing this or what can I do to solve this?
Thanks in advance.

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Best answer by Corry P 7 June 2021, 16:05

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5 replies

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I am very dissapointed because this makes the system unusable.

 

I have also tried using Plex through the Sonos app and have had nothing but trouble with it. It often can’t connect and won’t play reliably once it does connect. On the other hand, accessing my library on the same Synology server directly through the Sonos app (not using Plex) works nearly every time.

You don’t say how you’re using Plex with Sonos, but you might try using the Plex app to play the music to a Sonos speaker if you’ve been accessing Plex through the Sonos app. Nevertheless, my guess is that the quoted statement will continue to be true.

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I am testing Plex on a cheap paying mode that don´t allow me to play the music to a Sonos speaker. And I decided to use Plex instead of only Sonos app, because using this you need to lower the security level of your Nas (SMB1), and this can be dangerous. I don´t understand how Sonos has not already found a solution for this important problem.

If you want to use SONOS Library on a SYNOLOGY, I only have found this alternatives from other forum:

1- Using a Virtual DMS instance that runs SMB1 and only has read only access to the music to avoid enabeling SMB1 on the host DSM.

2- SONOS speakers can play music from UPNP media servers on your network….. Synology has a native UPNP media server aptly named ‘media server’. For some odd reason SONOS can not seem to use the Synology media server  BUT you can install a lot of other media servers on your synology via docker. My current solution is running subsonic on my Synology via docker. This works with no problems for me

 

All that sounds well… but I don't have too much knowledge about Nas and I think I'll have to learn.

if anyone else has another solution, it would be welcome :wink:

 

 

 

 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Suso 

Welcome to the Sonos Community!

I too use Plex for music playback on Sonos - unlike the Music Library, it supports voice control via Alexa and has dynamic playlists.

And I too occasionally need to address this issue which seems to happen whenever something is updated - I haven’t paid close enough attention to be sure which update breaks it, Plex or Sonos.

Essentially, tokens describing various accounts (Sonos and Plex) and destinations (rooms) are exchanged between servers and if these are messed up, you can’t play from Plex.

The good news is that it’s reasonably easy to fix:

In the Sonos app, go to Settings » Services & Voice » Plex » Remove Account. Once done, add Plex back on again. Reauthorising Plex instead may work (and is less work), but removing and adding the service again seems to be more reliable.

I hope this helps.

 

Edit: If your NAS is not connected via ethernet, please do so.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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Hi Corry P!

I will certainly do what you say. I would like to come up with a more reliable solution but I really appreciate your input.

(Yes, my NAS is connected via ethernet)

I'm surely wrong, but you make me wonder if this problem could be fixed simply by stopping the "automatic update" in the Plex Server or Plex app, even in Sonos app (if it were possible to do this). I think I'll take a look at this.

 

 

 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
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Hi @Suso 

In terms of Plex being a music service, they are responsible for maintaining compatibility with Sonos, not the other way around. Sure, Plex works differently from other services, but this fact remains. I recommend you get in touch with Plex support, as the volume of contacts they have from people regarding this will count to how seriously they take the issue.

I can only recommend that you keep your Sonos software up to date.

As for Plex, due to the fact that it interfaces with the cloud (Plex’s servers) I think you may come across (non-Sonos related and Sonos related) issues with Plex if you don’t keep your server up to date, and I think this will be more likely if you use it in conjunction with Alexa, or remote-access Plex from outside your own network.

Having mentioned these caveats, sure, disabling automatic updates on both systems is likely to suspend the issue for a while (though I can’t say for sure as I only suspect updates to be the issue in the first place), but if you use other services you may run into problems (or non-Plex-related problems you’ve already run into won’t be fixed).

You may find, as I have, that the problem isn’t so hard to fix and it’s worth doing it each time.

Having said all this, I re-read your initial post and there could be something else going on here. Music being interrupted isn’t likely to be due to token errors. What router do you have, and how does Sonos connect to it (as in, do you have any ethernet-wired Sonos units)? If all your Sonos products are wireless, it would be worth testing with any one Sonos product wired to ethernet. One cable will change how they all connect, and connecting the cable and waiting 1 minute is all you need to do.

If this fixed the problem, but you had to move a speaker to where you don’t want one, you may want to look at the Boost as a solution, but I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team before spending any money, to see if they can isolate the issue and resolve it at no cost.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
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