+ Top FAQs with Plex - for more help please check the WIKI.
- How do I add internet video such as TED, YouTube, CNET etc?
- Internet sources are added using the App Store found in the Applications menu. See the following screencast for more info. vimeo.com/3315184
- One of the plug-ins has stopped working.
- If a plug-in stops working, it’s likely that the structure of the site changed. This doesn’t happen very frequently with most sites, but it’s a definite possibility. When this occurs, an entity we call the “Campfire Robot” springs into action automatically and tracks us down to let us know, and shortly thereafter we can push an update. As such, if a site stops working, the best thing to do is to check the App Store for updates. If you have automatic updates turned on, check your install history to see if an update got installed while you were getting coffee.
- I don’t see the Applications Menu Item.
- If you previously used v5 of Plex we suggest deleting the folder called Plex found in ~/Library/Application Support/. Many things have changed and a fresh install will ensure the best performance with Plex.
- How do I make Movies and TV Shows show up in their respective areas with poster art, plot info, etc?
- View this screencast for more info vimeo.com/2758185
Plex on Snow Leopard: Issues and Workarounds
Snow Leopard is out, and we just wanted to take a minute and update you all on how Plex runs on this great new OS. Thanks to reports from our users as well as our own testing, we’ve found that Plex seems to have four serious issues on Snow Leopard:
- Apple Remote issue: Plex is not able to gain exclusive access to the device, which causes the system to see the button presses as well. Our friend Evan looked into this and reported it to Apple as an apparent bug. Apple replied “…this is a known issue, which is currently being investigated by engineering.” One of our clever users (FortyRock) came up with a workaround, which we recommend only if you’re comfortable editing system files. It should be noted that this apparent bug affected lots of other software, such as VLC, EyeTV, Hulu Desktop, etc.
- GMA X3100 issue: There are apparently corruption/color issues on systems with this chipset (more details here). There is no known fix or workaround for this issue as of yet.
- Digital audio (AC3/DTS) issue: There is an apparent issue with Core Audio that prevents digital audio from playing more than once successfully. We’re investigating the problem, and there is a workaround by user dannyv45 that has helped some people out.
- SMB connection issue: Plex appears to have problems connecting to a Snow Leopard SMB server. We’re investigating the issue.
So the bottom line is that if you have a system that you’re using exclusively for Plex, you’re probably better off staying with Leopard, as the new OS doesn’t bring anything in the way of advantages for Plex, and it brings a good handful of serious issues.
The one question we keep getting asked is “When will a Snow Leopard compatible Plex be released?”. Unfortunately – especially given the nature of some of the issues – it’s hard to predict. In the meantime, work continues on Plex/Nine and the next maintenance release of Plex/Eight…
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Thanx for the update. In the meantime 10.6.1 is out
I’m happy to stay on Leopard and wait.
Cheers for the official update guys. Really looking forward to the next release!
Thanks guys
As I use my mini solely to watch mivies with plex and I will keep the Leopard until things get sorted. It’s not like the Lepp is a bad OSX hehe. I have snow on my Air.. its brill but nuthing extrordinary…
Congrats guys! really appreciate your effort… PLEX is the best Media Player I ever used!
There is an easier workaround that I spotted which is to create a folder in itunes that has no music in it. The system still reacts to the remote but itunes has nothing to start playing. Good solution for a non dedicated system.
Having two plex/minis running on leopard flawlessly, why would I “upgrade” to an OS that causes problems with Plex? I have no compelling reason to upgrade to SL at this point.
PS – Plex 0wnz
@pereza1: I completely agree
@Bert: Thanks for the tip!
Or if you are still on iTunes 8, navigate to the iTunes music store and nothing will happen when iTunes gets a play command.
After having VLC inexplicably fail on me on 10.6.1 tonight I gave Plex a shot (this is on a 2009 mini HTPC/home server).
On the positive side, it opened and played the file smoothly (though I couldn’t find my Apple remote, and based on this note it’s apparently a good thing I didn’t).
On the negative, the video was having tearing issues all over the place, which I can’t remember ever being an issue with Plex before. Is this something wonky with the video drivers in SL, is it a side effect of the not-really-ready-for-SL-yet Plex, or is there something else entirely wrong with my system?
On SL I also have frequent crashes of Plex, Plex just freezes and needs to be force quitted.
As solution for the remove problem I have enabled mousecontrol of Plex, for me this works great because I use Plex on a iMac which means I need to be close to the system anyway to watch a movie/series.
When Plex is running, on a secondary screen, I like to work normally with the computer, this means with access to exposé, the cmd+tab combination and so on.
I can’t do this on snow leopard, and if Plex is the application in focus I am not able to switch from it to other so I can carry on working.
Is there some workaround for this?
thanks for the update. I gotta say, the menu scrolling and cross fades in Plex are BUTTERY smooth on Snow Leopard on my Mac Mini Core Duo, as compared to 10.5.8. I was actually quite surprised by this, since I really didn’t think these things would be THAT much better on 10.6 (especially since I’m guessing no effort has gone into OpenCL, or Grand Central Dispatch code in Plex).
Also, the display quality on my Samsung TV seems better now on 10.6, and they’ve tidied up Displays to show resolutions as “1080p”, “720p” etc, which is nice
I am definitely looking forward to full compatibility on Snow Leopard, and I’m sure you guys are working hard on it (and waiting patiently on Apple!). Thanks to everyone for the fine workarounds too
I’ve been able to use Plex by disabling the Remote and using SofaControl instead. It works well, I only found a bug when you try to adjust any slider settings and push the buttons too fast, Plex would stop responding to that button. I’ll have to press Menu to go back one screen, then return to the screen where I was making the adjustment, and do it slowly.
Another workaround, but not a complete solution.
I am not sure how to ask this, so I will start with a comment and most likely receive direction.
I am building a small inn–9 rooms and considering a media server system for the in-room entertainment. I found out about Plex from http://www.screencastsonline.com and it seems to have a lot of potential to be the in-room entertainment browser for our inn. Has anyone tried this application. I guess my largest concern would actually be LIMITING features so guests could not access certain settings that have to be reset all the time. Sorry for the off topic, but not sure users can start a thread here. All the Best.
Plex is working great for me on snow leopard, just 1 issue remaining:
@TW_s I have the same issue with Plex and spaces in snow leopard. More third party apps have the problem of switching to another space while full screen is still working. Blizzard apparently found the source of the problem, see post nr 14 in this thread:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=19595730042&sid=1
Add a third for the spaces issue. It’s darned annoyin to have to shut Plex down if I want to switch away to a different space!!
Anyhow, keep up the good work guys…..can’t wait for Plex9 !!
@ TW_s
Go into the Plex advanced settings (accessible from the Plex menu in finder) and uncheck the box that says “Enable true full screen mode”. You will then be able to use command-tab and expose.