SOLVED: "There was a problem signing in to Plex"

[khoji]

I have the Amahi Plex package installed and I have Amahi's DHCP and DNS turned off as I don't want to have the server running 24/7. So DHCP and DNS are handled by my router. I did have Amahi's DHCP and DNS running for a while, but then switched back to my router. I've been accessing everything I need with the IP addresses of the server and so far that's been working fine. After getting and activating a Plex pass yesterday I have now discovered that I can't log in to the Plex server from the Web interface. I just get the "There was a problem signing in to Plex" message. I can see and use all my libraries and even create users, but without signing in to the server I can't make any meaningful configuration changes. It's definitely not individual browsers or computers -- I've tried it on multiple browsers and Windows and Mac computers and the result is the same everywhere.

My guess is that the Amahi packaged version of Plex is internally hard-wired to reference only the plexms.amahi.net address, and doesn't reference the IP address directly. This would explain why I was able to log in before -- probably while I was using Amahi as the DHCP and DNS server -- and why it is now not working. I also can't uninstall the Amahi Plex package from the web console, probably for the same reason.

Is that a correct assumption? If so, what do I need to do to uninstall the Amahi Plex package so that I can then install the normal vanilla version of Plex for Fedora 19? I don't want to switch back to Amahi's DHCP and DNS just to do that because there are too many family members who would go ballistic if they had to release and renew their IP leases all over again...

[bigfoot65]

My guess is that the Amahi packaged version of Plex is internally hard-wired to reference only the plexms.amahi.net address, and doesn't reference the IP address directly.

Incorrect. The access of the app is not hard wired.

See Plex Media Servier in the wiki for details.

[khoji]

I don't think the Amahi wiki posting can be relevant here. It's flagged as out of date and explicitly warns that it's not for the packaged version of Plex but for the older version, which isn't what I'm using.

[bigfoot65]

It is applicable for methods to access the app.

To access by IP address, you would use:
[url]http://IP_ADDRESS:32400/manage/[/url]

[khoji]

That is already what I'm doing. That's what I meant when I said I was using the IP address to access it. I can see the web interface just fine. I can also view the libraries and play the media. What i can't do any more is log in to the server from the web interface, to make deeper changes like turning remote access on and off and so on.

All I want to do now is UNINSTALL the outdated (not updated for 10 months) Amahi packaged version of Plex so that I can install the original version directly from the fedora console. This isn't possible from the Amahi web console, it just says "preparing to uninstall" and stays stuck there for hours.

What I need is the procedure for uninstalling th Amahi package from the command line on the Amahi machine directly. Is that possible?

[bigfoot65]

When users say they are using the IP Address, they often leave off the rest of the URL that is needed to work properly. That is why I provided it as just the IP Address is not enough for this app.

If you are unable to uninstall the app from the web UI, there is something wrong.

Check /var/log/amahi-app-installer.log file for errors.

The Amahi version is out of date, but was last updated a month ago to version 0.9.11.7.803-87d0708. To remove amahi-plex manually, you would do:

Code: Select all

yum erase amahi-plex

Before you go to far, it's best if we sort out why it would not install from the web UI first.

I would also encourage you to update the OS so you have the latest of all packages:

Code: Select all

yum update

[khoji]

The suggestion to update Amahi brought me to the source of the problem. Yum was unable to find any download mirrors, which indicated that it wasn't finding the router's DNS server. That was also the reason no available apps were displayed in the Amahi web console: it wasn't seeing anything outside the local network. I switched on Amahi's DNS again and pointed it to the Google DNS server and the update went through, and didn't seem to conflict with my router's DNS settings. Now I'm also able to log into Plex server via the web interface and the users under the Plex pass have been set up correctly. Plex is now also reporting version 0.9.11.7.

Now I'm going to have to see if there are any problems if I leave on Amahi's DNS so that it can see the Internet and my router's DNS for managing everything else...

[bigfoot65]

That is great news.

As for leaving the Amahi DNS enabled, it will have no affect on your client machines as you are not using the HDA for DHCP. Clients will get their DNS from the router along with the DHCP lease.

[khoji]

Thanks a lot for confirming that. I wasn't aware of the connection between the DHCP lease and where the DNS is sourced. That's useful to know and explains a lot of things that weren't clear to me up to now...

[bigfoot65]

Not a problem.

Whatever the source for DHCP, will also be the source for DNS. You can program many routers to use the HDA DNS, but most leave it alone.

In my opinion it makes it easier to use the HDA DNS and DHCP, but when you have a part time server it doesn't work well. The HDA has to be available 24/7 in order to use it's DNS with a router.