Chrome: Buffering Issues

[cowboyy221]

im on google chrome and usually dont have this problem but the buffer is rolling and rolling the ads work but and on demands work  but radio just rolls.

mod edit: changing title for clarity

[lakedaisy]

Alyssa. "Our servers watch for Pandora players that are misbehaving, and when identified, we restrict that account for a little while."

I chromcast Pandora from my Chrome browser on my mac to my nvidia shield during the night when we go to bed.  Pandora will only play one song then buffers and will no longer play music.  Has Pandora determined my player is misbehaving?  Can I not play music all night?

[lakedaisy]

I saw that others eliminated the problem by using microsoft edge.  I downloaded and tried.  Same buffering problem.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi there, @lakedaisy. 👋

Thanks for reporting your experience.

You should be able to cast from your Chrome browser to another device. 

Let's try running through these steps:

1. Update Chrome.

2. Clear Browsing Data (including browsing history, cache and cookies):

• Click on the icon with 3 vertical dots in the upper right (located on the browser toolbar).
• Select More Tools and then Clear Browsing Data.
• On this screen, please select All time for the time range, and then click on Clear Data.
• Restart the browser and go back to pandora.com.

3. Bypass the Pop-up Blocker for Pandora:

• Again, click the 3 vertical dots in the upper right, and select Settings.
• Scroll down and click Advanced at the bottom.
• Under Privacy and security, click Site Settings.
• Click Popups and redirects. Under allow make sure pandora.com is listed. If not listed, click Add and enter: https://www.pandora.com, then click Add.

4. Turn off extensions.

Disable HTML5 Autoplay, Adblock, and NoScript, or allow www.pandora.com within them. To do that, go to chrome://extensions/ on your web browser.

5. Allow Pandora within your firewall or antivirus.

If you are using an internet firewall or anti-virus program, it could be blocking portions of our site. Try allowing access to pandora.com within those programs, and then try visiting our site again. If this doesn't help, then try disabling such programs entirely as a test to see if this affects your issue.

6. Try a different browser.

Using a different browser such as Firefox may help.

7. Restart your computer and try Pandora again.

++

You also mentioned that this issue occurs on the Edge browser. Since this is happening across different browsers, it sounds like the issue may be related to the network you're using to connect to Pandora.

You can also try rebooting your connection: 

1. Shut down your device completely;
2. Unplug your modem and router, wait one full minute, and then plug them back in;
3. Wait five more minutes to allow the modem and router to fully boot back up;
4. Turn your device back on and try Pandora again.

If Pandora still isn't working, could you check if you're able to connect to your network using another streaming service, such as YouTube?

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[lakedaisy]

Thank you Alyssa for your reply.  I did #'s 1 - 4.  Don't have antivirus. Restarted Mac. Reset router as you stated. Still same problem.  I had already downloaded Microsoft Edge browser.  Both Chrome and Edge open Pandora with 'Buffering" already on.  I must press 'play', then one song plays then stops and buffers.

I downloaded FireFox and Pandora seems to play fine.  However I can't seem to find a way to chromecast FireFox.  

I'm wondering if I completely remove Chrome, settings and everything, if this would correct the problem with Chrome/Pandora?

[lakedaisy · Accepted solution]

Alyssa, I believe I found the solution.  I used CleanMyMac to  remove Chrome.  This program removes EVERYTHING.   I already had Chrome Sync turned on so all my settings were saved.  Next I reinstalled Chrome and restored my settings.  Pandora seems to be working great again. Thanks for your help Alyssa.

[lakedaisy]

P.S.  If pandora would update their Pandora app for Android (Nvidia Shield-Google Play Store) then I wouldn't have to chrome cast.  There's no Modes on the old app so I hear the Eagles, Alison Krauss, Foo Fighters when listening to Celtic Women.

Myself and hundreds have requested updates to apps.  But, realistically I don't think the Pandora folks ever view these requests and they never seem to be filled.   

[AlyssaPandora]

@lakedaisy Thanks for letting me know, and for your feedback. It sounds like you were able to get back up and running. Feel free to tag me if anything else pops up. 🎧

[kcram88]

I have a macbook pro and ran pandora daily for almost 2 years but the past week I am unable to play music at all. It will load the statioin and then gets stuck on buffering. I have reset, logged out, cleared cache, updated google, updated mac os.. nothing will fix it 

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @kcram88. 👋

Sorry to hear that you're experiencing buffering while using your Chrome web browser to stream Pandora.

It sounds like you've tried a few steps here: Chrome Troubleshooting

Let's try rebooting your connection: 

1. Shut down your device completely;
2. Unplug your modem and router, wait one full minute, and then plug them back in;
3. Wait five more minutes to allow the modem and router to fully boot back up;
4. Turn your device back on and try Pandora again.

If Pandora still isn't working, could you check if you're able to connect to your network using another streaming service, such as YouTube?

Have you tried using a different browser like Firefox or Safari to see if you're able to listen? This will help us determine whether this issue is browser related.

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[Brianna2]

I am not able to listen to my music because I'll get on and go to search a song but then I push it and the ad will come up and then disappear. It does this constantly. How do I fix it?  

[AlyssaPandora]

Hi there, @Brianna2. 👋

Sorry to hear that you're having trouble when initiating a free Premium Access session to listen to a song on demand. 

Based on your message, it sounds like the pop up disappears when you attempt to start the session. This could be related to a pop up blocker.

I would recommend starting off with these steps to see if it helps resolve the issue: Chrome Troubleshooting

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[Brianna2]

Thank you so much. I finally got it to work.

[AlyssaPandora]

No problem at all, @Brianna2. Glad to hear that you were able to get back to listening without any issues. Feel free to let me know if anything else pops up! 🎧

[beladona]

I have also started having this issue, just this morning, in CHROME Version 107.0.5304.63 (Official Build) (64-bit)

[jfeen82]

Hello, I'm having a few issues playing music on Google Chrome. First, after ever song it says buffering and I have to manually hit the pause/play button to get the song to play. Also, sometimes songs will start playing anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes into the song and it will change to the next song before the current song even ends. This is so frustrating. Please help.

I've also tried restarting my computer and clearing the browser history.

mod edit: merged comments + changed title for clarity

[jfeen82]

I've also tried restarting my computer and clearing the browser history.

[AlyssaPandora]

Hey there, @jfeen82 @beladona. 👋

I know how frustrating this can be. I would recommend trying out the steps below, if you haven't already.

1. Update Chrome.

2. Clear Browsing Data (including browsing history, cache and cookies):

• Click on the icon with 3 vertical dots in the upper right (located on the browser toolbar).
• Select More Tools and then Clear Browsing Data.
• On this screen, please select All time for the time range, and then click on Clear Data.
• Restart the browser and go back to pandora.com.

3. Bypass the Pop-up Blocker for Pandora:

• Again, click the 3 vertical dots in the upper right, and select Settings.
• Scroll down and click Advanced at the bottom.
• Under Privacy and security, click Site Settings.
• Click Popups and redirects. Under allow make sure pandora.com is listed. If not listed, click Add and enter: https://www.pandora.com, then click Add.

4. Turn off extensions.

Disable HTML5 Autoplay, Adblock, and NoScript, or allow www.pandora.com within them. To do that, go to chrome://extensions/ on your web browser.

5. Allow Pandora within your firewall or antivirus.

If you are using an internet firewall or anti-virus program, it could be blocking portions of our site. Try allowing access to pandora.com within those programs, and then try visiting our site again. If this doesn't help, then try disabling such programs entirely as a test to see if this affects your issue.

6. Try a different browser.

Using a different browser such as Firefox may help.

7. Restart your computer and try Pandora again.

Let me know how it goes. 🎧

[jfeen82]

The only thing that worked on this list was using a different browser. Microsoft Edge worked. I dont really want to use that though.

[GeraldPandora]

Hi @jfeen82 

Thanks for trying those steps out. It sounds like the issue may be related to the network you're using to connect to Pandora.

Please try connecting your device directly via an Ethernet cable and see if that helps.

If there is no change, try rebooting your connection: 

1. Shut down your device completely;
2. Unplug your modem and router, wait one full minute, and then plug them back in;
3. Wait five more minutes to allow the modem and router to fully boot back up;
4. Turn your device back on and try Pandora again.

You might also try connecting your device to an entirely different network, or using a different device on your current network, to see if your streaming improves.

Hope this helps, let me know how it goes! 

[beladona]

Updating CHROME seems to have helped, but I had to reboot for it to kick in. 

The directions on how to clear cache for a single site on CHROME doesn't seem to work, incidentally.  

Thank you for your time and patience!

[AlyssaPandora]

Thanks for the feedback, @beladona. I will share this information with the appropriate party. I'm glad to hear those steps helped. 🙌 Enjoy the tunes and have a great weekend!