I am running Windows 10 Pro 64bit. About a week ago, I started gettting a "Playback Error Conversion failed. A required codec could not be found or failed to install." error. It started with a single series, and now it happens with most of my media. I have tried several suggestions I found on reddit, primarily deleting the contents of "C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Codecs". I tried deleting the contents. and restarting Plex. Didn't work. I tried deleting the entire Codecs folder and restarting. That recreated the Codecs directory and it's content. Still got the error. I went into "Codecs\7814ac9-1285-windows-i386" and noticed there are no files. Makes sense that a codec that doesn't exist cannot be started. I tried uninstall Plex, deleting C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\, and reinstalling Plex. Still nothing. So how do I fix this?

Hi,

The Plex app on my Roku is version 5.1.

First, am I up to date? I think Roku updates automatically when a new version of the app comes out, is that right?

I really like the Collections feature for my movies but I only have that on the web client. When can I expect this feature to land on the Roku app?

This post will always contain the latest version of the Plex service wrapper.
This is not official or affiliated with Plex in any way and was originally made for personal use. Treat it as such and please don't bug the Plex devs about it. (bug them about Plex not running as a service natively by all means :P) feel free to post your questions here and I will do my best to help.

If you are having problems, the first question will be whether it runs ok when not being run as a service. Please ensure you can get Plex up and running fine on it's own.

Please read all of this post, there is lots of information covering the most common problems (Mapped drives, different user accounts etc)

The service application was created to enable Plex Media Server to operate as a service in windows.
It has been reported to work on the following OS's and requires .net framework 4 is installed:

• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Home Server V1
• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows Home Server 2011
• Windows Server 2012 R2
• Windows Server 2012 Essentials
• Windows XP
• Windows 7
• Windows 8
• Windows 8.1
• Windows 10

Latest version is 1.1.5. It is open source and up on the github if you want to build it yourself: https://github.com/cjmurph/PmsService

There is a built copy available under releases on the github here: https://github.com/cjmurph/PmsService/releases

To update Plex Media Server:
1. Stop the plex using the service task bar application
2. Run the plex installer to do the upgrade as usual.
3. When the installer is complete, start Plex using the service task bar application.

[WARNING] Read below if you intend to change the service account
If you change the service account type or the service user account from your current configuration, your application data (and therefore your library) will not be available when you start Plex.
If you want to run the service under a different account, Then you should first move your Plex application data folder to a common folder (Personally I have mine on a second drive of my server "D:\Plex").
If the application data is left under the previous account's folder, then the new account will not have permission to get to it.
Once you have the application data in a common place, after starting Plex with the new credentials, go to the web interface -> server settings -> general -> show advanced -> "The path where local application data is stored" and change this to the location you just moved your Plex application data to. Restart Plex and you should be good to go.

When asked for your credentials during install make sure you fully qualify the user name.
If you are on a domain, the username is entered as domain\username.
If you aren't on a domain, the domain is the computer itself so replace the domain name with the computer name eg. (mycomputersname\username OR .\username).

The install includes a tray application to start and stop Plex, view logs for the service and open the Plex web manager.

There is a large amount of extra information in this thread https://forums.plex.tv/topic/23711-running-pms-as-a-service-in-whs which is where this application was born from.

Media location:
When Plex runs as a service, there is no user session created. Plex will run in a non-interactive session (session 0). This means that any drive mappings you have created will not be available.
If your media is located on a network device, Plex sections must be set up to look at a UNC path NOT a mapped drive.

Mapped drives -- EXPERIMENTAL
From version 1.1.3 this service supports user defined drive mappings. Configure the map in settings and it will be made available before PMS is started.
You should ensure the user account the service is run under has access to the network share.
This is experimental at the moment. if you have issues, please review your logs and report back here.

Auxiliary applications:
Applications you want to have running with Plex. An example is Plexconnect, the python script for using plex with an apple TV.
I've added this after a request from a user to wrap Plexconnect the same way I did Plex, I figured it would work OK in the same service. I don't use Plexconnect personally but I tested this new system with several other applications and they all ran up fine.

To add an auxiliary application, using the task bar icon, go to settings, you will get a new window. click the add button to add a new application, and the remove button to remove the currently selected one.
Name is a user friendly name for the application, file is the file to execute and arguments is any command line arguments you want to add. If you specify a URL, a menu item will be made available directly from the tray application to navigate to that address.

Save the settings and the next time the service is started the application you specified will start too. Check the logs (again through the task bar icon) to see how you got on.

I would suggest making sure that the application runs as expected in a normal user session BEFORE attempting to run it as an auxiliary application.

If you are installing Plex for the first time, I'd still recommend moving the application data folder, the user folder isn't the best spot.

If you like the software, buy me a beer

Enjoy,

cjmurph.

True 3D from Blu-ray 3D does work on Plex, but it depends on what device your Plex app is on. I will explain in detail below...

SUCCESS! After numerous attempts, I finally got Blu-ray 3D rips to work through Plex. In order to watch these 3D versions, you will obviously need a 3DTV with 3D glasses, but also a compatible Plex app. I say "compatible," because not all Plex apps are the same. The LG and Apple TV Plex apps apparently doesn't support real 3D (they can be converted to "fake 3D" using the TVs 3D button on your remote control, but it has much less dimension and depth accuracy is often horrendous), however I have found Samsung Plex apps selects real 3D (aka. 3D-MVC). The good news is, if you don't have 3DTVs, glasses, or a compatible Plex app, you can still watch the normal "flat" 2D version from the same file. So, you will always be able to watch these movies, but you will only be able to see the 3D effects with the right setup, including the right Plex app. This eliminates the need for two files of the same movie (one file for 2D viewing, another file for 3D viewing).

Instructions are as follows...

1. Use "MakeMKV" to rip the Blu-ray 3D (be sure to checkmark the 3D-MVC codec file too).
2. Use "tsMuxeR" to remux the .MKV file to an .M2TS file.
3. Add the .M2TS file to Plex.
4. Watch 3D movie through the Plex app on Samsung Blu-ray players or TVs.

NOTE: In step 2, move the 3D-MVC codec source file below the H.264 codec source file. Otherwise, you may experience errors when attempting to play the file on non-compatible Plex apps, as installed on Apple TV or LG Smart TVs. I had a "transcoder crashed" error every time, until I moved it down.

NOTE: In step 5, after attempting to watch this .M2TS file through Plex on my Apple TV and LG Smart TV, but not being able to get the 3D-MVC stream to work, I decided to try the Plex app I have on my Blu-ray player. It was a success. The moment I clicked to play the movie through the Samsung app, the system detected a 3D signal and automatically changed the display to output the stellar 3D image. And that 3D image is exactly as it appears on the Blu-ray 3D.

The real problem is why aren't all Plex apps the same? Plex apps on Samsung devices supports 3D-MVC playback, but Plex apps on Apple TV and LG Smart TVs don't. On the flipside, Plex apps on iOS, Mac and Apple TV allows me to change streaming quality from as small as 240p, to 320p, to 480p, to 720p, to 1080p, to the original quality of the file, with many bitrate offerings in between. But, Plex on Samsung devices doesn't offer that feature. I would like to have all Plex apps support 3D-MVC playback AND selective quality changes.

I tried this "3D-MVC .M2TS through Plex" method before, but chalked it up as "it doesn't work" since the 3D effect wasn't coming through my Apple TV Plex app. So, I gave up, not realizing until today, Plex apps vary across different devices. We need consistency and full support for all home theater media.

Hi,

I have a big server with like 15 users on.

Yesterday and today, almost everyone has written to me because Plex doesn't work or lags a lot since the Plex Chromecast app has been updated, and I tried it myself and it stops, buffers, lags and it's a complete disaster for me and everyone of my users. Everything else works fine, Netflix, SVT Play, Youtube. But Plex doesn't work.

I can't downgrade the Chromecast app itself so how do I fix this? Just tell everyone to throw away their chromecasts and buy an apple tv? Seriously, the new update is ****.

I've been reading the forums and trying all sorts of things from deleting cache, deleting metadata, deleting plugins deleting everything in PMS folder, deleting libraries and re-adding, did Plex Dance. But keep getting this error on most of my files.

Windows 10 - PMS 1.12.3.4973
Clients: Windows 10 browser, Roku 3, FireTv 1

This setup used to work, but it's been a while so I'm sure several things have changed on the computer since it worked well.

Attached are log files. Please help.

Hi all,

Since the latest update(s) I've been having an issue that I cannot seem to find anywhere on the forum, however I doubt I am the only one to have this issue.

I often watch media on plex on the same pc the server is installed. I access the media through 127.0.0.1:32400 in browser, just like I always have. Lately, for some reason, it sometimes takes forever to load (seems to be stuck) or, if I try to go back any amount of time, it will buffer for as much as 10 minutes just to resume playback.

This happens on original quality, no transcoding and there are no error messages. My (server)pc is powerful enough to transcode several streams simultaneously and stream them over the web or on local network.

A temporary fix is to restart the server, however the problem may return at any time. It's easier to find the directory with the media inside rather than using Plex.

Any suggestions as to why this problem may occur would be very much appreciated.

This originally started when I was trying to figure out why I could not cast from Android Plex app to Chromecast.

I made a post about it and it was becuase my Secure Connections was set to "Required"

When I set it to preferred/disabled I was then able to cast everything fine. It got me thinking why can Chromecast use the secure connections?

As said in my previous post user "sa2000" mentioned that

It was mentioned when the SSL came in that chromecast cannot cope with SSL at the moment. So working as designed. To > Cast to Chromecast must not have Secure Connections set to Required. Should use Preferred.
Will try and find the relevant blog info on this
Read this and then search for Chromecast
https://blog.plex.tv/2015/06/04/its-not-easy-being-green-secure-communication-arrives/
and this
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/206225077

I asked why this was, why can the Chromecast not "cope" with SSL, response was:

I have discussed the documentation with the Plex Team and the view is that the existing documentation is explicit enough :
Support Page How to Use Secure Server Connections is clear in that it does not list Chromecast app as supporting SSL

I am a volunteer with Google in the Chromecast Buddy Program where I have access to Google Employees and report certain issues and help relay information back.

I have ran Nmap tests against both Chromecast and my Plex Server and they both match up. (output below)

I have reported this to the Chromecast team who is currently discussing it internally.

I was hoping for some more technical details as to why PLEX thinks the Chromecast can not support Secure Connections.

Any insight?

I have three libraries, one of them is shared. How do I hide it in my account?

I'll explain it better... I have three libraries:

• Library A
• Library B
• Library C (shared)

The other user sees only "Library C", I can see only "Library A" and "Library B"? It's possible?

I'm running a PMS on my Nvidia Shield & am using the same Shield as a client. I need to get all EAC3 audio to be transcoded to AC3 audio because my TV and Receiver don't support the pass-through of EAC3. Does anyone know how I would customize this? I've never used a profile before with Plex.

I'm very unhappy with Plex server. I can't connect to the My Cloud Home server. I don't know why but there's another server called DOM where I can connect but can't connect to the actual server I'm using at home and where all my music is stored. It says that it can't connect. That's been happening few times now. Is there a way that I can connect to that server in my account? I can access that server on my cellphone but not on the web.

Thank you

I have a directory with MKV files but in plex it shows: "There are no items in this library"
I don't understand this. I ran Scan several times.
Any ideas?

Hi.

I'm having a problem with my phone app.

It keeps saying I have files to view that on my PC are watched.

On my phone in the Plex app I've deleted data and cashe, done a forced stop and restarted it.

Went I put it on and open Plex, input acount details it still the same.

Picture 01...
Shows files waiting to be watched and is correct.

Picture 02...
Again shows shows waiting to be watched but on PC they are shown as watched which is also correct.

Thanks.

A J Worden.

Hi,
I'm currently running Plex Android app release 6.15.3885 installed on Sony Bravia KD65A1 and would like to report a bug that prevents the resume feature to work properly.
When trying to resume movie watching Plex is showing the "waiting circle" infinitly and the movie won't resume.
When choosing to play the same from start, it works perfeclty.
It happens on any type of movie, not systematically.
Thanks for your help.

For what is worths, server is latest beta channel release located on Synology 716+II

Never had issues before with my server (2-3 years)...until an unfortunate Hardware failure 3 weeks ago and inevitable Re installation of OS and Plex Server. Luckily right before the wipe, i managed to backup the Plex Server directory (Where DB resides) and copy the files back, post re-installation, it recognized the "orphan" server and adopted it
Unfortunately, since that fresh install, i get s PMS crash once or twice a day and i have no clue why. nothing really changed in Library structure, even drives are labeled the same. Locations are the same.
I've even updated the server version (so 2 iterations, same results)..
One exceptional change: Not all TV metadata gets refreshed properly...

System:
Windows 10 Enterprise 64bit, Ver 1709
GPU: Quadro P5000 running driver 388.16
MB: Asus Rampage 5, Edition 10, Bios 1801
CPU: i7 5820k @ 3.3 Ghz
RAM: 32 Gigs
RAID: RocketRaid 644
Storage: 2 x Mobius Raid 5 Array @ 22TB each

Plex has been crashing frequently for me for the past few months. Sometimes it is once or twice a day and other times it could be once a week. I always update to the latest release when they come out. Most of the time when plex crashes the plex icon is still in the tray by the clock and no crash log is created. When it crashes all of the transcodes stop and browsing the server from the web interface displays a not responding error and I usually have to end the plex media server.exe process in task manager even after exiting from the tray icon. I have reinstalled the operating system but the problem remains.

Server:
Windows Server 2016 64bit
96GB Memory
Dual E5-2660 Processors

My Plex database file is pretty large at 545MB. (In case its relevant)

The server last crashed sometime after 1:30am this morning. These logs are from that crash.
Server Logs Attached Below:

I've been using plex for years with little to no issues.

The last few months, every so often (about once a day), a TV show or movie will stop and I will get this error, or a shaka101 error. When I try to re-play the file, it works immediately. I have not found any correlation to what could be causing this. This has happened on different types of video formats (avi, mp4, mkv), has happened with files with subtitles and without subtitles. And on files on 2 different HDDs. And it can almost NEVER be replicated. It happens randomly.
Typically, I have it running overnight in my room and it will stop at some point, but other times it happens when I go to watch a single show after not using the server for a few hours, so I don't think it's an issue with the PC or anything.

I have tried EVERYTHING I have found on Plex Forums and Reddit.
Uninstalled, reinstalled.
Deleted libraries
Renamed files
Changed Transcoder directory
Set PlexTranscoder.exe to compatibility mode
Changed permissions of Transcoder folder
I even bought Plex Pass so I could try the Beta, still having issues
Toggled Direct Play/Direct Stream
Optimized Versions
Happens on all devices (Plex web, both through Plex.tv and local, Chromecast to my tv from both desktop and phone, playing on Fire Stick, and Xbox)

My system is older (i5-3570k, 8GB ram) but I haven't had issues like this until the last 2-3 months. All files play just fine on all other content.

No PC eu coloquei uma pasta com filmes até ai tudo certo, mas na hora de ver na TV, só apareceu 3 pastas: photo, video e music, que ja veio no plex, mas não apareceu a pasta de filmes que criei.

I see this error when I show my service status.

Feb 24 15:38:55 SERVERNAME systemd[1]: [/etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d/override.conf:15] Failed to parse mode value, ignoring: 0002 # this must be 4 digits

I have
UMask=0002 # this must be 4 digits of octal
in my override.conf file

I have had a Plex Premium Music Library for over a year now, and the base music file folder structure has not changed, short of adding new content. However, over the past few weeks, I have noticed a constant "Downloading Metadata.../Matching......." going on all the time. Like, almost constantly. If I stop Plex, and restart it, it will not occur until I add something new. It does seem to focus in on similar titles but it's moving at the speed of light through a ton of files. It happens to stop on a few constant titles, but they are either very popular albums, custom albums, or personal items that would not be found. Point being, all walks of life in terms of matching.

Now, this has not been a problem for 1+ years. Only recently and the items that have recently been added do not seem to pop up on the scrolling list, yet of course, I can not read everything nor have sat and watched it completely stop.

Thoughts?

Here is a video of the constant scroll in case I did a bad job explaining the symptoms.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/F5RT5vplxtooIXhA3

Current: Version 1.12.1.4885 (Issue has spanned 4 server versions)

I have also emptied the cache for most agents, reset the agent list to default order (I had moved the Plex Premium Agent first under Artist/Albums), and other normal things like restarts, power cycles, etc.

I can also provide logs to anyone that would like to read them.

Thanks!