A problem has been detected with a core component of Plex Media Server

Server Version#: 1.16.5.1554-1e5ff713d-x86
Player Version#:

Plex Media Server–Logs.zip (2.4 MB)

For months, my PMS has not been working anymore. Each time an update has been released since 1.14.1.5488, I have tried it, hoping it was not a singular issue. Unsuccessfully. It keeps throwing me “A problem has been detected with a core component of Plex Media Server.” This started to happen after an automatic update, but I can’t remember which version it was. At that time, I remember I tried rolling back to an older version, again, unsuccessfully.

Each time I have attempted a full clean install, deleting the app from the Windows Control Panel, deleting the AppData folder, and deleting the entry in the registry @HKCU\Software\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server also.

I have also followed the instructions from here: PLease help- A problem has been detected with a core component of Plex Media Server.

I am running Windows 10 Enterprise 64-bit 1809. I have deactivated firewall and VPN during the process.

Please help !

Wow that sounds frustrating. You said you deactivated your VPN. In the thread you linked, the instruction was to rip it out by it roots and leave no trace, then reboot the machine.
Is that what you did to your VPN rather than disable it?

The website uninstall instructions tell you to remove the registry entry above the one you linked.
It says remove HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc.
Did you remove the one I linked or the one you stated?

Win 10 Enterprise sounds different than a standard Win10.
What additional issues (security etc) did you deal with, if any?

The website instructions say, “If desired, you can also remove the Plex Media Server entry from your account on the Devices page of Plex Web App.” Let’s have you do that too.

Then sign out of the Plex web app. Then sign out of the plex.tv website.
Completely turn the computer off for 2min and start it.
Install PMS and screenshot exactly what happens if anything bad.
Follow these instructions to install PMS in Windows.

Good luck!

My PMS is enterprise and there is nothing different… Just said to eliminate that being a cause.

Hi! Thank you for you help, but I does not solve my problem :frowning:

  1. about the VPN, since it is a company computer I am using, I can’t (or rather I won’t try) to completely remove the software enabling the “lightweight” HTTP tunnel. All I can do is forcing the service to stop, which I did. But in any case, PMS was working just fine before, even with that executable running and proxying my connection.

  2. I confirm that the entire “Plex, Inc” entry was removed.

  3. I have not noticed any other issue that might be caused by Windows 10 being “Enterprise”.

  4. Tried that already, forgot to mention

  5. I also tried signin out then back in.

  6. This installation guide brings nothing new to my knowledge about the installation steps…

The answer must be somewhere in the logs, but I really don’t know where to look. For me, it is like looking for a needdle in a haystack…
Note: I have extracted the logs just after the first execution of PMS after the clean install (so just after the error message)

Anybody ? :frowning:

I have just tried PlexMediaServer-1.16.6.1592-b9d49bdb7-x86
Same error, again…
Hopefully I am not paying a Plex Pass when I see how much this recurring problem does not interest the people of Plex…

It’s safe to guess we all want to avoid core problems.
Let’s get some new debug logs against the new version, okay?
Can you investigate if your VPN software has the ability to whitelist
applications that are not to be affected/routed?

Does anyone know whether a docker is the sort of thing that will
isolate his PMS from the operating system enough to let PMS run?

thank you sir


(Not that this has bearing, but your plex pass status isn’t reflected in your forum name.
Would you try pulling down the upper right icon here that looks like your avatar, H,
and scroll down to the very bottom where it has Log Out and see if logging out and
back in fixes your status?)

Hi nibbles
Here are the new logs: Logs.zip (995.3 KB)
No, I can’t whitelist applications from the VPN software. But again, I am sure that when the associated services are stopped, my connection is not proxied anymore. I have even tried creating a new Windows user (since the software is only installed on the main user account), and I have the same problem.

Hey so we might make some progress here. Fingers crossed…

I noticed some logs are in UTF-16. Your language is set to fr-FR.
Your logs are filled with parsing errors. I’ll paste them below.
That may be the problem, UTF-16 might be the system encoding, but
Plex might expect UTF-8. I don’t know what’s expected or required.
I’ll just try to display the evidence.

Here we see the install completed and was deemed successful (in copying files etc).

In "Plex Media Server_20190920214424_002_pms.log"
MSI (s) (DC:70) [21:44:44:863]: Product: Plex Media Server -- Installation completed successfully.

But next we start seeing what happens when PMS runs for the first time - many odd errors. Notice the last line says UTF-8. This error repeats in every agent log in your plugins folder you attached.

In com.plexapp.agents.lastfm.log
2019-09-22 10:10:25,089 (17f0) :  CRITICAL (core:574) - Exception getting hosted resource hashes (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\runtime.py", line 1295, in get_resource_hashes
    self._resource_hashes = self._core.data.json.from_string(json)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\data.py", line 180, in from_string
    return demjson.decode(jsonstring, encoding)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Platforms\Shared\Libraries\demjson.py", line 2135, in decode
    obj = j.decode( unitxt )
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Platforms\Shared\Libraries\demjson.py", line 1706, in decode
    r = self.decodeobj(txt, 0, only_object_or_array=not self._allow_any_type_at_start)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Platforms\Shared\Libraries\demjson.py", line 1697, in decodeobj
    raise JSONDecodeError('can not decode value',txt[i:])
JSONDecodeError: ('can not decode value', u'<!-- username.html--><!DOCTYPE html><html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Welcome To Zscaler Directory Authentication</title><style type="text/css">body {    background-color: #FFF;    font-family: Arial, sans-serif;    font-size: 12px;    text-align: center;    color: #4B4F54;    overflow: hidden;    margin: 0;}a {    color: #009dd0;    cursor: pointer;    text-decoration: none;}form {    width: 100%;    height: 100%;    margin: 0;    padding: 0;}input {    font-family: Arial;    font-size: 100%;    margin: 0;    width: 100%;    vertical-align: top;    color: #424242;    display: inline-block;    border: none;    padding: 0;    text-align: left;    height: 100%;    width: calc(100% -35px);}table {    margin-top: 10px;    text-align: center;    background-color: white;}table.table-company-logo {    background-color: #e3e3e3;}table.table-upper {    border-radius: 10px;}table.table-lower {    border-bottom-left-radius: 10px;    border-bottom-right-radius: 10px;    background-color: #f3f3f3;}table.table-field-label {    margin-bottom: 2px;}table.table-field-input div.input-wrapper {    display: block;    border-color: #2a2c30;;    width: inherit;    padding-left: 10px;}table.table-field-input .input-wrapper.disabled {    border-color: #cfd0d1;}table.zsc-company {    border-bottom-left-radius: 10px;    border-bottom-right-radius: 10px;    background-color: #f3f3f3;}table.zsc-company td {    border-bottom-left-radius: 10px;    border-bottom-right-radius: 10px;    font-size: 11px;    color: #939393;}.table-half-column-fixed {    width: 356px;}table + table, td table {    margin-top: 0;}td.td-field-label {    font-size: 16px;    color: black;}td.td-field-act {    font-size: 13px;    color: #009dd0;}td.td-field-act img {    vertical-align: middle;}img {    max-height: 80px;    max-width: 430px;}img.act-icon {    padding-right:3px;}.or {    background: #ff9500;}.gr {    background: #e3e3e3;}.gy {    background: #939597;}.yl {    background: #ffc800;}.red {    background: #c20000;}.pg {    position: absolute;    top: 0;    bottom: 0;    left: 0;    right: 0;    white-space: nowrap;    height: 100%;    overflow: auto;}.pg:before {    content: "";    display: inline-block;    height: 100%;    vertical-align: middle;}.pg_cont {    display: inline-block;    vertical-align: middle;    width: 100%;}.m_tbl {    width: 90%;    min-width: 600px;    max-width: 758px;    max-height: 258px;    background: #FFF;    white-space: normal;    border: 3px solid #399c1d;    border-radius: 10px;}.m_tbl.tbl_error {    border-color: #77797c;}.eu_h.tbl_error {    color: #77797c;}.eu_h {    vertical-align: middle;    font-weight: bold;    border-radius: 10px;    font-size: 24px;    color: #399c1d;    font-weight: normal;    padding: 20px 20px 0 20px;}.sm {    font-size: 20px;    color: #696A6D;    font-weight: normal;}.eu_co {    font-size: 14px;    color: #696A6D;    white-space: normal;    padding: 0 20px;}.eu_co.bsubmit {    padding: 0 20px 20px 20px;}.eu_l {    width: 500px;    overflow: hidden;    text-overflow: ellipsis;    margin: 0 auto;    line-height: normal;}.eu_l a {    color: #0069AA;    word-break: break-word;}.bh {    min-height: 40px;    display: block;    max-height: 80px;    color: #0076A9;    font-size: 32px;    overflow: hidden;    padding-bottom: 15px;}.btn {    background: #009dd0;    color: #FFFFFF;    border-radius: 5px;    border: 2px solid #009dd0;    cursor: pointer;    display: inline-block;    height: 30px;    margin: 15px 0 15px;    font-size: 18px;    line-height: 26px;    width: auto;    padding: 0 20px;}.btn:focus, input:focus {    outline: none;}.btn:hover {    background: #fff;    color: #0076A9;}.fo {    height: 40px;    line-height: 40px;    font-size: 11px;    padding-bottom: 0px;    background-color: #f3f3f3;    width: 100%;    border-bottom-left-radius: 7px;    border-bottom-right-radius: 7px;    padding-left: 25px;}.ln {    font-size: 13px;    padding: 0 0 35px;    font-style: italic;}.pb20 {    padding-bottom: 20px;}.pb35 {    padding-bottom: 35px;}.eu_co.st {    font-size: 12px;    padding: 10px 0;    line-height: 20px;    position: relative;}.ie-label {    display: none;}.w-sp {    -webkit-animation: spinner .8s linear infinite;    animation: spinner .8s linear infinite;    border: 2.5px solid #c6c6c6;    border-radius: 100%;    display: inline-block;    height: 13px;    position: relative;    width: 13px;    vertical-align: middle;    top: -2px;    margin-right: 6px;}.w-sp.grn {    border-top-color: #399c1d;}.w-sp.gry {    border-top-color: #77797c;}@-webkit-keyframes spinner {    to {        -webkit-transform: rotate(360deg);    }}@keyframes spinner {    to {        transform: rotate(360deg);    }}.not {    color: #fd4239;    font-size: 16px;    padding-left: 0;    padding-top: 0;}.demo-icon {    color: green;}.s_img {    vertical-align: bottom;    padding-right: 5px;    background: url("data:image/png;base64,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") no-repeat;    width: 55px;    height: 17px;    display: inline-block;}.f_btn + .f_btn {    margin-left: 5px;}.f_btn {    display: inline-block;}.arrow-box {    padding: 15px;    position: absolute;    background: white;    text-align: left;    line-height: 16px;    width: 295px;    top: -40px;    display: none;    z-index: 10;    border: 1px solid #c2a200;    border-radius: 5px;    padding: 15px;    color: #c2a200;    font-size: 13px;}.arrow-box li {    list-style-type: none;    color: #2a2c30;}.arrow-box-left {    top: -10px;    left: -335px;}.arrow-box-left:after, .arrow-box-left:before {    left: 100%;    top: 53px;    border: solid transparent;    content: " ";    height: 0;    width: 0;    position: absolute;}.arrow-box-left:after {    border-color: transparent;    border-left-color: #FFFFFF;    border-width: 5px;    margin-top: -34px;}.arrow-box-left:before {    border-color: transparent;    border-left-color: #c2a200;    border-width: 6px;    margin-top: -35px;}.arrow-box-right {    right: -335px;    top: -20px;}.arrow-box-right:after, .arrow-box-right:before {    right: 100%;    top: 53px;    border: solid transparent;    content: " ";    height: 0;    width: 0;    position: absolute;    pointer-events: none;}.arrow-box-right:after {    border-color: transparent;    border-right-color: #FFFFFF;    border-width: 5px;    margin-top: -24px;}.arrow-box-right:before {    border-color: transparent;    border-right-color: #c2a200;    border-width: 6px;    margin-top: -25px;}.input-wrapper {    height: 30px;    line-height: 30px;    margin-bottom: 10px;    border: 1px solid #b0b0b0;    position: relative;    display: block;    width: inherit;    padding-left: 10px;}.input-wrapper div.input-wrapper-div-text {    text-align: left;    color: #b0b0b0;    max-width: 334px;    overflow: hidden;    text-overflow: ellipsis;}.input-image {    width: 17px;    display: inline-block;    vertical-align: middle;    height: auto;    float: left;    position: absolute;    top: 5px;    width: 20px;    height: 20px;    left: 7px;}.input-wrapper.dotted-border {    border: none;    border-bottom: 1px dotted #77797C;}.error-content {    overflow-y: auto;    height: auto;}.error-content li {    list-style-type: none;}.text-label-link {    height: 32px;    line-height: 32px;    margin-bottom: 10px;    text-align: left;    padding-left: 10px;    position: absolute;    top: 0px;    right: -100px;}.text-label-link.pwd {    right: -140px;}.text-label-link:before {    content: "<<";    letter-spacing: -0.15em;    padding-right: 2px;    font-size: 8px;    line-height: 11px;    color: #3892B8;    vertical-align: middle;}.username {    width: calc(100% -35px);    display: inline-block;    vertical-align: top;    color: #424242;    position: relative;    overflow: hidden;}.button-link {    width: auto;    height: auto;    background: none;    color: #0076A9;    text-decoration: underline;    cursor: pointer;    vertical-align: middle;}.hide {    display: none;}.err-tri {    width: 0;    height: 0;    border-top: 15px solid transparent;    border-bottom: 15px solid transparent;    position: absolute;    top: 40px;}.err-tri-to-left {    border-right: 15px solid #FF9130;    left: -15px;}.err-tri-to-right {    border-left: 15px solid #FF9130;    right: -15px;}.err-tri-new {    display: none;    -ms-transform: rotate(45deg);    -webkit-transform: rotate(45deg);    transform: rotate(45deg);    width: 16px;    height: 16px;    /*right: -9px;    top: 47px;*/    right: -14px;    top: 6px;    position: absolute;    border: 1px solid #c2a200;}.username_placeholder {    font: 14px/normal sans-serif;    left: 7px;    top: 8px;    width: 332px;    height: 20px;    position: absolute;    overflow-x: hidden;    font-size-adjust: none;    font-stretch: normal;    text-align: left;    color: #939393;}.username_input {    position: relative;    top: 6px;    height: 20px;    left: -27px;    z-index:15;}input.username_input {    width: 295px;}.table-left-column, .table-right-column {    width: 50%;    display: inline-block;}.table-left-column table {    padding-right: 10px;}.table-right-column table {    padding-left: 10px;}.separator {    height: 14px;    margin-left: 8px;    margin-right: 8px;    border-left: 1px #cfd0d1 solid;}hr {    background-color: #cfd0d1;    margin-top: 16px;    margin-bottom: 16px;}.eu_sh {    font-size: 16px;    color: #929496;    vertical-align: middle;    padding: 10px 20px 0 23px;}.eu_h_t {    padding-left: 23px;    font-size: 16px;    color: #2a2c30;}.eu_h_t span {    color: #009dd0;}.eu_co_aup_txt {    font-size: 13px;    color: #2a2c30;    padding: 0 20px 0 23px;}.eu_co_aup_txt div {    max-width:715px;    word-wrap: break-word;    overflow-x: hidden;}.eu_h_t_sub {    font-size: 16px;    color: #77797c;    padding: 0 0 0 23px;    display: inline-block;    padding-bottom: 15px;    margin-right: -15px;}.eu_h_t_sub_a {    padding-left: 0;    padding-bottom: 15px;    display: inline-block;    text-align: left;}.eu_h_t_sub_a a {    font-size: 16px;    color: #009dd0;    padding: 0 0 0 23px;    width: 215px;}.otp {    background-color: white;    padding-left: 0;    padding-top: 16px;    font-size:11px;}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {    .eu_l {        width: 250px;    }    .input-wrapper {        width: 100%;    }    .arrow-box {        background: #FFFFFF;        border: 1px solid #c2a200;        width: 524px;    }    .arrow-box-right {        top: -140px;        left: -1px;    }    .arrow-box-left {        top: -80px;        left: -3px;    }    .arrow-box-left:after, .arrow-box-left:before,    .arrow-box-right:after, .arrow-box-right:before {        top: 117%;        left: 48%;        border: solid transparent;        content: " ";        height: 0;        width: 0;        position: absolute;    }    .arrow-box-right:after {        border-color: transparent;        border-top-color: #FFFFFF;        border-width: 15px;        margin-left: -15px;        margin-top: -20px;    }    .arrow-box-right:before {        border-color: transparent;        border-top-color: #c2a200;        border-width: 16px;        margin-left: -16px;        margin-top: -20px;    }    .arrow-box-left:after {        border-color: transparent;        border-top-color: #FFFFFF;        border-width: 15px;        margin-left: -15px;        margin-top: -9px;    }    .arrow-box-left:before {        border-color: transparent;        border-top-color: #c2a200;        border-width: 16px;        margin-left: -16px;        margin-top: -9px;    }    .text-label-link, .text-label-link.pwd {        right: 0;        top: 25px;    }    .table-left-column, .table-right-column {        width: 100%;        display: block;    }    .table-left-column table, .table-right-column table {        padding-left: 0;        padding-right: 0;    }    .eu_co_aup_txt div {        white-space: normal;        word-wrap: break-word;    }}@media only screen and (max-width: 480px) {    .table-half-column-fixed {        width: inherit;    }    input.username_input {        left: -2px;        width: 100%;    }    .eu_co_aup_txt div {        white-space: normal;        word-wrap: break-word;    }    .m_tbl {        min-width: 300px;    }    .pg_cont {        position: relative;        left: -3px;    }    .fo {        text-align: center;    }}</style><style type="text/css">.bh.bh-scaled {overflow:visible;}</style><!--[if lte IE 7]><style type="text/css">.act-icon {display: none;}</style><![endif]--><!--[if lte IE 7]><style type="text/css">.ie-label {position: absolute;left: 5px;top: 10px;display: block;}.username_input {position: relative;top: 5px;height: 20px;left: -27px;}.username_placeholder {left: 7px;}</style><![endif]--><!--[if lte IE 8]><style type="text/css">.table-left-column, .table-right-column {width: 100%;display: block;}.table-left-column table, .table-right-column table {padding-left: 0;padding-right: 0;}.arrow-box {background: white;border: 1px solid #c2a200;width: 95%;z-index: 100;}.arrow-box-right {top: -140px;left: -1px;}.arrow-box-left {top: -80px;left: 2px;}.arrow-box-left:after, .arrow-box-left:before,.arrow-box-right:after, .arrow-box-right:before {top: 117%;left: 48%;border: solid transparent;content: " ";height: 0;width: 0;position: absolute;}.arrow-box-right:after {border-color: transparent;border-top-color: #FFFFFF;border-width: 15px;margin-left: -15px;margin-top: -20px;}.arrow-box-right:before {border-color: transparent;border-top-color: #c2a200;border-width: 16px;margin-left: -16px;margin-top: -20px;}.arrow-box-left:after {border-color: transparent;border-top-color: #FFFFFF;border-width: 15px;margin-left: -15px;margin-top: -9px;}.arrow-box-left:before {border-color: transparent;border-top-color: #c2a200;border-width: 16px;margin-left: -16px;margin-top: -9px;}</style><![endif]--><!--link href="/chf.css" rel=stylesheet type="text/css"--><script language="JavaScript" type="text/JavaScript">function getIEVersion() {var myNav = navigator.userAgent.toLowerCase();return (myNav.indexOf(\'msie\') != -1) ? parseInt(myNav.split(\'msie\')[1]) : false;}function validate(myform) {myform.lognsfc.value = myform.lognsfc.value.trim();var ln = myform.lognsfc.value;var error = document.getElementById("error-text");if (ln == "") {error.style.display = "block";error.innerHTML = "Please enter a login name in the form of an email address";return false;}if (!ln.match(\'^([0-9a-zA-Z $#!%&amp;\\\'*+-/=?^_`{|}~]+[-._+&amp;])*[0-9a-zA-Z $#!%&amp;\\\'*+-/=?^_`{|}~]+@([-_0-9a-zA-Z]+[.])+[a-zA-Z]{2,16}$\')) {error.style.display = "block";error.innerHTML = "The Login ID must be a valid email address";return false;}error.style.display = "none";return true;}function delcookie(name) {document.cookie = name + \'=1; expires=Thu, 01-Jan-70 00:00:01 GMT;\';}function delete_fchcookie() {delcookie("_sm__fch");}</script></head><body onload="delete_fchcookie()"><div id="main-page" class="pg gr"><div class="pg_cont"><!-- --><div id="flashform" style="display:block;"><form name="uform" method="post" action="https://login.zscloud.net:443/sfc__lu" id="uform"><table class="table-company-logo" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="bh bh-scaled"></td></tr></table><input type="hidden" name="urlosfc" size="25" value="origurl=http%3A%2F%2F127%2e0%2e0%2e1%3a32400%2f%3a%2fplugins%2fcom%2eplexapp%2esystem%2fresourceHashes&amp;wexps=1&amp;_ordtok=0FW3WVFn357MQWBlLfDLQSZJQV&amp;wexps=1"><input type="hidden" name="urlodmn" size="25" value="http%3A%2F%2F127%2e0%2e0%2e1%3a32400%2f%3a%2fplugins%2fcom%2eplexapp%2esystem%2fresourceHashes"><input type="hidden" name="jscript" size="4" value="0set"><table class="m_tbl" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" align="center"><tbody><tr><td valign="top"><table class="table-upper" width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" class="eu_h"><img class="act-icon"src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABQAAAAUCAYAAACNiR0NAAABMklEQVR4nK3UvytFYRzH8RcpKUrEIP4ApRQZ/EjJJMpgltSVbsqsJP+DQcSosBgNLDYWGSyKBQObLGLBcM7Rudd57uXyns5znud5f7/POZ9z+Geqkov+7Y6s+WbMoxfPOMEO3osXnubuQU2JYoM4QGvq3izmMBEX+EZ1QNaIvSJZwhDWQl2EhONoD23CNBp+I+wqISN69p2/EV6XEQbXhISHeCohC86HhI+iN/qaMXeDXKhSsbAFG7hCHwawhQtRBlcxhU2cY1EqyxTmsBbH6I7Hy8hjNxbUxwVWU430xE2sZAlnUrKEJiyEjhezhHU8UHjkyTIbQ9RgLBmkhSMVCmE0S1j3B2FblvAvfH2GaWGpIJfjMkuYx1sFsjtRlFAYm32cYVj0Yy3HB25xhJcKGvkZn2rqLv61XgGbAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC">Sign In</td></tr><tr><td align="left" class="eu_sh">To keep you safe from internet threats, please sign in to your company\'s security service.<hr></td></tr><tr><td class="eu_co"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td align="left" width="100%" style="width:100%;"><div class="table-half-column-fixed"><table width="100%" class="table-field-label" cellspacing="0"cellpadding="0"><tr><td align="left" class="td-field-label">User Name</td></tr></table><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"class="table-field-input"><tr><td style="position: relative;"><div class="input-wrapper"><input id="username_input" class="input username_input"       name="lognsfc" value=""       type="text" autofocus="true"><label id="username_placeholder" class="username_placeholder"    for="username_input">Enter your User Name...</label></div></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td class="eu_co"><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td align="left" id="error-text" class="eu_h sm not" style="display: none;"></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td class="eu_co" class="bsubmit" align="left"><table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td width="50%" style="width: 50%;" align="left"><input type="submit" name="lsubmit" class="btn" value="Sign In"onclick="return validate(this.form);"></td><td width="50%" style="width: 50%;" align="right"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="table-lower"><tr><td class="eu_co fo" align="left">Need help? Contact your IT support.</td><td class="eu_co"></td></tr></table></td></tr></tbody></table><table class="table-company-logo" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table></form></div></div></div><script language="Javascript" type="text/javascript">if (document.forms && document.forms[0] && document.forms[0].jscript) {document.forms[0].jscript.value = "1set";}var placeholder = document.getElementById(\'username_placeholder\');var input_field = document.getElementsByName(\'lognsfc\')[0];var userNamePlaceHolderText = \'Enter your User Name...\';placeholder.innerHTML = userNamePlaceHolderText;placeholder.style.zIndex = 100;if (window.attachEvent) {input_field.attachEvent(\'onkeyup\', function(e) {if (!e.srcElement.value) {placeholder.innerHTML = userNamePlaceHolderText;placeholder.style.zIndex = 100;}else {placeholder.innerHTML = \'\';placeholder.style.zIndex = 0;}});}else {input_field.addEventListener(\'keyup\', function(e) {if (!e.target.value) {placeholder.innerHTML = userNamePlaceHolderText;placeholder.style.zIndex = 100;}else {placeholder.innerHTML = \'\';placeholder.style.zIndex = 0;}});}setTimeout(function() {var companyLogoImgEl = document.getElementById("cmpy_info");if (companyLogoImgEl) {var theImage = new Image();if(window.attachEvent) {theImage.src = companyLogoImgEl.src;companyLogoImgEl.attachEvent(\'onmouseover\', function(e) {companyLogoImgEl.style.msTransform = "scale(2)";});companyLogoImgEl.attachEvent(\'onmouseout\', function(e) {companyLogoImgEl.style.msTransform = "scale(1)";});}else if(window.addEventListener){theImage.src = companyLogoImgEl.src;companyLogoImgEl.addEventListener(\'mouseover\', function(e) {companyLogoImgEl.style.transform = "scale(2)";});companyLogoImgEl.addEventListener(\'mouseout\', function(e) {companyLogoImgEl.style.transform = "scale(1)";});}}}, 200);</script></body></html>')
Next we'll more issues of parsing strings in com.plexapp.system.log
2019-09-22 10:10:20,720 (4264) :  CRITICAL (core:574) - Exception in thread named 'refresh_servers' (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\runtime.py", line 1126, in _start_thread
    f(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 169, in refresh_servers
    servers_el = self.get_servers_el()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 165, in get_servers_el
    return XML.ElementFromURL('http://127.0.0.1:32400/servers', cacheTime = 0)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api\parsekit.py", line 345, in ElementFromURL
    ).content, encoding=encoding, max_size=max_size)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api\parsekit.py", line 301, in ElementFromString
    return self._core.data.xml.from_string(string, encoding = encoding)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-b9d49bdb7\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\data.py", line 162, in from_string
    return etree.fromstring(markup, parser=(xml_parser if remove_blank_text else None))
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 2743, in lxml.etree.fromstring (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:52665)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1573, in lxml.etree._parseMemoryDocument (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:79932)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1452, in lxml.etree._parseDoc (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:78774)
  File "parser.pxi", line 960, in lxml.etree._BaseParser._parseDoc (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:75389)
  File "parser.pxi", line 564, in lxml.etree._ParserContext._handleParseResultDoc (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:71739)
  File "parser.pxi", line 645, in lxml.etree._handleParseResult (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:72614)
  File "parser.pxi", line 585, in lxml.etree._raiseParseError (lxml-2.3\src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:71955)
XMLSyntaxError: StartTag: invalid element name, line 1, column 9869
Then we see more similar errors parsing in "Plex Media Server.log"
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.647 [19724] ERROR - Timeout or error reading status line from plug-in pipe [com.plexapp.agents.lastfm], we're killing it.
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.647 [10388] ERROR - Timeout or error reading status line from plug-in pipe [com.plexapp.agents.htbackdrops], we're killing it.
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.650 [10388] ERROR - Error received reading configuration for com.plexapp.agents.htbackdrops
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.650 [19724] ERROR - Error received reading configuration for com.plexapp.agents.lastfm
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.654 [8552] ERROR - Error received reading configuration for com.plexapp.agents.fanarttv
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.672 [15076] ERROR - Error parsing content.
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.672 [15076] ERROR - Exception caught while updating system agent list: Error parsing file
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.686 [12008] ERROR - Error parsing content.
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.689 [12008] ERROR - Exception caught while updating system agent list: Error parsing file
Sep 22, 2019 10:13:20.706 [9052] ERROR - Error parsing content.

I also noticed PMS installs itself into C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex
Why does a 64bit application install itself into 32bit folders? Anyone?
I haven’t touched Windows in 10 years, but that seems weird.

So that’s what I see. Can anyone help us understand the reqs here?
Does the system have to be set to UTF-8 to run PMS?
Can the user change encodings without devastating their rig?
Seems like a major change for the user.

1 Like

Thanks for taking a look nibbles :slight_smile: Hope somehow else will be able to solve the mystery!
Plex is installed in the x86 Program Files folder because even if my Windows is 64-bit, the PMS is only distributed as 32-bit. There is no 64-bit installer.

Tell us about your UTF-16 situation. Search for problems it might cause.
One log file was UTF-16. The rest were not. That’s weird (to me), and if an install
file got written as UTF-16 but nothing else expects that, could be chaos xD

It is not really a “situation”, it seems any Windows uses UTF-16LE as encoding. There is no changing that. If Plex gets lost with encodings, its a Plex problem. But in that case I guess I wouldn’t be alone with this “core” problem…

okay sorry

Same story with PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161-x86.exe

again with PlexMediaServer-1.18.1.1973-0f4abfbcc-x86
I won’t give up !
it is incredible that nobody at Plex took a look at my issue while more than 10 updates have been released…

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.