[BUG] Hardware transcoding causes PMS to become unresponsive

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#:1.13.5.5332-21ab172de
Player Version#: Chrome, Plex media player for windows, Plex media player for android

I have been able to reproduce this issue on multiple physical servers. reformatted and issue still presents itself on a fresh windows install. Issue presents itself in Ubuntu Linux. The issue seems to present itself more often on older or slower generation quicksync enabled intel chips.

Problem: Starting multiple transcodes simultaneously with Hardware transcoding enabled seems to cause plex to become unresponsive, the logs below are the logs captured right before / during a crash. During this unresponsiveness plex is running, transcoders are running, but the clients see a spinning wheel. No new transcodes can be started and everything else stops working until you manually kill plex and restart it.

Blockquote
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:03.821 [1872] INFO - Plex Media Server v1.13.5.5332-21ab172de - Microsoft PC x64 - build: windows-i386 english - GMT -07:00
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:03.821 [1872] INFO - Windows version: 10.0 (Build 17134), language en-US
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:03.821 [1872] INFO - 8 4008 MHz processor(s): Architecture=0, Level=6, Revision=24067 Processor Identifier=Intel64 Family 6 Model 94 Stepping 3, GenuineIntel
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:04.337 [3708] INFO - OCSP: Successfully retrieved response from cache.
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:06.992 [10956] INFO - LibraryUpdateManager path watching is disabled
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:09.508 [9044] INFO - Sync: downloaded 0 sync list(s) with 0 sync items(s): 0 new, 0 updated, 0 deleted
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:16.119 [8108] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: NATPMP_ERR_RECVFROM.
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:26.242 [8136] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: NATPMP_ERR_RECVFROM.
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:27.522 [6760] WARN - PubSub: Received notifyConnectivity event with incorrect async identifier (eda6dfa8-a41a-4350-ab8a-37c71e863ffd, expected 4eb313b1-e188-49fa-b737-00f00b8fc2fe)
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:45.034 [10428] ERROR - Extras: Preroll file didnā€™t exist or couldnā€™t be read: ā€˜ā€™.
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:45.534 [10428] INFO - [FFMPEG] - Initialized an internal MFX session using hardware accelerated implementation
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:49.621 [2660] ERROR - Extras: Preroll file didnā€™t exist or couldnā€™t be read: ā€˜ā€™.
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:55.526 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264_qsv @ 037ea1c0] Error during encoding: device failed (-17)
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:55.526 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] Video encoding failed
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:56.728 [10372] ERROR - [Transcoder] Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): No such file or directory
Sep 25, 2018 12:29:56.728 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error initializing output stream 0:0 ā€“
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:08.304 [2660] ERROR - Extras: Preroll file didnā€™t exist or couldnā€™t be read: ā€˜ā€™.
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:09.678 [10372] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264_qsv @ 0377a240] Error during encoding: device failed (-17)
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:09.678 [2184] ERROR - [Transcoder] Video encoding failed
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:36.547 [10372] ERROR - Extras: Preroll file didnā€™t exist or couldnā€™t be read: ā€˜ā€™.
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:37.609 [10372] ERROR - [Transcoder] [h264_qsv @ 0205a200] Error during encoding: device failed (-17)
Sep 25, 2018 12:30:37.609 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] Video encoding failed
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:05.806 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): No such file or directory
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:05.806 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error initializing output stream 0:0 ā€“
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:06.415 [2184] ERROR - [Transcoder] Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): No such file or directory
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:06.415 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error initializing output stream 0:0 ā€“
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:07.540 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 204864568 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:07.790 [10372] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 204911672 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:08.055 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 204960808 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:08.337 [1068] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205007912 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:08.711 [2184] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08498980] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 160893992 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:08.774 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205057096 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:09.024 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205104200 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:09.336 [2184] ERROR - [Transcoder] Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): No such file or directory
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:09.336 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error initializing output stream 0:0 ā€“
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:09.852 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205247528 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:10.117 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205296680 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:10.617 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?): No such file or directory
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:10.617 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error initializing output stream 0:0 ā€“
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:10.633 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205392952 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:10.852 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205440056 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:11.227 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205489208 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:11.461 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205536328 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:11.742 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206783560 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:11.758 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205585480 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:11.805 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08498980] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 161037368 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:12.008 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206832712 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:12.117 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205632584 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:12.242 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206879800 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:12.570 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206928952 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:12.789 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205728824 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.070 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08498980] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 161086520 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.179 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205775944 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.195 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207023176 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.460 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207072328 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.476 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205825096 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.757 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207119432 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:13.773 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205872184 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:14.038 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207168584 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:14.054 [10428] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 205921336 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:14.741 [10428] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08848a40] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 95421496 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:14.960 [1068] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206062648 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.054 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207311944 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.226 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206111800 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.257 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08498980] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 161182760 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.382 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207361096 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.507 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206158904 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.585 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207408200 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.772 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206208056 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:15.929 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207457352 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:16.085 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08848a40] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 95470648 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:16.600 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207551560 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:16.663 [2184] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206351416 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:16.913 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207600712 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:16.944 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206398520 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:17.225 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207647800 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:17.459 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206494760 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:17.912 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207744040 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:17.959 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08848a40] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 95517752 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.069 [10428] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206591032 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.194 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207793192 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.334 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206640184 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.475 [1068] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207840296 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.647 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206687288 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.740 [10428] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207889448 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:18.865 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206736440 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.100 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206783560 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.396 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207985736 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.396 [1068] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206832712 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.631 [1468] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206879800 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.646 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 208030760 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.928 [7156] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 206928952 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:19.943 [4868] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 127db180] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 208079912 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:20.427 [2660] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207023176 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:20.662 [10428] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207072328 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:20.990 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207119432 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:21.334 [12256] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 0410bfc0] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 207168584 is out of range for mov/mp4 format
Sep 25, 2018 12:31:21.912 [0608] ERROR - [Transcoder] [mp4 @ 08848a40] Application provided duration: -16 / timestamp: 95710264 is out of range for mov/mp4 format

Blockquote

1 Like
2

Here are others with the same problems, There is a reddit thread here where people describe running in to the same issue with hardware transcoding:

3

BUMP. Iā€™m really hoping a dev or someone can see this so that its brought to the staffs attention. This is something that plagues more than just me and is something i hope you guys are aware of/working on fixingā€¦

4

free BUMP! Iā€™m having this issue too.
i7 6700k + GTX970 using HW accel.
Iā€™m going to get a Quadro soon, to move the load on it and free up the CPU which is probably causing this issue and hopefully not having to restart PLEX every once in a while.

As temporary workaround Iā€™ve made a ping to the plex api and if it gets unresponsive it kills everything and restart the service. Itā€™s obv not the correct way to go.

1 Like
5

Thank you for bumping this! I hope the devs see it :smile:

6

This has also been a constant issue for me! I really hope this can be resolved. It appears to fall offline yet everything stays in the taskbar, none of my ā€œplex downā€ notifications send, but no one can connect. If you try to load the web dashboard nothing loads either, just spins so you cant view settings/streamers/etc. You have to force close the PlexMediaServer.exe from system tray and restart it and everything magically works again! So frustrating when friends constantly ask ā€œis it down?ā€ and it doesnā€™t appear to be, but is. Please investigate this issue Plex!!!

8

I got the P2000 finally, and added it as second GPU on my machine.
Looks like Iā€™m not able to move the load on in because PLEX simply donā€™t have any options about It.
Iā€™ve also changed the settings in nVidia panel to offload the CUDA work on the Quadro, but PLEX adds -hwaccel:0 dxva2 to itā€™s transcoder parameters, which donā€™t allow to be detected as CUDA work by nvidia, so it sticks to saturate my GTX970 first, before start using the secondary GPU. In this situation, PLEX still crashes randomly as described above.

Iā€™ve tried to wrap PlexTranscoder.exe with an application which should rewrite the arguments correctly, adding the transcoding hw device, but without success. Any help would be apreciated :sob:

1 Like
9

Could be a server crash. There is already a known issue when running headless with PMS running as service or through RDP and hardware transcoding enabled

could you download the server logs after restarting following a crash and upload here

Please ensure you run with debug logging enabled
See https://support.plex.tv/articles/201643703-reporting-issues-with-plex-media-server/

Best to restart the server so fresh set of logs get created

and on next crash and after restarting, download the logs
See https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250417-plex-media-server-log-files/

10

Happens to me too, even through the last few ā€œPublicā€ server releases.

Necessitates restarting the app. Most times I just bounce the box because itā€™s quick to do so. If devs canā€™t / wonā€™t address (this would sadden me), Iā€™d like to know how others have monitored the web process and auto-relaunched under Windows. Inelegant, but effective. Tautulli doesnā€™t notice the hang

6-core Xeon E5-1650 v3 @ 3.5 GHz, 32 GB RAM, single P2000 GPU, 2TB Intel P4500 PCIe SSD, gigabit Synology NAS 18-bay for storage, gigabit fiber Net connection, many/varied remote client connections

Clean Win 10 Pro v1803 x64, literally only runs PMS and Windows Defender. My 5th PMS build.

11

There would need to be diagnostics to look into to investigate. See my earlier post - just above yours

12

sa2000 ā€“ I am using a P2000 now, so i am not experiencing the issue as often (or at all really). Iā€™ll try and recreate the issue on one of my other test boxesā€¦ this problem seems to be more present under heavier load. Iā€™ll upload the logs as soon as i am able. Thank you for replying.

13

I have the same issues, its less now that Iā€™m using a p2000, but still happens.
I have found that using the Plex Player from the Windows Store, on Win10 it works great, but when using the web interface in chrome or other web browsers, it will buffer and I have to close the session.

So, the fix for me is to use the Plex app from the Win Store for now, I would rather use the web browser though.

Iā€™m running:
Unraid 6.6.5, PMS in Win10 VM
X99, 2658v3, 32gb ram, p2000

14

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