[BUG] Problem with (E-)AC3 Codec and Windows update 24H2

Plex Players Desktop Players
1

Server Version#: 1.40.3.8555
Player Version#:1.95.3.175-dd94cbd1

Hello,

I recently upgraded my windows to update 24H2.
Now when I launch any movie/whatever with an E-AC3 Codec, I have no audio ( Direct Play English - EAC3 5.1 )
I have found a work-around which is opening a movie with another audio codec (specifically Japanese - TrueHD 7.1, it doesn’t work with any other, don’t ask me why because I don’t understand either), then opening anything else with the E-AC3 codec, then it works. yeah i know that doesn’t make any sense to me, maybe it does to people who know how codecs work.

I confirmed this wasn’t a server issue (I rollbacked Plex Server version and it didn’t fix it)
I was able to confirm that it was tied to the 24H2 version. I freshly installed 23H2 again on my other laptop, installed plex player, same version, same server, and it worked without any issues.
A friend who has access to my server and also has the 24H2 update confirms the same issue, but my other friends who are still on 23h2 do not.

I found on the internet that microsoft modified or removed something related to (E-)AC3 in 24h2 on the internet.
Or maybe i’m wrong, I don’t know.

I’ve done what I could to debug it and found a work-around, I don’t think this is something I can fix myself, that’s why I’m posting here, since this is probably something that will hit a lot of people when the 24H2 update will start to spread.

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EDIT : Since nobody is reading the pinned post as solution : STOP REPLACING THE DLL FILE AND INSTALL THE PROPER CODEC :
[BUG] Problem with (E-)AC3 Codec and Windows update 24H2 - #77 by harisled
THIS IS A PERMANENT SOLUTION, THE MPV REPLACEMENT DOESNT WORK LONG TERM

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11 Likes
2

Do you have “codec packs” installed in Windows?
If so, remove them, reboot, then install only this one: Releases · Nevcairiel/LAVFilters · GitHub
If there are no codec packs, install the above anyway.

3

I don’t have any codec installed.
I installed the one you linked, doesn’t work either.

4

Which selections did you made in
Settings - Plex for Windows - ‘Advanced’ - Player
Particularly for “Audio Device” (and “Audio Device Kind”)?

What kind of connection do you have between your comouter and the speakers? Which devices are in the signal chain, in which order?

1 Like
5

I had Audio device : Auto select device.
I also tried putting my main audio device and it doesn’t work either.
The device kind is “basic”.
I used either an USB Audio interface (Fiio BTA 30 Pro, connected to USB) or a Bluetooth soundbar.
I also tried my integrated motherboard audio.
it used to work before, I never had to try any of those settings.

Actually Plex doesn’t even appear in the audio mixer at all when i play the video.

This problem only happened after installing a fresh version of 24H2.
I don’t think this is a problem with my hardware.

6

Do you have another software with audio playback abilities installed and running?
And if so, is the “exclusive mode” for the audio interface enabled in its settings?

7

No I don’t.
Actually I found a solution, plex is using an outdated version of mpv.

I updated the dll manually in the plex folder with this one :
mpv-dev-x86_64-v3-20230115-git-6cdce9e.7z 2023-01-15 24.8 MB
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpv-player-windows/files/libmpv/mpv-dev-x86_64-v3-20230115-git-6cdce9e.7z/download
(I couldn’t try with more recent ones because they changed the dll name and it doesn’t work)

Edit 10/10/2024 : If you don’t want to do that again everytime there is a plex update (of course it won’t be to fix that problem), right click on the .dll, properties, and put it it read only. Plex installer won’t be able to replace the dll.

The problem is coming from the fact that plex uses a very outdated version of mpv.dll and they need to update it

Friend who had the same problem just confirmed it worked as well.
Is there a way to send this to the team so they can fix it officially?
Thank you.

14 Likes
8

Still no answer about this.

Also I have a suggestion to the plex team, they should put work into supporting the new libmpv dll because the one I found will stop working eventually in the future like the one before.
And this time it won’t be as easy as replacing the dll file to make it work again, and they’ll have to put the work at the last minute, with everyone screaming that it doesn’t work anymore.

9

I could never get Dolby Atmos for headphones to work, this fixed it, thanks. Have been meaning to dig into it for a while but never had the energy. Thanks again.

2 Likes
10

Thank you for your input, another proof that plex is using a very outdated version of mpv.dll and needs an update asap.

11

I have forwarded this info to the team.
Thank you for the report!

Also thank you to @blackzwe for the additional detail!

2 Likes
12

In the last days plex desktop client updated, it auto replaced the working mpv.dll file with the non-working one.
I have to manually replace it again.
Do we have an ETA on this? It’s not really a big change…

13

Version 1.97.2.190-ca5000d0

Still an issue.

14

Version 1.98.1.203-b72a7bf2

Issue still present.

15

Version 1.100.1.221-94aa83fb

Still an issue again, it has been 2 MONTHS and it is still an issue despite giving you the solution on a plate.

At least tell us if the plex team is working on a solution or something.

4 Likes
16

It’s very rare in software development that I see someone file a well-specified and correct bug, test configurations themself to isolate the source of the bug, offer a solution, and attentively follow up to ask about the solution being upstreamed. I’m really sorry this was not enough to get anyone on the team’s attention for a paying customer. It’s a real bummer.

4 Likes
17

Men you save my day, I was about to post in the forum for the same issue and find your post. This work great for me, but…
@OttoKerner it was really a shime to plex to not add this in the last plex windows client release. I download the 1.100.1.221-94aa83fb-x86_64 release and the issue still there…
Really I understand not everyone user use plexpass, but for the good of the app and all the user this must be done since june now…

1 Like
18

Thank you both for your feedback.
It is indeed a shame. As I said, a lot of people will start upgrading to 24H2 and face this issue, this will be too late. And as we can see, it already started.
I gave the solution 2 months ago and nothing has been done, as far as I know.
Really disappointing.

1 Like
19

Version 1.101.0.223-94fa57b7

Issue still present.

Version 1.101.0 has been released for Plex for Mac, Windows, and Linux
FIXED:
[Movies & Shows] Fixed an issue where ads would sometimes unexpectedly pause

Because ads are more important than playing the f*cking audio on the videos apparently.

2 Likes
20

LOL, well, i wasnt the only one with the problem. Will your fix need to be installed on the client side or the server side and does it work with the HTPC version also?