Can't see my media, unable to Claim Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.41.8.9834-071366d65-x86_64
Player Version#:1.109.0.329-ea562b95
PC is Win 11 home version

Plex Log files.zip (52.8 KB)

I’ve been trying many of the things I’ve seen in the forum for the last week, but I still can’t claim it. I either get the message to download PMS again or when I try “Setup Plex.html” in user\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server folder, I get the message “Initializing Plex Media Server…” for ~5 minutes, then it says “Something went wrong. Make sure the server is available and try again.” My DNS is now 8.8.8.8 also.

Thanks for any help!

2

After I reset the registry info, PMS stopped asking to claim it, but I still cannot see my media.

Here’s the PMS log after my last restart.
Plex Media Server 250621.1.zip (17.3 KB)

I’d appreciate any help at all, Thanks

3

Plex Media Server 250625 log.zip (11.0 KB)

I’m still trying to figure out why I can’t see my libraries.

I’m wondering if the file structure is a problem. Maybe over the years something got left behind or messed-up.

I have C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Plex, which I believe is for Plex for Windows.
And I have C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server, for PMS.

But I also have C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Plex\Plex Media Server\ with some newer dated files and directories and some dated 2019 and 2023. Is this normal?

And in C:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Codecs\ I have 2 HASH-windows-x86_64 folders, one from Feb 25 and the other from Jun 25 when I was trying to fix this. Should there only be one?

If you have any other ideas on what to check so I can see my files again, please reply, Thank you! - Dennis

4

@OttoKerner, Hello,

Would you please look through my issue and let me know what I should do to get access to my library again? I’ve seen you help quite a few others. Thank you, Dennis

5

@FordGuy61, Hi,

I see you helped on issue Plex media server not showing on Authorized Devices and not showing in Plex.

My server is also not listed in devices. And I cannot see my files. When I look for my files I get the message to download PMS which is already running.

Would you please check this issue and tell me what I should do next please?

Thank you, Dennis

6

If the server is not listed in Authorized Devices, then it is unclaimed.

The last log file you uploaded shows errors communicating with hosts at plex.tv. If the server cannot communicate with plex.tv, then it cannot be claimed.

I did not see any log entries that mention database corruption, the problem in the post you referenced.

Suggest you try the following.

  1. Configure Plex to not run on startup.
    If Plex Media Server is running, right click on its icon in the menu bar and uncheck run at startup.

  2. Authorized Devices

  1. Verify Plex Server Windows Network Settings
    Win 10 (11 will be similar): Settings → Network & Internet → Properties
  • Network Profile must be Private, not Public.
  • Verify the IP Address and Subnet Prefix are correct.
  • Verify the Default Gateway are correct (usually the IP address of your router)
  • Configure the server to use public DNS servers - 1.1.1.1 (Cloudflare), 8.8.8.8 (Google), or 9.9.9.9 (Quad9)

  1. Reboot the Plex Server

  2. Verify connectivity to plex.tv

  • Open a Command Prompt window (Win+R, enter CMD)
  • nslookup v4.plex.tv
  • curl http://v4.plex.tv
  • You should see the same as below. The IP address for v4.plex.tv may be different based on your location.
c:\>nslookup v4.plex.tv
Server:  one.one.one.one
Address:  1.1.1.1

Non-authoritative answer:
Name:    adb10bc8a64ed4c6387832bf64b05780-9402806.eu-west-1.elb.amazonaws.com
Addresses:  52.18.33.33
          54.246.231.114
Aliases:  v4.plex.tv
          plex-tv-migration.plex.bz


c:\>curl http://v4.plex.tv
<html>
<head><title>308 Permanent Redirect</title></head>
<body>
<center><h1>308 Permanent Redirect</h1></center>
<hr><center>nginx</center>
</body>
</html>

  1. Delete Windows Registry Settings & Reclaim Server
    Follow the steps in this article: You need to reclaim your server, but don’t dare to touch the Windows Registry
7

Thanks for your help. I did steps 1, unchecked box, and 2, verified server was not listed in devices. Step 3 there is a difference, like I’m not running PSM. I right-click on the Plex icon in the tray and open Plex. When I click Settings I do not see the PMS settings I see this screenshot. And when I click About Plex, you can see the version running.

image
image665×752 64.9 KB

Is PMS really running?

Thanks

8

I feel your pain and for me PLEX seem to think we are all IT technicians rather than plain users with little or no access to routers/ modems/ fire walls.

What I do know is that BEFORE they changed everything a few months ago - it all worked beautifuly.

So for me the issue is with PLEX, not the community to fix. The community should be reporting the issues and PLEX should be tasking their IT teams to fix them - otherwise its a class action for breach of cntract and of course damages for loss of use.

9

Step 3 are Windows settings, not Plex settings.

I should have worded that better.

10

OK, Windows settings look like what you said.

Step 4, restarted PMS through start menu,
Step 5, returned the exact same info as in your examples,
Step 6, ran the .reg file, restarted PMS and saw no difference, was not asked to claim server. Signed out and back in, no change. Ran the Setup Plex.html in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server. Screen said “Initializing Plex Media Server…” for ~5 minutes, then it said “Something went wrong. Make sure the server is available and try again.”

No luck yet…

11

I noticed a problem when running through the steps on my PC. The “Plex Tuner Service.exe” process did not always start. When that happened, I could not login/claim/etc. the server. Also, when that happened, stopping Plex by right clicking on the icon in the task bar did not actually stop it. The icon disappeared, but the processes were still running.

Here’s what I did to get things working:

Stop Plex Media Server. Right click on the icon in the taskbar and choose Exit.

Run Windows Task Manager.

  • Choose the Processes tab, click on Name to sort by name.
  • Look for the Plex Media Server processes: Plex Media Server, Plex Tuner Service.exe, PlexScriptHost.exe (may be multiple).
  • If any exist, right click & End Task.

Wait ~10 seconds to make sure all the Plex processes are stopped.

Start Plex Media Server.

In Windows Task Manager, make sure Plex Tuner Service.exe is running.

Open a private/incognito browser window. Go to http://localhost:32400/web.

At this point, I received the login screen. I entered my Plex ID & password and was logged into the server. It was claimed, I could reach server settings, see my libraries, etc.

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I did all of that and it still looks the same.

No processes except a PlexUpdate one were running, but I killed it.
Started PMS and Plex Tuner Service was running along with PMS and a couple PlexHostScripts.
http://localhost:32400/web incognito did take a little while to connect, but after logging in, screen is the same. Settings shows the same Plex Web as screen shot earlier and main menu item “+ Your Media” says “Add your media to Plex” and link to download PMS…

Any registry settings or Plex settings to check?

Thanks for your help!

14

I’m running out of ideas.

Last thing I can think to try. Use RegEdit instead of the .reg file to delete the entries.

  1. Stop Plex Media Server.

  2. In Task Manager, make sure all the Plex processes are stopped.

  3. If listed, remove the server from Authorized Devices.

  4. Use RegEdit to delete the entries instead of the .reg file.

  • Run Windows Registry Editor
  • Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server
  • Delete the following entries (delete the entry, not just their value): PlexOnlineHome, PlexOnlineMail, PlexOnlineToken, PlexOnlineUsername.

  1. Reboot the PC.

  2. Launch Plex Media Server.

  3. In Windows Task Manager, make sure Plex Tuner Service is running (along with Plex Media Server and Plex ScriptHost). If it is not, then stop & restart Plex. I could not claim Plex on my PC unless Plex Tuner Service was running.

  4. Point a web browser at http://localhost:32400/web. Login & claim.

16

I’m facing a similar issue, I did everything that was shown in the support articles, yet I still can’t reconnect to my server. That’s really frustrating, since nothing changed and it just stopped working. I didn’t even do any updates prior. Guess now I’m actually forced to just go to Jellyfin.

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I did all steps. I used an incognito screen for step 8. After logging in and clicking Claim I get this:

Screenshot 2025-07-09 115138
Screenshot 2025-07-09 1151381058×473 46.9 KB

Sometimes the “Something went wrong. Please reload manually.” message is replaced by “Checking for updates.” But when I click Claim it goes back to this.

I did reinstall the latest version of PMS again as it asked.
When I tried using MS Edge to open Plex, the rotating loading circle just spins and page appears to be reloading every second.

At least we have a different issue now, any thoughts?
Thanks!

19

Let’s see if the log files show anything.

Can you reach Settings → Troubleshooting?

If so, download the logs and upload the zip file to the thread.

If not, stop PMS, navigate to the Plex Data Folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%/Plex Media Server), compress/zip the Logs directory and post to the thread.

When “Claim Server” does not work, it can mean that PMS cannot communicate with systems at plex.tv. However, you already check that (nslookup & curl), so it should not be a problem. That’s why I’d like to see the log files.

PMS may say that an update is available. You can ignore that message. The server needs to be claimed before checking for updates is valid. Claiming also verifies your Plex Pass, so you may not see PP enabled options such as hardware accelerated transcoding, etc.

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I had to use Plex for Windows to see the Troubleshooting section.

Logs attached.
Plex Media Server Logs_2025-07-10_17-56-48.zip (1.7 MB)

Thanks again!

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