Can't start stream on any client after update

Server Version#: 1.18.0.1944

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-20_08-00-29.zip (1.0 MB)

Hi There, all streams hang for about 60 - 90 seconds and then I get a notice saying “unexpected playback error”

I’ve tested this on web player, android tv and android phone with same result.

Make an adjustment. Set VERBOSE turned off and Save.
Reboot the PMS computer. Log into your desktop. Give it 6min for PMS to initialize. Download new log files showing this clean reboot in debug mode.

I did see this though. So I’ll need better logs to debug that.

2019-10-20 07:38:25,881 (223c) :  ERROR (services:272) - Unable to load services from system. Loading from the current bundle only.


Logs

No dice with the reset.

Logs: Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-20_14-59-24.zip (1.3 MB)

You had a few odd problems. There were a lot of “database is locked” errors,
which indicate the CPU is overloaded iirc. Also saw this a few times:

Oct 20, 2019 14:55:28.807 [9388] ERROR - Error opening file '"D:\Downloads\Movies\Happy End (2017)\Happy End (2017) Bluray-1080p.mkv"' - Permission denied (13)

I think while you were testing the server was updating all it’s metadata. Maybe try again when you’re sure it’s not busy.

I had the same issues with all v 1.18 versions of Plex. I went back to the last v1.17 and those issues disappeared. I won’t be upgrading to v1.18xxxxx any time soon and will skip until this issue is resolved. In particular, my videos (both movies/tv shows) would run fine for about 3 minutes, than just stop. No error message. Nada.

FYI. Plex stores recent versions of the download files in user/appdata/local/plex media server One of the folders there will have them. Just copy or run PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1709-982421575-x86.exe (you will need to view hidden files to find these)

1 Like

For me, I tracked this down a while ago to this feature:
Settings > Network > Terminate Sessions Paused for Longer Than X
I had set this to 30, and the description indicates that would be 30 minutes.
Recent server releases appear to be interpreting it in seconds. After 30 seconds, the server would terminate the stream on certain App versions. Restoring this back to the default 0 value resolved my issues.

1 Like

Nice workaround @tgasker . We’ve been suggesting that for Chromecast stutters. What player(s) were you using when this fixed your issue?

Thanks for the replies, but after trying both solutions no improvement.

fresh logs: Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-21_17-12-18.zip (3.8 MB)

I noticed during startup in your com.plexapp.system.log

2019-10-21 17:00:14,703 (2014) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Required plug-in 'Services' [com.plexapp.system.services] isn't installed.
2019-10-21 17:00:14,704 (2014) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Performing an installation of com.plexapp.system.services
2019-10-21 17:00:14,704 (2014) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Setting up staging area for com.plexapp.system.services at C:\Users\Jack\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Data\com.plexapp.system\DataItems\Stage\com.plexapp.system.services
2019-10-21 17:00:14,706 (2014) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-21 17:00:14,861 (2014) :  ERROR (networking:219) - Error opening URL 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-21 17:00:14,861 (2014) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Unable to download archive for com.plexapp.system.services

Then I noticed a lot of failed to stream media messages in your server log.

Oct 21, 2019 17:00:06.273 [11124] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 0 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:00:06.273 [11252] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 0 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:02:12.128 [11252] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 6614 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:02:12.130 [11252] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 1918 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:08:34.782 [11124] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 2932736 bytes: 10054 - An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Oct 21, 2019 17:08:36.017 [11124] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 4276224 bytes: 10054 - An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Oct 21, 2019 17:08:36.648 [11252] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 1032192 bytes: 10054 - An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Oct 21, 2019 17:09:28.982 [11124] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 327680 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:12:06.206 [11124] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 0 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine
Oct 21, 2019 17:12:06.222 [11252] DEBUG - Failed to stream media, client probably disconnected after 0 bytes: 10053 - An established connection was aborted by the software in your host machine

I’m guessing that Required plug-in ‘Services’ isn’t installed is significant.
I don’t know why you can’t download the 62fcf1f.zip. Not your first failure of that type.
Have you tried to reinstall PMS in a fashion that preserves your metadata and media?

Have you tried to reinstall PMS in a fashion that preserves your metadata and media?

How do I do this?

Plex stores server configuration and metadata on Windows in two places,

  • the registry
  • in your User directory under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server

When you use the Windows Control Panel software uninstaller, it removes the server application only, but it leaves those two places untouched. That’s the method.

If instead you use a 3rd party uninstaller, it finds and removes everything, ouch!

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-22_18-08-35.zip (2.4 MB)

Just tried this trick. The video buffers within a few seconds of starting and I get an error saying “Your network isn’t fast enough to stream this video”

I’m on ethernet to the router and then wi-fi to the tv, but I’ve streamed this exact file with no dramas in the past.

Any other ideas?

P.S. Thanks for sticking with me on this!

I see two things in your logs.

  1. Same error as before. It can’t open 62fcf1f.zip, the Services.bundle zip file.
  2. A couple of SQLITE3 errors possibly mean the database needs to be repaired.

SQLITE3 errors, only two:

Oct 22, 2019 17:59:06.086 [10212] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x811c052e, 1, duplicate column name: color_trc in "ALTER TABLE 'media_items' ADD 'color_trc' varchar(255)"
Oct 22, 2019 17:59:06.520 [10212] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x811c052e, 1, duplicate column name: color_trc in "ALTER TABLE 'media_items' ADD 'color_trc' varchar(255)"

The Service.bundle zip file error

2019-10-22 18:00:11,931 (2de8) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-22 18:00:12,072 (2de8) :  ERROR (networking:219) - Error opening URL 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-22 18:00:12,072 (2de8) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Unable to download archive for com.plexapp.system.services

Even with a new PMS install, it can’t open the exact same file 62fcf1f.zip

When I try to paste that URL into my web browser, I get a not found error message.
So I’m not surprised you can’t unzip it, but why is it doing this, jeez.

Do you have any Antivirus or security software that could be getting inbetween you and a zip file download from Plex? An angry ISP maybe?

I think it’s time to turn on the bat signal.

Hmm. Ran through the repair database instructions and I’ve still got the same issue

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-22_20-28-00.zip (2.4 MB)

okay that’s good you checked for corruption.
Your “Plex Media Server.log” shows no more problems with SQLITE3 and no errors, gz!
Your “com.plexapp.system.log” still has the error where it can’t open the zip file.

2019-10-22 20:26:43,552 (2228) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-22 20:26:43,769 (2228) :  ERROR (networking:219) - Error opening URL 'https://bundle-archive.plex.tv/plexinc-plugins/Services.bundle/archive/62fcf1f.zip'
2019-10-22 20:26:43,769 (2228) :  INFO (logkit:16) - Unable to download archive for com.plexapp.system.services

Let’s have you disable the IPv6 capability. Uncheck the box and Save in
Settings - Show Advanced

IPV6
Restart PMS after that and test again.

What I did see was a few warnings, probably symptoms of the bundle.zip issue.

Oct 22, 2019 20:27:39.487 [10648] WARN - Transcode runner appears to have died.
Oct 22, 2019 20:27:39.487 [4292] WARN - Transcode runner appears to have died.
Oct 22, 2019 20:27:39.612 [4292] WARN - Timed out waiting for segment.
Oct 22, 2019 20:27:39.612 [10648] WARN - Timed out waiting for segment.

Here’s the logs with the ipv6 disabled and the server reset. Still no go.

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-10-23_08-06-04.zip (2.4 MB)

Do you have hardware acceleration enabled in the PMS Settings?
If you do, disable it, Save, and restart PMS.

When you’re testing playback, use an episode that has no subtitles.

Oct 22, 2019 18:08:24.734 [9960] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support not present
Oct 22, 2019 18:08:25.839 [8512] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support not present
Oct 22, 2019 18:00:02.689 [13120] DEBUG - Transcoder: session l8x6vpc33yem0v1kcbkmnfut indicated fallback to software decoding
Oct 22, 2019 18:08:25.390 [8888] DEBUG - Transcoder: session ansfagwozfq9pgi14niodkfi indicated fallback to software decoding

I’ll ask about the bundle zip in the morning.

Looks like hardware acceleration wasn’t enabled.

I’m just popping in for a moment:

  1. Tracking a problem with the Services.bundle
  2. Tracking a problem with IPv6 being forced on an IPV4 system / IPV4 not detected.
2 Likes

Hi There, did you have any luck?