Direct Stream/Transcode exits transcoder after a few minutes

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.23.5.4841
Player Version#: Any player (Shield app, Android App, Chromecast, Web)
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-07-22_13-22-36.zip (548.4 KB)

Hi, I’m having an issue with my Plex server, which has only started occurring within the last month. Whenever my server has to do any kind of transcoding, after a few minutes (sometimes less than 1 minute) it will just stop the stream to the client device, showing an error: “Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.”. This happens regardless of what media is playing, as long as the client can’t direct play.
I have attached logs from right after the incident occurred, and the below snippet is from when I think the issue occurred. But as I am not too well into the entire Plex log setup, the actual point of incident might be before this snippet (hence the attached .zip file with all the logs I got from the server).

My Plex server and Windows (10) PC hosting the Plex server are both up to date. Plex and all associated services are also allowed within my Anti-Virus software.
What I found particularly interesting/frustrating, is that this only happens after some time. It is not an immediate issue. which could be explained by missing access rights to the transcode folder.

I hope someone is able to help me figure this out.

Best regards.

Snippet from server log:

Jul 22, 2021 13:22:13.416 [9300] DEBUG - [Now] Adding 1 sessions.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:13.420 [1744] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:58413] 200 GET /status/sessions (11 live) GZIP 4ms 2108 bytes (pipelined: 4)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:13.535 [1744] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.50.187:52038] 200 GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android/base/00068.ts (11 live) TLS 15772ms 42306016 bytes (pipelined: 12)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:13.536 [1744] DEBUG - Removed transcode data consumer, active count 26 => 26
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.448 [9300] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.50.187:52038 (Subnet)] GET /video/:/transcode/universal/session/23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android/base/00070.ts (11 live) TLS Signed-in
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.448 [9300] DEBUG - [Transcode/23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android] Asked for segment 70 from session.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.448 [9300] DEBUG - [Transcode/23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android] Returning segment 70 from session
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.448 [9300] DEBUG - Content-Length of E:\Plex Transcode\Transcode\Sessions\plex-transcode-23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android-fadd0d4a-7c90-4c31-9ddd-3a8e8735d561\media-00070.ts is 100214152 (of total: 100214152).
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.463 [9300] DEBUG - [Transcode] Session 23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android (3) is unthrottling
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:14.465 [13772] DEBUG - [Transcoder] Throttle - Getting back to work.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:15.059 [6060] DEBUG - [Transcode] Transcoder segment range: 46 - 77 (77)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:15.060 [6060] DEBUG - [Transcode] Transcoder segment range: 46 - 78 (77)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:15.431 [6060] DEBUG - [Transcode] Session 23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android (3) is throttling
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:15.431 [6060] DEBUG - [Transcoder] Throttle - Going into sloth mode.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:17.854 [9440] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as Rasmus4J
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:17.854 [9300] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.50.187:52016 (Subnet)] GET /video/:/transcode/universal/ping?autoAdjustQuality=1&hasMDE=1&location=lan&mediaBufferSize=209664&session=23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android (11 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (Rasmus4J)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:17.854 [9300] DEBUG - [Transcode] [Now] Freshening session based on ping for 23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android_Video
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:17.855 [9300] DEBUG - [Transcode] Received transcode session ping for session 23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:17.855 [1744] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.50.187:52016] 200 GET /video/:/transcode/universal/ping?autoAdjustQuality=1&hasMDE=1&location=lan&mediaBufferSize=209664&session=23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android (11 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 195 bytes (pipelined: 39)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.418 [1744] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as Rasmus4J
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.419 [13772] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:58413 (Loopback)] GET /status/sessions (11 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Rasmus4J)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.419 [13772] DEBUG - [Now] Adding 1 sessions.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.419 [9440] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:58413] 200 GET /status/sessions (11 live) GZIP 0ms 2117 bytes (pipelined: 5)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.666 [1744] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as Rasmus4J
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.667 [6060] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.50.187:52016 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?audioStreamID=913&bufferedTime=21892&duration=3694000&guid=plex%3A%2F%2Fmovie%2F5d776bd1fb0d55001f573da1&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F149&playbackTime=205160&playQueueItemID=5404&ratingKey=149&state=playing&time=671411&token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (11 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (Rasmus4J)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.670 [6060] DEBUG - Client [23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android] reporting timeline state playing, progress of 671411/3694000ms for guid=plex://movie/5d776bd1fb0d55001f573da1, playbackTime=205160ms ratingKey=149 url=, key=/library/metadata/149, containerKey=, metadataId=149, source=
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.675 [6060] DEBUG - Play progress on 149 'Serengeti: Nature's Greatest Journey' - got played 671411 ms by account 1!
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.676 [6060] DEBUG - [Now] User is Rasmus4J (ID: 1)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.677 [6060] DEBUG - [Now] Device is Android (SHIELD Android TV).
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.677 [6060] DEBUG - [Now] Profile is Android
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.677 [6060] DEBUG - [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/149.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.678 [6060] DEBUG - Statistics: (23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 1 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:18.689 [9440] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.50.187:52016] 200 GET /:/timeline?audioStreamID=913&bufferedTime=21892&duration=3694000&guid=plex%3A%2F%2Fmovie%2F5d776bd1fb0d55001f573da1&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F149&playbackTime=205160&playQueueItemID=5404&ratingKey=149&state=playing&time=671411&token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (11 live) TLS GZIP 22ms 774 bytes (pipelined: 40)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:23.413 [1744] DEBUG - Auth: authenticated user 1 as Rasmus4J
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:23.414 [6060] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:58413 (Loopback)] GET /status/sessions (11 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (Rasmus4J)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:23.414 [6060] DEBUG - [Now] Adding 1 sessions.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:23.416 [9440] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:58413] 200 GET /status/sessions (11 live) GZIP 2ms 2116 bytes (pipelined: 6)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:26.331 [9440] DEBUG - handleStreamRead code 10054: An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:26.331 [9440] DEBUG - NotificationStream: Removing because of error
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:26.331 [9440] DEBUG - Completed after connection close: [192.168.50.172:35338] -3 GET /:/websockets/notifications (11 live) TLS GZIP 245176ms 38515 bytes
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.352 [9884] DEBUG - Jobs: 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Transcoder.exe' exit code for process 13104 is -1059143458 (intentional termination)
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [5732] DEBUG - Notifying consumer that data is complete.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [5732] DEBUG - Notifying consumer that data is complete.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [11040] DEBUG - Killing job.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [11040] DEBUG - Job was already killed, not killing again.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [11040] DEBUG - Stopping transcode session 23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.353 [5732] DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Terminated session 05BF1140:23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android with reason Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.361 [1744] ERROR - Session 05BF1140 terminated
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.361 [1744] DEBUG - Removed transcode data consumer, active count 27 => 27
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.363 [11040] DEBUG - Transcoder: Cleaning old transcode directories.
Jul 22, 2021 13:22:28.364 [11040] DEBUG - Transcoder: Cleaning old transcode directory: "E:\Plex Transcode\Transcode\Sessions\plex-transcode-23fb8346cb49655d-com-plexapp-android-fadd0d4a-7c90-4c31-9ddd-3a8e8735d561"
2

Bump: Is no one else experiencing this, or can help with insights into what might be causing it?

3

What kind of drive is E: ?
How large is it? How much free space is left on it?

What exactly do you mean by that? What is allowed?
In A/V software it is more a matter of telling the AV software to not inspect certain folders, like the transcoder temp folder so it doesn’t interfere with regular plex operation.

4

Hi,

E: is a regular HDD with 650+ GB left on it, of the total 2TB size. My Plex server has been using this drive for Transcoding for more than 2 years.

What I mean is that my AV (which contains a firewall as well), isn’t interfering, as per this suggestions (note that I am not using MalwareBytes, but just wanted to make sure it wasn’t my AV causing this):

To fix things, the majority of users simply need to configure MalwareBytes Premium to not interfere with the various Plex Media Server executables. You do this by setting up an exclusion for each executable.

* Refer to the [MalwareBytes documentation on exclusions](https://support.malwarebytes.com/docs/DOC-1130) for information on how to create/configure an exclusion

Taken from https://support.plex.tv/articles/windows-transcoder-failures-during-playback-live-tv-or-dvr-recording/

If you need any further info, please do not hesitate.

Regards.

5

Instead of excluding the Plex program folder from AV inspection, you should do this with the transcoder temp folder – i.e. in your case E:\Plex Transcode\

6

I will do that and test it, but I doubt that is the core issue as this has been working for years with my setup as it currently is.

I’ll get back to you shortly.

EDIT: I can’t get back to you shortly, seeing as all my content is no longer available due to this issue with network drives… Networkdrives Does not work anymore - #10 by OttoKerner

Regards.

7

Update:
I have now done a downgrade to PMS v 1.22.3.4523-d0ce30438 and the issue has disappeared.
As part of the downgrade, I also added the exclusion of the E:\Plex Transcode folder. Seeing it worked I then removed the exclusion and it is still working. This points me in the direction of something not being quite right, with some versions of PMS newer than the one I downgraded to.

I will have another user of my server test this as well, as I know their technical setup is inferior to what I have at home, and return with the result.

Regards.

8

Update:

The results are in and with the old version of PMS it works like a charm. No issues with transcoding, unlike with the latest version.

Regards.

9

Bump: Are there any plans to pass this on to the development team, for further investigation?

Regards.

10

Update: This seems to have been fixed as of the latest PMS release.

Regards.

11

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