EAE timeout causing sonic analysis to hang

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.43.0.10492
Player Version#: 1.112.0.359-0d79a49f

I’m getting this error processing music

Mar 03, 2026 09:38:21.000 [139664706521912] ERROR - [Req#1784952/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [eac3_eae @ 0x7390da8ee5c0] EAE timeout! EAE not running, or wrong folder? Could not read '/tmp/pms-bb5e70df-c983-415e-b4b5-28ae3a10225b/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa_3017295-0-28.wav'
Mar 03, 2026 09:38:21.000 [139664704412472] ERROR - [Req#178495e/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [eac3_eae @ 0x7390da8ee5c0] error reading output: -5 (I/O error)
Mar 03, 2026 09:38:21.001 [139664690977592] ERROR - [Req#178495f/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [aist#0:1/eac3 @ 0x7390db5d0380] Error submitting packet to decoder: I/O error
Mar 03, 2026 09:38:26.000 [139664706521912] ERROR - [Req#1784960/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [eac3_eae @ 0x7390da8ee5c0] EAE timeout! EAE not running, or wrong folder? Could not read '/tmp/pms-bb5e70df-c983-415e-b4b5-28ae3a10225b/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa_3017295-0-29.wav'
Mar 03, 2026 09:38:26.000 [139664704412472] ERROR - [Req#1784961/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [eac3_eae @ 0x7390da8ee5c0] error reading output: -5 (I/O error)
Mar 03, 2026 09:38:26.000 [139664690977592] ERROR - [Req#1784962/Transcode/e16b231f-0645-4688-ab64-3f6a405d5dfa/f6e17c60-c5cc-4662-848f-ed2bba130217] [aist#0:1/eac3 @ 0x7390db5d0380] Error submitting packet to decoder: I/O error

I’ve tried:

  • Stopping plexmediaserver.service, deleting Codecs, and restarting the machine

  • Changing permissions in temp to 777

  • Changing permissions in the Plex Media Server data directory in /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server to 755 and 644 for directories and files, respectively

  • Changing fs.inotify.max_user_watches to 1048576 and fs.inotify.max_user_instances to 8192, then running sysctl -p and restarting plexmediaserver.service.

The error still persists, but I don’t see any other avenues to try. Any suggestions?

2

Is the folder location of the “Plex transcoder temp” mounted with NOEXEC? If so, this will prevent the EAE from running completely.

3

I don’t see /tmp in the list when I run findmnt -l | grep noexec

My transcoder temporary directory in Settings > Transcoder is set to /dev/shm, but that is not in the noexec list either, and transcoding other media work fine.

4

I am having the exact same issue. Have you found a solution?
eac3 @ 0x1464d0d10000] Error submitting packet to decoder: I/O error

5

Disabling “Include music libraries in automatic updates” seems to have “solved” the issue, but it doesn’t seem like it actually resolved the underlying problem.

6

The EAE is only used to decode and transcode audio codecs from Dolby.
I wonder why it would be engaged with music – unless you have TrueHD or (E-)AC3 music in your library.

7

Is there a way to see which file is causing the transcode request? I couldn’t find it in the logs. Seems like it just reports the temporary working folder.

If so, I could try to reproduce the error again and check what kind of file is causing the request.