Frequent/Random Server Crashes

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.15.1.791
Player Version#: Various - Web Player, Plex Media Player 3.83.1

I’m running PMS on Windows 10. For the last month or two I have been experiencing frequent but random crashing. It might be fine for a week, but then crash 4 times in one day. Then be fine for another week.

I use various clients, but it does seem to happen most reliably when using Plex Media Player. Yet, other times no client is connecting at all. I just get an alert from Tautulli that it’s down. When I log on to the system the process is gone and I have to fire it back up again.

Curious if I send my logs if anyone would mind having a look?

Thanks!

2

Found loads of dumps - lets check first if this is the known issue with crashes in mfx_mft_h264ve_32.dll if you are running Plex Media Server.exe as a service / scheduled task or headless

There is incompatibility with hardware acceleration when the process does not have a session which would be if it is a service or started through RDP

If not, then please provide logs with debug enabled downloaded after restart following a crash

4

Ah. I wasn’t aware of this bug.

I am indeed running headless. I have the system configured to auto login to an account on boot so PMS starts (for after Windows Update reboots etc.), and then I’ll RDP into it sometimes to manage a few other apps.

Assuming this is the same thing? I should know this but, my brain is tired lol.

Also assume if I disable hardware acceleration the problem should go away? Any fix on the horizon?

Thanks for looking.

5

I will add your forum topic to the already registered issue for this

You have a choice of not running headless or disablig hardware acceleration

The issue has been open for some time now - adding more examples of user impact may help push it up the priority list

6

So to not run headless, I would have to connect a keyboard and login as a session 0?

7

Do not run as a service. Plex Media Server would run under one of the windows accounts and has the option set to autostart on login - which is on by default after an install

Then what you need to do is make sure the computer logs into that windows account automatically on reboots so that the Plex Media Server.exe process gets started

8

So that is actually what I’m doing. I’m not running it as a service. It is installed under account “user1”, and set to run at startup. Then I have the machine configured to automatically login as “user1” when Window boots up.

9

The issue is to do with the need to have a desktop environment active when launched as codecs are not available otherwise.

This could be the RDP issue as opposed to service issue

10

Ok well I’ll just not use hardware acceleration for now. As nice as it is.

Let me know if you would still like me to upload some logs if it helps fix the bug etc.

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12

@ssilsbe We are expecting these Intel h264_qsv encoder crashes to have been fixed by the ffmpeg update which has been released in Plex Media Server beta 1.17.0.1709-982421575

If not, please raise a new forum topic with server logs after a crash