Getting a "Conversion failed. Transcoder crashed or failed to start up" error.

@dko888 said:
@sa2000,
I recreated a transcoder crash this morning using Plex server 1.9.7.4441. I have attached verbose debugging logs this time as requested from one of your earlier comments. I would appreciate your assistance to take a look and provide guidance on what the problem is.

I will try on the weekend about generating a 5 min clip but this may be difficult as the problem doesn’t always occur at same spot.

To answer one of your questions in previous comment, I have seen this error on Chromecast, Amazone fire stick, and Xbox One Plex app.

If you repeat and get a 5 min clip - please use 1.9.7.4460 which is the latest beta

I’m seeing the same problem with 1.9.7.4460. As a new user who was prepared to go “all in” with Plex, I’m extremely grateful I signed up for the monthly plan (since Plex is looking like a flaky POS at the moment).

@kcollett said:
I’m seeing the same problem with 1.9.7.4460. As a new user who was prepared to go “all in” with Plex, I’m extremely grateful I signed up for the monthly plan (since Plex is looking like a flaky POS at the moment).

Please try to reproduce the problem using beta release 1.10.0.4523 and logs when the problem occurs. Can check then if it is the same as one already referred to the development team or different. If it is different, then a sample media file giving the error would also be needed

I won’t be home until this evening. But I’m on 1.10.0.4523 and that’s when my “Conversion failed/ The transcoder crashed or failed to start up.” errors started happening. In 2+ years I’ve never had that until now.

@jason__00 said:
Found it on Filehorse as well. Wasn’t familiar with the site, can’t be too careful nowadays with infected software.

Since downgrading to 1.5.5.3634 myself and my shared friends have not experienced a single crash.

I got home much earlier than expected today. I tried that version first thing but no luck. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled so many times today but no version I install fixes the transcoder error. What’s worse, now it seems nothing will play. At least last night almost everything was playing but mostly movies were having the issue. So frustrating.

@wkupike2000 said:

@jason__00 said:
Found it on Filehorse as well. Wasn’t familiar with the site, can’t be too careful nowadays with infected software.

Since downgrading to 1.5.5.3634 myself and my shared friends have not experienced a single crash.

I got home much earlier than expected today. I tried that version first thing but no luck. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled so many times today but no version I install fixes the transcoder error. What’s worse, now it seems nothing will play. At least last night almost everything was playing but mostly movies were having the issue. So frustrating.

Logs ?
Ensure Debug Logging enabled - see https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201643703-Reporting-issues-with-Plex-Media-Server
Restart the server
Get the failure
Note down time of error and video being played
Collect the logs = see https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files
Attach zip with details of when the error arose

It is important that the logs cover the time the server is restarted so do the test soon after restart

I’m getting this too. But, here’s the rub with mine… I was getting this error ALL THE TIME so I uninstalled and reinstalled Plex. Then, I watched this video on my tablet a few nights ago and everything worked fine. Today, I had to restart Windows, and now the exact same video I watched a few nights ago is back to having this error when I try to start it. So, it worked fine until I restarted Windows, and now receives the error again like before I uninstalled and reinstalled.

It gets this error on my tablet and my Roku, but not on my smart TV.

In addition, I cannot watch anything on the PC that contains the Plex server, it keeps giving me that Shaka error whenever I try.

Prior to the last Plex/Windows 10 update (not sure which but it was around the same time for both of them) everything worked wonderful with no problems at all anywhere.

What happened???

@hurple said:
I’m getting this too. But, here’s the rub with mine… I was getting this error ALL THE TIME so I uninstalled and reinstalled Plex. Then, I watched this video on my tablet a few nights ago and everything worked fine. Today, I had to restart Windows, and now the exact same video I watched a few nights ago is back to having this error when I try to start it. So, it worked fine until I restarted Windows, and now receives the error again like before I uninstalled and reinstalled.

It gets this error on my tablet and my Roku, but not on my smart TV.

In addition, I cannot watch anything on the PC that contains the Plex server, it keeps giving me that Shaka error whenever I try.

Prior to the last Plex/Windows 10 update (not sure which but it was around the same time for both of them) everything worked wonderful with no problems at all anywhere.

What happened???

Oh, one more thing that might help with troubleshooting, the tablet is Samsung and wireless on my network, as is the Roku. The smart TV is also Samsung and it is connected to the network via cat5.

@hurple said:
I’m getting this too. But, here’s the rub with mine… I was getting this error ALL THE TIME so I uninstalled and reinstalled Plex. Then, I watched this video on my tablet a few nights ago and everything worked fine. Today, I had to restart Windows, and now the exact same video I watched a few nights ago is back to having this error when I try to start it. So, it worked fine until I restarted Windows, and now receives the error again like before I uninstalled and reinstalled.

It gets this error on my tablet and my Roku, but not on my smart TV.

In addition, I cannot watch anything on the PC that contains the Plex server, it keeps giving me that Shaka error whenever I try.

Prior to the last Plex/Windows 10 update (not sure which but it was around the same time for both of them) everything worked wonderful with no problems at all anywhere.

What happened???

Lets concentrate first on the web client on the server itself failing,
So please ensure server has logging enabled
See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201643703
restart the server to get fresh log files created
reproduce the problem
take a screenshot and note down the time and what was being played
collect server logs
see https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417

attach logs zip and screenshot and the info requested

I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

@hurple said:
I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

Could you get me a clip that fails with logs and i will raise it as an issue - you can use mkvtoolnix to do that and then see if the short (say 5 minute clip) fails and get the logs and the upload the clip on dropbox etc and share link please
and please test with latest beta release - available here https://plex.tv/downloads

@sa2000 said:
Could you get me a clip that fails with logs and i will raise it as an issue - you can use mkvtoolnix to do that and then see if the short (say 5 minute clip) fails and get the logs and the upload the clip on dropbox etc and share link please
and please test with latest beta release - available here https://plex.tv/downloads

I’ll try. It may take a few days. :smiley:

Hopefully this gets figured out soon. I can’t watch the majority of my media on Roku or Fire TV’s. Seems like you could raise an issue with the MKV details without a clip from a user. Surely the devs can try to recreate.

UPDATED: Nope, mkv issue is still causing failure and files to not play. Bummer.

I received a new update this morning. I don’t see it mentioned in the notes, any chance it addresses the mkv bug?

@hurple said:
I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

I have the same problem with my PMS regarding files mkv with 5.1 audio. I’ve tried to uninstall and install the PMS, but none of these times it’s worked. It’s so frustrating. And on LG TV the app doesn’t play since the transcoder doesn’t start up.

@matheussr92 said:

@hurple said:
I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

I have the same problem with my PMS regarding files mkv with 5.1 audio. I’ve tried to uninstall and install the PMS, but none of these times it’s worked. It’s so frustrating. And on LG TV the app doesn’t play since the transcoder doesn’t start up.

Logs ?

See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201643703-Reporting-issues-with-Plex-Media-Server
Then restart the server and reproduce the problem - the restart is important to give new log files

when the error occurs, note down the time / error and post here together with the zipped logs
See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files

@sa2000 said:

@matheussr92 said:

@hurple said:
I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

I have the same problem with my PMS regarding files mkv with 5.1 audio. I’ve tried to uninstall and install the PMS, but none of these times it’s worked. It’s so frustrating. And on LG TV the app doesn’t play since the transcoder doesn’t start up.

Logs ?

See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201643703-Reporting-issues-with-Plex-Media-Server
Then restart the server and reproduce the problem - the restart is important to give new log files

when the error occurs, note down the time / error and post here together with the zipped logs
See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files

Here they are

@matheussr92 said:

@sa2000 said:

@matheussr92 said:

@hurple said:
I have done a bit of troubleshooting on the transcoder error. The files that are failing are MKV with 5.1 audio. If I re-code to remove the 5.1, it works. If I re-code to any other format, it works.

So, it looks like in the new updates the transcoder is having issues with MKV with 5.1 audio. So, either MKV updated how the files are encoded and the current transcoder doesn’t work with it, or the latest update broke the transcoder in regards to MKV.

As far as the shaka issue, now that i have found a workaround for the transcoder issue (even though re-encoding all my files to remove 5.1 audio is a very loooooong process, a pain, and less than ideal), I got an idea of how to fix that. I’m gonna try that before I start logging things. :smiley:

I have the same problem with my PMS regarding files mkv with 5.1 audio. I’ve tried to uninstall and install the PMS, but none of these times it’s worked. It’s so frustrating. And on LG TV the app doesn’t play since the transcoder doesn’t start up.

Logs ?

See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201643703-Reporting-issues-with-Plex-Media-Server
Then restart the server and reproduce the problem - the restart is important to give new log files

when the error occurs, note down the time / error and post here together with the zipped logs
See https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200250417-Plex-Media-Server-Log-Files

Here they are

The transcoder is crashing on launch. But that is not all that is wrong

We have requests between Plex Media Server processes that are being bounced.

Please tell me what security software you have running: anti virus, firewall, internet security, parental controls
Also if you have any proxy software

Also can you check what ports are being used by programs - may be an application is using port 32400 - the main port used by Plex Media Server

These requests from the PlexScriptHost.exe com.plexapp.system process never arrived at the Plex Media Server.exe process - something bounced them.

2017-12-03 14:31:24,301 (2a18) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/servers'
2017-12-03 14:31:25,520 (2a18) :  CRITICAL (core:574) - Exception in thread named 'refresh_servers' (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\runtime.py", line 1126, in _start_thread
    f(*args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 169, in refresh_servers
    servers_el = self.get_servers_el()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 165, in get_servers_el
    return XML.ElementFromURL('http://127.0.0.1:32400/servers', cacheTime = 0)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api\parsekit.py", line 344, in ElementFromURL
    method=method,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api
etworkkit.py", line 67, in _http_request
    req = self._core.networking.http_request(url, *args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 370, in http_request
    return HTTPRequest(self._core, url, data, h, url_cache, encoding, errors, timeout, immediate, sleep, opener, follow_redirects, method)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 141, in __init__
    self.load()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 181, in load
    f = self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._timeout)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 429, in open
    response = self._open(req, data)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 447, in _open
    '_open', req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1228, in http_open
    return self.do_open(httplib.HTTPConnection, req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1201, in do_open
    r = h.getresponse(buffering=True)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 1136, in getresponse
    response.begin()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 453, in begin
    version, status, reason = self._read_status()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 409, in _read_status
    line = self.fp.readline(_MAXLINE + 1)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\socket.py", line 480, in readline
    data = self._sock.recv(self._rbufsize)
error: [Errno 10054] An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
2017-12-03 14:31:24,723 (424) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400/servers'
2017-12-03 14:31:25,520 (424) :  CRITICAL (core:574) - Exception (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\runtime.py", line 843, in handle_request
    result = f(**d)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 390, in handle_notify
    self.update_servers(required_attribs=attrs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 195, in update_servers
    servers_el = self.get_servers_el()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\peerservice.py", line 165, in get_servers_el
    return XML.ElementFromURL('http://127.0.0.1:32400/servers', cacheTime = 0)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api\parsekit.py", line 344, in ElementFromURL
    method=method,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api
etworkkit.py", line 67, in _http_request
    req = self._core.networking.http_request(url, *args, **kwargs)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 370, in http_request
    return HTTPRequest(self._core, url, data, h, url_cache, encoding, errors, timeout, immediate, sleep, opener, follow_redirects, method)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 141, in __init__
    self.load()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 181, in load
    f = self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._timeout)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 429, in open
    response = self._open(req, data)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 447, in _open
    '_open', req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1228, in http_open
    return self.do_open(httplib.HTTPConnection, req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1201, in do_open
    r = h.getresponse(buffering=True)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 1136, in getresponse
    response.begin()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 453, in begin
    version, status, reason = self._read_status()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 409, in _read_status
    line = self.fp.readline(_MAXLINE + 1)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\socket.py", line 480, in readline
    data = self._sock.recv(self._rbufsize)
error: [Errno 10054] An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host
2017-12-03 14:31:24,286 (307c) :  DEBUG (networking:166) - Requesting 'http://127.0.0.1:32400'
2017-12-03 14:31:24,286 (37dc) :  DEBUG (logkit:13) - Starting the install service
2017-12-03 14:31:25,522 (307c) :  CRITICAL (core:579) - Error info (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\System.bundle\Contents\Code\storeservice.py", line 401, in update
    if Platform.MachineIdentifier == None:
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\api\runtimekit.py", line 469, in MachineIdentifier
    return self._core.get_server_attribute('machineIdentifier')
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\core.py", line 514, in get_server_attribute
    root_xml = self.data.xml.from_string(self.networking.http_request('http://127.0.0.1:32400'))
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components\data.py", line 150, in from_string
    ud = UnicodeDammit(str(string), isHTML=isHTML)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 243, in __str__
    self.load()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-a39b25852\Framework.bundle\Contents\Resources\Versions\2\Python\Framework\components
etworking.py", line 181, in load
    f = self._opener.open(req, timeout=self._timeout)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 429, in open
    response = self._open(req, data)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 447, in _open
    '_open', req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 407, in _call_chain
    result = func(*args)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1228, in http_open
    return self.do_open(httplib.HTTPConnection, req)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\urllib2.py", line 1201, in do_open
    r = h.getresponse(buffering=True)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 1136, in getresponse
    response.begin()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 453, in begin
    version, status, reason = self._read_status()
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\httplib.py", line 409, in _read_status
    line = self.fp.readline(_MAXLINE + 1)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\python27.zip\socket.py", line 480, in readline
    data = self._sock.recv(self._rbufsize)
error: [Errno 10054] An existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host

To check if another program picked tcp port 32400, start / search for cmd and right click on Command Prompt search result and select Run As Adminisrator
In the command line window, enter command
netstat -a -b > %localappdata% etstat_2017-Dec-09.txt

May take a few minutes to complete the command
Attach the %localappdata% etstat_2017-Dec-09.txt together with answers to my question on security software

Any updates on getting this corrected? Having to convert all my MKV files is quite a pain.

@wkupike2000 said:
Any updates on getting this corrected? Having to convert all my MKV files is quite a pain.

Which ?
Need logs to establish if this is the same as one already submitted to the development team
Could be different reasons for a transcoder to fail / crash

See my earlier response to you
http://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1568645/#Comment_1568645