Help! Plex Transcoder Exited due to an error - possible RAM issue?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Hello, I have been using Plex Media Server for a while now, but recently (since I built a new PC, and had my old one to spare) I decided to do a hardware upgrade, and upgrade all content I could to 4k x265 mkv files. The computer I am using is definitely powerful enough to transcode these files, and playback is very smooth on both direct play and when it needs to transcode to a lower resolution.

Server specs are as follows:

Windows 10 Pro (x64)
Plex Media Server Version 1.13.4.5251

Intel Core i7-4790k @ 4.0 GHz
8GB of DDR3 Memory
EVGA GeForce GTX970
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 (Soon to be upgraded to a board with more PCIE lanes)
EVGA 650 watt power supply.

These specs are very temporary and not that “server grade”, especially with all the movies currently on a 1TB external HDD while I wait for a proper rack mount case with hot swap HDD bays.

The movie I used to test this was Guardians of the Galaxy 2. File size is around 17gb, and is a 4k, x265, HEVC, MKV file. The problem I am having is the stream suddenly stops (after completely flawless playback) and says “The transcoder exited due to an error”. This led me to wonder why something that works great when its working can fail so suddenly and without reason.

I initially thought this had something to do with overheating as back when I built this computer 3 years ago, I cheaped out on proper CPU cooling and instead opted to use the Intel Stock cooler. :roll_eyes: I ruled out this reason for failure as the CPU doesn’t run above 80c for long at all, and it only reaches that temperature when the CPU usage hits 100%. (Which isn’t often, and not for long).

Further observations found that the “Plex Transcoder” process in Task Manager uses up a whole bunch of ram, and seems to crash once that process reaches around 3.7gb of used memory. This led me to wonder why it is crashing every time at around this number. Could it be a bad RAM stick? Or possibly not enough?

This is where I am stuck. Attached is the Server Log file (Hosted on Google Drive as new users cant upload files), and two videos on YouTube of the crash happening. It is pretty obvious when the crash happens. It reaches about 3.7gb of usage before completely quitting. After the transcoder crashes, I can immediately resume the video where I left off in the Plex App, and it will play flawlessly until memory usage hits that number, then crashes.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, as I have no idea where to proceed from here.

Thanks!

-Brett

YouTube Links:
Crash 1: Plex Transcoder Crash 1 - YouTube
Crash 2: Plex Transcoder Crash 2 - YouTube

Log ZIP File:

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Sounds like it’s the same problem everybody had after the Windows update:

https://forums.plex.tv/t/solution-conversion-failed-the-transcoder-exited-due-to-an-error/234363/157

The solution is to install KB4345421.

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Looked at that, but it seemed like that update installed successfully on my machine 3 days ago. Windows update says everything is up to date. Should I try reinstalling it? Or could it be a completely different issue?

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Honestly, I don’t know, it just seemed likely and I was hoping it would help :slight_smile:

Somebody else will have to chime in I guess :slight_smile:

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Yeah thanks, I looked at that thread, and it seems like other people are also having problems despite them still installing the update. One person said they have been having the issue for just over a month now.

Plex? You care to look into this? :thinking:

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I have been looking into a suspected memory issue with the transcoder - seen when transcoding HEVC files and has been referred to the development - but we need a file (the smallest media file / clip) that would get the memory failure

See

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Please could you see how many minutes it takes before transcoder fails and generate a clip from E:\Movies\Guardians of the Galaxy 2.mkv to see if the issue arises with that clip
Increase the time by 5 minutes and please provide the file to see if we can reproduce it

Please also state what transcoder server settings you have changed
You can export registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server to text file and send it to me by Private Message

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The transcoder fails after around 35 minutes, also when the memory usage on the Plex Transcoder process hits around 3.7gb. (As seen in the two videos I linked)

I will generate a 1 hour version of the file, and I will load it onto my server to make sure the shortened file also crashes the transcoder.

I’ll PM you the registry information as well as a download link to the test clip from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 in my google drive in a little while as I will probably have to render that video to shorten it.

Also, I feel it is important to mention that the ram builds up while watching the video, stops building up when you pause it, then resumes building up when you hit play. If you skip to another spot in the video, the ram usage will reset.

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have you changed the buffering parameter?
For the other forum topic - user was reaching 3.8Gb with 20 min clip but when i tested, i peaked at 1.6Gb

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I have no idea what the buffering parameter is, so no I haven’t.
I just shortened Guardians of the Galaxy 2 to 1 hour, and ran the test again with the same result. It peaks at 3.8gb then crashes at around 35 minutes.

I’ll PM you the registry information you requested as well as the 1 hour clip that I can confirm will crash the transcoder.

I have the plex app set for “in home” at 1080p 20mbps.

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PM sent. The movie is shortened to an hour and there is the registry information.

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Thank you - i will try to reproduce the failure and if i manage that, i will pass the download link to the development team and the diagnostics. It does mean, I am afraid that the file needs to stay where it is on your 1drive until the problem is resolved and fix released

I hope that will be ok

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I have got a memory error half way through so I will be passing the link to the file to the development team

Thanks

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No problem! The link will stay up forever as I have tonnes of space left on my OneDrive. Just make sure you tell them the file password.

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A bit of info for you, Found that the crash does not occur when selecting AC3 audio stream instead of the TrueHD stream - don’t know if that is what you found and sorry i have not re-read the posts to see if you have said that

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I will be sending you by Private Message a link to a development build for you to try and let me know if the memory issue gets fixed for HEVC and TrueHD

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Ok, I will give it a shot, Thanks for looking into this by the way! :grin:

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Plex Media Server beta 1.13.7.5369 has just been released. It has the fix for Transcoder memory leak.

See Release Note Plex Media Server

  • (Transcoder) The transcoder’s memory consumption increased over time on Android or when decoding certain audio codecs (#8830) (#8814)

[Users with the early development build fix should uninstall that version and replace with the new beta release]

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