Media server won't start - ERROR dialogue box

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.32.8.7639
Player Version#: 1.85.0.4071
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

I’ve been using and enjoying Plex Media Server for many years although this hasn’t been without issue, all of which I’ve been able to fix up to now.

Randomly, the server crashed yesterday and I’ve been unable to reboot it. There was a Windows update last week but the server has been working since. Otherwise I’m not aware of any other upgrades.

When trying to boot, the result is a small dialogue box headed ERROR, containing the message ERROR and with the only option of accepting the situation with an OK button - not vey helpful.

I’ve tried rebooting, cleaning the registry, uninstalling the server and reinstalling several times, scanning and repairing the drives, all with the same result.

Unfortunately, by uninstalling, I have deleted the log files that existed at the time of the crash (I think) and the latest installation does not contain either a Logs or Crashed Reports folder.

Any ideas please?

Thanks,

Andrew

2
  1. https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/
    If the server is starting up after this, perform step 2) to reduce the likelihood of this occuring again.
  2. https://support.plex.tv/articles/repair-a-corrupted-database/ or use the batch file from GitHub - ChuckPa/PlexDBRepair: Database repair utility for Plex Media Server databases

If you occasionally lose power, think about getting a UPS unit for your server.

3

Otto, thank you for your reply.

If I’ve uninstalled Plex Media Server (PMS), deleted residual Plex files, and cleaned the registry, why can’t I do a clean installation of PMS (with a view to building my library from scratch) without getting this error?

Thanks,
Andrew

4

Depends on whether you actually removed all files. The Plex data folder is hard to find, as it is stored inside a hidden folder.

Are you trying this on Windows 7 or 8? Then you’ll have to use an old 32bit version of the server. And using an unsupported Windows version is not advisable in general.

5

I managed to boot PMS eventually after removing every reference to Plex in the windows registry and reinstalling.

No to see if I can recover from my backups.

Andrew

6

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