I gave up reclaiming my old server install and completely wiped the settings, database, caches, etc.
After downloading and starting the media server, I am now presented with the attached image, with no server name, no option to enable remote. If I click Next, I get a spinning animation where the Next button was and it continues forever. No errors in logs that seem to relate to this, except I get this:
Oct 06, 2022 14:31:28.110 [0x70000d073000] ERROR - Got unknown exception from request handler
Which is the same message I had before when I couldnāt reclaim my server.
Yes macOS 10.11 and 10.12 can have an older Safari that is more sensitive, but first hereās a bit of uninstall information you may already know. Plex has an article to Uninstall Plex Media Server that lists three folders and a file that need to be deleted. The file is emptied with the command
Assuming you got all four of those, then your issue reminds me of how an old Safari might not behave during install. You can do two different things. You can try to make Safari work, or you can install Chrome, Opera, or Firefox.
Making Safari work (i hope):
Try the following before running PMS the first time to do setup:
Open Safari so it has only 1 blank tab open.
History -> Clear History -> All History
Quit out of Safari with File -> Quit
Start Safari again, this time go into Incognito mode.
Thank you for the tips. I actually have tried all of the non-Safari browsers I could get my hands on. But I tried Safari just now and get the same results.
I actually trashed the prefs file instead of running defaults delete on it. And I just realized that when I start the PMS app, no plist is being created. Perhaps because itās not completing the setup?? I would have expected that it would at least create that domain plist with the basics when it starts up. I created a new blank one with the defaults command, after which the server writes some machine identifiers into it, but nothing has changed with the setup process. Still stuck!
Youāve done what I would have done, and we know a lot more.
Please confirm you followed the exact steps I listed and used private browsing Incognito Mode.
The plist would not exist on a new macOS. So itās appropriate to trash it as part of an uninstall.
Now that youāre stuck again, letās see whatās logged.
In Finder navigate to ~/Library/Logs
Two finger click on a Touchpad or right-click using a mouse on Plex Media Server
Choose the menuitem ā Compress "Plex Media Server"
It will create a Plex Media Server.zip file in the same folder.
Drop that zip file into your reply here to attach it.
Well, digging further into the log directory, now I know where all the juicy details are! There are definitely critical errors in the system log. But, I have no idea what most of it means, of course.
The userās install of PMS to an older macOS 10.12.6 is going perfectly well until part way through setup when the web browser asks for /:/prefs but he gets an Error 500. This all started with a need to reclaim a server that ended up in a complete uninstall.
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000cb69000] DEBUG - WebSocket: Performing handshake from origin http://127.0.0.1:32400
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000c95d000] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:49541 (Loopback)] PUT /updater/check?download=0 (9 live) #170 GZIP
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000cb69000] DEBUG - Beginning read from WebSocket
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000c95d000] DEBUG - [Req#170] AutoUpdate: requesting check endpoint: /updater/products/5/check.xml?build=darwin-x86_64&channel=16&distribution=macos&version=1.29.1.6276-4a96dd5b1, download: NO
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000c95d000] DEBUG - [Req#170] Downloading document https://plex.tv/updater/products/5/check.xml?build=darwin-x86_64&channel=16&distribution=macos&version=1.29.1.6276-4a96dd5b1
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:10.994 [0x70000c95d000] DEBUG - [Req#170/HCl#88] HTTP requesting GET https://plex.tv/updater/products/5/check.xml?build=darwin-x86_64&channel=16&distribution=macos&version=1.29.1.6276-4a96dd5b1
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:11.011 [0x70000cae6000] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:49542 (Loopback)] GET /activities (9 live) #16b GZIP
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:11.011 [0x70000c64b000] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:49542] 200 GET /activities (9 live) GZIP 0ms 350 bytes (pipelined: 3)
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:11.415 [0x70000cb69000] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:49542 (Loopback)] GET /:/prefs (9 live) #173 GZIP
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:11.416 [0x70000cb69000] ERROR - Got unknown exception from request handler
Oct 07, 2022 13:59:11.416 [0x70000c64b000] DEBUG - Completed: [127.0.0.1:49542] 500 GET /:/prefs (9 live) GZIP 1ms 405 bytes (pipelined: 4)
I installed PMS 1.29.1.6276 on my 2011 MacBook Pro (i5-2415M). It is running macOS 10.13.6 and has Safari 13.1.2.
It wasnāt the fastest, but the installation was straightforward. It proceeded normally and let me claim the server and get to server settings. This was using Safari.
macOS did flag Plex Media Server when I launched it the first time. I went to System Preferences ā Security & Privacy, granted permission, and PMS launched OK.
I looked at Plex Media Server.log on my system. Other than the GET /:/prefs returning 200 instead of 500, there were no major differences.
There are problems using Safari on macOS 10.11 and 10.12 systems. The navigation bar in Plex Web is not available (thread). However, Iāve no idea if this would affect initial setup of PMS.
Itās definitely something introduced in the last couple of versions. I went back to Version 1.23.0.4438 and started fresh. Everything works as expected.
The 6276 build works fine on my 10.11.6 machine .
I will push the version forward to the time shortly before the buggy build that failed to start on 10.11 and 10.12 and see how that behaves. Then Iāll install 6276 again and see if my server goes unclaimed.
I will stay at 1.28.2.6151 for now. I heard from @cgatesman that he had the same problem I did, and when he updated all the way to 6276 after reverting, the unclaimed server/server settings unavailable issue returned.
Itās obvious that there is an issue with the 6276 build on our two machines (at least).
I am having the exact same problem as described in the OP. After running the server update yesterday, I could no longer access server settings and the media library wasnāt updating. After doing a complete uninstall (as described, deleting folders, defaults command, removing application, rebooting, several times.) Trying to reinstall now 1.29.1.6316-f4cdfea9c i simply canāt get past the āServer Setupā webpage. Just a spinning icon when I click next.
How can I return to a previous version of the software? I canāt see an option for previous versions on the download page.
I found links to older versions. 1.27.2.5929 seems to be working okay. Have lost all of my watched/in-progress information. I guess Iāll skip the current update and hope the next one is fine.
That information is stored in the database in the Plex Data Folder.
If you have a backup copy of the database (via Plex scheduled tasks, Time Machine, etc), you can use it to restore some of the information.
See Restore a Database Backed Up via āScheduled Tasksā. It references backups made by Plex, but you can use backups made by other methods as well. Note that Plex Media Server would need to be stopped when the Time Machine, or other non-Plex scheduled task, backup was made. Otherwise the database would still be open and the backup may be corrupt.
Also, consider enabling the new Sync Watch State capability. It tracks watch status across all servers to which you have access, including those shared with you. It wonāt help with your current problem, but it can help if you run into a similar situation in the future. See Sync Watch State and Ratings.
@rainwarrior Will you confirm if 1.27.2.5929 is the newest one that installed smoothly?
Iāve been suggesting the stable 1.28.2.6151 universal but canāt test it.
@FordGuy61 do you have a hash for the 1.27 version? I never downloaded it.
Thank you sir.
@FordGuy61 Deleting the Plex Data Folder was the first step given in the uninstall instructions, unfortunately. Maybe it would be a good idea to add āback up this folder before deleting itā to those instructions.
Are backups something that have to be enabled specially, or would they be on by default?
@nibbles All of the installers would crash some time after copying itself to the applications folder. I tried a couple, but with so many steps involved in force quitting PMS, deleting 3 special folders, rebooting, etc. itās possible I hadnāt done it right. All I can confirm is that 1.27.2.5292 works. Itās possible that one of the later versions would also work (but 1.29.1.6316 definitely does not). I donāt have time to investigate each one of them at the moment.
I tried just replacing the app with 1.29.0.6244 (not deleting folders, etc. just causing PMS to quit, replacing the app in Applications, and running). It seems to work fine.
So, I think everything worked for me up until 1.29.1.6316 After I ran the last update (launched from the webpage), my media library stopped updating, and I couldnāt access the server settings via the webpage. Thatās what caused me to try doing a complete uninstall/reinstall in the first place, after which I couldnāt get through the setup process.
