So are we thinking that this isn’t going to be fixed, then? I assumed it was an issue only around holidays, as perhaps an update was pushed to live without proper testing…but now it’s been a month more and none of the stated fixes in this thread work, nor have the PMS updates saved the day.
Has anyone who’s had this issue have it resolved for more than ~an hour?
Regarding posters.
There is one prerequisite question: Has any part of the Linux installation originated on Windows?
I am asking because when a Windows system (which uses CR/LF as EOL) is ported to Linux (which uses LF as EOL), the embedded CR causes poster download to fail.
It’s easy to clear once we know it came from Windows.
Speaking just for myself - I am only on Windows and am having this problem. Not Linux at all.
[Edit:]
Actually, it seems that the latest update (1.18.6.2368) might have resolved this issue! All I had to do is come in here and post to look like a doofus. 
Seriously though, thanks Plex peeps!
With this he means that if your install was ever migrated from Win to Linux, then that is the first thing to look at. Other troubleshooting steps will be secondary.
THis issue has been happening with me too, exactly as the OP described. I’m on the latest version as of today (2/20/20) and still have this issue. Metadata shows fine, movie posters won’t load. Logs attached.
The logs do not contain much information.
Has any part of this installation come from a Windows system?
It is a Windows installation.
I’m sorry but I can’t be of much help as there isn’t yet enough information in the logs.
Also, this is a Linux thread and I’m not fluent in Windows operation.
Would you mind forcing a Refresh All Metadata to see if it will generate some error output?
The problem appears to be that I am having my Plex Server use a local data directory that is NOT in my C:\users\xxxx path. Instead I define E:\Plex\AppData\Local. The user running Plex has full access to this directory, but the posters still come up blank, yet the metadata remains. When I switch the server back to use C:\Users<myname>\AppData\Local, the posters appear.
Why would this happen when the local data path is fully readable/writable by the plex server user?
To test this further, I used both a general user account on my Win host (designed for Plex), and also from the Administrator account. Both behaved the same. If I tried to point the server to E:\Plex\AppData\Local, the movie posters would not appear. If I pointed it to the user’s C:\Users<name>\AppData\Local, the posters instantly appeared.
I even completely deleted everything under AppData\Local\Plex Media Server and let it rebuild, but the posters still would not appear.
Maybe you could try a link to the e: drive location using mklink with the /d option. You need to run cmd as administrator to create the link.
That’s an option, but it seems more like a work around to address a functionality flaw. Now that I’ve been able to recreate this scenario reliably, I would hope the Plex team looks at this as well.
1.) Install Plex Media Server on Win10 (doesn’t matter if it’s an admin or user account)
2.) Designate a directory other than C:\users<username>\AppData\Local as the server local data directory
3.) Put a movie in the defined plex movie folder
The poster won’t load.
Then change the plex media server library to use the C:\users<username>\AppData\Local, restart the PMS and refresh your Plex screen. The poster should appear.
I´m having the same issue here on the newest version.
Download Metadata needs a lot of time and then the poster is missing. I can select a new one but it wont appear in the library after selecting. Deleting httpcookies didnt help.
I´m on a synology diskstation.
yup, same issue. Plex needs to fix this ASAP. Its basically useless now. Its like just having a windows explorer lol
what a load of crap
Hello ChuckPa,
For my system yes, I moved from Windows to FreeBSD with my MetaData.
What steps do I need to do to clear this poster bug that just recently showed up?
Never been on windows here.
I run two Plex servers built on Ubuntu Server (that have never been on Windows) and am experiencing this issue on both servers.
I have tried the previously mentioned steps (a few times now) about removing the HTTPCookies after stopping the Plex service, this had no effect for me, still experiencing this issue.
I am also on the latest version of Plex Pass server with no change.
Until finding this thread, I thought the issue was isolated to my servers but glad to hear I am not alone on this one!
Let’s try one more time to clean out the caches.
sudo sh
systemctl stop plexmediaserver
cd "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support"
rm -rf Data/*
rm -rf Caches/*
systemctl start plexmediaserver
Now refresh all the metadata for the section.
That which you already have will flip then flop back.
That which isn’t existing should be downloaded again as if freshly added.
WTF? I Just did your commands and now my whole libraries are gone!!!
Is that a joke? Are you serious? I am freaking out now.
Did you mistype?
Empty the Data directory
rm -rf Data/*
I did NOT type
rm -rf Data*
Which will remove the Databases directory too
yeah seems like i did rm -rf data*. Great, problem is solved because i have no database anymore.
Maybe this helps other people to be more careful with these commands because they can cause a lot of damage.
Years of database maintenance. Gone in a few seconds. Just great.
I hate my life.
