OK - This is a Doozy - multiple layered issue here

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Server Version#: complicated
Player Version#: not worried about it
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

So, in a nut shell… I have been running Plex for years on a Westerdigital WDPR2100

NAS with no real issues. I’d upgraded my raid capacity a couple years back and it’s time to to do it again. I did it again, but this time, I messed stuff up… I’m just gonna recount EXACETLY what I did, IN THE SEQUENCE it was done, so you can see I I layered multiple issues which put me in this predicament.

Didn’t follow the raid capacity upgrade right, so I was able to back track and restore the original 2nd drive of the RAID 1 set up, and then once that all scanned and was find I ran the raid upgrade properly. TOOK FOREVER. I was so excited this morning before work to see it had FINALLY finalized and the RAID Volume was now fully upgraded.

Then without doing anything else, I noticed there was a Plex Media Server update from 1.42.1.10060 the previous CURRENT that was working great, all goo, to latest 1.42.2.101656.

Then next time I tried to access plex, I noticed I could not connect to the media server. The drives were fine, the RAID set up was fine (I could access the drives and files and play the movies outside of plex no problem, so the data is fine).

In panic not being able to connect, through Wdpr2100 since plex runs off of that, I took the previous .bin of the last version of plex that worked and manually installed it…. Plex came right back up, and all libraries SEEMED to be ok… ALL EXCEPT the most important one Movies.

Tried tons of stuff to troubleshoot and even tried to recreate the movies library but then got a “library upgrade required”. Seems like this is result of the upgrade to newer version that I roll back, that I guess didn’t actually FULLY roll ALL of it back, so the library no longer compatible I GUESS?

So every little trick (ssh to clear cache in plex) etc has cone nothing….

So I did a raid, but ultimately the raid turned out to be fine…issue is upgrading then rolling back making some irreversible changes…

TRYING DESPERATELY to avoid having to UNINSTALL and Literally START From scratch redoing network settings and all of that nastiness I don’t even remember how I did before, so will have to relearn it all again….

HAs anyone experienced anything like this and can help me repair things without doing a full install or is the uninstall critical at this point?

2

PMS has a feature to backup your database every three days.
Look for an older version of the db from the 1.42.1 days.
I can’t help with the details because I’m unfamiliar with your hardware.

Restore A Database Backed Via Scheduled Tasks

(You’ve probably heard that PMS might need a significant amount of time to migrate a database scheme to a newer scheme when upgrading, which can leave your PMS in a maintenance state. You may have encountered that when moving up to 1.42.2. Connecting to your PMS with the hosted web app should have warned you of maintenance if it was occurring. )

Ask questions if you’re stuck restoring your DB,
and good luck!

3

Upgrading an Old Movie Library to Use the Plex Movie Agent

This has to do with the scanner and agent selected in the library settings, not with the installed version of Plex Media Server.

The Plex Movie scanner and agent are the defaults for movie libraries.

If the library is configured to use a legacy scanner/agent, you will see the “upgrade library” message.

If you tell Plex to upgrade the library, it will change the library to the Plex Movie scanner and agent, then rescan the library and update metadata.

1 Like
4

@FordGuy61 Thanks for catching the issue in more detail, how it’s likely not a scheme upgrade but a change required due to scanner/agent.

Do you also think it’s easier to restore from a sane backup database and let the upgrade begin again? From the OP’s description it sounded as if they lost functionality due to premature database activity interruption, but maybe you see this as just PMS being busy.

Thanks!

5

@nibbles Restoring a backup db might help, since it has not been through possibly several forward/back migrations. However, it is hard to say for sure. I’m not clear on the current status of the server.

@Jamilmereck

Where do things currently stand with the Plex server?

Which version of PMS is installed?
Is PMS running?
If yes, can you login and reach server settings?
If yes, are your libraries listed in Settings → Manage → Libraries?
Can you stream to your clients, etc.?

6

Unfortunately tried that and the upgrade fails. So what then would be my next step.

Ive tried to completwly uninstall from my wdpr2100, rebooted the wdpr2100 then tried reinstalling the older version (if u recall that the latest version will NOT connect to the server and i have no odea how to even try to fix that. hence my attempt to roll back by reibsrallong the older version that gives me the library upgrade error. so the library is screwed cant play anything thru plex.

7

no back up db. been years since my last attempt at backing it up. current aerver status is ?

status when i posted was as described, rolled back to the older version all of which was listed in the post (i cant remember the Numbers off top of my head, im sorry, it’s silly that the post isnt visible while typing a reply) and with library upgrade required prompt and the consistently failing library upgrade. so down and not functioning.

as of yesterday i tried to delete the library database via ssh to force a rebuild but no change so apparently that db file wasnt the one (possibly due to the old to new then back to old media server version switching).

then just decided to uninstall from wdpr2100, rebooted the wdpr2100 then tried to reinstall. but apparently the uninstall does nothing the db file structure because reinstalling it puts me right back where i was, library update required but that will not work, keeps failing. at this point i almost just wanna figure out how to completely purge whatever plex guts are there but “uninstall” (wdpr2100 interface) doesnt do that…it leaves the bones and comes right back to life like a vampire resurrected woth drops of blood (reinstall) lol…

:person_shrugging:t2:

8

If you want to completely wipe and start over:

  1. Stop Plex Media Server
  2. Uninstall Plex Media Server
  3. Using SSH, delete the Plex Data Folder
    (you may need to be root to do this)
  4. Reboot the NAS
  5. Reinstall Plex Media Server
1 Like
9

ok. will try that. Thanks! fingers crossed.

Do u happen to know anything about the latest version of plex for western digital failing to connect to the media server? its so weird it just doesnt connect..govess a browser error. thats literally the only reason i had this issue was that didnt work so tried the roll back and bam, im in my current sit.

10

There were some reports of Plex Media Server not starting automatically when the WD NAS was restarted.

I’ve not noticed any problems with Plex Web connecting to Plex Media Server on WD NAS.

Ad blockers, cookie-cutters, and other plug-ins sometimes interfere, but those can be bypassed by using a private/incognito window.

11

interesting. i wonder if i just had a bad upgrade install that permanently corrupted the plex library db that these issues are persistent even after uninstall.

i will try the ssh deletion of the plex data folder (assuming i can find it), and NOT look forward to setting it all up AGAIN. It’s a huge library and MANY CUSTOMIZED FILE NAMES ETC…NOT gonna be a good time…sigh

12

qnd one thing…just for ur recommendation… when doing the fresh install, SHOULD i try with the latest software that for me wasnt connecting****?**

Or should i play it safe and just install the previous version that did connect no problem, but that just needed the library upgrade that kept failing, after the upgrade>rollback/downgrade i had previously done

13

Maybe just rename the plex data folder and create a small test PMS install. Once you get the hang of installs, consider starting over when you have confidence everything works. The latest stable PMS is what I would use. At least if you only rename the old DB, you have options.