Hi, I recently had my PC repaired and, since getting it back, Plex Media Server will no longer run at all, no error messages, no icon in the tray, nothing. When clicking plexmediaserver.exe, I get a brief instant where the computer appears to be working on something before being stopped (mouse icon with the “buffering circle” shows briefly). Uninstall/reinstall does not fix the issue.
I suspect this has to do with the repair. TL;DR my SSD that was my C:/ and had my plex media server install is now the D:/ drive with a new SSD as the C:/ drive (old SSD was cloned, so plex media server was installed on both C:/ and D:/ at one point, since uninstalled on both while attempting to troubleshoot). Could the issue stem from the Plex media server install on the D:/ drive?
Can you please advise on how to fix this so plex media server can run? I can rebuild playlists or what have you, I just want this to work again.
First you need to determine if you still have a valid Plex data folder on drive C: or on drive D: (or maybe both?)
If you do, take a look into the Registry. https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/
The key LocalAppDataPath is pointing to the drive and folder where Plex shall look for its data. If the drive or the folder doesn’t exist, Plex will close itself immediately.
If you delete this key, Plex will use the default location on drive C: again.
But if this default location is empty, it will behave like a brand new installation, without any of your old data.
Ok thanks for this advice, here’s what I have done:
I checked for a folder at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server and there is a folder in C:/ there with two sub folders, I assume this means it is valid.
I opened regedit, went to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\ where I found LocalAppDataPath that was pointing to a folder on the D:/ drive. I deleted the LocalAppDataPath key, believing that this would mean that if i launched the media server, it would create a new key with a default folder. When I tried to launch, the same problem persists and I have noticed no new registry key has been made for the default folder. Can you please help with next steps?
With only 2 subfolders, that most probably means it is pretty much empty and none of your old library data will be there.
That’s fine, nbd. I still can’t get the media server to launch, however. Can you suggest something else that may fix this issue? As long as i can get the media server running, I figure I can fix the libraries.
I checked the task manager and there was a plex media server task listed. I misunderstood your post. I ended the task and then launched the media server. All works now. Thank you!
No, I am the only user. Not sure what happened really. There was apparently a task running but nothing was happening and no logs could be collected, nor could I access anything on my computer using media server. However, it was fixed upon terminating that task and trying to launch Plex media server again. Perhaps it detected this previous task somehow upon launch and terminated? Sorry that I’m not more help!
I did reboot my machine multiple times before and after uninstall/reinstall just for trial and error. It did not change anything before I found that task in task manager and ended it.
