Playback Error Conversion, Plex fails to play mpeg and vob movie files

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Hi,

I am a new here (1st post) and asking for help. I have read various posts having similar errors but have not figured out if they pertain. I will post a log, but which log: Plex Media Server.log, com.plexapp.system.log, etc.

The Problem
My Plex server does not play movies in either the mpeg or vob file formats but does play movies in the mp4 and mkv file formats. The error message from the browser is:
Playback Error
Conversion failed. A required codec could not be found or failed to install.
I have tried playing movies through a browser, smart tv, and a tivo. The mpeg and vob movies fail while the mp4 and mkv succeed. The smart tv shows no error message.

My Server
The server is Linux computer server ( Ubuntu 17.04 (GNU/Linux 4.10.0-42-generic x86_64) having a command line interface. Using a browser I access Plex at http://192.168.1.215:32400/web.

The version of plex running is Plex Media Server v1.13.2.5154. Plex was installed in the last several weeks.

Sincerely,
Daddio1949

2

good morning. You could try loading the ffmpeg codec pack onto the ubuntu server. Here’s the link and peruse the info…
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FFmpeg

Yes on occasion this happens to me as well with the older videos not playing right. Lemme know.

-wbm

3

The program ffmpeg is installed:
ffmpeg version 3.2.4-1build2 Copyright © 2000-2017 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 6.3.0 (Ubuntu 6.3.0-8ubuntu1) 20170221

1 Like
4

PMS doesn’t use FFMPEG’s embedded codecs.

May I see the log files (Settings - Server - Help - Download Logs) gathered immediately after recreating the playback failure ?

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5

Here is my zip file from the Plex download.
Plex Media Server Logs_2018-07-12_09-28-40.zip (1.6 MB)

6

Thank you for them.

Easy error to correct. (you will <facepalm> at this)

No DNS resolution to download the codecs.

Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.979 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - Network interfaces:
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.979 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG -  * 1 lo (127.0.0.1) (loopback: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.979 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG -  * 2 enp2s0 (192.168.1.215) (loopback: 0)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.979 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - Creating NetworkServices singleton.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.979 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkServices: Initializing...
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe319ffa700] DEBUG - NetworkInterface: Watching for changes on the interfaces.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Creating new service.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Got notification of changed network (first change: 1)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.980 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - NetworkService: Quick dispatch of network change.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.981 [0x7fe31f98c700] DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET https://plex.tv/api/photos/profile
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.982 [0x7fe31a7fb700] DEBUG - Network change for advertiser.
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.982 [0x7fe31a7fb700] DEBUG - NetworkService: Setting up multicast listener on 0.0.0.0:32414 (outbound: 0)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.984 [0x7fe31f98c700] ERROR - Error issuing curl_easy_perform(handle): 6
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.984 [0x7fe31f98c700] WARN - HTTP error requesting GET https://plex.tv/api/photos/profile (0, No error) (Couldn't resolve host 'plex.tv')
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:10.985 [0x7fe31f98c700] ERROR - AutoTagging: unable to retrieve updated word lists
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:11.042 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - Gracenote Version 3.07.7.3686 (build: 2015-07-05 11:45-0700)
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:11.045 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - Gracenote: Using SQLite 3.13.0
Jul 11, 2018 10:41:11.045 [0x7fe3311c0800] DEBUG - Starting HTTP server.
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7

If you don’t mind, how do I correct this?

8

Your network settings on the computer/host itself.

It should have a DNS server address defined. In most cases, it points to the LAN IP of your modem/router.

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9

My problem appears to be resolved. I added a DNS server.

I modified the file, /etc/network/interfaces
by adding the line
dns-nameserver 8.8.8.8

Thank you very much for the assistance. I spent too many hours trying to figure this out.

1 Like
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