Playback was terminated by the server. The transcoder crashed or failed to start up.

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I started getting an error on my Apple TV app “Playback was terminated by the server. Conversion failed. The transcoder crashed or failed to start up” This appears to happen randomly on all media, my server has not changed at all and this only started happening today.

After getting many responses on Reddit with the same suggested fix to delete the contents of the Codecs directory and then restart the Plex server, which I did. However, after then trying to watch a movie the next day about 1 hour in I got the same error again. Movies will randomly stop playing half way through, give or take, to display this error.

Server version: latest version

OS: MacOS High Sierra

Movies are .MKV

I am getting really fed up with Plex having so many bugs and very much am considering moving towards Emby.

2

Bump Bump.

3

Did you ever get this issue resolved? I’m facing the same error and it’s starting to really piss me off. I’d happily migrate to and invest in a diferent media player but from searching around it seems most have small issues like this with Plex.

4

This has just started happening to me as well. I get about 4 minutes into a TV show, and it freezes on me on my Apple TV - no issues if I watch directly on the computer, and no issues if I watch it on VLC – just through Apple TV. Super frustrating.

5

I believe problem are AppleTV and not machine where the server is running. This happens to me but I use a Windows 10 machine as a server.
The error mensage said is a transcoder error, but apple tv musn’t use transcoder when it plays intranet.
All application (server and appletv) are updated to the last version. It begans one week ago (in my home)

6

Same issue - tried restarts but the error continues. I am also using apple TV and windows 10 PC as server

7

I am having this problem but only on Apple TV and only watching live TV. Recorded shows and movies play fine. It just started happening today. Perhaps a recent update to TVOS or the Plex ATV app?

I’m using Mac Server version 1.13.9.5456 and I’ve just noticed the same error is happening on my iPhone. Watching on the Plex Media Player for Mac works fine.

8

Doing The Same On Windows With Server Crashes