Plex Desktop/Win 10 is going wild - 60 -70% system load

Server Version#: 4.100.1 (latest update 30 minutes ago)
Player Version#: latest Google Chromecast

Hi,

A few days ago it started that a few episodes could not be played on Chromecast in full speed (but all of them on Windows Desktop with no issue). Some kind of slow motion and a few seconds later pixel errors and freezing to image with endless broken pixels. Not working episodes were not depending on their file sizes, resolution or MB/sec. All others were working fine.

24 hours ago Plex server started creating 60 - 70% system load with Plex Media Scanner (32 Bit) on Windows 10 64-bit and endless processing. It seems to never end:


Any play of any episode on Chromecast is now in slow motion and then pixel errors, freeze…
Chromecast is connected by network cable.

By the way: no changes in any configuration were made by me for months on Plex and Chromecast.

Any help would be appreciated. How to stop this?

That is the Plex Web version.

Plex Media Server version will be 1.29, 1.30, etc, For example, the latest beta is version 1.31.1.6716 (announcement thread).

The version number is listed in Settings → Server_Name → General. It is also available in your list of Authorized Devices.

Plex recently release Credits Detection. It is enabled by default and noticeably increases CPU usage. See the support document for information on enabling/disabling/scheduling.

You should see the activity listed under the Activity Icon in Plex Web (like with intro detection, scanning libraries, etc).

Hopefully others can assist. I’ve never used one.

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YOU MADE MY DAY! THANKS!

Version 1.31.1.6716

There’s not only this new: - Generate credits video markers
but also:

  • Generate chapter thumbnails
  • Analyze audio tracks for loudness
  • Analyze audio tracks for sonic features

All of this is ACTIVATED without any notice to users with some update before. It kills my PC.

I have deactivated all of this and the fan of my DELL PC is now very quiet… :joy:

Will test tomorrow on Chromecast…

You should give Chromecast with Google TV a chance!

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While this is nice feature, I think it needs some engine improvement as it also brought my system to it’s knees. (i7-8700K with 32 GB of RAM)

It doesn’t seem to be running the scanner at low priority, it pretty much takes over…

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Got hit by this same wonder auto-turned on feature that wasn’t wanted

Neat.

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Seems like a feature like this should be DISABLED by default and a newsletter email sent out describing the feature and instructions how to enable it.

I think many people, like myself, were surprised and bewildered why Plex Media Scanner was suddenly consuming my CPU. Multiple reboots, etc., and finally set a scheduled time for maintenance – not knowing WHY this was happening.

While a useful feature for some, I think most have no use for this. At the end of a movie or episode, I press the back button to skip the credits!

3 Likes

The issue with Plex on Chromecast for Google with playing many episodes in slow motion only and killing graphics after a few seconds is still there. I have to postpone more details on next week.

Ugh, no wonder my PC suddenly started sounding like a vacuum cleaner. I can skip opening credits manually, thank you.

Is the new feature at least pointable to certain libraries flagged as movies and TV episodes, or does it want to go through every video file on your server to analyze it.?

Yes. Options at server/library/movie/show levels.

See Credits Detection.

I’m seeing a similar CPU utilization of higher and it causes connected Players (local and remote) to stop working.
I can not pinpoint this to the background analyzing of credits, thumbnail generation, etc since Plex doesn’t show any activity expert streaming content (no transiting).
Windows Task Manager shows Plex consing 85-97% of the CPU.
This has been occurring for the past few weeks and did not just begin with the latest Beta update.

Windows 11 x64
Ryzen 8 core 5000
64GB RAM
Plex data folder on nvme SSD

Thanks. Also, I’ve discovered that at the individual library level, under “Manage library: Edit: Advanced” you can uncheck “Enable intro detection” and “Enable credits detection,” thank goodness.

A post was split to a new topic: Plex Media Server crashing during scheduled maintenance

@jfreiman

Plex Documentation → Server Settings
→ Library
→ Scheduled Tasks

Credit analysis, Intro detection, and thumbnail generation are listed under the activity icon when they occur. There are other background tasks that are not listed.

You may want to review when those tasks occur in Settings → Library. If you choose as a scheduled task, they will occur during the maintenance window, which is configured in Settings -> Scheduled Tasks. Moving the tasks to off hours will lessen their impact when people are actively streaming.

The above mentioned issues (slow motion, pixel errors) are not caused by credits detection. I have created a new post:
Latest Plex on Chromecast for Google TV showing only slow motion episodes/movies

The issue with slow motion, pixel errors and freezing of episodes etc. with Plex App on Chromecast for Google TV is solved now by Plex App Update 9.17.0.38861.

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