Plex Media Server Version: Version 1.13.2.5154
Windows Version: 10.0.17134 Build 17134
Intel i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz, 4009 Mhz, 4 Core(s)
16GB RAM
DVR Tuner: HDHomeRun CONNECT
Model: HDHR4-2US
Firmware: 20180327
I recently setup Plex DVR and I keep getting “There was a transcode error” when it attempts a recording of a show. See screenshot attached:
I haven’t really done any advanced configuration here, so I’m not sure what is happening. As a test, I tried to record a 30min show last night and that completed without the error, but I do seem to keep getting this same, “There was a transcode error” when trying to record this program.
I have attached the logs from yesterday to this post and I do see the error contained within them; however, perhaps you folks at Plex have a greater level of insight into the error and may be able to suggest a solution / further troubleshooting?
I don’t really know where else to go from here.
Thank you!
Plex Logs.txt (5.0 MB)
If this is something you can reliably produce, could you grab a sample, please?
Getting samples for DVR issues
Steps:
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Restart your server, and allow the EPG to load (if it’s been ~18 hours since a server restart)
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If you had the EPG reload, then restart your server again (this keeps the logs clean, as there won’t be the EPG refresh this time) - otherwise you can skip this step
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Start a direct .ts sample from the tuner. You can do this by using a command such as:
curl http://tunerip:port/auto/channel > /users/outputpath/plexSamples/samplefile.ts
(You can copy the tuner URL bit from your logs, if it helps)
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Start a recording in PMS of a problematic channel
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Cancel the recording after a minute or so
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Stop the direct capture from the tuner
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Download the complete logs from the server
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Zip up the logs, the direct sample from the tuner, and the recording from PMS, and post them here (tag me to make sure I see them)
Thank you for your reply!
The show on the CBS channel is coming up tomorrow, so I can try this then; however, for Step 3, can you help me out a little bit with that? I’m not sure of exactly how to do those steps and since I get one shot at this for you I want to be sure I get it right (I can practice on other shows in the interim).
Something like:
curl http://10.0.1.2:5004/auto/v5.1 > C:\Users\jlaughlin\Desktop\sample.ts
Where v5.1 is the channel from the tuner you want to record.
Edit: Sorry on windows the > does not seem to work correctly. Try:
curl http://10.0.1.2:5004/auto/v5.1 -o C:\Users\jlaughlin\Desktop\sample.ts
Ah, yeah, sorry, I posted the macOS / Linux bits for step 3 
Right on! I’ll give it a shot. Thanks!
Edit: I tried the steps on the affected channel, but could not replicate the issue. What I plan on doing tonight is when the show airs, I’ll perform these steps and see if it occurs. I’ll keep you posted.
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So I set this up tonight; however, after about 35min (and now a huge capture file) there didn’t seem to be an issue, so I stopped it and just decided to watch the show and let the recording do its thing while I checked on the transcode/recording status periodically.
When I checked back close to the end of the recording to see the progress, that’s when I saw the same error message like in the screenshot above for the recording. Looking at the recording it seems it cut out at around 42:53, so just as with the others, the whole show failed to record–the last ~10min is lost.
I have the logs for you and they are clean from when I restarted the sever just before the show aired.
Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help. I’ll try recording another 1hr long program on the same channel and on a different one to see if maybe it’s related to recording length. I’ve not had an issue with 30min shows so far.
UPDATE: So I just checked the recordings and I got a transcode error for another ~1hr show on the same network (CBS); however, there was no issue when recording on NBC. Should I attempt a full direct capture tonight when the show airs? It would be a big file, but I guess I could put it in Dropbox or something to share it?
Plex Media Server Logs_2018-07-04_22-00-58.zip (2.7 MB)
Happened again at 43min mark for same program on same channel last night. Not sure what else I should do as it appears that anytime I try to record a program on this channel that is approx. an 1hr, I get a transcode error which results in the recording being incomplete every time (last 15min is lost).
From your previous log:
Jul 04, 2018 21:43:57.446 [30564] ERROR - [Transcoder] av_interleaved_write_frame(): No space left on device
Jul 04, 2018 21:43:57.447 [44440] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error writing trailer of G:\.grab\148bb7586cc38cb8d0b7564c9bf3cfc99ba06aa1\Big Brother (2000) - S20E04 - Episode 4.ts: No space left on device
Do you have the root of your G:\ drive setup for the recording location? Ideally you should never use the root of a drive for Plex TV or Movie file storage. Ideally G:\TV or G:\Movies would be the best way of organizing the files.
Now that you mention it, I do have the root as the recording location–I just recently swapped to this drive. I’ll change the directory to G:\TV see if it makes a difference.
Unfortunately, changing the save path didn’t resolve the issue. I tried to record another 1hr long program on CBS HD today and the recording failed around the 43min mark. It seems I can consistently replicate this issue, but I don’t know what else I can do to try to fix it. There is certainly enough space for the media and my computer is fast enough to process it, so I have no idea why Plex would fail consistently like this.
New logs from the recent recording failure would be needed. Did you delete the recording and set it back up after changing the path? Plex at one time was not updating scheduled recordings save location when changes were made to library. Not sure if that issue has been corrected.
Here are the logs. I’m not sure what you mean by “Did you delete the recording and set it back up after changing the path?” I updated the drive path for the library, but do you mean like go through setup all over again for the DVR?
Also, I notice there is a feature “Convert Video While Recording” which is currently set to off. Should I try turning it on?
Plex Media Server Logs_2018-07-07_20-36-26.zip (3.4 MB)
Still seeing the No space left on device message in the latest logs:
Jul 07, 2018 14:44:12.569 [65324] ERROR - [Transcoder] av_interleaved_write_frame(): No space left on device
One other though that came to mind is the transcoder location. From what I am seeing your transcoder is writing to:
C:\Users\jlaughlin\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Cache\Transcode
How much space is left on your C: drive?
As far as the Convert Video While Recording setting that will force Plex to transcode any incoming mpeg2 video to h264, after the recording is complete. On a slower system this can cause recordings to take a long time to complete. User often referred to this in the past as the 100% bug. Recordings would stack up trying to transcode and when the Remove Commercials option was added also running the Plex Commercial Skipper process. User would literally see recordings for the entire day still processing. If you are going to use this option I would run some tests of 2 recordings Back to Back (B2B) across several hours and see how your system performsin the tests. With the new Grid View this is much easier to do. Testing Alpha releases used to be a real pain when trying to setup B2B recordings across my 6+ tuners and covering times from 8:00 am - 5:00 pm so they were done before any evening recordings were scheduled to start. But we need to first get you to being able to record a full hour long show.
I currently have ~83 GB left on C:
I find it very interesting that somehow the app thinks there is no space left when there is plenty?
Thanks for the info on the convert video option–seems like I’ll leave it off for the time being.
I’m going to try removing and adding the tuner back to Plex. I’ll set to record something tonight and see how it goes.
Removing the tuner won’t resolve the issue. Try moving the transcoder folder to the G:\ drive would be my suggestion. Create a folder on G called Plex and in that folder create a folder called Transcoder. Then go to the Settings / Server / Transcoder and set the Transcoder temporary directory to: G:\Plex\Transcoder.
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Right on and you were correct in that re-adding the device had no effect. 3 out of the 4 random recordings I picked on different networks last night failed:
I have taken your suggestion and changed the transcoder path:
The show is set to record tonight from 8-9pm EST. I’ll report back with the results of this latest step.
I really appreciate you helping me!
Can you setup a test recording earlier? That way if it fails we can try to figure out why before the 8:00 show would start.
Sure thing!
Next hour-long program starts at 5pm and I’ve set to record it. I’ll post back with the results.
Failed again 
mediaGrabDevice=“device://tv.plex.grabbers.hdhomerun/104F0A22” mediaGrabError=“There was a transcoder error” mediaGrabPartialRecording=“1” mediaGrabStatus=“error” origin=“dvr” videoProfile=“main”
I have also attached new logs. I restarted the server before the recording to clean them up.
This is starting to be really frustrating as I just don’t seem to have any visibility into what the actual problem is 
The only thing that is consistent is how it keeps occurring around the 40min mark.
Plex Media Server Logs_2018-07-08_17-56-26.zip (1.7 MB)
