Plex server failing to start following clone form SD to SSD

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#:
Player Version#:

Hi All,

I have run a media server on a pi4 for some time without any issue.

Recently I updated the system to boot from a USB SSD drive, rather than the SD card. This was done by cloning the existing system using rpi-clone, rather than via a fresh install.

Everything appears to be running correctly, however the plex service no longer starts. the output of service plexmediaserver status shows that the service is active (full details below), but I am no longer able to access the service from other device or via the web interface from the pi (i.e. via 192.168.0.XXX:32400).

Can anyone suggest what is causing this issue or how I might try to begin to resolve it?

Thanks,

Jim

● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-01-07 14:44:01 GMT; 55min ago
Process: 548 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d “${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}” || /bin/mkdir -p “${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}” (code=exited
Main PID: 572 (Plex Media Serv)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 4915)
CGroup: /system.slice/plexmediaserver.service
└─572 /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server

Jan 07 14:44:01 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Starting Plex Media Server…
Jan 07 14:44:01 raspberrypi systemd[1]: Started Plex Media Server.
Jan 07 14:44:03 raspberrypi Plex Media Server[572]: Failed to load preferences at /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Preferences.xml
Jan 07 14:44:05 raspberrypi Plex Media Server[572]: Failed to load preferences at /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Preferences.xml

2

I don’t know anything about using the Pi, but have you checked if that file exists at that specific location?

3

Hi,

Yeah, checked the file, its definitely there.

4

If I may ask?

Which username are you using? plex or pi ? I have seen Plex run using both these variants.

If using plex, I suggest sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
If using pi, I alternatively suggest sudo chown -R pi:pi /var/lib/plexmediaserver

Lastly, confirm file permissions are correct

sudo bash
find /var/lib/plexmediaserver -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /var/lib/plexmediaserver -type f -exec chnod 644 {} \;

If it still fails to start, please make a tar.gz of the Logs directory and attach it.