Server Version#: PlexMediaServer-1.18.2.2058-e67a4e892-x86
Player Version#: 4.8.4 (web client)
OS: Windows 10 Pro x64, version: 1909 build# 18363.476
<If providing server logs please doLogs.zip (7.7 MB) NOT turn on verbose logging>
Hello,
I am having issues plex media server working on a fresh install of windows 10 pro.
Steps Taken:
Fresh install Windows 10 Pro x64
Install Plex Media Server
Add folders for TV and Movie categories (3 each spread across three different physical drives)
Wait/watch scan
Try to browse media by click “Plex” logo at the top
4a. Notice that media server is gone, click on “+ Your Media” gives you a “Add your media to Plex” page and “Get Plex Media Server” button
If the Server is still available on the navigation bar rick click and open in new tab
5a. Notice Access denied or error occurred on page error
Things done/tried
Accidentally set network to public changed to private and did a fresh (delete, app data, registry keys and install dir) reinstall - thought this fixed everything but the media was there but shortly afterwards a page refresh and its gone
Noticed 401 unauthorized errors in the plex logs and did a password change and sign out connected devices to force a new plex token get (server logs also attached) --> re-signed in and the media server showed up with some media but then shortly after went into the gone/missing state
reinstall fresh (delete registry keys, install dir, local app dir) but then re-install with a different server name (same above behavior observed)
Chrome in incognito mode
Using firefox instead of Chrome
Disable windows firewall
Added Firewall port rules for plex ports
Other behaviors observed:
after doing the token/device logout reset - I thought this worked as my movies/TV shows then showed up in plex but then it say my server was unclaimed. I would click the claim button, it would try but then a login issue type error message would flash up before quickly disappearing.
Other some-what applicable setup
My old setup had a local administrator account, this new ‘rebuild’ is using a Microsoft Personal account with pin login (as in a pin to log into windows not into Plex)
No pin setup on plex account
Old setup had avast installed new rebuild has Windows Defender
Are you installing/accessing your server machine per ‘Remote Desktop?’
Log out of your Windows user account after installing the plex server software. Otherwise it may be the case that it is still running under the elevated Admin account. Which then causes the plex data folder to get written into a different user data folder.
I’m sorry, I have no personal experience with that. It may be possible that this is messing up things.
An experiment: Create a folder on your hard disk, completely outside of any prefabricated folder structure. Call it e.g. C:\plexdata. Then direct Plex server to use this location for its data folder:
Settings - Server - General - ‘Show Advanced’ - “The path where local application data is stored”
Stop plex (using its tray icon), wait a few second and start it again.
This will cause it to start without any libraries. So create one (small) library again. See if anything changes that way.
This is mainly to verify that the faulty behaviour might have to do with the default Windows user data folder. You can switch to the default plex data location afterwards, by emptying out the above plex settings field.
Just want to mention I am only able to do this after a fresh install of plex (uninstall from apps, delete registry keys, app data - C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local and install dir) as my media server no longer is available/doesn’t show up (screenshot below) but I am able to access the server for a few minutes after the first scan.
I did try steps creating a C:\plexdata, reconfiguring the local app data folder, stopped it via the task bar, waited a few seconds then started again. Unfortunately, this did not work as my I am unable to see/access/configure my media server and plex is giving me the “Get Media Server” page:
So what you are saying is that you are not using a online account, but a traditional ‘local’ account? Then that is OK, this is the same as I am using it.
You can revert the change of the app data folder by deleting the key LocalAppDataPath from the registry. (while the server is shut down, of course)
Correct, behind the scenes I found the traditional local (administrator) account.
I went ahead and did this and have attached logs, it looks like it wrote to both appdata location and the C:\plexdata location. I have zipped separate logs for each.
It looks like your server ran quite normally, just as it’s supposed to.
Is it possible that your web app did not find the server, once it had been signed into a plex acount and thus, switched on ‘secure connections’?
Because this fails quite often due to:
web browser add-ins
‘DNS rebinding protection’ in the router or DNS resolver for the LAN
poor DNS service by the ISP-provided DNS server
interfering firewall/anti virus software
Which web browser is used? Are there any add-ins installed and active?
Which anti virus?
Are there any 3rd-party firewall and filters in use?
Are you using VPN software?
Take a look into your router’s settings and set the DNS server to Google’s (8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4) and disable ‘DNS rebinding protection’ for the domain plex.direct
(more details: https://support.plex.tv/articles/206225077-how-to-use-secure-server-connections/ )
No BUT… I just have Windows Firewall enabled - I did at one point disable it, I did also already add the TCP/UDP port rules per the Plex documentation.
Nope, and no client installed either (used to have cisco any connect and tunnelbear but haven’t gotten around to reinstalling these)
I couldn’t find a setting for DNS rebinding protection but I did notice that I didn’t have DNS server settings so, I set them to google’s 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.
Another mistake I found in my Windows setup was: I had set my region to United States and it default to Pacific coast time - I however, live in Amsterdam so GMT+1, changed that to correct region (I noticed because my Facebook posts were saying they were hours in the past).
I also tried two other things (after a fresh install) and before first run
Add folder exclusion for “C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server” in Windows Defender
For the first time logon to Plex use Chrome with incognito with no extensions enabled.
Unfortunately still didn’t work and I have the disappearing server behavior again but one thing that did change was first logon/load of Plex an error quickly flashed up with “Unable to claim server” on the logon page. Subsequent attempts on clicking the Claim Server button on the Sever settings page throws a 401 Unauthorized in the Chrome console (the last two are my button clicks).
I’ve attached the last set of logs from this install.
At this point I am out of ‘simple’ ideas I will try some more drastic ones later but here is my train of thought:
Either delete or create a new plex account with new email address
Create a different local windows user and install plex under that user - I read somewhere this does/has caused problems with running plex as a different user who installed it, is this still the case?
OMG. Please disable all of them for the domain plex.tv or use a different web browser as a test.
That’s OK. Plex will create the necessary rules automatically on installation.
Correct time is important for encrypted network communication. If time is not correct, encrypted packets may get discarded due to them having a wrong time stamp.
Shut down your server machine and boot ip up again. Let it sit for a few minutes, then try and claiming your server with this little tool: How To Windows · ukdtom/ClaimIt Wiki · GitHub
Well… I believe I have resolved the issue…you won’t believe it and I feel like such an idiot. When I tried the claim it tool I went to look at my ip address and it was set to 172.168.1.105 the claim tool said its not private. I remember messing with this a couple years ago and thought that 172.168 was also private (I mean…192.168 is right?) I’ll just mention that that networking is not one of my strong suits.
I set my router dhcp to a proper private ip space (172.16…) and started plex and low and beholdmy My library of movies and TV shows are there and I’m able to stream stuff right from my browser.
Thanks OttoKerner for all your help and sticking with me (and my stupidity)!
I’ll just mention that that networking is not one of my strong suits.
