So I was having the same problem clicking on plex and nothing happening. It wouldn’t show up in task manager or anything. I about snapped my laptop in half. But then I saw another program running that doesnt show up on the desktop it’s only in the little sidebar next to the clock. So in windows 10 click that little up arrow in the bottom right corner next to the time and there is a plex symbol, click it and it should just open. This worked for me I dont know about anyone else.
Same issue here Otto… Win10, did some Win10 updates after being gone for 2 months and tried to move my appData to larger drive. Didn’t work for me and I uninstalled Plex Media Server and deleted registry keys and all appData renamed. With a fresh install of 1.14.1 I get to the launch moment and then nothing launches and no taskbar icon.
I have PMS 32-bit and Plex update service running in taskmanager although I can’t connect to http://127.0.0.1:32400/web/ and nothing happens when I launch the application manually. Log is pretty sparse, just reporting that update service is running. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
I’d double check that the key LocalAppDataPath is not present in the registry.
Yeah I did that. Still not sure what’s going on. Strange to have the apps running in taskmanager but unable to access them nor get into the web console.
Tried again, fresh download and using firefox, still no luck. Registry is clean when I install and there is no LocalAppDataPath in the registry entry after launch.
Have you checked the digital signature of the downloaded installer file?
It must be valid - if it isn’t the download may be corrupted.
Yeah it’s valid… quick question. Does it matter that I’m running under user account and entering in administrator password on install? Or is this any better being installed from admin account directly?
Thanks for your help, this is really perplexing to me (pun not intended).
This may actually play a role.
If you have several Windows user accounts, you must make sure that you are logged out from every account.
(Which means, don’t use the ‘Switch user’ mechanism that’s provided by Windows. Always log out and then log in to the other account.
So, for now log into ever Windows user account and back out.
Then log into your regular ‘work’ account and try again starting Plex.
No dice… something about uninstalling screwed it all up for the reinstall. Or perhaps one of the lasts 2 windows updates borked the plex installer for Win10, although I’d think you guys would already have a fix in place for something that large.
Is there a reputable place to get an older version of Plex? Perhaps if I install the build from 6 months ago that was working I could upgrade once installed?
Not if you deleted your Plex data folder, which is where older installation files are stored.
I’d try and find crash logs
PMS might crash right at the start, in which case you’ll have to tell Windows to collect crash log information, like so:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201455336-crash-logs-plex-media-server/
I have my old data folder, just renamed. Is there a method I can use to restore the install that I had w/that data folder?
Yes it is possible, but there is no use if the server is crashing immediately.
There is a subfolder updates in the old data folder. See if it contains older installers.
Wow… so I have as far back as 0.9 and randomly grabbed 1.02 and it installed and launched just fine, although now I get the ghosting icon in the taskbar as it crashes.
Try something more recent.
Ok, anything prior to 1.3.4 I get the taskbar icon that disappears and no PMS running in taskmanager.
For 1.5.5 and later the taskbar icon never shows up, but PMS shows running in taskmanager.
Neither can connect to web console.
Going to try removing all registry references and files and install 1.3.4
I’m back up and running w/all my old libraries on the latest build!
So, I ripped out ALL the plex entries in the registry, too many to list here. Then when I rebooted and reinstalled I got the application running and then shutdown all services and copied my old files over and we are good to go.
Thanks Otto for bearing with me on this – appreciate your prompt support.
Thank you!!! I NEVER even thought that I might’ve installed Plex on my external drive, so the drive letter might’ve changed.
Thanks for the tip. The registry rules all! I was having an issue where my server would start, show the process in task manager, but nothing in the system tray, and the localhost address was not responding. Reviewing the registry revealed that my old installation was pointed at a drive that doesnt exist anymore. I deleted the LocalAppDataPath from the registry and it solved the issue.
Thanks!