PMS doesn't support OSX Catalina?

Plex Media Server Plex Pass Betas
1

I’m a lifetime Plex Pass member and beta tester (Apple TV). Other than the reported bugs, PMS has been running fine with PMS Version 1.19.5.3035.

Just replaced my MacMini (2011) which was running OSX El Capitan with a new MacMini (2020) running OSX Catalina.

I had backed-up using a complete Time Machine backup on the existing El Capitan (2011) MacMini to an attached physical drive and then moved it to the new 2020 MacMini with its factory-installed Catalina.

I followed Apple’s upgrade instructions using the Time Machine backup to restore and move all my applications and data files etc., to the new MacMini (2020).

When done restoring I booted up the Catalina new MacMini and everything had been transferred and working just fine … except for Plex?

I click on it and it appears to bounce slightly in the dock as if it’s going to start, then nothing happens?

I thought Plex supported Catalina as I’ve read about other Mac Plex members using it here.

Anyone else experienced this after migrating Plex via Time Machine restore to a new Mac?

Any help would be appreciated as I’ve had to go back and start watching Plex on my old 2011 server.

Thanks…

Regards,
Doug

2

PMS works fine on my 2020 Mac mini with Catalina.

Have you tried copying the Plex Media Server folder…
~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

…from the 2010 Mac mini to the 2020 Mac mini? You would need to ensure both are running the same version of Plex and both would need to be closed during the transfer.

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3

Very odd statement Doug as I have been using Catalina since October last year

4

Thanks jchhenderson … :slightly_smiling_face:

Appreciate your taking the time to think about this. :thinking:

I think you may be onto something, but I don’t know why restoring a validated Time Machine complete backup would cause PMS to not run on Catalina.

I’m going to try a manual copy of these files from the 2011 MacMini backup to the same directories on the new 2020 MacMini and see what happens.

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/
~/Library/Preferences/com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist

I also back up these files using Chronosync for Mac if the TM copy doesn’t work.

If that restore doesn’t work either, I’m not sure what to try next.

Regards,
Doug

5

Pleased to be able to help!

I am always a bit nervous about TimeMachine - I don’t use it myself as I hear so many issues with it (hence the recommendation to copy).

Do check that both Plex Media Servers are running the same versions first though.

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Thanks again… :slightly_smiling_face:

I’m in the process if a directory copy of ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ from the backup TM to the new machine’s ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

It will take a while, but as I said, I’ll try a Chronosync restore if that doesn’t work.

Regards,
Doug

7

Hi SE56 :slightly_smiling_face:

I found an old archived thread which seems to be the kind of problem I’m having and one in which you participated.

In it you refer to doing a complete uninstall, indicating not to worry, saying “First Uninstall plex properly, don’t panic you wont lose your Libraries. It must be done like it is shown in support article.”

I think I may have to do this, but when I look at the article you reference, it says:

Warning! : Following the instructions below will completely remove your Plex Media Server , including all library metadata, viewstates, etc. If you simply want to install a different version, you can just run the new installer.

So, I’m confused? I have thousands of movies and TV Shows and all their associated metadata, which I don’t want to lose.

Can you clarify this for me?

Thanks… appreciate any help you can provide.

Regards,
Doug

8

Hi again …

Ok, I did the manual copy of these files from the 2011 MacMini backup to the same directories on the new 2020 MacMini. PMS Versions 1.19.5.3035 are identical and copy went smoothly without errors.

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

Restarted the 2020 MacMini running Catalina and clicked PMS app. Still just flashes on the screen and then nothing happens.

Going to now try a restore from Chronosync of last PMS backup on old MacMini 2011 to new MacMini 2020.

Frustrating… :expressionless:

Regards,
Doug

9

Did you install the app on the new Mac mini or recover it from backup?

…it might be that the app needs disk access in settings -> security.

Also, don’t forget that 1.19.5 is still beta.

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10

I copied the app from the old 2011 MacMini to the new 2020 MacMini.

I also downloaded and installed the same version on the new 2020 MacMini.

None of that made a difference.

I’m just waiting hours now for Chronosynch to restore from its own independent backup of the same content.

If that doesn’t work, then I may have to uninstall Plex completely, then re-install, followed by a restore via Chronosync so I don’t lose all my database content and metadata etc.

Thanks again … :slightly_smiling_face:

PS… I did do the access and security stuff under Catalina…

11

…that’s a good point.

Do you still have the old ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/?

Delete that current ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ folder on the new Mac. Now run Plex - just to check it works as a new install. If so, close Plex, put the old ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ folder back and restart Plex.

J.

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12

Hmmmm… :slightly_smiling_face:

That’s interesting… hadn’t thought of that… thanks.

I’ll have to wait until Chronosync finishes its thing and if I’m still dead in the water, then I’ll try your idea before hanging myself in the closet.

13

…you’ll find the skeletons of various other Plex users in that closet…

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14

probably a permissions issue.

need to make sure plex folders/files has the same users/groups (not just the name, but the ID# may have changed).

when in doubt, check the logs.

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15

Thanks… :slightly_smiling_face:

Does this help?

Although it may be misleading as I think at that time I was restoring (copying) from the backup which could pollute the results shown. I’ll have to check the logs again when nothing is going on.

Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.684 [0x700002e72000] INFO - Plex Media Server v1.19.5.3035-864bbcbb7 - Apple Mac x86_64 - build: darwin-x86_64 macos - GMT -04:00
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.684 [0x700002e72000] INFO - MacOSX version: 10.15.5, language: en-CA
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.684 [0x700002e72000] INFO - Processor Intel(R) Core™ i7-8700B CPU @ 3.20GHz
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.684 [0x700002e72000] INFO - /Applications/Plex Media Server.app/Contents/MacOS/Plex Media Server
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.792 [0x70000307e000] DEBUG - BPQ: [Idle] → [Starting]
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.795 [0x70000307e000] DEBUG - Opening 20 database sessions to library (com.plexapp.plugins.library), SQLite 3.26.0, threadsafe=1
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.799 [0x70000307e000] INFO - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 283, recovered 346 frames from WAL file /Users/dougpeel/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-wal
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.827 [0x70000307e000] DEBUG - Running migrations. (EPG 0)
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.908 [0x70000307e000] DEBUG - ChangestampAllocator: initialized to 9947601
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.908 [0x70000307e000] DEBUG - Opening 2 database sessions to library (com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs), SQLite 3.26.0, threadsafe=1
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.911 [0x70000307e000] INFO - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 283, recovered 914 frames from WAL file /Users/dougpeel/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db-wal
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.915 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 11, database corruption at line 64757 of [bf8c1b2b7a]
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.915 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 11, database corruption at line 64798 of [bf8c1b2b7a]
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.915 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 11, statement aborts at 8: database disk image is malformed
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.915 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x1032122c0, 11, database disk image is malformed in “PRAGMA cache_size=2000”
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.916 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - Database corruption: sqlite3_statement_backend::prepare: database disk image is malformed for SQL: PRAGMA cache_size=2000
Jul 11, 2020 14:45:30.916 [0x70000307e000] ERROR - Error: Unable to set up server: sqlite3_statement_backend::prepare: database disk image is malformed for SQL: PRAGMA cache_size=2000 (N4soci10soci_errorE)

16

database corruption in SQLlite - that’s a nightmare.

  1. Is your user directory /Users/dougpeel/ on both Macs?
  2. Where is your media library (on the Mac or a NAS or attached drive or…)
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17

Yes… /Users/dougpeel/ on both Macs.

Media Libraries are on these:

1 attached drive to the MacMini which is of course the server.
2 networked NAS Synology drives in various volumes.

All currently running fine in 2011 Macmini running Elk Capitan.

Never had a problem with this server in years and in fact, wife is watching her movies from an NAS attached networked drive as I type this.

Apparently, Plex doesn’t like to migrate to Catalina for whatever reason.

18

as I think has already mentioned, instead of using time capsule, you should simply copy your data folder from your old mac to the new mac.

the time capsule backup apparently saved a corrupted database, probably because plex was running and the database was changing during the backup.

it has nothing what so ever to do with catalina.

when you do your data copy make sure plex is NOT RUNNING on either machine you cannot correctly copy the data while plex is running.

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19

Thanks… I did a direct data copy from the old 2011 MacMini ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ to the new 2020 MacMini ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

That didn’t work and yet on the old 2011 MacMini Plex is still just running fine.

So, I have a huge Plex database running fine on a 10 year old computer with an obsolete OSX (El Capitan), but it can’t be migrated because the SQL database gets corrupted in the process.

Well I’m 72 and it’s past my bedtime, so I think I’ll call it a day and start back fresh in the morning. :wink:

A big thank you to everyone who has tried to help me through this migration. It is genuinely appreciated.

Regards,
Doug

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20

An update for interest …

I just started up PMS fine and shut down fine on the old MacMini.

Here’s the captured LOG from that action.

http://websrv1.milsurps.com/~badger/MacMin_2011_Plex_Startup_Log.txt