Server is on but not connecting

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.42.2.10156-f737b826c
Player Version#:
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

Hi! I’m running a headless Raspberry Pi with a Plex server on it. Everything was running brilliantly until a power outage today. I’ve confirmed that the server is on by using ssh and systemctl, but I’m not able to access it anywhere (including from the Pi itself).

Here’s what I get when I run systemctl status plexmediaserver:

plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2025-09-23 19:04:23 EDT; 381ms ago
    Process: 333919 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, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Process: 333921 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c  export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= "{print \$2}" | tr -d \" )";  export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_MODEL="$(uname -m)";  export PLEX_MEDIA_SER>
   Main PID: 333921 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
        CPU: 130ms

I’m new to Linux; any help would be greatly appreciated, because I need to plug this thing into a battery pack to stop this from happening and I would love a reference document. Thank you!Edit: I found this log that I think tells me there’s something wrong with my network?

Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.143 [140736294301920] INFO - Plex Media Server v1.42.2.10156-f737b826c - Debian GNU/Linux Raspberry Pi 5 Model B Rev 1.1 aarch64 - build: linux-aarch64 debian - GMT -04:00
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.143 [140736294301920] INFO - Linux version: 12 (bookworm), language: en-US
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.143 [140736294301920] INFO - Processor: 4-core ARM Cortex-A76
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.143 [140736294301920] INFO - Compiler is - Clang 11.0.1 (https://plex.tv 9b997da8e5b47bdb4a9425b3a3b290be393b4b1f)
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.143 [140736294301920] INFO - /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.141 [140736359673472] DEBUG - BPQ: [Idle] → [Starting]
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.141 [140736359673472] DEBUG - FeatureManager: Using cached data for features list
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.145 [140736359673472] DEBUG - MyPlex: mapping state set to ‘Unknown’.
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.145 [140736359673472] DEBUG - Relay: read 0 cached entries from hosts file
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.150 [140736359673472] DEBUG - Opening 20 database sessions to library (com.plexapp.plugins.library), SQLite 3.39.4, threadsafe=1
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.193 [140736359673472] DEBUG - MyPlex: using cached data for request for https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] DEBUG - [CERT] Subject name is /CN=*.d6bac1dd14b24843b5c0cb32e9b6df8d.plex.direct
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] DEBUG - [CERT] Installed certificate with fingerprint 8d:d4:c5:cf:85:84:cf:6c:42:07:6a:36:61:71:c9:07:38:af:41:b0.
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] DEBUG - [CERT/OCSP] no URL available
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] WARN - [CERT/OCSP] getCertInfo failed; skipping stapling
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] DEBUG - HttpServer: Listening on IPv6 as well as IPv4.
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] ERROR - HttpServer: Error opening acceptor on IPv6, falling back to IPv4: Address in use
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Sep 23, 2025 19:04:32.219 [140736359673472] DEBUG - Exiting due to bind address already in use
2

Your systemctl output indicates Plex Media Server is not running, but is attempting to (re)start. The output for a running server will look something like this:

● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
    Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d
             └─override.conf
     Active: active (running) since Sun 2025-09-21 03:16:31 EDT; 2 days ago
    Process: 1559636 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mk>
   Main PID: 1559641 (Plex Media Serv)
      Tasks: 109 (limit: 9136)
     Memory: 391.3M
        CPU: 1h 34min 47.533s

The log output you shared indicates that the port to which PMS is attempting to bind is already in use. That may be a result of the restart attempts though.

Given this, my first thought is a potentially corrupt database. You can check for (and potentially correct) database corruption by using the utility here:

Full documentation is provided at that link. It is trustworthy as it was created and is maintained by a Plex team member, @ChuckPa. They may even pop in here to offer assistance.

1 Like
3

Wonderful, thank you! I appreciate your explanation very much. I will attempt DBRepair and report back. I hope this doesn’t mean the actual HDD is corrupted…

1 Like
4

Okay! I got DBRepair to work and it gave me what looks like green lights!

Automatic Check,Repair,Index started.

Checking the PMS databases
Check complete. PMS main database is OK.
Check complete. PMS blobs database is OK.

Exporting current databases using timestamp: 2025-09-23_23.05.38
Exporting Main DB
Exporting Blobs DB
Successfully exported the main and blobs databases.
Start importing into new databases.
Importing Main DB.
Importing Blobs DB.
Successfully imported databases.
Verifying databases integrity after importing.
Verification complete. PMS main database is OK.
Verification complete. PMS blobs database is OK.
Saving current databases with ‘-BACKUP-2025-09-23_23.05.38’
Making repaired databases active
Repair complete. Please check your library settings and contents for completeness.
Recommend: Scan Files and Refresh all metadata for each library section.

Backing up of databases
Backup current databases with ‘-BACKUP-2025-09-23_23.05.39’ timestamp.
Reindexing main database
Reindexing main database successful.
Reindexing blobs database
Reindexing blobs database successful.
Reindex complete.
Automatic Check, Repair/optimize, & Index successful.

I’m starting to think this is an Internet-adjacent problem, but my forwarded port and static IP addresses both seem to work in that I can access CasaOS and ping the Pi (that’s how I did all of this stuff) and when I use the port forward it takes me to the Plex website (albeit full of errors).

At least the files are safe!…?

5

There are other processes with Plex’s ports (host ports) open
PMS cannot start and “listen()” for connections if it can’t “bind()” to its ports

Stop PMS.
Now ps -ef | grep -i plex
if you see other processes, kill -9 <pid number>
rerun ps -ef | grep -i plex until no processes are listed
Now start Plex.

FYI: CasaOS is not vetted or even tested for PMS. It might not work at all.