SOLUTION: Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error

[sa2000]

@shanhard

, I will turn on the debug logging next time it happens. Since that day, I have had no problems whatsoever!

Can you elaberate on the feral Linux environment ? Is this a hosting environment where multiple plex media server instances are run on the same machine ?

[shanhard]

Yes I believe that’s the case. See more at www.feralhosting.com

[sa2000]

Last time we had issues with this where there were multiple instances of Plex Media Server and plex media Server was not permitted to manage and control its own child processes we responded that we could not support this

[MethodH22]

this fixed my issue. refreshed metadata on a video that would not play and get the conversion error.

[sa2000]

@fab2000

Hi thank you for getting back to me i have restarted the server and then tried to play the trailers again but still same thing so i have attached the log files.

i am running the latest Version 1.14.1.5488 the problem seems to only be with playing trailers for the movies when playing the movie it works fine.

I was not sure what to do so i also made a new topic about it als

Thanks for the logs. I can see a couple of trailers - one for Beverley Hills Ninja and the other for Unbreakable - in both cases they are being transcoded and the transcoder logging an invalid data error

Jan 27, 2019 14:04:43.760 [0x7fa63f9a1700] ERROR - [Transcoder] http://127.0.0.1:32400/services/iva/assets/6855/video.mp4?bitrate=1500&X-Plex-Token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Invalid data found when processing input

and

Jan 27, 2019 14:09:21.952 [0x7fa640559700] ERROR - [Transcoder] http://127.0.0.1:32400/services/iva/assets/776312/video.mp4?bitrate=1500&X-Plex-Token=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx: Invalid data found when processing input

I have tested the first and it played ok for me - although it was Direct Playing

Which browser are you using for Plex Web to play the trailer?
Does the error get returned with other browsers ?

Are you using hosted plex web app through https://app.plex.tv/desktop or the one bundled with the server - through http://192.168.20.3:32400/web

Also would like to see the media info xml for both movies - see https://support.plex.tv/articles/201998867-investigate-media-information-and-formats/

[fab2000]

Thank you for getting back to me. It doesn’t matter which one i use the trailers will not play at all i have tried on my Nvidia shield on my LG TV on my PC even on chrome cast no trailers will play and thats with all the movies that are on the server.

The trailers used to work perfectly but its something that stopped working all of a sudden i believe even after i did the latest update. So other then that not sure what else to do.

Update: i have downloaded plex server on my pc and tried adding movies that way and they work. just doesnt work on the server thats running from the synology box

[sa2000]

@fab2000

Update: i have downloaded plex server on my pc and tried adding movies that way and they work. just doesnt work on the server thats running from the synology box

I would like to compare some logs with the same trailer played from this windows PC and also from the synology - with both tests being on the local network and using the same Plex player. .

The trailers are streamed directly from our provider through the internet connection. Anything that may be affecting internet traffic on the Synology?

Could you test with these Plex clients

1. Plex Web App on the PC testing same trailer on the NAS and on the PC servers and noting down the times and collectng server logs for both. As it fails everytime, we can afford to run with server verbose logging and debug logging - but ensure you pick the logs soon after the success (on the PC PMS) or failure on the NAS PMS

2. Repeat the above test with the nVidia Shield Plex client app with network logging enabled in the client and in addition to.server logs please also get the client app log - through http://ip-of-shield:32500/logging and copy to text file

[jonasion]

I like many others experience this:

Playback Error

Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.

What I’m experiencing:

• this happens for a few files, not all.
• I’ve restarted plex MS as well as the machine
• the problem has persisted for the past 8 months now
• it happens in all browsers as well as my phone and chromecast
• I’ve tried refreshing “meta data” for the individual files to no avail
• I’ve not clean installed windows yet, but that’d be next steps I guess…
• The files in question run just fine using VLC media player
• I’m a “Plex-lifer”

I’ve attached both my DB file log and my Log file for error detection. As well as DxDiag for hardware assessment.
I’m running: Version 1.14.1.5488

Hope you can help

DxDiag.txt (82.1 KB)
Plex Media Server Databases_2019-02-04_08-59-54.zip (7.7 MB)
Plex Media Server Logs_2019-02-04_08-59-46.zip (2.5 MB)

[sa2000]

@soulvoid86

In the attached logs, I was watching media from the new library (TV Shows 2.0) and let it play for about 9 minutes. I then paused playback and closed the app. Opened the app and tried to continue playback. It opened the first frame of playback where it should have resumed from, but sits at 0:00 and does not load. The only way to get this to play now is to mark it as unwatched and start over.

@soulvoid86

This is the playback I was referencing. This is on a brand new DB/server config, so I don’t see a reason it should be getting throttled. There’s definitely no lack of performance on the host. I’m also not sure why it was reporting seeks, because I let the file play without touching it, as you can tell by the time stamps.

And yes, if I let the app sit and buffer for awhile, it might start playing. I may have to pause and the resume the media, but it does seem to resume after some time.

With the new server, I’ve had far less issues than my original, but I still have the random lockup’s, buffering, or failed playbacks.

I willing to provide whatever, or test whatever is necessary for the development team to resolve this. Don’t hesitate to ask!

Thank you for the server diagnostics provided for this problem. The throttling of the streaming by the server has been looked into and it appears to be caused by the Plex for iOS app giving incorrect indication of the playback position after restart

Assuming that you can easily reproduce this problem, could you run a test again and this time also provide me with the Plex for iOS logs to go with the server logs - as before
Use the Help and Support setting / Share debugging data and email the logs to yourself and then attach with the server logs. Please note down the times and when you paused and you exited the app and resumed playback

Thank you

[sa2000]

@jonasion

I like many others experience this:

Playback Error

Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error.

The error is generic and could be due to different underlying issues

In your case, it appears that the transcoder has detected invalid data in the srt files - for these movies

D:\Movies\Margin Call (2011)\Margin.Call.2011.720p.BluRay.x264.YIFY.mp4
D:\Movies\Lone Survivor (2013) [1080p]\Lone.Survivor.2013.1080p.BluRay.x264.YIFY.mp4

It would show in the log file as
ERROR - [Transcoder] <path to transcoder temp file copy of the srt file> : Invalid data found when processing input

Please examine the srt files and see if you can find the issue

[shilochex]

I was having issues with Trailer and Extras. Running Plex on Server 2012 and also a Windows 10 computer. Adjusted the date and time to not sync with the internet time. Corrected the time on the server and computer to this site(use your time zone): time.is . Everything started working. The time was only off by a few(3) minutes before I made this change but it made the difference. Let me know if this works for you.

[alkjones]

I just started having this problem yesterday…

Im running latest PMS on Server 2012 R2. windows event logs state:

Faulting application name: Plex Transcoder.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Faulting module name: avformat-58.dll, version: 58.9.100.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x001c32cb
Faulting process id: 0xa8c
Faulting application start time: 0x01d4c46f4eb1573d
Faulting application path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Transcoder.exe
Faulting module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\avformat-58.dll
Report Id: 8c90253a-3062-11e9-80f1-e0071bff278e
Faulting package full name:
Faulting package-relative application ID:

i can play MP4’s no problem. but MPEG - DVD and BLU RAY rips throw the ‘conversion failed’ error.

I repaired the install, had a reb oot (can’t hurt…) optimised DB and cleaned bundles…

ive also downloaded a new copy of the file, and attem,pted to run that one, but everytjhing blows up - v 58.12.100.0 which ive downloaded is half the size of the original file, so it doesnt surprise me that it doesnt work…(just found one at 5.6 mb, apparently the same version…that doesnt work either.)

has anyone else started having problems ?

thanks
Alastair

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-02-14_14-25-43.zip (4.6 MB)

[sa2000]

@shilochex

was having issues with Trailer and Extras. Running Plex on Server 2012 and also a Windows 10 computer. Adjusted the date and time to not sync with the internet time. Corrected the time on the server and computer to this site(use your time zone): time.is . Everything started working. The time was only off by a few(3) minutes before I made this change but it made the difference. Let me know if this works for you.

Yes That could be a factor since some of the requests to our providers are time limited and expire

[sa2000]

@alkjones

I just started having this problem yesterday…

Im running latest PMS on Server 2012 R2. windows event logs state:

Faulting application name: Plex Transcoder.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Faulting module name: avformat-58.dll, version: 58.9.100.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000005
Fault offset: 0x001c32cb
Faulting process id: 0xa8c

That is a transcoder process crash. Would need to reproduce this. Could you see if you get the problem with a short clip created from the video file that crashed the transcoder. Create a 30 second or 1 minute clip from the beginning of the file and add it to a test library and if it crashes the scanner please make that available together with the logs. You could also use a registry change to make windows capture a dmp file for the crash and place it in the CrashDumps folder - that would be useful to also have

[sa2000]

@alkjones

I’ve also downloaded a new copy of the file, and attem,pted to run that one, but everytjhing blows up - v 58.12.100.0 which ive downloaded is half the size of the original file, so it doesnt surprise me that it doesnt work…(just found one at 5.6 mb, apparently the same version…that doesnt work either.)

please could you explain what file you are referring to

[sa2000]

@sa2000

avformat-58.dll

I see. You are referring to this file

please do not make any changes to what is in C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server - otherwise you will have an unsupported environment

[sa2000]

@fab2000

Update: i have downloaded plex server on my pc and tried adding movies that way and they work. just doesnt work on the server thats running from the synology box

I have not heard back from you following my post SOLUTION: Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error - #468 by sa2000

But may be the issue is that with time of the system - see SOLUTION: Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error - #472 by shilochex

[alkjones]

Indeed; I see that your FFMPEG transcoer file is digitally signed. I put back the original failing file after the one I downloaded failed to resolve the issue.

I’ll see what I can do on your comment above ( though so far it is every single MPEG-based file that errors)

thanks
Alastair

[sa2000]

@alkjones

I just started having this problem yesterday…

Im running latest PMS on Server 2012 R2. windows event logs state:

Faulting application name: Plex Transcoder.exe, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000

I am seeing other transcoder errors in the log as well.
What time was this event in the Windows Application log, Would like to match the events to the logs provided to see if the other errors are consequence of the crashes

[alkjones]

Anything before 1413 (inclusive) is a crash from the CORRECT (ie your) version of the DLL.

Dump atached

thanks
AlastairPlex Transcoder.exe.1672.zip (248.7 KB)