Some mkv containers not playing

General Discussions
1

Hey so i’m having some issues with some MKV files not playing, i’ve attached the XML info the file and the lods that the server made when it tried to play the file.

<SessionReport version="2" startTime="0" startTimestamp="May 06, 2018 22:46:55.790" key="/library/metadata/221870" session="*" transcode="*">
<User id="1" thumb="*" title="*" />
<Player address="*.*.*.*" device="Windows" machineIdentifier="dddi24ko54vnqlgkfkeder0k" model="" platform="Chrome" platformVersion="68.0" product="Plex Web" remotePublicAddress="*.*.*.*" state="" title="Chrome" vendor="" version="3.49.1" local="0" userID="1" />
<Variants>
<Variant id="fffad904-5a92-4377-bcb2-155156804425" targetBitrate="3454" context="streaming" sourceVideoCodec="h264" sourceAudioCodec="eac3" videoDecision="transcode" audioDecision="transcode" protocol="dash" container="mp4" videoCodec="h264" audioCodec="aac" audioChannels="2" transcodeHwRequested="0" transcodeHwFullPipeline="0">
<Media id="232223" videoProfile="high" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" bitrate="3289" container="mp4" duration="2633798" height="720" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" videoCodec="h264" videoFrameRate="24p" videoResolution="720p" width="1280" selected="1">
<Part id="273291" videoProfile="high" bitrate="3289" container="mp4" duration="2633798" height="720" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" width="1280" decision="transcode" selected="1">
<Stream bitrate="3033" chromaLocation="left" codec="h264" colorPrimaries="bt709" colorTrc="bt709" default="1" frameRate="23.975999999999999" height="720" id="326240" language="English" languageCode="eng" streamType="1" width="1280" decision="transcode" location="segments-video" />
<Stream bitrate="256" bitrateMode="cbr" channels="2" codec="aac" default="1" id="326241" language="English" languageCode="eng" selected="1" streamType="2" decision="transcode" location="segments-audio" />
</Part>
</Media>
</Variant>
</Variants>
<SegmentList />
<PlaybackReports />
<StateReports />
<StateReports />
</SessionReport>

AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Logs\Plex Transcoder Statistics.log

<SessionReport version="2" startTime="0" startTimestamp="May 06, 2018 22:46:55.790" key="/library/metadata/221870" session="*" transcode="*">
<User id="1" thumb="*" title="*" />
<Player address="*.*.*.*" device="Windows" machineIdentifier="dddi24ko54vnqlgkfkeder0k" model="" platform="Chrome" platformVersion="68.0" product="Plex Web" remotePublicAddress="*.*.*.*" state="" title="Chrome" vendor="" version="3.49.1" local="0" userID="1" />
<Variants>
<Variant id="fffad904-5a92-4377-bcb2-155156804425" targetBitrate="3454" context="streaming" sourceVideoCodec="h264" sourceAudioCodec="eac3" videoDecision="transcode" audioDecision="transcode" protocol="dash" container="mp4" videoCodec="h264" audioCodec="aac" audioChannels="2" transcodeHwRequested="0" transcodeHwFullPipeline="0">
<Media id="232223" videoProfile="high" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="aac" bitrate="3289" container="mp4" duration="2633798" height="720" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" videoCodec="h264" videoFrameRate="24p" videoResolution="720p" width="1280" selected="1">
<Part id="273291" videoProfile="high" bitrate="3289" container="mp4" duration="2633798" height="720" optimizedForStreaming="1" protocol="dash" width="1280" decision="transcode" selected="1">
<Stream bitrate="3033" chromaLocation="left" codec="h264" colorPrimaries="bt709" colorTrc="bt709" default="1" frameRate="23.975999999999999" height="720" id="326240" language="English" languageCode="eng" streamType="1" width="1280" decision="transcode" location="segments-video" />
<Stream bitrate="256" bitrateMode="cbr" channels="2" codec="aac" default="1" id="326241" language="English" languageCode="eng" selected="1" streamType="2" decision="transcode" location="segments-audio" />
</Part>
</Media>
</Variant>
</Variants>
<SegmentList />
<PlaybackReports />
<StateReports />
<StateReports />
</SessionReport>

**Moderator Edit: Added Code paragraph formatting to make visible

2

Nothing is attached to your post.
Also, the above log (Plex Transcoder Statistics.log) will not help us help you.
Setting -> Server -> Help > DOWNLOAD LOGS.

More information about various logs here.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201869908-log-files/

3

it is. the website just renders it.

jYSWXEK.png956×1011 89.3 KB

4

If you are streaming videos to Windows or Mac OS based systems, use Plex Media Player instead of Plex Web. PMP is a much better client. It direct plays many formats that require a transcode when using Chrome, Edge, etc.

Define “not playing.” Do you just get the spinning circle, does the client crash, does it sorta play but buffers & stutters, something else?

If the video plays at all, what does Status -> Now Playing show during playback? Direct Play / Direct Stream / Transcode
https://app.plex.tv/desktop#!/status/playing

In addition to full logs, as requested by @NewPlaza , please include full XML for one of the problem videos. See XML Information section of Investigate Media Information and Formats.

5

Under the status page it’s listed as direct play.

When you play it buffers for a while then Conversion failed. The transcoder exited due to an error. is listed.

And the files requested are below.

6

For now i’ve downgraded to Version 1.12.3.4973 and it seems to have fixed it, but it’s still an issue with the newest release 1.13.*, eg this is only a workaround,

7

@Doommius said:
For now i’ve downgraded to Version 1.12.3.4973 and it seems to have fixed it, but it’s still an issue with the newest release 1.13.*

So… You don’t need the help anymore. Should I even look at the logs now, lol.

8

What i did was only a workaround and not a fix. eg i had to roll back a whole release.

9

Thanks for sending the info.

When using the Plex Web (Chrome) client, the audio will always transcode, as Chrome does not support EAC3. EAC3 transcodes to AAC on my system (Windows 10).

You should follow Plex recommended file naming & directory structure for TV shows. Plex can be very picky when it comes to TV show names & structure. See Naming ‘Series’ & ‘Season’ Based TV Shows.

Instead of “L:\TV.shows\Killing.Eve\01\Killing.Eve.S01E01.NORDiC.720p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-DBRETAiL.mkv,”
use the recommended format:

L:\TV Shows\Killing Eve\  (Note:  TV.shows is probably OK.  Killing.Eve is not.)
     \Season 01
          Killing Eve - s01e01.mkv

Also, use a tool such as MKVToolNix’s header editor and make sure no headers in the file contain the torrent info (the “…720p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1…” stuff). Just delete the offending info. Also delete any attachments such as embedded jpg files. That type of embedded information can throw off Plex’s analysis and cause things to transcode.

Alternately, in Windows, right click on the file, select Properties, then the Details tab. Choose “Remove Properties and Personal Information.” Select “Create a copy with all possible properties removed” or “Remove the following…” and pick all available properties.

After you rename / restructure the files and clean up the metadata, you’ll need to Plex Dance the TV show. This will clean out old data from the Plex database.

Subtitles are known troublemakers. First get things to Direct Play w/o subtitles, then try with subtitles enabled.

As mentioned in earlier post, try Plex Media Player instead of Plex Web. PMP will probably Direct Play the file. It does Direct Play EAC3 audio on my system.

10

FYI

Plex Media Server 1.13.0.5023 is now available to Plex Pass users in the Beta update channel

FIXES:
(Transcoder) Media with EAC3 audio could fail to transcode in some cases on Windows. (#8547)

11

Awesome, updating and testing the new release :slight_smile:

12

Updating to the newest plex release fixes the bug.