A few weeks back I started getting this error “There was a problem playing this item” on every movie I tried to watch. I removed the plex server and reinstalled the latest version but I still get the error. I searched the forums and didn’t find anything that fixed the problem.
I am having the exact same problem. It started after the last update. All the files play using the VLC player, but nothing through the PMS. I can see the titles and the artwork, but when you click to play a file it says, “there was a problem playing this item.” I have spent way to much time over the last 48 hours dealing with this. I have gone so far as to completely remove all PMS files, folders, and registry keys, and done a complete reinstall. Nothing has changed. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.
are you using an external player and what are you playing on.
I had started to get this error but tried playing it without a external player and worked fine.
if it something with android please read my post here (6th comment down)
@mwood00 said:
A few weeks back I started getting this error “There was a problem playing this item” on every movie I tried to watch. I removed the plex server and reinstalled the latest version but I still get the error. I searched the forums and didn’t find anything that fixed the problem.
@drichels said:
I am having the exact same problem. It started after the last update. All the files play using the VLC player, but nothing through the PMS. I can see the titles and the artwork, but when you click to play a file it says, “there was a problem playing this item.” I have spent way to much time over the last 48 hours dealing with this. I have gone so far as to completely remove all PMS files, folders, and registry keys, and done a complete reinstall. Nothing has changed. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.
Best to try and get diagnostic logs when the problem arises - the Plex Media Server.log and a screenshot showing the error and the time of the error.
See these support pages
Reporting Issues with Plex Media Server
Plex Media Server Log files
I believe that I have narrowed the problem down to transcoding. On my Roku players I am able to stream fine if I direct play the video. If the system tries to transcode I get different messages depending on which device I am trying to stream. I have even tried Chrome, Firefox, and Edge on several different computers. Again, we use our PMS all the time. When I update the PMS is when everything went sideways. I tried restoring my computer to a few days earlier, completely uninstalled the PMS, including registry edits, and %LOCAL% folders, and then reinstalled the PMS to the previous version, but still the same error. Lastly, there over 1TB free on the drive that house the PMS and the data folder and the rights to the folder and files are set to full for all users in case that somehow became the issue. Any thoughts?
@drichels said:
Any thoughts?
My previous advice still holds. Have a look
I am sorry, I meant to address that. My concern is that I am not familiar enough with the log to know if I am posting information to allow access to my system. I am not sure exactly where the token information may be listed or IP / DNS information. I truly do want assistance, but I don’t want to make my system vulnerable either.
@drichels said:
I am sorry, I meant to address that. My concern is that I am not familiar enough with the log to know if I am posting information to allow access to my system. I am not sure exactly where the token information may be listed or IP / DNS information. I truly do want assistance, but I don’t want to make my system vulnerable either.
The default setting on the server is that tokens are not logged - see settings . server . general . show advanced to ensure the setting for logging tokens is still deselected
you can edit the Plex Media Server.log replacing part of your public IP address, eg if the public IP Address is 111.222.333.444 you could do a repetitive find and replace and replace 111.222.333.444 with 111.222.xxx.xxx
I’m having the same issue on - Plex Server version 1.0.3.2461-35f0caa on a Synology NAS - trying to use Plex Web 2.7.6 w/ Safari Version 10.0 (12602.1.40.4) on MacOS Sierra beta… However when I use Chrome Version 52.0.2743.82 I am able to view my media through Plex… not sure what this means just trying to help gather as much info as possible to find a fix.
@brian.leight said:
I’m having the same issue on - Plex Server version 1.0.3.2461-35f0caa on a Synology NAS - trying to use Plex Web 2.7.6 w/ Safari Version 10.0 (12602.1.40.4) on MacOS Sierra beta… However when I use Chrome Version 52.0.2743.82 I am able to view my media through Plex… not sure what this means just trying to help gather as much info as possible to find a fix.
That would be a Plex Web app and browser issue rather than Plex Media Server issue
Suggest you join this forum topic instead
https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/226600/macos-sierra-public-beta-2-there-was-a-problem-playing-this-item
Hi,
I had this problem and I thought waiting out for an update would resolve the issue. Mine was related to MKV formats. Plex optimised versions worked fine.
I tried everything, building new metadata, reinstalling, I found rolling back (available in your plex install location under updates) solved the issue but meant I could not use the latest version of plex media server.
To resolve the issue so I could use the latest version, I had to start over. I created a new local user account on my server and installed plex media server, added all my folders and categories and believe it or not, I am able to stream remotely now without any issues.
The good part about all of this was the new covers in found from fan art and the fact everything works fine remotely.
@jbac13 said:
Hi,I had this problem and I thought waiting out for an update would resolve the issue. Mine was related to MKV formats. Plex optimised versions worked fine.
I tried everything, building new metadata, reinstalling, I found rolling back (available in your plex install location under updates) solved the issue but meant I could not use the latest version of plex media server.
To resolve the issue so I could use the latest version, I had to start over. I created a new local user account on my server and installed plex media server, added all my folders and categories and believe it or not, I am able to stream remotely now without any issues.
The good part about all of this was the new covers in found from fan art and the fact everything works fine remotely.
The error message is generic and could arise due to lots of different underlying errors. It is hoped that there would be specific error text added in the future
