“This server is not powerful enough to convert video” message in browser but not app

[eMadman]

Server Version#: 1.20.0.3133
Player Version#: web and smart tv app (unknown version)

A large selection of videos have suddenly stopped being playable. If I use the browser to watch, I get a message “This server is not powerful enough to convert video”

My plex web quality settings are set to maximum, home streaming recommended settings. This happens on plex web both inside my home network via ethernet as well as on my phone (plex web) over LTE to isolate potential network issues.

The plex smart tv app at my sibling’s house is also set up to use maximum playback quality.

On the server, I have disabled video stream transcoding, hardware accel when available, and use hardware accelerated encoding.

The server, as far as I can tell, should not be attempting to transcode at all given the clientside and server-side settings.

The CPU is an i5 quad core, and there’s a GTX1070 TI for the GPU. There’s plenty of horsepower on the machine for transcoding if necessary.

This issue does not occur on the android app when connected over LTE or over wifi. Android app is also configured to use max video quality

Logs show the following when I reproduce the issue:

Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.434 [7364] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63937 (Subnet)] GET /library/metadata/1269?includeExternalMedia=1&Accept-Language=en&includeConcerts=1&includeExtras=1&includeOnDeck=1&includePopularLeaves=1&includePreferences=1&includeChapters=1&includeStations=1&includeExternalMedia=1&asyncAugmentMetadata=1&checkFiles=1 (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.437 [11156] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.438 [4424] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63935 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=1269&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F1269&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=1589&state=playing&hasMDE=1&context=library%3Acontent.library&time=0&duration=1303000 (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.440 [4424] Debug — Client [g8ttb948uo9tsr6ec4wwz9tm] reporting timeline state playing, progress of 0/1303000ms for guid=, playbackTime=0ms ratingKey=1269 url=, key=/library/metadata/1269, containerKey=, metadataId=1269, source=
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.447 [7364] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.447 [7364] Debug — Selecting best audio stream for part ID 2331 (autoselect: 1 language: en)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.447 [7364] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select a subtitle.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.447 [7364] Debug — Audio Stream: 3530, Subtitle Stream: -1
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.448 [4424] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.448 [4424] Debug — Selecting best audio stream for part ID 2331 (autoselect: 1 language: en)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.448 [4424] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select a subtitle.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.448 [4424] Debug — Audio Stream: 3530, Subtitle Stream: -1
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.449 [4424] Debug — [Now] User is eMadman (ID: 1)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.450 [4424] Debug — [Now] Device is Microsoft Edge (Microsoft Edge).
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.451 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63937] 200 GET /library/metadata/1269?includeExternalMedia=1&Accept-Language=en&includeConcerts=1&includeExtras=1&includeOnDeck=1&includePopularLeaves=1&includePreferences=1&includeChapters=1&includeStations=1&includeExternalMedia=1&asyncAugmentMetadata=1&checkFiles=1 (9 live) TLS GZIP 17ms 1550 bytes (pipelined: 3)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.453 [4424] Debug — [Now] Profile is Microsoft Edge
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.453 [4424] Debug — [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/1269.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.454 [4424] Debug — Statistics: (36s7fn6hruo0wdic7qsg14e1) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 4 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.458 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63935] 200 GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=1269&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F1269&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=1589&state=playing&hasMDE=1&context=library%3Acontent.library&time=0&duration=1303000 (9 live) TLS GZIP 20ms 500 bytes (pipelined: 2)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.466 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.466 [1148] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63935 (Subnet)] GET /status/sessions (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.466 [1148] Debug — [Now] Adding 1 sessions.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.467 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63935] 200 GET /status/sessions (9 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 1651 bytes (pipelined: 3)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.473 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.473 [1148] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63935 (Subnet)] GET /status/sessions (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.473 [1148] Debug — [Now] Adding 1 sessions.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.474 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63935] 200 GET /status/sessions (9 live) TLS GZIP 0ms 1651 bytes (pipelined: 4)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.499 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.500 [1148] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63935 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=1269&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F1269&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=1589&state=error&hasMDE=1&context=library%3Acontent.library&time=0&duration=1303000 (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.500 [1148] Debug — Client [g8ttb948uo9tsr6ec4wwz9tm] reporting timeline state error, progress of 0/1303000ms for guid=, playbackTime=0ms ratingKey=1269 url=, key=/library/metadata/1269, containerKey=, metadataId=1269, source=
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.500 [1148] Debug — [Now] User is eMadman (ID: 1)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.500 [1148] Debug — [Now] Device is Microsoft Edge (Microsoft Edge).
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.502 [1148] Debug — [Now] Profile is Microsoft Edge
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.502 [1148] Debug — [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/1269.
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.502 [1148] Debug — Statistics: (36s7fn6hruo0wdic7qsg14e1) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 4 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:33.504 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63935] 200 GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=1269&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F1269&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=1589&state=error&hasMDE=1&context=library%3Acontent.library&time=0&duration=1303000 (9 live) TLS GZIP 4ms 500 bytes (pipelined: 5)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:48.227 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63819] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (9 live) TLS GZIP 20008ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 32)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:48.239 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:48.239 [1148] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63819 (Subnet)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (9 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:36:48.239 [1148] Debug — Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).
Aug 12, 2020 10:37:08.253 [11156] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:63819] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (9 live) TLS GZIP 20014ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 33)
Aug 12, 2020 10:37:08.266 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:37:08.266 [1148] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:63819 (Subnet)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (5 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:37:08.266 [1148] Debug — Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).

[OttoKerner]

@eMadman

I have disabled video stream transcoding

That is a really bad idea. Never do that. You cannot force playback on an app which cannot decode the media file on its own.
And a web browser cannot really decode anything except H.264 and AAC audio.
Unfortunately you have omitted the most interesting part from your log snippet, where the transcoding decision appears and the makeup of the original file is detailed.

[eMadman]

Thanks - how should I filter my log file to get that info? In the meantime, here’s the codec information from one of the videos we’re experiencing this on now… we watched this episode without issues just a few weeks ago.

The vast majority of the library worked with transcode disabled up until very recently.

[OttoKerner]

You won’t be able to watch MPEG4 video in a web browser without transcoding it.
Same applies to AC3 audio.

Enable the transcoder and try again.

[eMadman]

Same error with transcoder enabled.

Log - same as before, filtered to show “all”:

Aug 12, 2020 10:59:26.851 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:26.851 [13304] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64498 (Subnet)] GET /playQueues/1 (10 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:26.856 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64498] 200 GET /playQueues/1 (10 live) TLS GZIP 5ms 606 bytes (pipelined: 3)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:29.647 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64193] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (10 live) TLS GZIP 20005ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 38)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:29.652 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:29.652 [13304] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64193 (Subnet)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (10 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:29.652 [13304] Debug — Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.048 [11156] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.048 [13304] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64498 (Subnet)] GET /library/metadata/5614?Accept-Language=en&includeConcerts=1&includeExtras=1&includeOnDeck=1&includePopularLeaves=1&includePreferences=1&includeChapters=1&includeStations=1&includeExternalMedia=1&asyncAugmentMetadata=1&checkFiles=1 (10 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.059 [11156] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.059 [11904] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64497 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=5614&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F5614&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=2142&state=playing&hasMDE=1&context=&time=0&duration=2627000 (10 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.061 [13304] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.061 [13304] Debug — Selecting best audio stream for part ID 6354 (autoselect: 1 language: en)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.061 [13304] Debug — We're going to try to auto-select a subtitle.
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.061 [13304] Debug — Audio Stream: 13871, Subtitle Stream: -1
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.061 [11904] Debug — Client [g8ttb948uo9tsr6ec4wwz9tm] reporting timeline state playing, progress of 0/2627000ms for guid=, playbackTime=0ms ratingKey=5614 url=, key=/library/metadata/5614, containerKey=, metadataId=5614, source=
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.062 [11904] Debug — [Now] User is eMadman (ID: 1)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.062 [11904] Debug — [Now] Device is Microsoft Edge (Microsoft Edge).
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.062 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64498] 200 GET /library/metadata/5614?Accept-Language=en&includeConcerts=1&includeExtras=1&includeOnDeck=1&includePopularLeaves=1&includePreferences=1&includeChapters=1&includeStations=1&includeExternalMedia=1&asyncAugmentMetadata=1&checkFiles=1 (10 live) TLS GZIP 14ms 1642 bytes (pipelined: 4)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.066 [11904] Debug — [Now] Profile is Microsoft Edge
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.066 [11904] Debug — [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/5614.
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.066 [11904] Debug — Statistics: (36s7fn6hruo0wdic7qsg14e1) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 4 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.071 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64497] 200 GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=5614&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F5614&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=2142&state=playing&hasMDE=1&context=&time=0&duration=2627000 (10 live) TLS GZIP 11ms 500 bytes (pipelined: 2)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.104 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.104 [11904] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64497 (Subnet)] GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=5614&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F5614&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=2142&state=error&hasMDE=1&context=&time=0&duration=2627000 (10 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.105 [11904] Debug — Client [g8ttb948uo9tsr6ec4wwz9tm] reporting timeline state error, progress of 0/2627000ms for guid=, playbackTime=0ms ratingKey=5614 url=, key=/library/metadata/5614, containerKey=, metadataId=5614, source=
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.105 [11904] Debug — [Now] User is eMadman (ID: 1)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.106 [11904] Debug — [Now] Device is Microsoft Edge (Microsoft Edge).
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.108 [11904] Debug — [Now] Profile is Microsoft Edge
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.108 [11904] Debug — [Now] Updated play state for /library/metadata/5614.
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.108 [11904] Debug — Statistics: (36s7fn6hruo0wdic7qsg14e1) Reporting active playback in state 0 of type 4 (scrobble: 0) for account 1
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:33.112 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64497] 200 GET /:/timeline?ratingKey=5614&key=%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F5614&playbackTime=0&playQueueItemID=2142&state=error&hasMDE=1&context=&time=0&duration=2627000 (10 live) TLS GZIP 7ms 500 bytes (pipelined: 3)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:49.667 [10812] Debug — Completed: [10.88.111.17:64193] 200 GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (10 live) TLS GZIP 20014ms 5 bytes (pipelined: 39)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:49.679 [10812] Debug — Auth: authenticated user 1 as eMadman
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:49.679 [11904] Debug — Request: [10.88.111.17:64193 (Subnet)] GET /player/proxy/poll?deviceClass=pc&protocolVersion=3&protocolCapabilities=timeline%2Cplayback%2Cnavigation%2Cmirror%2Cplayqueues&timeout=1 (8 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (eMadman)
Aug 12, 2020 10:59:49.679 [11904] Debug — Content-Length is -1 (of total: -1).

I haven’t experienced this issue since I set up plex back in March… nothing has changed on the server or client aside from regularly scheduled updates in that time.

[FordGuy61]

Leave the Transcoder temporary directory blank or try e:\temp\ (slash at end). Restart PMS after changing the setting.

Based on other posts, e: fails and e:\ works. Not sure if that extends to e:\temp vs e:\temp\, but might be worth a try.

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[eMadman]

Restart and the trailing slash seems to have helped!