# Transcoding error "EAE timeout!" happening when nothing is playing **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-linux\ **Created:** [November 15, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003 "2021-11-15T18:59:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/1 "2021-11-15T18:59:02Z")
Server Version#: 1.24.5.5173 Ubuntu 20.04 I’ve looked at the articles I could find about this, but my server is NOT through Docker, and this is happening when nothing is playing, so I don’t know why it would be trying to transcode. It takes up about 50% CPU resources just to run this error over and over again. I have a text file of the logs over the course of a couple minutes, showing that it occurs over and over again. Not sure if it contains sensitive information since I just copied the RAW text, so I can send it to someone if requested. Basically the error repeats: ```auto Nov 15, 2021 11:42:34.001 [0x7f2e069f0b38] Error — [Transcoder] [eac3_eae @ 0x7f9c74e34b00] error reading output Nov 15, 2021 11:42:34.001 [0x7f2e041a0b38] Error — [Transcoder] Error while decoding stream #0:1: I/O error Nov 15, 2021 11:42:37.000 [0x7f2e04fcdb38] Error — [Transcoder] [eac3_eae @ 0x7f9c74e34b00] EAE timeout! EAE not running, or wrong folder? Could not read '/tmp/pms-085dec92-ff06-4e26-bc5c-fd41cceb950a/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/0e3907db-3c62-4862-8dd2-58ec3e22b7a6_220930-0-1657.wav' Nov 15, 2021 11:42:37.001 [0x7f2e069f0b38] Error — [Transcoder] [eac3_eae @ 0x7f9c74e34b00] error reading output Nov 15, 2021 11:42:37.001 [0x7f2e041a0b38] Error — [Transcoder] Error while decoding stream #0:1: I/O error ``` Once again, this happens all day while _nothing_ is playing, either remotely or locally. **What I’ve Tried** I’ve taken a look at the directory ‘/tmp/pms-085dec92-ff06-4e26-bc5c-fd41cceb950a/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/’, and I notice that the folders in there change constantly while this is happening. I’ve set the permissions using `chown` recursively to make sure that the user plex is the owner of the directory. Restarting the server will stop the process, but it will start again after a few hours. **Possibly relevant info** - I have Plex Pass - I’ve noticed this issue occurring for weeks - Scheduled tasks don’t run within their allotted timeframe as specified in the `Scheduled Tasks` settings, and they always run in the middle of the day (the timezone is set correctly on my server) Not sure what else I could be missing, so any help would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 7:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/2 "2021-11-15T19:13:05Z")
How many directories do you have, in total, including subdirectories, which contain media ? The problem you’re seeing can occur any time PMS wants to analyze -AND- if the kernel’s notify table is full. The EAE requires 2 slots. If the table is full – boom – failure – even just to analyze media > [@Increase the number of directories Linux can monitor (Notify)](https://forums.plex.tv/t/increase-the-number-of-directories-linux-can-monitor-notify/209156/): > > The default size of the Linux inotify table is 8192 directories. When PMS is configured to update automatically when media is added, with properly organized media, especially music, this table rapidly fills and exceeds the default allocation. The solution to this is straight forward. Increasing the table size is easy. The first step is to determine how many directories to allocate, A. Determine how many directories are currently in use: sudo find /dir1 /dir2 /dir3 -type d -print… ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2021, 7:37pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/3 "2021-11-15T19:37:22Z")
I have a movies folder with 415 folders inside, each with its movie file and a few with .srt files included. My tv folder has 22 shows, each with its own set of Season subdirectories and their corresponding episodes, most of them being less than 3 seasons’ worth. Some go up to 8 or 9 seasons. Using the `sudo find` command from the article you posted, it returned 526 for both the movies and the tv libraries, the only ones connected. Overall with 415 movies and 22 tv shows, I can’t imagine this would be enough to cripple Plex media server, seeing how people have libraries well into the thousands. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 3:33am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/4 "2021-11-16T03:33:45Z")
The default max on the new kernels is 65536 directories The default max on the older kernels is 8192 . you can have hundreds of thousands if you also have the kernel memory to back it up. where is the transcoder temp ? Network or on the system itself? ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2021, 5:12am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/5 "2021-11-16T05:12:52Z")
The transcoder temp is on the system itself, on the OS: `/tmp/pms-f2...` I assume the permissions are set up correctly because the `ls -al` command shows: > drwxr-xr-x 2 plex plex 4096 Nov 15 12:40 **pms-f2…** ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/6 "2021-11-18T17:58:08Z")
Any new info on this? It’s gotten to the point where this is happening 100% of the time. It’s taking up 50% CPU at all times and working through these transcoding errors, even when nothing is playing, even after a restart. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 6:09pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/7 "2021-11-18T18:09:37Z")
May I see it in action? Please recreate, (DEBUG logging on, VERBOSE logging OFF). Download the logs ZIP file Attach it here please. ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 6:24pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/8 "2021-11-18T18:24:54Z")
[Plex Media Server Logs\_2021-11-18\_11-23-28.zip](https://forums.plex.tv/uploads/short-url/g3FEqzheTSQGsUHQfq5e9aIJg68.zip) (3.3 MB) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 7:22pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/9 "2021-11-18T19:22:40Z")
@joshhh Ok, it’s happening when EAE runs. EAE is dependent on having kernel notify slots. How many directories, in total including all top-level through lowest level, are being monitored ? ( \> 8192 ?) ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/10 "2021-11-18T19:31:26Z")
Monitored, meaning the ones that are chosen in Plex to scan for library contents? I have only two libraries - Movies and TV. In total, there are less than 550 directories within these two folders. ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 12.24.59 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/f/0/a/f0ac1fff116a282a4d7751091924d8c405058b52.jpeg) ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 12.24.49 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/4/e/4/4e420167f739365918092ae1c87466eb37ceef90.jpeg) ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 12.24.36 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/2/8/a/28ae00fe9f0bebf97a73f1556dbcb60bfbcbe2b8.jpeg) ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 12.28.40 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/7/0/5/70500c87f255ffe9463a7b957fd6198c04f87889.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/11 "2021-11-18T20:00:04Z")
Those are the ones! This is not making any sense. It’s acting as if it’s analyzing a whole bunch of audio . ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/12 "2021-11-18T20:01:56Z")
Agreed! I don’t have any audio at all in my libraries. I had an old server that I switched from where I had a single audiobook, but that has been removed and does not exist on my current hard drive. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/13 "2021-11-18T20:11:17Z")
Want to conduct an experiment ? 1. Sign out of Plex/web (upper right corner) 2. Stop Plex 3. Rename “Library” → “Library.keep” (/var/lib/plexmediaserver) 4. Start Plex 5. Open [http://127.0.0.1:32400/web](http://127.0.0.1:32400/web) (i presume the server is on the same machine you’re typing from. Switch to LAN address if sitting adjacent to you) 6. It will start to setup a new server - this is desired 7. **SPECIAL NOTE** When you get to the point of the server’s friendly name – **Give it something obvious, e.g. TEST-SERVER** so it doesn’t conflict with the productdion one 8. Complete setup and get to the dashboard 9. Now give it a test drive. The “rename” step above slides your existing server off to the side and keeps it safe ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/14 "2021-11-18T20:41:54Z")
Alright, I followed all the above steps, and it just finished scanning my library. I’m currently not getting EAE transcoding errors, just some XML errors; not sure what they’re about. ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 1.39.10 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/4/7/9/4798b0ba8a750be4aa1375231216e47b2d596cec.jpeg) This same error chunk has appeared a few times, but the server has only been up for a few minutes so I’m not sure if it’s that important or related to the previous issue. How long do you recommend I keep this test server up to make sure the EAE error doesn’t appear again? Note: Plex Media Server is idling between 0.1-1.5% CPU, about what the expected normal usage should be. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/15 "2021-11-18T20:53:51Z")
Don’t worry about the XML errors. The XML errors shown there because the LAN devices aren’t responding correctly. As for the EAE not failing – two choices. 1. Build this server up -or- 2. Switch back to the other, delete all the codecs, let it try again (in case that EAE is damaged somehow) ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/16 "2021-11-18T21:07:50Z")
I think I’ll try to keep this build of the new server and see if the fresh setup will fix everything. Is the best way to transfer the metadata over to just copy and override the folders from /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library.keep/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Metadata/[Movies && TV Shows && Collections] to the new server folder? I do notice that the previous Library.keep has more Metadata folders than the new one: ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 2.00.19 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/7/a/3/7a3299aed4c88eed5027d2cd68d1c4f74711645b.jpeg) ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 2.02.13 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/0/4/b/04b54c575fe9c5bfcd4c359c94d3be4ca82f4a61.jpeg) So if I copy over just Movies, TV Shows, and Collections, will I basically have an identical setup as I did before? * * * I’m thinking I’ll keep around the Library.keep for now just in case, and maybe delete it in a month or so if everything is still going smoothly. Should I just delete the server itself without worrying about losing anything important? ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 2.05.54 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/0/f/2/0f2f167d35040721e7151fe283bb1d5cd3e44702.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:10pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/17 "2021-11-18T21:10:04Z")
You can’t ‘copy’ the metadata files. Each file is linked to a DB record which is created as it does its work. When maintenance runs, it’s going to do a lot of things and fill in a lot of what you’re currently missing. You do have collections enabled in the library settings ? Regarding the kept server – it’s possible (not sure how much though) there’s just ‘junk’ in there from an old, now corrected, PMS problem. ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:15pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/18 "2021-11-18T21:15:51Z")
As far as collections go, I have the library collections turned off and have dozens of custom collections with custom posters for many of the movies. What’s the best way to migrate those, then? When I upgraded my server a month ago (before these issues), I copied everything from the server data directory as instructed in [this article](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201539237-backing-up-plex-media-server-data/). But since has a fresh new library does that mean it wouldn’t work the same way anymore? ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/19 "2021-11-18T21:23:50Z")
That article shows what you need to make a backup of (essentially) “Library”, which we just created new for. If you don’t mind, before committing to the work of dragging things forward, can we try the quick EAE reload? 1. Stop Plex 2. Open a shell. 3. Rename `Library` → `Library.new` (this is the new server) 4. Rename `Library.keep` → `Library` (bringing the saved server back as active) 5. `cd "Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs"` 6. `sudo find . -name EasyAudioEncoder -print -exec rm -rf {} \;` 7. Start Plex 8. Try the eac3 video again. 9. It will download a fresh EAE copy 10. If the error returns, then the database is toasted somewhere that makes no sense. 11. If there are no EAE errors – then we just confirmed the EAE was damaged somehow 12. If all is good, and you want to keep what you have (recommended) - Delete the “Test” server (Library.new) and also from Settings - Authorized Devices - Server (dropdown) 13. If the test fails, I’ll get some help here to get your collections moved ---
**Author:** ![joshhh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ed655f/32.png) [@joshhh](https://forums.plex.tv/u/joshhh)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003/20 "2021-11-18T21:32:01Z")
On step 6, I’m not sure it did anything since this is what happened: > **josh@andromiplex** : **/var/lib/plexmediaserver** $ cd “Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs” > > **josh@andromiplex** : **/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs** $ ls > > **be22e26-4019-linux-x86\_64** **EasyAudioEncoder-1452-linux-x86\_64.zip** > > **EasyAudioEncoder-1445-linux-x86\_64** **EasyAudioEncoder-1591-linux-x86\_64** > > **josh@andromiplex** : **/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs** $ sudo find . -name EasyAudioEncoder -print -exec rm -rf {} ; > > ./EasyAudioEncoder-1591-linux-x86\_64/EasyAudioEncoder > > find: ‘./EasyAudioEncoder-1591-linux-x86\_64/EasyAudioEncoder’: No such file or directory > > ./EasyAudioEncoder-1445-linux-x86\_64/EasyAudioEncoder > > find: ‘./EasyAudioEncoder-1445-linux-x86\_64/EasyAudioEncoder’: No such file or directory > > **josh@andromiplex** : **/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs** $ ls > > **be22e26-4019-linux-x86\_64** **EasyAudioEncoder-1452-linux-x86\_64.zip** > > **EasyAudioEncoder-1445-linux-x86\_64** **EasyAudioEncoder-1591-linux-x86\_64** > > **josh@andromiplex** : **/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Codecs** $ Here’s an image of the whole process I’ve done so far in case it’s easier to read. ![Screen Shot 2021-11-18 at 2.30.27 PM](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/5/5/6/556745480aeae7202fcb68065711fe876d535d0f.jpeg) I’m worried about the response “No such file or directory”. Should I assume it worked and just continue, or did something not go as expected? [Next page](https://forums.plex.tv/t/transcoding-error-eae-timeout-happening-when-nothing-is-playing/758003.md?page=2)