Server Version#:1.19.3.2737 (but this has been happening in EVERY version since I started using Plex about 2.5 years ago)
Use hardware acceleration when available is checked
Use hardware-accelerated Video encoding is checked
Maximum simultaneous video transcode is set to 5
Prefer higher Quality encoding is selected
Background transcoding x264 preset to Medium
There may be two users at any one time connected to this server, no more. Usually there is only one user connected locally.
OS = Originally Windows Server 2016, now Windows Server 2019
Active Directory domain joined (always has been)
TightVNC server for remote control
16 GB RAM used for Plex temp files using ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver
Currently Running Windows Defender, Malware Bytes Corporate and Malware Anti-Exploit for Business, but problem still happens with all of these turn off. No other programs active.
Hardware
ASRock z370 Extreme4 motherboard
Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7 Ghz (4.3 Turbo)
Intel UHD Graphics 630 (Quadro P2000 coming next week)
32GB DDR4-2400 Dual Channel RAM
Areca Arc 1264IL-12 12 port Raid card
12 HGST 8TB drives in RAID6
Intel X540-T 10GbE NIC (Servers connected by 10GbE, the rest of the house is 1GbE)
Norco 24 Hotswap case with MASSIVE amounts of Noctua cooling.
Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W Power Supply
Obviously not a low dollar build, but also not an all out build either.
My problem has always been that content will randomly end prematurely with a “Transcoding error”. This happens locally while using Chrome to cast to my non-Ultra ChromeCast independent of whether the source is 1080p or 720p in H.264 or H.265. It also happens to my only remote user whether they’re using their iPad app or Sony TV app.
When I say randomly I mean that some days every file will play perfectly. Other days I can get the transcode error 1-5 times in a row on a file, then play fine for a few more files then fail again several times on a different file. I’ve tried replaying some of the same files that had errors one day on a different day and have not had the same problems.
I’ve tried running both Windows Task Manager and Sysinternals Process Explorer (not at the same time) to see if there are bottle necks. Both show that the CPU and GPU are loafing and there is plenty of memory left. File Explorer shows that the RAM disk isn’t being overly filled.
I got to wondering WHY it’s even transcoding when I’m local. I’m actually logged onto the Windows server that’s running Plex as Admin. I’m logged into the Plex admin account on the Plex server which is also where the libraries live. As you can see from the picture below, Will logged into the server directly it’s showing that I’m connected indirectly and thus it’s transcoding from 720p down to SD!!!
So how the heck am I connected indirectly if I’m logged directly into the Windows/Plex server using Chrome? I tried turning Windows Advanced Firewall off and that made no difference.
I found the problem with Plex connecting indirectly even when logged in locally. After reading some articles about Plex having problems with different DNS configuration it dawned on me that on Monday I had made a change to pfSense that would force all connections to go out using DoH (DNS over HTTPS). I removed that, applied the change and Plex picked up the fact almost immediately. I am now connected directly again and using DirectPlay. Why it took from Monday until today (6 days) for things to go so wrong I have no idea.
I should have my Quadro P2000 this week and hopefully that’ll fix any actual transcode inssue that remain.
Well, Transcoding crashed several times in a row again today. Had to hit play 6 times to get through ~6 seconds of video. The Intel GPU was registering about 1% because the VIDEO was playing direct, only the audio was being transcoded.
When I used VLC or MPC-HC (x64) the section that was problematic for Plex played fine.
I updated to the latest version yesterday. My transcoder has been crashing ever since. I tried to roll it back to 1.19.2.2737 but it’s still doing it. Was never an issue before yesterday. Haven’t changed any settings and it’s worked fine for years.
Well my Quadro P2000 arrived today. It took all of 5 minutes to install. Plex picked up the change from Intel UHD Graphics 630 to the P2000 automatically. So far it looks like the application of money may have solved the problem. I’ve been putting it through some paces with the files I know require transcoding. I have some 1080P H.265 HEVC and 720P H.265 HEVC files and running them simultaneously. I’ve had 5 transcodes going at the same time both local and remote without a problem. We’ll see if this continues.
So the Quadro P2000 didn’t fix the problem. Transcoding still randomly fails. Today was the weirdest. I was watching a 720p .mkv file that was direct playing video but transcoding audio. I paused the video and went to do something and when I returned 10 minutes later the transcode had failed!!! WHILE. IT. WAS. PAUSED!!!
Well I may have found a bunch of little things that may have all had a part in creating my transcoding errors. I didn’t find these while troubleshooting the transcodng errors. I was working on network infrastructure when I ran into a few.
I only had one Active Directory domain controller on he network. The issues didn’t register as a problem as long as I didn’t need to add any computer to the domain or try and a second DC to the network. When I added a second DC to the network replication would only work one way. The original DC was throwing an error for a DC that had long ago departed this world. There was no reference to this ghost server in any DNS record, anywhere in the AD Metadata or in the registry. But there it was, throwing an error. No amount of editing or scouring wold remove that ghost server.
There was no way to add workstation or server to the domain with any combination of DCs (just DC1, both or just DC2).
In the Plex admin Console I was seeing a connection error to a ghost TV that no longer existed. Again, no record of that TV still existed in DNS, AD MetaData, any Registry or any Plex Data.
There were both a errant DNS and DHCP server running on the network.
So while I have a fairy large home network, the actual AD structure isn’t too complex. I blew away the old AD, created 2 new DCs and made sure they were replicating. I setup the new file server directory shares and permissions, added the domain clients in, reinstalled Plex on the file sever (THIS was the biggest pain, it’s STILL trying to ingest all the files.). So far today (and we’ve heard this before) it’s working like a champ with no transcode errors even while the system is scanning the libraries. So far it’s been scanning for about 15 hours straight and it’s nowhere near done.
I’m going to call this issue closed. The issue seems to have not been with Plex at all, but with my network infrastructure. It’s been two weeks since I’ve fixed all the issues with Active Directory and random DNS/DHCP sources and have not had a single transcode failure even though I’ve loaded the system more than ever. I used my Plex server (see description above) to run several 1080p movie streams both locally and remotely and then added ripping BlueRay disks to 1080p H.264 using the nVidia P2000 and still have no issues with transcode failure. Both the CPU and GPU are still just loafing along with these loads.
