Unable to play AVI files in either Web or Windows app interfaces; Mobile apps are OK

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: Version 1.23.1.4528
Player Version#: Web interface (from the server); Windows Client Version 1.31.1.2262-74fdc6b7;
Logs attached; errors would appear around 7:52pm on the 24th of May 2021.

For about the last 8 weeks or so, My server has been unable to play AVI files through either the Web interface or the Windows 10 client. The Android mobile app and the Android TV app both work fine. I have attached the logs in the hope that a Plex Ninja can take a quick look and tell me what is not working (and potentially how to fix it).
I have tried running a repair, tried uninstalling and reinstalling. The error is “This Server is not powerful enough to convert video” (also attached).
2021-05-24 20_01_57-▶ American Dad! - S2 · E1 and 2 more pages - Personal - Microsoft​ Edge
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-05-24_19-54-50.zip (1.7 MB)

2

Is anyone able to help with this issue?

4

That happened 10 years ago.

6

Yea, I know…

It took me about 10 years to eradicate the Hellish AVI Nightmare that was entrenched on my server, but I’m done now - yay me.

:slight_smile:

8

You may have (had) more of an AVI Nightmare than I did.

Anyway - it’s not really a Plex Problem.
The fact is all sorts of device manufacturers are simply discontinuing support for a format that died a decade ago (maybe two), and the only thing Plex can do is transcode.

Hear that?
That’s Taps - playing at AVI’s Funeral.

:wink:

10

You have just described… Me…
It would be nice to ‘re-encode’ myself for another go (if it were only that easy).

:smiley:

12

Well, this will be my last semi-derailment - as we still try to impress upon @specul8 AVI’s (more than) timely departure from the ethereal plane - many people may say:

Why doesn’t Plex Support VHS?!

They do, unfortunately all that stuff is on AVIs.

CYa!(lol)

13

Hey @trumpy81 - here are the logs with Debugging enabled. The file I was trying to play has a filename “The Simpsons S03E01 Stark Raving Dad.avi” and plays just fine on a vanilla Windows 10 device (I have not installed any codec packs or media players on it). They also play just fine on the server running PMS.
Plex Media Server Logs_2021-06-07_08-11-20.zip (3.1 MB)

15

Yeah @trumpy81, that’s the error that comes up, but it’s a false error. The PC is running AMD Ryzen 5 1500x Quad core at 3.50GHz with 16GB RAM. It transcoded a whole bunch of shows last night to drop them on my phone (going on a flight today, needed some offline media). It also successfully encoded the file that it could not play (at 32x - I just tested it), and I can play it as an offline file no problems (I just cannot stream it “live” which makes me believe it’s a bug).

Graphics card is an NVidia GTX 750 Ti - it’s no gaming rig, but it’ll play media without breaking a sweat.

17

Thanks @trumpy81 - appreciate it.

18

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.