Why doesn’t Plex provide a link to older versions of Plex Media Server for all devices? When they make an update that does not work we are stuck dealing with the consequences and are slave to their timeline for correction. Transcoding worked just fine before the latest updates and now my PR4100 is almost useless for anything except direct play with the latest released versions (1.18.0.19XX…). Why can’t we download a prior 1.17 version and replace the faulty new version? The lesson learned is to keep a copy of one that you know works. I trusted that they would test before release, but apparently not. Immediately observable is the poor transcoding performance with this latest release, taking things backward at least two years. Does anyone know where older versions of the server can be downloaded? I found one site for windows but nothing for servers like WD’s PR4100.
It has been management’s policy since day 1.
Perhaps poor practices should be reconsidered, and then be changed for the better of the paying user community.
I’d like to be able to rollback as well. This latest update has made watching any video almost impossible due to the video pausing, playing , pausing and playing about every 3-4 minutes. Prior to the update, I wasn’t having any issues.
I agree that paying customers should be allowed to to have a back-up copy, or be allowed to use a prior FW version that worked until the bugs have been fixed.
I did add a feature request here:
so you could always add a vote there if you have any to spare.
But tbh not holding my breath.
This is the source that I’ve used:
https://www.filehorse.com/download-plex-media-server/old-versions/
Thank you. Good to know I’m not alone. I believe I can understand why they wouldn’t want a complete history available; compatibility with player clients could certainly be an issue. But, there is no reason why they couldn’t provide access to recent known good versions of PMS when they make a major update like this one. A practice of making major changes without fully vetting the update and not providing a backup plan is just not responsible. Providing access to a reasonable set of historical versions would be the right way to operate.
And yes, I will certainly support your very reasonable request Blim5001! I really have enjoyed Plex and my family uses it all the time. But, I have to admit that it’s times like this that make me wonder about PLEX’s practices. I’ve gone back to using my workstation server instead of my PR4100. I may simply move away from it and build my own custom server after 3 years of great use, which started off rough because of the same bad transcoding performance when the PR4100 was touted by both PLEX and WD as so wonderful due to hardware transcoding.
PLEX: A brilliant original plan, wonderful added features and maturation over the years, a large user base with loyalty - PLEX, how about reciprocating and showing that you do care about your user’s concerns? Why make them (us) simply wait until you decide to read a message or get around to fixing something that worked just fine before? Pretty simple to just provide a roll-back plan PLEX. We are generally patient, but completely breaking capability without a backup plan is just plain wrong.
Thank you. Great for windows, but I didn’t see any other platforms such as a NAS. I’ll bookmark this location though. Thanks again.
I have again passed this up to management for consideration.
Thank you ChuckPA. Hopefully, wisdom and a rational mind will prevail.
In another thread regarding the problems seemingly caused by the 1.18 update I’ve posted a link to a copy of the previous 1.17 version I’ve rolled back to on my QNAP NAS - not sure if that would help you (I don’t know how different/hardware-specific the various versions might be), but you can check here for details:
Thank you for the information and for offering the link. You obviously had the fore-site to save a good version, which I should have been wise enough to do as well. As the old proverb goes, “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!” I just can’t believe PLEX’s practice of not enabling going back to a good version when a release doesn’t work. Don’t they know we actually use the product we buy?
It used to be that all the old versions still existed, you just had to know the name of them.
So if you had the latest link:
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.18.0.1944-f2cae8d6b/windows/PlexMediaServer-1.18.0.1944-f2cae8d6b-x86.exe
OR
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.18.0.1944-f2cae8d6b/qnap/PlexMediaServer-1.18.0.1944-f2cae8d6b-x86_64.qpkg
And the name of a previous version like:
PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161
OR
PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1709-982421575
OR
PlexMediaServer-1.16.6.1592-b9d49bdb7
Then you could build the URL like so:
QNAP (Intel x64)
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161/qnap/PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161-x86_64.qpkg
Synology (Intel x64)
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161/synology/PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161-x86_64.spk
Drobo
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161/drobo/plex.tgz
etc.
Update:
I have had a chat with “those in the know” 
We will have access to previous versions.
I’m not sure of the details / how far back we will be able to go from the downloads page but it’s coming.
Thank you ChuckPA! Finally doing the right thing. Can you provide a link to the site for downloads of the historical versions?
The downloads made available will be right from plex.tv/downloads as usual.
The problem, as it exists today, is there is no way to browse previous versions.
They will be making a rolling window (the most recent “n” versions) available at any one time. It will be possible to select from that list of options.
Thank you. You’re right. There is currently no way to find a specific download unless you know the exact url. Will be thrilled when that changes.
What exact version do you need and for which device? I will give You the link for download.
Thank you. I need it for the WD PR4100 NAS, and I believed the last good version was 1.17.0.1841-… I don’t know all the codes after that but it ends with -MyCloudPR4100.bin. I understand if I haven’t given you enough information you won’t be able to help. I did not write down all the letter and number codes in that part of the version. If it is the same for all devices then it may be d42cfa161-MyCloudPR4100.bin after the dash above. I haven’t been observant enough to pay attention to the last part of the coding for the version.
Here’s the download link for version 1.17.0.1841:
https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server-new/1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161/wd/PlexMediaServer-1.17.0.1841-d42cfa161-MyCloudPR4100.bin
