Windows: Repeated crashes of Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.40.4.8626
Player Version#: 4.132.2
Plex Web Version#: 4.132.2
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
Plex Media Server Logs_2024-06-30_19-00-04.zip (3.2 MB)

Hello,

My problem is the exact same issue described in this older article: https://support.plex.tv/articles/206910047-windows-repeated-crashes-of-plex-media-server/

I have spent days trying to figure out what is causing the interference with Plex, scouring the logs, and searching for the .DLLs listed in that article, but I have not been able to resolve this issue.

I have been fighting this problem where Plex randomly “crashes”/disappears from the system tray but is still running if I check Windows Process Explorer. If I try to play a video while Plex Media Server is in this state, I get an error on any device saying the media server is unreachable. I have to end all Plex Media Server tasks in Task Manager and restart Plex to get it to work again.

If I try to start Plex Media Server again without ending the existing processes first, it duplicates the Plex Media Server tasks, resulting in multiple instances running. However, the Plex Media Server icon will show back up in the system tray by the clock. When I try to access Plex Media Server in this state, I get a 401 unauthorized error until I end all the tasks for Plex Media Server in Task Manager and restart it so there is only one instance running.

I have gone through several version upgrades of Plex Media Server on both the main stream and beta stream channels, but this problem has yet to be addressed or fixed. I have never had an issue with Plex Media Server like this before, it has run dependably for years but the last 6 months I have been fighting this intermittent issue.

If anyone could please help me, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Yougoh

2

I think I was able to finally resolve this issue myself. Putting this out there incase anyone else runs into this problem since I didn’t receive any help with it either…

I completely uninstalled Plex Media Server from add/remove programs. I then went and deleted the Plex folder from program files: C:\Program Files\Plex, and then finally deleted the plex local app data directory: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server.

Once i performed the uninstall and deleted those two directories I rebooted the computer. After the reboot I performed a clean install of the x64 edition of Plex Media Server. I had to readd my movie directories to my library since I deleted the database.

Once everything was set back up I have not had the issue since.

This doesn’t really fix the root of whatever the problem was, but it seems going through this process restabilized plex on my windows 11 media server.

I hope this helps someone!

Thanks,
Yougoh

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