This morning, the Plex app on my main Roku box decided that I - the owner and sole user of my Plex server - was not authorized to access my server libraries.

I went through and checked for updates, double checked settings, attempted re-signing into my account, etc. but no dice. Worked fine on my phone (the only other client device I had on hand), but on the Roku...nada.

Finally, I deleted the app and reinstalled and that fixed it (for now, anyway), but I'm stuck wondering the following important question: WHAT THE FUCK?

Plex wasnt able to be seen from my devices so I checked my Windows 11 server and I have plex set to run as a service. In services.msc the plex service was stopped. I went to start it and it gave me an error code which according to Event Viewer > System, the path could not be found.

So in start menu, I search for plex, its a blank icon, click it - "this program or shortcut may be removed". So I browse C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server and everything is there intact except for one key item... Plex Media Server.exe.

The first time this happened maybe a month or two ago, I figured maybe it was a bad update. But now this is the second time this has happened to me.

So I downloaded the latest plex from the website and just installed it over top of what I had (next, next, next, done) etc...

Anyone know what happened and secondly, anyone know how to prevent this from happening in the future?

Thanks!

Hi,

Not sure what's happening with my PleX server lately.

Running PleX in a Docker container on its own macvlan net and it's been working away these past couple of weeks.

However, there are more and more problems I keep running into despite precautions taken on my end:

1. Matching films has become really hard; even very popular films PleX finds impossible to match; I have selected a couple of agents, but only 'PleX Movie' shows up.
2. In a similar vein, when for instance adding more episodes of a given TV show, it will add the episodes, and they are playable, but they won't come with a thumbnail - just a generic poster. After analyzing them, the thumbnail for that episode appears, but no episode names.
3. Despite using the exact same spec (minus the stuff that has to be different) for my docker-compose, I simply cannot create other containers (I want to do a special PleX instance for music x2 for both my wife and me for PleXamp). I get a message saying I cannot claim the server. I have done just about everything possible with this: got claim token from plex.tv/claim, got it from an existing compose, got it from my server's XML file directly... it's been impossible to get another container created.
4. Increasingly, when I restart a container or change something, it's a bit of a gamble as to whether it will come up without having to restart a bunch. Once it *is* up, it stays up, though, and container passes health checks.

I am aware naming and permissions plays a big part, but even when following things to the letter, PleX seems increasingly unreliable. Well, that is, once it is running, it's fine, but if I want to change anything, add something, create another container, it usually shits the bed.

Had a look at system logs as well and in the past could see some lack of access to HTTPCookies; the permissions were okay, so not sure what happened there. Other than that, nothing majorly unusual.

Critique my docker-compose:

---
services:
 plex:
   image: plexinc/pms-docker
   container_name: myplexservername
   networks:
plex_macvlan_net:
ipv4_address: 192.168.178.10
   environment:
- PUID=999
- PGID=993
- TZ=Etc/UTC
- VERSION=docker
- PLEX_PORT=32400
- PLEX_CLAIM=<code from plex.tv/claim>
- ADVERTISE_IP=http://192.168.178.10:32400
   devices:
- /dev/dri:/dev/dri
   volumes:
- "/home/michael/Documents/Docker stuff/Plex-main:/config"
- "/Filestore/Media/Films:/Films"
- "/Filestore/Media/Series:/Series"
- "/Filestore/Media/Documentaries:/Documentaries"
- "/Filestore/Media/Documentary Series:/Documentary Series"
- "/Filestore/Media/Comedy-Theatre-Misc:/Comedy-Theatre-Misc"
   restart: unless-stopped
   privileged: true
networks:
 plex_macvlan_net:
   external: true

Current state: Getting "not authorised" when restarting my Docker container. Honestly, it's just a lottery these days.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

I was cruising though some radio stations on my iPhone and it occurred to me how cool it would be if there was a category for radio stations on my Plex server, so that I could quickly find a selection of my own pre-selected stations and find music to suit my mood. For example, returning to the Boston area from a recent trip to Pennsylvania, I got board with PlexAmp and scanning through the FM radio dial, I found some cool local stations (local to where I was at the time, too soon to turn to static). If I could add their URLs to Plex and quickly select a radio station live streaming over the Internet, I wouldn't lose the station's signal as I drive through a broadcast area. Sound too crazy?

N95 mini PC and a USB3.2 1TB thumb drive. I use mkv and handbrake to compress shows, have 166 movies, 17 TV series, and a bunch of fitness videos, and it works great for my needs, no remote users and it's just my wife and I watching shows we own on DVD. I do plan to get a NAS for this and also for our docs and pics etc, but for now this is great.

https://preview.redd.it/wjkv1o0cj30e1.jpg?width=741&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b1eef49b7972211de87f9adeb15abd50f9a9b118

Quick and easy question. Will an i5 optiplex be ok for transcoding? I am looking to upgrade my nas to a unit that does not transcode and have an i5 optiplex laying around with 32 gig ram. I have seen people talking about an i7 so curious how an i5 does. Thanks all!

I just wanted to ask if I am the only one who is maintaining two plex servers for the same files?

I have had my first plex server for years. It is a desktop machine to which I added new disks gradually. Two years ago it had around 80TB of storage full of movies and TV series, all this without a raid setup or backups.

I always was really concerned about disk failures as I experienced this once many years ago. Lost 10TB of movies. Two years ago I finally decided to back everything up so that I could sleep again at night. Bought a 6 bay Asutor NAS and just a bunch of discs. Because of the needed storage space a raid setup was not suitable.

I am now cloning the disks from the desktop machine to the NAS regularly and have a PMS running on both machines. It's pretty convenient to check the quantity of movies on both to see if the cloning process was successful. Downside is that if I have to manually correct something I have to do it on both servers.

Anyone else doing this? How to do it better?

I just set up my first Plex server and I’m blown away. I thought it would be difficult, but it’s super intuitive and everything just seems to work (at least for right now). I anticipate that I’m going to be getting a lot of use out of this, and as such, significantly expand my data library. I would love to spend $1500 and get a dedicated NAS with five bays and 80TB of space, but that’s simply not in the cards for right now. So what would be the best hardware to get to store the most amount of data in the cheapest fashion, while also not sacrificing streaming quality and speeds too much (or at all, if possible)?

Background:

• I anticipate I’ll be using a good mix of at-home and on-the-go viewing. If I’m away from my network, I’ll be watching mostly from iOS and Android devices and will probably do a good amount of offline downloads (but still want the option to stream, if needed). While at home, I’ll mostly be streaming from multiple Apple TVs.

• I currently own an M1 Pro MacBook Pro with 512GB of SSD storage as my main computer. I also own an Asus Vivobook X1404Z with 126GB of SSD storage that I got as a cheap backup to do things that were difficult on a Mac. Both are intended to stay on indefinitely, but the Asus likes to shut down/go into a deep sleep if I don’t use it for a few days…which happens often. I’m comfortable with either being my server, but with the MacBook being effectively non-upgradable, I feel like the Asus might be the better option.

• I also own two external hard drives totaling 1.5GB of storage, but they’re from most 15 years ago and are super slow compared to today’s tech (USB 2.0).

• My current video/TV library is pretty small, but I anticipate it to grow quite rapidly. In addition to that, I also own a retro-gaming handheld with a 1.5GB micro SD card that’s almost entirely filled with games. I’d like to back this up as well. So all in all, I’m anticipating the need for at least 4TB of storage for just right now, but 8-10TB would be probably be better for the long term as I am definitely a data hoarder.

So what’s the best plan here (keeping cost in mind)? Should get some larger external SSDs and connect them to the MacBook or Asus? Should I upgrade the SSD in my Asus? Should I look into another device entirely, like a Raspberry Pi or something?

This is all new to me, so I appreciate the help!

Has anyone figured out how to get their Plex music to play through an Echo of any type? I know the echo can be used as a Bluetooth speaker, but I would assume that removes the voice command feature which would be the whole point of using it lol I’m open to alternative methods than just normal integration, like “jail breaking” the echo

My 5 year old has his own profile in Plex. He's in the older kid group. Some movies that are not appropriate show up in his library. Is there a way to remove those titles from his library without removing them from all libraries?

Thanks for reading

For all the benefits Plex has, it keeps some things overly complicated it seems to me. Every other day when I try to play a movie on my LG C2 I am greeted with a message that content is Dolby Vision and I need to transcode it. Currently it happened with The.Batman.2022.2160p.BluRay.REMUX.HEVC.DTS-HD.MA.TrueHD.7.1.Atmos-FGT.mkv I am no expert there are lots of abbreviations in this file, but it's .mkv and it's Dolby Vision also. I did google this issue and I saw some stuff like I need to convert it to .mp4 but I need to be careful what profile it is because there are some DV profiles 5,6,7,8 which I don't even know what they mean or alternatively I can open from my TV the Windows media server and click on the file, and it will start playing without any remarks. Why a simple windows media server which everyone hates can do what the mighty Plex can not?

Hi there.

Plex keeps dying on me. Out of nowhere when watching a 480p MKV it started saying my network connection is too slow. So unless I want the video to start and stop to buffer, Plex had to automatically adjust the quality. 1080p or 4K content won't work at all anymore.

Nothing in my setup or network usage has change. Just the show I've been watching on my TV and the Laptop in order to keep my Server running.I have the following setup:

Current version of Plex and Plex server installed on a Windows 11 Laptop -> Plex gets access to media folders (mkv files) which are stored on my HDD which is connected to my Laptop via USB 3.0 -> Laptop runs while streaming to my Apple TV. Laptop and Apple TV are both in the same network. No VPN running.

I've tried restarting everything, nothing helped. The only thing which temporarily helped was creating a new Plex account and use that one for streaming. After 5-6 hours of watching my TV show the problems started again. Network speed too slow, video needed to buffer unless I let Plex adjust quality which ends up looking like ass.

I have no idea what causes this. It's weird how this is an issue which starts to appear after a certain time watching and then doesn't go away.

Yes, another post about that but I am desperate, read many posts and nothing worked for me.

Many posts are about TV app or browsers, but I am trying to use app on W11 and couldn't find working solution.

I tried turning on and off hardware decoding, reinstalling both Plex apps (Plex and Plex media server), turning off/on FXAA in Nvidia settings, updating the app, nothing works, losing faith this will ever work, and it worked in the past.

If you have any tips, please share them, not what to do but also how, much appreciated.

Hi all,

I've been running Plex on Unraid successfully for quite some time.

I had an XML error yesterday (I don't recall what it was) but while doing some troubleshooting after restarting and not being able to view any movies/music, one of the options was to delete the preferences.xml and have it rebuild. That's where all the problems started. It went through what I would consider the default setup, however, it tells me there was an error claiming my server. I go to the settings / general tab and click the "Claim server" button but nothing happens. I also tried to go to plex.tv/claim to get a new claim key, as I then read it generates a new one. That brings up the plex logo with just a blank box. I have tried signing out and signing back in but that has not helped either.

At this point I'm not really sure where to go! I would like to keep watch history / user base in-tact which is why I haven't done a complete reinstall. Any ideas?

Hey everyone,

As the title says, is there a setting to stop Plex from automatically updating and changing the posters for my movies and TV shows? I understand this happens when Plex updates the metadata, but I’d like to keep my posters intact while still allowing other metadata to refresh.

Is there a way to disable just the poster updates without stopping all metadata updates?

Thanks in advance for any help!

So i have an old gaming pc I no longer use and I realize the components may be overkill for just a plex server but I figure id put it to some use. Currently it has a 3060ti with an intel i7-10700k and 32gb of ddr4 3200mhz ram with an 800 watt power supply. My only real question is when it comes to storage, does it matter the type of storage I use? I.E HDD/SATA/M.2? Or any cheap high capacity HDD will do just fine? I was considering a NAS to store the files on but I figured maybe itd be easier and cheaper to just get more storage for the PC. Any information and helo is much appreciated sorry for the noob question.

Edit: Another question is would a DAS be a good option as opposed to a NAS? they seem to be much cheaper and im gonna be running the server on the computer so im not sure spending the money on a NAS is worth it or would simply putting storage in the PC just be the best choice.

I have a Plex server running on an old Windows PC. It has a small SSD for the operating system/etc, and an 18 TB NAS drive for the media storage. This has been great but I am approaching capacity, and unfortunately, there is not an additional bay.

I was considering changing the whole thing and getting a NAS that can run Plex natively but with everything set-up and functioning (including Tautulli) I really just want some more space and would rather not have to deal with setting it all up again.

Is a NAS still the right way to go or is it overkill? I could add an external drive but would that pose too much of a speed bottleneck?

Also, if I do get a NAS, would you recommend moving my existing media drive into the NAS or leaving it in the PC?

Thanks for the help!

Hi everyone, so i have a problem that i can't seem to figure out an answer to.

I watch plex on my samsung tv (yes on the smart tv app on tizen i know it's not good at all but for now its all i have).

The logs show my device is recognized as Tizen (TV 2024) and then associate the Generic profile to it (which transcode everything even though my tv can read the files). So i triend to tweak existing 'Samsung Tizen.xml' profile to change to device name to mine but nothing works it still associates it to Generic Profile.

Maybe you guys can help me with that?

Thanks a lot !

I have a database file (com.plexapp.plugins.library.db) that is very large, 137 Gb. It is running as a docker on Unraid. It seems to be growing bigger and bigger. I often get issues with Plex not responding to the database being busy. I ran this process to check the integrity of the database:

./"Plex SQLite" "/mnt/user/appdata/PlexMediaServer/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db" "PRAGMA integrity\_check"

[Based on this post] (https://old.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/z7i4va/repair\_a\_corrupted\_database\_on\_unraid\_updated/)

...but after hours of running, it said "ok".

When starting plex, I get this message when I open up the webui:

<Response code="503" title="Maintenance" status="Plex Media Server is currently running database migrations."/>

Any thoughts on what I can do to fix this?

Hey all,

I've been enjoying building a plex media server the last few years. In general at home it has been very stable, but there are a few instances where it's less intuitive or reliable than Netflix, and I want to get it as close as I can to just working all the time.

Some questions I would love straight forward advice on...

• I've read that there's a way to precode file adjustments to adapt files to stream on lower data or lower rez spaces like phones. What is the best way to blanket optimize all files and maybe curate out bad ones? If a file has multiple pre encoded versions for different connection speeds and displays, does that double/triple the amount of storage they take up?

• I'm generally happy making themed folders to organize television into 5-6 different spaces (comedy, drama, cartoons, etc) and that's very browsable, but I find for movies I have too many genres and plex doesn't love folders in folders in folders... any advice on how to best organize lots of movies in a way that makes them easy to browse in plex?

• I would ideally like to share these with other plex family members in other houses. What's the best way to do this? I added a family member to my 'friends' list but that just seems to show them what I'm watching, it doesn't make my files accessible to them and vice versa.

I gues that all, but if anyone has other general advice on making plex as stable and reliable as possible I appreciate it, I get a little frustrated every time it occazionallu struggles to load a file that's located on the network when streaming/internet are working fine.

Thanks!

So I'm gonna move my Plex server off of my cheap nas that struggles with transcoding on to my gaming pc while still using the nas to store the media. In a few months I'm gonna swap the pc out for a beelink but until then will having my gaming pc all the time harm it, or do I have to make sure to turn it off?

No duplicates. I've used the Webtools Findmedia tool and got: \"Perfect! All media files are present in the database.\" Gone to the directory and ran \" find . -type d -empty\" and got nothing. Gone through a list of files to check naming convention and I use the S--E-- as per the knowledge base. What other option can you think might help? This should not be such a pain.

Please help me decide if I should run Plex media server on Unraid or Docker. In my knowledge if I install unraid I won't be able to install any other OS at the same time since it runs from a bootable flash drive. Which means I cannot install the arr apps. Also I'm thinking of getting an nvme dedicated for cache/metadata. How much space do you think would be decent?

Hi, as above really. How do I take my approx 35tb collection over 40+ external drives (like Seagate/WD etc.) and host them all on a Plex server - various file types but mostly AC3/MKV 1080p/4K movies. Not very tech savvy so can you explain what equipment I would need to buy and how to get it so I can access my entire collection via Plex without plugging and unplugging various drives all the time. I think I need an NAS but not even sure what those are tbh even after trying to research it.

https://preview.redd.it/vpmmjx9lr00e1.png?width=1360&format=png&auto=webp&s=e895ce77d1918a45eff4e11d8b668e4ddb78aa06

I'm assuming it's a typo since doing a search and asking Copilot came up with nothing.

If this breaks rule #2 then remove this. Thank you.

Edit: I changed the name of the file from "Deadpool Wolverine" to "Deadpool and Wolverine" which corrected this issue.