Plex "There was a problem playing this item"


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I am having trouble playing certain files on my plex server. Diagnostic files are attached. This is happening with specific files.  From what I can tell it isn't a transcoding issue, as other files are being transcoded just fine, and the files in question aren't corrupted because I'm able to play them in VLC media player.

 

As a little background, I've been having some intermittent stability issues with my server. It would crash in the middle of the night and the mover script would never get run.  The stability issues have been resolved and I've manually run the mover script to clear my cache of media files that I put on there that hadn't been automatically moved over.

My observation is that the only files that are having troubles are ones I would have expected to be on the cache and moved by the mover script.  My plex media folders are pointing to a plex user share, not the cache or physical disks respectively.

Things I have tried to troubleshoot:

  • Change transcoding location to multiple places
  • removed unplayable files from user share, deleted trash in plex, readded them to usershare and retreived metadata.
  • Proper unraid reboot
  • restart docker several times
  • isolated plex docker so no other dockers were running (I was thinking maybe there was a possible deadlock or race condition)
  • confirmed this isn't a file type issue, unplayable files are mkv's, but other mkv files play fine.

 

Again I believe i have narrowed this down to data that used to exist on the cache drive but is now on the array.  However, like i said Plex is pointing to the user share, not the physical disks themselves so I don't know how this would be a problem.

These files were playable prior to using the mover script.  If anyone could give me an idea of something to troubleshoot that I might've overlooked, that would be great. 

 

-Harry


 

itachi-diagnostics-20170427-1456.zip

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6 minutes ago, Zonediver said:

I think, that this is not unRAID related so you should ask at the Plex Forum.

It might be a problem with your clients.

 

I am fairly certain this is an issue with unraid and not plex, as I haven't been experiencing issues until I ran the mover script on unraid.

 

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1 minute ago, Zonediver said:

Then its maybe a problem with your Cache-Drive, but unraid has nothing to do with Plex.

 

I understand that, but unraid is at fault that the files cannot be read, not plex.  I doubt it is a problem with the cache drive.  If it was, nothing would be readable.  I don't think pointing the blame at plex and say go ask on their forums will solve the issue.  These problems are a result of running the mover script and the media moving. Which plex has nothing to do with.  If I posted on their forums they would tell me to ask here.

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7 minutes ago, Zonediver said:

Also good would be a complete Hardware-List of your Sys and all installed Dockers.

 

As stated in the post, other dockers should be irrelevant (Please see steps I've troubleshooted already). As I've shut down all dockers and isolated just the plex docker to eliminate the possibility that it could be an issue with a conflicting docker.

 

But nonetheless I am desperate for support so here are my dockers:
Plexpy

Krusader

Deluge

Plex

Hardware List:
Processor: Ryzen 1700

Mobo: Asus Prime B350

16gb 2400mhz ram

3 4tb WD Red

2 Crucial Mx300 250gb SSD's (JBOD Cache array)

Edited by harryt04
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1 minute ago, Zonediver said:

Ah, a Ryzen - there are several posts about problems with this new hardware. Possible that this is the Problem.

 

... I'm beginning to wonder if you read my OP all the way through? As I said in OP, I was having stability issues with my rig which have been resolved as a result of following suggestions found on the forum pages related to Ryzen.

I refuse to accept that this is ryzen related.  As I've said multiple times, this hasn't been an issue until I ran the mover script.  Everything plex related was FINE before this happened.  This isn't an issue with my processor.

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25 minutes ago, harryt04 said:

As stated in the post, other dockers should be irrelevant (Please see steps I've troubleshooted already). As I've shut down all dockers and isolated just the plex docker to eliminate the possibility that it could be an issue with a conflicting docker.

Then an appropriate place to post would be the Plex Docker support thread for whichever version you're using.  Also post your docker run command and any logs.  

Edited by CHBMB
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Once upon a time (2 weeks ago) plex decided to stop playing movies on my ps3. Still worked fine on my iPhone and on the Roku. Just decided it hated my ps3. Would tell me "there was a problem playing this item." 

 

So I deleted the docker and the image, and then reinstalled it. Same problem. 

 

So I deleted the docker and the image again, and then reinstalled it. Same problem. 

 

So I deleted the docker and image again. Then I went into the app data folder and deleted the plex file there. I then reinstalled plex.

 

All was then fine.

 

 

 

 

Plex may have issues with newly added items. Not sure why. But i'm also not sure why it just deiced to no longer work with my ps3.

 

You have a few errors in your system  log but no docker log since these are from a fresh boot (including an unclean shutdown.) Since I don't own a ryzen I don't know if your errors are typical of the processor or not. 

 

Before considering nuking plex completely (docker/image/app data) and reinstalling, copy a movie directly to the array w/out the cache. If you still have a problem, then you know it has nothing to do with cache and has something to do with newly added media. If you don't have a problem, then you know it is somehow related to how the files is handled on the cache drive/moved to the array.

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, CHBMB said:

Then an appropriate place to post would be the Plex Docker support thread for whichever version you're using.  Also post your docker run command and any logs.  

 

For some reason I can't post to the docker thread. it is grayed out and won't let me. (see screenshot).  I'm happy to post any logs if you tell me how to obtain them (I'm new to unraid.)

Capture.PNG

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4 minutes ago, 1812 said:

 

Before considering nuking plex completely (docker/image/app data) and reinstalling, copy a movie directly to the array w/out the cache. If you still have a problem, then you know it has nothing to do with cache and has something to do with newly added media. If you don't have a problem, then you know it is somehow related to how the files is handled on the cache drive/moved to the array.

 

 

 

 

I will try this and let you know what I find. Thanks.

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2 minutes ago, harryt04 said:

 

For some reason I can't post to the docker thread. it is grayed out and won't let me. (see screenshot).  I'm happy to post any logs if you tell me how to obtain them (I'm new to unraid.)

Capture.PNG

 

Post in the correct Plex support thread, not create a new thread. Only developers can post a new thread there.

  • Upvote 1
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Mover just moves files from one drive to another. If unRAID can't handle that, then there are major problems with the platform :0 I really don't expect you'll find a problem here as this is a core functionality of unRAID.


If you Google "plex there was a problem playing this item", there a lot of results. And they are not specific to unraid...

 

Apparently multiple people solved it by removing old devices from their account. Seems kind of random, but here you go:
  https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/113970/there-was-a-problem-playing-this-item-error 

 

This one points to an issue running out of space in the transcoder directory. I'm not sure which Plex docker you are using or how you have it configured, but if you are trying to transcode in RAM this could definitely be an issue:
  https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/206281/there-was-a-problem-playing-this-item 

 

There are other possibilities, but rather than copy them here I'll let you do your own search :)

 

I'd also recommend looking for errors in your Plex log, and Googling those.


One other thought... since your system was crashing a lot it is possible that your Plex database is corrupt. Plex provides instructions for fixing that here:
  https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201100678-Repair-a-Corrupt-Database

Although since your build is fairly new you probably don't have too much custom data in your database yet, so I'd just delete your appdata/plex directory and start fresh.

 

Hopefully you'll be able to get past this and start enjoying your system :)

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Hello everyone.  Thanks for the replies.  Sorry this thread was posted in the wrong place. I followed what the above gentleman tried, and deleted my plex docker, along with the appdata and config files.  This was a last resort for me as I had to recreate my libraries and customize all of the posters and artwork and stuff.  However, this completely resolved my issue. I have tried downloading content to the cache drive, watched it there, then ran the mover script and watched it from the array no problem.  Not sure what the initial issue was, but it has been resolved as a result of reinstalling plex.

 

-Harry

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8 hours ago, harryt04 said:

Hello everyone.  Thanks for the replies.  Sorry this thread was posted in the wrong place. I followed what the above gentleman tried, and deleted my plex docker, along with the appdata and config files.  This was a last resort for me as I had to recreate my libraries and customize all of the posters and artwork and stuff.  However, this completely resolved my issue. I have tried downloading content to the cache drive, watched it there, then ran the mover script and watched it from the array no problem.  Not sure what the initial issue was, but it has been resolved as a result of reinstalling plex.

 

-Harry

 

Yeah, I was never sure why mine was messed up. But sometimes a scorched earth policy really does work. It's sort of like having to reinstall windows to "fix" it.

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