Plex Media Server Version: 1.30.0.6442-7000 (On Synology NAS server)
Player Version: Apple TV 4, Plex App v8.12.1 (1)
NAS Hardware: Synology DiskStation DS418play
Synology DSM Version: DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 2
I cannot get Plex libraries to update from Apple TV. I just added a new TV show via the Finder copying files to the Synology NAS. Plex will not find the new files. The TV show file naming convention is what I’ve used successfully on previous seasons and episodes of TV shows: “North and South/Season 01/North and South S01E01.” When I select “Scan Library Files” on the Apple TV for TV Shows, nothing happens.
It’s weird because yesterday I added two new m4v movie files (copied from the Mac to the Synology NAS drives just fine and (I think) I scanned library files successfully.
Movie naming and TV naming are different formats.
You must be certain the TV show is named as per TheTVDB and Plex Naming rules/structure.
As stated above, file and directory permissions are vital on Synology (Linux based – Linux is very strict and MacOS doesn’t always write files so user PlexMediaServer can read them)
DEBUG server log files which capture a “Scan Files” action (from the browser) will show a great deal of information. (VERBOSE OFF please)
Thanks, Chuck. Well, this is embarrassing! I put the jpg file of the TV show artwork on the server. I just deleted that and moved the single m4v test file I created, rescanned the library, and it works. That was dumb! I haven’t worked with the system in over a year and, combined with the security changes, I forgot a lot and have to learn a lot of new material.
Re the naming convention, this one isn’t simple. The DVD set included eight DVDs. Several of the DVDs contain two episodes. Seven of the DVDs contain two episodes. One DVD contained one episode. That’s 15 episodes. The TVDB lists 15 episodes. I used MakeMKV to rip each DVD into a single file, so I have eight files.
Seems like I have two options:
Use either iMovie or QuickTime Player to split seven of the files into two files, each with one episode. Then I would have the 15 episode files.
Just put all the files into a single “Season 01” folder and name them sequentially, S01E01 to S01E8. They wouldn’t really be episodes because seven of the “Episodes” would contain two actual episodes. This isn’t elegant, but it’s simple. But it won’t comply with the TVDB Season & Episode names. Nor would it be truly accurate, but I wouldn’t mind that.
What do you think? How do others split a single ripped file into two?
UPDATE
I found a third option – use Handbrake to encode selected chapters. I found each real episode on the DVDs has 22 chapters. I can use Handbrake to encode Chapters 1-22 to a file, then encode Chapters 23-44 to a separate file.
Easy! Fortunately, I had only ripped the DVDs to .mkv files and had not encoded them with Handbrake yet.
This is the labor of love when ripping DVD box sets.
I’ve found it best to assign SxxExx in the filename as I rip it.
It’s an added step before I rip but then I know it’s right
As for several double episode files – SxxE01E02.ext works perfectly.
PMS will now know the file covers multiple episodes and it will align with TheTVDB.
I just used Handbrake to encode Chapters 1-22 into one file and 23-44 into a second file. That worked perfectly. So I now have a single file per episode.
There’s another problem. The system does not find the right artwork automatically. I was able to manually locate the artwork in Plex, but it only attached to the entire TV show. The individual files are picking up another piece of artwork, not the main art. The art being attached to the individual episodes is correct, but it’s a bland book cover. I’d rather the TV Show artwork propagate down to the individual show files.
I used to use iFlicks to change the artwork, but Plex is now overriding a preference I had previously set to use art included with the file.
I’m down to a small problem, but I’d like to fix the art. Ideas?
Thanks for your help tonight. I’ve just about got it.
Then there’s this weird problem. Looking at the Episodes in a Season, one episode has an automatically created still picture from the show and the other episode has a poorly cropped and scaled image from the Show artwork.
I am seeing this same art problem on other shows. Previously all my artwork was carefully curated and perfectly accurate. Now Plex has turned it into a mess.
UPDATE 2
OK, I went back to iFlicks and changed the artwork on the file from vertical format to horizontal format. That did the trick
How do I upload screenshots? I looked and looked for a way to upload images, but did not see it. I don’t see it right now!
It is a 17 episode tv show (not 44). It was over three seasons. The boxed DVD set has 8 DVDs; seven DVD have two shows and one has one show.
Each show has exactly 22 CHAPTERS. So there are 44 CHAPTERS on each DVD, 22 chapters per episode. (it gets confusing!)
Using Handbrake, I can rip a specific sequential group of chapters (which I didn’t realize until tonight thanks to a YouTube video). So I set up one rip for Chapters 1-22 and a second rip for Chapters 23-44. That way I get a single file for each episode.
Here are the seasons and episodes:
S01E02
S01E03
S01E04
S01E05
S01E06
S02E01
S02E02
S02E03
S02E04
S02E05
S02E06
S03E01
S03E02
S03E03
You earlier wrote:
I’ve found it best to assign SxxExx in the filename as I rip it. It’s an added step before I rip but then I know it’s right
As for several double episode files – SxxE01E02.ext works perfectly.
I’ve successfully used SxxExx protocol for years, but never knew that clever trick you described for double-episode files. I’ll give that a try! That would save one ripping step in Handbrake. After setting up the Handbrake rip for Ch 1-22, the parameters are carried over to the next rip for Ch 23-44 (I just need to adjust the new start/stop chapters and revise the saved file name before adding the file to the ripping queue).
