Can't select drive for library

[Dan.Cathers]

OS: Linux Mint Cinnamon 19.2
Server Version#: 1.16.5.1554

I just blasted Windows 7 and loaded Linux Mint on my laptop to turn it into a Plex server. I know practically nothing about Linux, so I may use wrong terms describing things.

My laptop has the OS loaded on a small mSATA drive that is encrypted. I also have an unencrypted 2 TB internal SATA drive named Plex_Media_2TB where I have stored all my media files. I have attempted to add Libraries for Movies, Photos, and Other Videos.

From the Home screen of the Player, I click on Movies and it says there are no items in the library. Going to Manage \ Libraries and clicking to Edit the Movies library, then clicking Add folders, I see that the library is currently pointed to /media/dan/Plex_Media_2TB.

There seems to be no way of pointing a Library to a folder that does not have the /media/dan/ prefix. I have a feeling this is the problem, since Plex_Media_2TB is a drive, not a subfolder. Maybe this is some strange way for displaying a Linux drive, but I don’t see anything like that when I look at the drive using Disks from the OS.

What I want to do is point the Movies Library to the Movies folder on my internal drive name Plex_Media_2TB. Is that possible? I don’t see a way…

Thanks,
Dan

[ChuckPa]

This will help you get your disks out of /media/dan (where user plex is blocked by the file manager)

Using EXT, NTFS, or other format drives (internal or external) on Linux

This document is of primary interest to anyone who has connected USB drives or has media on other internal drives but user plex can’t access it due to Linux’s default security mechanisms. WARNING: This procedure will not work for SNAP, Docker or other container mechanisms unless expressly handled within the confines of the container. This procedure is intended for use with the dpkg package. We will walk through the steps needed to add these external USB hard drives and internal hard drives…

[Dan.Cathers]

Thanks, that did the trick. I now see that I have a ton of work restructuring my media files so that they are not a garbled mess in the UI, but that is a different issue.

This post also gave me some ideas why my computer may be freezing after the screen locks from inactivity (nothing related to Plex). The disk I saved a Timeshift backup to is an encrypted external drive and the permissions are probably hosing the system when it locks.

Cheers,
Dan

[ChuckPa]

If you have a lot of restructuring to do, a tool we find extremely helpful is FileBot.

It will turn hours of manual work into minutes and verify you have perfect naming as it does it.

IMHO, it’s worth the small yearly subscription.