I see one of your looping problems.
Aug 12, 2017 15:13:52.862 [0x2b24b55bd7c0] DEBUG - Adding subdirectory for scanner: /DVR/.grab
I have also filed a bug report.
I would like you to create the file /DVR/.plexignore
In it put
.grab
Let’s confirm this is a temporary work around.
@ChuckPA said:
I see one of your looping problems.Aug 12, 2017 15:13:52.862 [0x2b24b55bd7c0] DEBUG - Adding subdirectory for scanner: /DVR/.grabI have also filed a bug report.
I would like you to create the file
/DVR/.plexignoreIn it put
.grabLet’s confirm this is a temporary work around.
file created with .grab as the contents of the file. but most of the stuff that loops isn’t in /DVR (I usually move them to /TV Shows/ on Sunday)
do I need to restart plex when I add it? I created the file about 2 minutes ago and am still seeing Bobby’s World looping. specifically episodes (attached logs) that do not have a description in thetvdb or themoviedb for metadata. these are also not in /DVR/ and are instead in /TV Shows
Thank you… Now i have two files for you to examine.
Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:25.113 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38645 (Chariots of Bobby) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/7.xml
and
Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.074 [0x2ac0aaa00700] DEBUG - Refreshing metadata for 'Bobby's Birthday Bash' (agent: )
Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.166 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38646 (Bobby's Birthday Bash) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/8.xml
Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.167 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38646 (Bobby's Birthday Bash) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/8.xml
What are those filenames please? Notice the agent field for “Bobby’s Birthday Bash” is blank. This means it is not matching any of the online sources.
If the files are MP4 or AVI (can’t see that here in the logs anymore) they need to be checked for embedded metadata which is a contradictory / incomplete name
@ChuckPa said:
Thank you… Now i have two files for you to examine.Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:25.113 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38645 (Chariots of Bobby) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/7.xmland
Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.074 [0x2ac0aaa00700] DEBUG - Refreshing metadata for 'Bobby's Birthday Bash' (agent: ) Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.166 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38646 (Bobby's Birthday Bash) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/8.xml Plex Media Server.3.log:Aug 12, 2017 17:27:56.167 [0x2ac0b3401700] DEBUG - Item 38646 (Bobby's Birthday Bash) Scanning metadata graphic elements in XML file seasons/2/episodes/8.xmlWhat are those filenames please? Notice the agent field for “Bobby’s Birthday Bash” is blank. This means it is not matching any of the online sources.
If the files are MP4 or AVI (can’t see that here in the logs anymore) they need to be checked for embedded metadata which is a contradictory / incomplete name
They are MP4 files
But I’m not able to see any embedded metadata (when going to file-properties)
Unless I need to look for metadata in a different way?
These specific episodes even have descriptions for the metadata (whereas other bobby’s world episodes do not because thetvdb/themoviedb doesn’t have anything for them).
What kind of device or which kind of software is hosting this file share? \\TOWER
Have you changed the order of meta data agents from their default like this:
Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB
In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents.
Repeat the same under
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase
Have you ever tried to Plex Dance this whole tv show?
Are you using the Plex DVR functions?
If so, are you recording into this very library or do you have a separate tv show library for the DVR stuff? (recommended)
@OttoKerner said:
What kind of device or which kind of software is hosting this file share?\\TOWER
TOWER is the name of my unRAID box. Plex Media Server is being run on a Docker image within unRAID
Have you changed the order of meta data agents from their default like this:
Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB
In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents.
Repeat the same under
Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheMovieDatabase
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - Plex Movie
+
Settings - Server - Agents - Movies - TheMovieDatabase
This is how my agents page looks like for TV Shows. . .
(and the attached image)
Have you ever tried to Plex Dance this whole tv show?
I have not done the plex dance for this particular show. I did for another because It was requested before. I haven’t seen a change because this show isn’t the only one that loops like that. Earlier I saw my Looney Tunes show loop like this (and most of those are mkv files)
Are you using the Plex DVR functions?
If so, are you recording into this very library or do you have a separate tv show library for the DVR stuff? (recommended)
I am using Plex DVR, but not for this particular show. I am recording DVR shows into the /DVR library and then on sundays I move them into the TV Shows library after MCEBuddy removes commercials
Of the many eyes we have looking at this for you, may we see the Plex XML for one of the Bobby’s world episodes?
Also, Given you’re using the subtitles agent (DEV), if you temporarily disable it, restart PMS, does scanning stop?
@ChuckPA said:
Of the many eyes we have looking at this for you, may we see the Plex XML for one of the Bobby’s world episodes?Also, Given you’re using the subtitles agent (DEV), if you temporarily disable it, restart PMS, does scanning stop?
subtitles disabled for TVDB (even though bobby’s world is set to themoviedb because they have more metadata on the show and it still looped when matching it with TVDB) and restarted. will watch it over the next hour or two. I didn’t have subtitled enabled for the movie database with tv shows
the attached file is the XML file for - /TV/Bobby’s World/Season 02/Bobby’s World - S02E08 - Bobby’s Birthday Bash SDTV.mp4
@Endda said:
subtitles disabled for TVDB (even though bobby’s world is set to themoviedb because they have more metadata on the show
if you have matched Bobbys World to TMDB, then you must of course disable SubZero under
Shows - TheMovieDatabase
as well.
@OttoKerner said:
@Endda said:
subtitles disabled for TVDB (even though bobby’s world is set to themoviedb because they have more metadata on the showif you have matched Bobbys World to TMDB, then you must of course disable SubZero under
Shows - TheMovieDatabase
as well.
It’s matched to themoviedatabase right now, but I have disabled the subtitles agent for all show tv databases (tvdb and moviedb) and restarted PMS. monitoring the alerts status page now while I watch a movie
@ChuckPA said:
Also, Given you’re using the subtitles agent (DEV), if you temporarily disable it, restart PMS, does scanning stop?
I think that may have been the culprit of bobby’s world looping! Which to me is still weird because that wasn’t enabled on themoviedb agent and that is what I had matched the show to. Plus I saw movies looping yesterday and they don’t have that subtitle agent enabled either. I did this as mentioned last night and it remained very quiet with /DVD being scanned every 5 minutes (not downloading metadata though). I think this is because I had the “Update my library automatically” option on but the partial disabled and because I was actively recording something with Plex DVR.
So I went and disabled Update my library automatically and enabled partial instead. This in combination with the .plexignore thing I was thinking/hoping would mean that it would scan less. And it stopped that 5 minute repeated scan immediately. The only thing that I saw in the alerts activity tab from last night was the regular updating of my library from scheduled tasks that happens overnight (at least that is what I assume since I have that scheduled to happen between 10PM and 4AM and it started at 10:30PM).
But that combination worked flawlessly and only updated the library when a recording was completed and moved out of .grab.
It’s still too early to tell though if it’s been completely resolved since I have thought this issue was fixed a few times already only for it to come back 24-48 hours. I will be keeping my eye on it throughout the day (lazy Sunday!) and will update the thread of my findings (and more logs if I see something loop again).
I have also submitted a request to engineering to have and hidden / dotted (e.g. .grab) subdirectories excluded for update notification.
By not enabling a trigger on these directories, the only time PMS will see anything in them is when a periodic scan is enabled.
@ChuckPA said:
I have also submitted a request to engineering to have and hidden / dotted (e.g..grab) subdirectories excluded for update notification.
By not enabling a trigger on these directories, the only time PMS will see anything in them is when a periodic scan is enabled.
That’s great news. I have been watching it for 2 days and I am 90% confident the issue is resolved. The activity alerts page is no longer looping metadata download requests, but I do see this 5 minute loop when something is being recorded on Plex DVR
12:14pm Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
12:14pm Scanning the “TV Shows” section
12:09pm Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
12:09pm Scanning the “TV Shows” section
12:04pm Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
12:04pm Scanning the “TV Shows” section
12:04pm Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
12:04pm Scanning the “TV Shows” section
Likely normal as it’s actively watching to see if something new has been added. This is with both Update my library automatically and Run a partial scan when changes are detected options selected in Settings → Server → Library.
I’m not really worried about this as I think it’s normal and it’s not downloading metadata (that’s the key part), and it goes away when I’m not recording with Plex DVR (I have the .plexignore file still in place).
I know you recommended not to use the partial scan option with Plex DVR. But with only the update my library option enabled, it would go through my entire library (which is huge) when something new was added and that seemed excessive.
So I’m guessing the culprit was that subtitle agent that I had? subzero or whatever. as that seems to be the only thing I disabled over the weekend that I hadn’t tried in the past. which is still weird considering how I had it setup (for tvdb only and not moviedb even though bobby’s world was matched with moviedb). could be a library agent setting though (which ignores what agent I matched it with).
either way, HUUUUUUUUUUGE thanks to you @ChuckPA for the help as you’ve been working with me for 2 months on this thing. At least we figured out what it was (again, 90% sure it’s completely fixed) which I guess made the subzero agent loop if it didn’t detect something? I dunno. And that we found a fix for Plex DVR and the .grab folder.
Again, thanks a ton Chuck and you too @OttoKerner (and anyone else on the team looking through my logs these last two months)
My library is modest but understand the discomfort.
[chuck@lizum Eagles - Desperado.123]$ find /vie/movies* /vie/tv* -type f -print | wc -l
10424
[chuck@lizum Eagles - Desperado.124]$
This shows 10424 playable video files in the TV and Movies libraries… (only 16.8 TB online)
@ChuckPA said:
My library is modest but understand the discomfort.[chuck@lizum Eagles - Desperado.123]$ find /vie/movies* /vie/tv* -type f -print | wc -l 10424 [chuck@lizum Eagles - Desperado.124]$This shows 10424 playable video files in the TV and Movies libraries… (only 16.8 TB online)
I used to just deal with a few drives in a Drobo but after a couple of those died (ethernet port in one and a power port in another), I decided to go full NAS about it. So now I have a full tower Fractal Design Define XL R2 and have let my digital hoarding take control. Going from just the 4 drives I had in my Drobo to now 11 in the machine (1 is parity) with a full 44TB capacity (almost 38TB used)
Typing it out makes both ashamed and proud at the same time, lol. PlexPy says 1289 movies with 276 shows (20919 episodes). The library has been getting higher and higher ever since Plex DVR was released (which has saved me a ton of money).
Thanks again for the help. Let me know if there’s a way for me to donate/buy you a beer. It’s the least I can do
Dont be ashamed… UNLESS they are AVI, less than 10 Mbps video bit rate for movies, less than 5000 Mbps for episodes, or ANYTHING else you know you shouldn’t !!! 
LOL I true bit hoarder keeps ALL the bits and yes, 30-40-50 GB files are common. Quality over quantity is how I look at it. I’d rather enjoy the crisp edges in the video than watching motion blur.
I am quietly sitting here with 80 TB (Synology DS1815+ and the QNAP TVS-1282 i7-6700). The whole thing is on a 24 port HPE 1820 managed switch (it supports trunking needed for LACP and yes, I can pull 460 MB/sec (decimal) from the Syno)
You can relax., “You’re among friends here” hahahahahha
So I am seeing another looping metadata issue from a Plex DVR recording
7:11am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:11am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
7:11am Finished processing WWE SmackDown!
7:11am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:11am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
7:06am Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
7:06am Finished processing WWE SmackDown!
7:06am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:06am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
7:06am Finished processing WWE SmackDown!
7:06am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:06am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
7:01am Library scan complete: Extra information may still be downloading from the Internet
7:01am Finished processing WWE SmackDown!
7:01am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:01am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
7:01am Finished processing WWE SmackDown!
7:01am Downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown!
7:01am Scanning the “TV Shows” section
Every 5 minutes because it’s no longer called WWE SmackDown!. The proper name for it is WWE SmackDown Live (they changed names a few months back). Manually matching the show fixes the 5 minute loop (I just confirmed), but I don’t keep these weekly TV shows and tell Plex to delete the DVR’d episode 1 day after I watch it.
So then after I manually match it, then watch it a day or two later, it gets deleted and then next week it records the show again and tries downloading metadata for WWE SmackDown! instead of WWE SmackDown Live.
Still something I don’t think should happen (the looping on incorrectly matching a show), especially when it’s Plex DVR which is causing the loop to happen. . .but that’s just my opinion. Logs are included in case it helps
