DVR deleting media due to poorly implemented settings

[rhinoroo]

Server Version#: 1.19.5.3006
Player Version#: 4.36.1
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun CONNECT & QUATRO

I have been noticing TV show media being deleted during scheduled maintenance and was unable to track the issue down until recently.

I do understand that media deletion can span libraries (thought I did not at first.) However, I have separate libraries setup for TV shows not acquired through Plex (TV Shows) and one dedicated to recorded shows (TV DVR). I use a separate, server based, scheduled task that looks at ONLY the TV DVR library and deletes *.ts shows after x many days. I did this to resolve issues with media getting deleted on TV Shows library due to DVR recording settings I had initially setup. Afterwards, I modified all recordings to point to the new library (TV DVR) with a strict no deletion rule setup.

The only problem… episodes were still being deleted.

“The DVR & recording features in Plex are like cockroaches… you can try to eliminate them but you know they are never REALLY gone!”

The FIX: After months of dealing with this problem and recreation of scheduled recordings, etc. I realized that the settings from the previous library (TV Shows) are still maintained in the individual recording options. If I reselected the TV Shows library the settings for deletion were still selected even though I had modified the library that it points to. This resulted in media being deleted for recordings that were setup and not even pointed to the old library. Only after I went in and changed the library to the old one (TV Shows) and then modified the delete settings and THEN changed the library back to the new one (TV DVR) did media stop getting deleted nightly.

TL;DR: DVR recording/deleting options do not go away because a different library is selected, ensure that your preferred options are set at EVERY library level available for recordings because it will run through each option regardless if it is in use.

BTW: Please fix this problem… it is dumb and a TERRIBLE implementation of this ‘feature’ that is not intuitive or even logical.

P.S. - Still love ya Plex… but this one was aggravating as hell!

[sa2000]

Are you referring to these options

and the other related option

These are not library options but recording options irrespective of what library the recordings go into.

Setting Up Recordings | Plex Support

[rhinoroo]

@sa2000 Thanks for the reply. I am referring to those options specifically. The issue comes in when I first setup recordings using my standard TV Shows library. After I realized the affects of deletion on ALL related media in the library for that show, I decided to move recordings to their own library for ease of maintenance. Once I switched the library to the new one and changed the settings to Never delete it was still deleting media. After I switched the library back on the recording and looked at the settings it was still showing that it was deleting media. ONLY after I changed the old library setting to Never did media stop getting deleted. Feel free to test yourself but I can replicate this behavior rather easily. Setup a recording using one library and create delete settings and then change that library to a new one with different settings. When you switch the library back you will see the that old settings persist.