DVR Misses nearly half of the scheduled recordings

[Mike_Mike]

Server Version#: 4.69.1
Player Version#: Multiple
Tuner Make/Model: HDHomeRun Quatro - HDHR5-4US
Guide/Lineup name:
Using XMLTV?: No
Channel number/Name: Multiple

Not sure what to do… I set/rest many recordings multiple times and close to half just don’t record. They show they are going to record in the grid-guide but they don’t show in the DVR Schedule list. On the Recording Priority List many say ‘No Future Airings’.

I have tried setting them to This Episode/All Episodes New Airings Only/New and Repeat Airings. Doesn’t seem to matter.

I thought maybe it was guide trouble but again - it does show in the grid guide that the show is going to record so it must know it is there right?

Any hope of making this work?

Thanks.

[pshanew]

Please provide a specific example and show screenshots of the basic recording configuration and the DVR Schedule tab where it should appear.

[Mike_Mike]

See screen shots below. This is just one example on one recording but there multiple others on different channels, days and times.

I’ve tried deleting and recreating multiple times. Seems somewhat random on if the show shows up on the DVR Scheduler.

Notice on this one the ‘Priority’ list shows the next Goldbergs isn’t until March 16th but the guide shows it on the 9th. Sometimes something that is on multiple times - like The Tonight Show - will say ‘No Future Airings’ and not record anything even when the guide shows it is set to record every night.

[hokierulz]

Some thoughts on how Plex handles recording just to see if there are any insights…

One scenario that can cause “missed recordings” to happen is if you have (or for some reason Plex thinks you have) a particular episode already in your library, then it will skip re-recording that episode.

You may also want to verify that Plex is updating your guide data because if there are issues with the EPG data it can also cause this issue. For example, when I look at “The Tonight Show” on my Plex schedule right now only episodes up through 3/11 have season and episode numbers. After that date episodes have a generic description of The Tonight Show and a date, and Plex isn’t showing that those will record. I would expect as we get closer to those air dates that the EPG will update with actual season/episode numbers.

When Plex shows a red multiple dot record symbol on the Gride Guide, it only means that a series recording is associated with that show. Unfortunately it doesn’t mean that a particular episode is actually going to record - only the “DVR Schedule” tells you what specific episodes are going to record. It’s a Plex GUI quirky that often causes confusion.

[Mike_Mike]

Ah, thank you, that’s very helpful. I’ll check to see if that could be part of the problem when I get back to my computer. Maybe that episode in my example is already recorded…

Maybe there is a guide problem in there also. It didn’t record any of the tonight shows last week at all… Others shows recorded fine. Is there a way to troubleshoot the guide maybe?

Is there not a history kind of thing like in every other DVR I’ve used where it will give the reason something didn’t record?

Thanks again for your help!

[hokierulz]

If a show was scheduled to record, but then has an issue, then it will show with an “!” icon in the DVR schedule. As far as I know the only way to see why an episode isn’t scheduled to record is to look at debug level logs in the “Plex Media Server.log” series. (Note that when you export the log zip from the Plex web GUI that Plex keeps rolling logs so you have some history. For example, “Plex Media Server.1.log”, “Plex Media Server.2.log”.

As an example, I set a recording for only new airings of “I Can See Your Voice” and then immediate exported my logs. There is a lot of information in the logs, but here is where it made the decision for which episodes to record based on which were reruns versus new:

Mar 07, 2022 05:48:02.104 [0x7f131caeab38] DEBUG - Subscription: We want a premiere, and 'I Can See Your Voice - E7 - Episode 7: Rachel Platten, Robin Thicke, Raven Symone, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Houghton' is an old airing, ignoring.
Mar 07, 2022 05:48:02.104 [0x7f131caeab38] DEBUG - Subscription: We want a premiere, and 'I Can See Your Voice - E8 - Episode 8: Shaggy, Margaret Cho, Rachel Harris, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Houghton' is an old airing, ignoring.
Mar 07, 2022 05:48:02.104 [0x7f131caeab38] DEBUG - Subscription: No match in the library for 'I Can See Your Voice - E10 - Episode 10: Kandi Burruss, Vanessa Lachey, Jim Jefferies, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Houghton', grabbing.

And then I recreated my recording for Blue Bloods for new and repeat episodes, and then downloaded logs and you can see where it decided not to record some episodes because I already have them. Man, seems like the log entry should have the season number…

Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E11 - Disrupted'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E12 - Milestones'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E13 - Ripple Effect'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E14 - My Brothers Keeper'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E15 - Blues'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.708 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: We found a match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E16 - Past Tense'
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.709 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: No match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E11 - Back in the Day', grabbing.
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.709 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: No match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E12 - Cursed', grabbing.
Mar 07, 2022 15:19:47.709 [0x7f131b341b38] DEBUG - Subscription: No match in the library for 'Blue Bloods - E13 - Stomping Grounds', grabbing.

I know you can see a guide refresh happen in the logs as well - it usually happens overnight, but it seems like there should be a better way to see when the guide last refreshed…

Let me know if this creates more questions!

[Mike_Mike]

Great - I’ll play around with that and see if I can find anything.

Thank you!