Films not showing up in Plex

[Cocksy]

Server Version#: 4.147.1
Player Version#: Web Browser on PC

Hi,

I’ve been adding films to my Plex library folder on my Unraid server for a long time, and recently I’ve noticed that some films aren’t appearing in the plex library, and I can’t work out why!

I thought I could be the naming - a lot of my films have folders which are incorrectly titles, according to the recommended formatted. However, most of the time this has just worked anyway, but rencently I’ve had some problems.

Having done a bit of digging, I wonder if there’s something corrupt in my Plex database, but I have no idea how to fix it. For example, I had the film 28 Days later in an incorrectly named folder, and it wasn’t showing in my plex library. I renamed the files and renamed the folder to the recommended format (using the FileBot app), then did the “Plex Dance”, but even thought the 2 film folders below are not in the films library ont he unraid server any more, when I load the library in plex, the 2 folders (the incorrectly named one and the correctly named one) both appear in the Plex folder view:

Note there is no “28 Days LAter” folder above.

Yet in Plex Folder view, there are 2 folders for 28 Days Later - neither of these are on my server any moore and the “Plex Dance”, along with multiple rescans, emply trash, and other attempts to reset the data hasn’t removed them.

Of note, I previously moved the library file from a PC / windows based server to my currnet unraid server, but that was about 4 years ago, and I have been succesfully adding films since then that work fine.

The actual file for 28 days later is an mp4 hevc x265 file and plays fine on my PC from the folder it’s currently in - I believe it should be Plex compatible.

What do I need to do to fix this issue? Do i need to completely restart the database for the films library? Is there a way to “trim” these old folders out? Is there a way to test and confirm that the file is compatible with Plex Server?

Any help very gratefully recevied!

[Cocksy]

I created a new temporary test library and moved a couple of films that weren’t appearing in the main plex library to it - they still don’t show up at all.

I also ran a “docker safe new perms” and that didn’t help either.

[ukbo0]

Hi Cocksy

The problem you have with films appearing in your Plex database is very similar to the problem I had with TV programmes, once entered they refused to appear in my Plex database. And all my shows and films are mp4 files but the problem only happened with TV shows.

I discovered that if I run my mp4 programme files through HandBrake, the resulting HB files (which are still mp4s) are all visible, playable and should be used instead of the original mp4 files.

If you are a first time HandBrake user then you may have to experiment with HB settings on a problematic file, to get the feel of HB, before committing your films to your Plex database.

Finally, I found that in most cases that HandBrake’s default settings (+ ticking the Web compatibility box) is all that is needed to get started. However, older non 1920 x 10xxp files will require extra tweaking of HBs controls.

You can learn about and download HB from here:

HandBrake: Open Source Video Transcoder

Hope this is helpful.

UK Bob

[dbirch]

Couple of points,

1. using handbrake wont matter, you can create fake files and plex will treat those as actual media (I use this trick often when users have issues with metadata and I am trying to recreate the issues).
2. I would check file permissions
3. check for duplicates listed in your library
4. If all else fails do the plex dance and provide the movie name and a copy of your server logs

[Cocksy]

Hi UK Bob,

Thanks - I’ve used handbrake before a couple of times, so will open it up and take a look. Whatdo I actually need to do to the files - completely re-encode them, or can i do something less intensive / quicker?

[Cocksy]

Hi @dbirch ,

Thanks for the tips - I’ll answer each one:

1. How / what should i do to create fake files, and what would this test / check / fix?
2. I’ve run the “Docker Safe New Perms” in Unraid and that didn’t help. I’m not an Unraid / Docker expert here, so not sure what else I should / could check and how I’d go about doing it? Any help appreciated.
3. Whilst I do have some duplicates (that are also unable to be fixed and some are showing similar issuesto this, even after deleting and renaming the files), the 28 Days Later is only copy / version of the gilm in my Plex.
4. I’ve done the plex dance on the 28 days later, but the folders that have been deleted still show up in the lsit of folders in Plex, even though they are not on my server any more! Can you help tell me which logs to provide / check, and I’ll get them up shortly.

Cocksy.

[dbirch]

1. This was meant as a response to @ukbo0, re-encoding isnt a solution to your issue.
2. What are the permissions for one of the files that plex cannot find?
3. This wasnt a comment about your file structure, in most cases humans dont have duplicate files. However with less than ideal file naming sometimes plex can parse file names which are similar but different as the same movie. See This article for details
4. The plex server log (yellow link) article provides step by step details on how to upload your server logs.

[FordGuy61]

@Cocksy

In addition to @dbirch’s comments…

If any of your files are MP4s, edit the library → Advanced → disable “prefer local metadata” and save changes Then re-scan the library and refresh metadata.

Many MP4s have incorrect embedded metadata (title, description, etc.). If Plex is configured to prefer embedded metadata, it can cause problems with correctly recognizing the media.

This applies only to MP4 files. Plex does not reach such info from MKVs.

Also consider using FileBot (or similar tools) to rename the rest of your movies. If you wish to keep the information such as resolution, place it in square brackets at the end of the file/folder name. Plex will then ignore it when matching the media files.

Example:

/Films
  /28 Years Later (2025) [other.stuff.here]
    /28 Years Later (2025) [other.stuff.here].mkv

[Cocksy]

Hi @FordGuy61

Thanks for the tip; I checked my libraries, and the “prefer local metadata” was already unticked.

I’m either going to use FileBot to rename all my files, or Radarr possibly; I’ve never user Radarr, so not quite sure whether it can work on my existing library, or only works on new files being added to the library.

[Cocksy]

1. OK - cheers!
2. I’m not sure - how do i check?
3. OK, thanks, makes sense - I definitely need to do a wholesale check of all the data and filenames, duplicates, etc! I need to find the right tool for me; FileBot seems a good place to start, but I’m not sure it’s 100% right! I’ll do some testing…!
4. Logs attached. Just had a very quick look, and there are definitely SQL errors in the scanner analysis 5 log; not sure on the detail / relevance though.
   1. The main server log also seems to show that it scans the “28 Days later” in the new temporary folder I set up, but I think something doesn’t quite work: “Sep 28, 2025 10:03:03.771 [22852056042296] ERROR - Exception assimilating media item in 28 Days Later: sqlite3_statement_backend::loadOne: database disk image is malformed”.

Any ideas?

Plex Media Server Logs_2025-09-28_15-09-24.zip (3.0 MB)

[dbirch]

@Cocksy

10:03:03.771 [22852056042296] ERROR - Exception assimilating media item in 28 Days Later: sqlite3_statement_backend::loadOne: database disk image is malformed

indicates database corruption, and is probably the primary reason you are having issues. I would recommend using GitHub - ChuckPa/DBRepair: Database repair utility for Plex Media Server databases to see if your database is fixable.

[Cocksy]

OK, thanks - I’ll try and give that a go. I’m not a command line expert when it comes to Unraid, so I’lll try not to mess anything up…!!

[Cocksy]

OK, so after it taking me a very long time to get the right commands to get the script into the docker and start it, I managed to get it to work!

It has come up with a database error, and the auto repair was unable to fix it:

I started a manual repair of the databases (option 5), but that didn’t work either (not surprising):

I can’t see what i need to do next, so I’ll start a discussion on the GitHub page, unless you have any ideas here?

[dbirch]

Try option 9. 9 - 'replace' - Replace current databases with newest usable backup copy (interactive).

Any chance you are willing to send me a copy of your two database files? Ive been working with ChuckPa for copies of database files that it cant auto repair.

[Cocksy]

Thanks, I will give optoin 9 a go now. I’m happy to send a copy of the databases - as long as you tell me how to do it! I started a discussion on the GitHub too: PMS Database is damaged, and can't be repaired. · ChuckPa/DBRepair · Discussion #247 · GitHub

[Cocksy]

Amazing - that seems to have worked:

Thank you. I’ll do an auto check to make sure, then I’ll restart the PMS and fingers crossed, some of these films will appear now!

[dbirch]

Given the last date of a successful backup there may be some data loss, as it was 5 months ago, but that should be minor custom metadata. I would suggest looking at your file naming and how you organize them but thats just a suggestion.

[Cocksy]

thanks - luckily I was away from my server for a long period, so there wasn’t many updates in that period.

However, I think I must have messed something up while I was trying to copy and run the DBRepair files, as I now can’t access the UI and the log page shows this:

I’ll see if I can find some the logs…. edit: logs attached.

Plex Logs.zip (2.6 MB)

[dbirch]

The last thing in your logs are the kill() command at the top of the screenshot

[Cocksy]

OK - I had to stop the docker as it wouldn’t open or do anything; I guess that was the kill command? So what on earth have I done so that it won’t open?!