Finding a misallocated file

Plex Media Server
,
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Server Version#: 1.29.1.6316
Player Version#:Web
I have 712 titles on my Debian 11 based server as viewed from app.plex.tv site. There is one title I can not locate. I have verified that the file does exists in the media directory, filtered on duplicate and clicked into get info on every single duplicate file looking for this file without avail. I suspect it was incorrectly matched and it’s hiding amoungst my 712 titles under some name I suspect. What can I do to investigate this further?

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Start by pasting the actual file name of that file in here.
Ideally including the folder path where it is located.
Don’t forget to mention the type of the Plex library which is “looking” at that folder.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201543057-why-is-some-of-my-content-not-found/

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/data/Media/Movies/K-M/LAKE_HOUSE.m4v
This is in a movies library, using Plex Movies as a scanner and agent.

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BTW that folder has 72 items and to my knowledge this is the only file I can not locate.

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You have naming issues.

My canned response is to see https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/ and:
If you want to save yourself a lot of time I would recommend using Download - tinyMediaManager and use ${title} (${year}) {imdb-${imdb}} as the new name format.

Folder format:
${title} (${year})

(Please note I linked to the v3 which is free to use)

Worst case you can do an export with Releases · WebTools-NG/WebTools-NG · GitHub which should help you locate the miss-matched file. (You could also plex dance it, and then look at date added)

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4 issues:

  • the folder K-M can throw off the scanner and try to to match the file to the folder name. Avoid these kinds of “grouping folders”. Instead, put every single movie into its own, individual folder.
  • There is no good reason to use all-capital letters. Use the original spelling of this movie’s title. Look it up on IMDb.com or TheMovieDB.org if you are unsure about it.
  • add at least the movie’s theatrical release year in parentheses. Plex has no way to know which of the several “Lake House” movies you have there, unless you help it by specifying it further: Find - IMDb
  • m4v files can contain embedded meta data which, if populated with spam, can throw off the scanner even more.
    Either check these tags thoroughly and clean them up or make sure to tell Plex to disregard them by disabling “Prefer local metadata” in the properties of the library.

So rename the file in this way:
/data/Media/Movies/Lake House (2010)/Lake House (2010).m4v
(change the release year to the actual one of your movie)
Then perform the Plex Dance with it.

As told above, there is a naming guide for media, which is designed to prevent issues like this.

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While I appreciate your response and I acknowledge your good intention I am having a hard time seeing the logic in how 1 out of 72 titles in a folder isn’t imported due to a naming issue. Especially considering my entire library is structured the same way and was imported with around 98% accuracy.
If I can just find what it was named as, like based on the filename, I can fix the match and all is good. Which is actually what my question was, how can I find a title that has been misnamed.
I’m importing a library I already had in place, something I’ve had for years. Maybe about 1-2% of my entire library was misnamed and I was able to fix it by just fixing the match which was a lot less effort than renaming and reorganizing my entire library.
FYI I did read that article prior to posting, and decided to post anyway as it was about as helpful as your answer.

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Thank you for that helpful and succinct response. That WebTools thing looks like the answer I was looking for. It’s not worst case, except it’s not a built in function, that’s actually the closest that comes to answer the question I asked.

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