I have Plex Media Server with google drive mounted as a drive with Goodle Drive File Stream. The problem is that Google Drive sometimes downloads some files, I don’t know why. When I play a file A with a Plex Client it triggers google drive to download (or better syncing) the file A and other random files, like a file B, a file C. I don’t even know where these downloaded files are stored, I think they are deleted. It is very annoying because google drive occupies my internet bandwitch without any need for it.
For any media file to be played in Plex, the file is loaded from the storage medium to the Plex server machine, where it is transcoded or remuxed or just forwarded as-is to the Plex client.
To use a google drive with the regular Plex server doesn’t make much sense - particularly if your internet traffic is restricted.
@OttoKerner said:
For any media file to be played in Plex, the file is loaded from the storage medium to the Plex server machine, where it is transcoded or remuxed or just forwarded as-is to the Plex client.
To use a google drive with the regular Plex server doesn’t make much sense - particularly if your internet traffic is restricted.
I know this and I don’t have any problem with this. The problem is that Plex downloads files that ARE NOT BEING PLAYED. It’s just random. That is not normal.
@anon0 said:
I know this and I don’t have any problem with this. The problem is that Plex downloads files that ARE NOT BEING PLAYED. It’s just random. That is not normal.
This is very normal. It is part of regular operation of a Plex server.
Plex performs at least 2 operations which require the full file to be read from start to finish.
You can disable both deep analysis and video preview thumbnails.
But by doing so, you’ll also disable features and/or make content requiring transcoding more frequently.
@anon0 said:
I know this and I don’t have any problem with this. The problem is that Plex downloads files that ARE NOT BEING PLAYED. It’s just random. That is not normal.
This is very normal. It is part of regular operation of a Plex server.
Plex performs at least 2 operations which require the full file to be read from start to finish.
You can disable both deep analysis and video preview thumbnails.
But by doing so, you’ll also disable features and/or make content requiring transcoding more frequently.
Thank you, how do I disable deep analysis? Plex cannot analyze the file directly from google drive? It is mounted as a drive, so for Plex it is like a normal drive, right?
Also if this is normal how do VPS Plex servers with plexdrive and google drive work? Usually they have a small amount of memory, do they download files for the analysis?
Plex cannot analyze the file directly from google drive? It is mounted as a drive, so for Plex it is like a normal drive, right?
Precisely. It is one of the reasons why using cloud storage with the regular Plex server is not ideal.
Also if this is normal how do VPS Plex servers with plexdrive and google drive work? Usually they have a small amount of memory, do they download files for the analysis?
Users who are using VPS instances are usually pre-transcoding their files.
They prepare them so, that they have a constant bitrate and turn the bitrate low enough, so that Direct Play is achieved in most use cases.
That way it doesn’t matter that the deep analysis is not performed. The average bitrate (which is easily calculated by filesize/running time) is close enough to the real bitrate.
Just to add to the points that Otto made…
I was taking the same approach and you need to be aware that believe it or not Google Drive File Stream will give you constant bans (more so than some 3rd party apps that connect to Google drive) while all of the stuff you encountered happens. Yes it’s free and is a way better way to access your files in general. Its just not particularly ideal for usage with Plex. @BigStevie1973 is or at least was using Drive File Stream in this manner and may give some insight to how long it took to scan everything in and get beyond the ban stage. Maybe he can give some input into his library size for comparison to yours.
Personally in the end I abandoned it and have had three months of happily direct playing huge 4K remuxes stored on Google but direct playing on my local server with NetDrive3. Sadly its a paid for app.
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
@HitsVille said:
Just to add to the points that Otto made…
I was taking the same approach and you need to be aware that believe it or not Google Drive File Stream will give you constant bans (more so than some 3rd party apps that connect to Google drive) while all of the stuff you encountered happens. Yes it’s free and is a way better way to access your files in general. Its just not particularly ideal for usage with Plex. @BigStevie1973 is or at least was using Drive File Stream in this manner and may give some insight to how long it took to scan everything in and get beyond the ban stage. Maybe he can give some input into his library size for comparison to yours.
Personally in the end I abandoned it and have had three months of happily direct playing huge 4K remuxes stored on Google but direct playing on my local server with NetDrive3. Sadly its a paid for app.
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
In the end I totally gave up on File Stream as it was completely unusable and instead also opted for a lifetime subscription to NetDrive3. Since setting it up, I haven’t had a single ban. And as you asked my library is c. 2k films incl. 3D & 4K; 10k+ TV episodes in 200+ shows and 15k+ music tracks in 750+ albums … and counting
In the end I totally gave up on File Stream as it was completely unusable and instead also opted for a lifetime subscription to NetDrive3. Since setting it up, I haven’t had a single ban. And as you asked my library is c. 2k films incl. 3D & 4K; 10k+ TV episodes in 200+ shows and 15k+ music tracks in 750+ albums … and counting
Thanks for also endorsing NetDrive3 lol. I really didn’t wanna appear I was advertising some cr*p. But yeah it just works.
@HitsVille said:
Just to add to the points that Otto made…
I was taking the same approach and you need to be aware that believe it or not Google Drive File Stream will give you constant bans (more so than some 3rd party apps that connect to Google drive) while all of the stuff you encountered happens. Yes it’s free and is a way better way to access your files in general. Its just not particularly ideal for usage with Plex. @BigStevie1973 is or at least was using Drive File Stream in this manner and may give some insight to how long it took to scan everything in and get beyond the ban stage. Maybe he can give some input into his library size for comparison to yours.
Personally in the end I abandoned it and have had three months of happily direct playing huge 4K remuxes stored on Google but direct playing on my local server with NetDrive3. Sadly its a paid for app.
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
In the end I totally gave up on File Stream as it was completely unusable and instead also opted for a lifetime subscription to NetDrive3. Since setting it up, I haven’t had a single ban. And as you asked my library is c. 2k films incl. 3D & 4K; 10k+ TV episodes in 200+ shows and 15k+ music tracks in 750+ albums … and counting
Your experience will be very usefull for me. For now I don’t have any ban with Google Drive File Stream… but how did you deal with the download problem? Did you disable deep analysis? I used Webdrive some days ago but I had to uninstall it because it downloaded EVERY single file when I added a library.
Users who are using VPS instances are usually pre-transcoding their files.
They prepare them so, that they have a constant bitrate and turn the bitrate low enough, so that Direct Play is achieved in most use cases.
That way it doesn’t matter that the deep analysis is not performed. The average bitrate (which is easily calculated by filesize/running time) is close enough to the real bitrate.
Mmmm… not all the users, some users seek for a powerfull vps capable of transcoding. But I don’t understand… during deep analysis the Plex Server should analyze every file, because Plex Server does not know if you are going to transcode that file in the future.
@HitsVille said:
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
Yes, I don’t care about chapters thumbnails, I just need acces to my unlimited cloud storage (mainly because Plex Cloud doesn’t work well for me). For now I have disabled “Perform extensive media analysis during maintenance” hoping that this will stop the downloads.
@anon0 said:
Mmmm… not all the users, some users seek for a powerfull vps capable of transcoding. But I don’t understand… during deep analysis the Plex Server should analyze every file, because Plex Server does not know if you are going to transcode that file in the future.
To deeply analyze the file, Plex server has to read it in full from beginning to end.
Something you don’t want.
So you can only use the initial (short) analysis which simply reads the file headers and the metadata.
@HitsVille said:
Just to add to the points that Otto made…
I was taking the same approach and you need to be aware that believe it or not Google Drive File Stream will give you constant bans (more so than some 3rd party apps that connect to Google drive) while all of the stuff you encountered happens. Yes it’s free and is a way better way to access your files in general. Its just not particularly ideal for usage with Plex. @BigStevie1973 is or at least was using Drive File Stream in this manner and may give some insight to how long it took to scan everything in and get beyond the ban stage. Maybe he can give some input into his library size for comparison to yours.
Personally in the end I abandoned it and have had three months of happily direct playing huge 4K remuxes stored on Google but direct playing on my local server with NetDrive3. Sadly its a paid for app.
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
In the end I totally gave up on File Stream as it was completely unusable and instead also opted for a lifetime subscription to NetDrive3. Since setting it up, I haven’t had a single ban. And as you asked my library is c. 2k films incl. 3D & 4K; 10k+ TV episodes in 200+ shows and 15k+ music tracks in 750+ albums … and counting
@HitsVille@BigStevie1973 so I just need a NetDrive3 account on my Plex Server pc and then connect Google Drive as my cloud provider in plex through it essentially? Any tips/tricks and cons I should be aware of? I"m going to do the NetDrive3 week trial tonight. Also, do you still get the thumbnails and deep analysis with this? Thanks!
@HitsVille said:
Just to add to the points that Otto made…
I was taking the same approach and you need to be aware that believe it or not Google Drive File Stream will give you constant bans (more so than some 3rd party apps that connect to Google drive) while all of the stuff you encountered happens. Yes it’s free and is a way better way to access your files in general. Its just not particularly ideal for usage with Plex. @BigStevie1973 is or at least was using Drive File Stream in this manner and may give some insight to how long it took to scan everything in and get beyond the ban stage. Maybe he can give some input into his library size for comparison to yours.
Personally in the end I abandoned it and have had three months of happily direct playing huge 4K remuxes stored on Google but direct playing on my local server with NetDrive3. Sadly its a paid for app.
That said if youre happy to skip chapter thumbnails etc its definitely gonna have a positive impact. I have no idea if if Steve was doing deep media analysis on his files.
In the end I totally gave up on File Stream as it was completely unusable and instead also opted for a lifetime subscription to NetDrive3. Since setting it up, I haven’t had a single ban. And as you asked my library is c. 2k films incl. 3D & 4K; 10k+ TV episodes in 200+ shows and 15k+ music tracks in 750+ albums … and counting
@HitsVille@BigStevie1973 so I just need a NetDrive3 account on my Plex Server pc and then connect Google Drive as my cloud provider in plex through it essentially? Any tips/tricks and cons I should be aware of? I"m going to do the NetDrive3 week trial tonight. Also, do you still get the thumbnails and deep analysis with this? Thanks!
Yes, when you set up NetDrive you then mount your Google Drive folders as a local drive, then just create a new library on your local PMS amd direct it to the new drive / folders. Be careful though as I have had a bit of trouble with it not mounting the drive at boot / login and then Plex runs its scan, thinks the folders are gone and then deletes all of the media and I have to scan it in again from scratch. So it may be worth double checking your autoscan settings.
@BigStevie1973 said:
Be careful though as I have had a bit of trouble with it not mounting the drive at boot / login and then Plex runs its scan, thinks the folders are gone and then deletes all of the media and I have to scan it in again from scratch. So it may be worth double checking your autoscan settings.
Just disable “Empty trash automatically”
In server settings.
Which by the way is still by far the stupidest “on by default” setting, you will find In any software ever created.
