I think I did something to my Plex server that removed everything from the library. All libraries, movies, videos etc. are gone from the Plex web client. Its like the database that holds that information is gone. However, all the raw data for the videos are till on my HDD. Two things that I did recently that might of caused this problem…
-
I installed PlexPy and fiddled around with its settings for monitoring purposes. Specifically for sending me notifications through IFTTT.
-
I changed “The path where local application data is stored” under PMS > Server > General from C: drive to D: drive keeping the rest of the file path default because my C: drive is an SSD and my D: is a HDD. I wanted to cut back on the writes to the SSD. I think this is what screwed things up. So I changed “The path where local application data is stored” back to C: drive keeping the entire path the same, clicked on “update libraries” from the PMS notification icon and problem persists.
Any suggestions would be very helpful!
@JDubbedN said:
2. I changed “The path where local application data is stored” under PMS > Server > General from C: drive to D: drive keeping the rest of the file path default because my C: drive is an SSD and my D: is a HDD. I wanted to cut back on the writes to the SSD. I think this is what screwed things up.
Indeed.
So I changed “The path where local application data is stored”
empty this field completely
save
quit plex
reboot machine
next time, read this https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/851746/#Comment_851746
That did it. I’ll check your other post for moving metadata. Thanks!
@JDubbedN said:
@JDubbedN said:
@OttoKerner said:
- End plex
- go to the ‘Services’ control panel of Windows and Stop the ‘Plex Update Service’
- copy this folder and all its content to the new location
C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server
The copy process can take several hours if you have a fairly big library.
- start plex
- go to Settings - Server - General - Show Advanced - ‘The path where local application data is stored’
- type in the new location
Beware! The path you type in must not include ‘Plex Media Server’ as last part.
So if now your plex data reside in G:\plexdata\Plex Media Server\ you type in only
G:\plexdata
into the input field. (Keep in mind that G: must use the NTFS file system, not ReFS which gets used with Windows Storage Spaces. It must also not be a networked drive. exFat is also not a viable option.)
7) save changes
8) end plex
9) restart computer
See also
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201539237
Once you verified, that everything is working (including fetching metadata for new items!) you can delete the old plex data directory.
[edit for PMS versions above 1.0: added shutdown of the update service ]
[edit mention exFat as unsuitable as well]
For some reason PMS is kicking my a**. I’ve done everything exactly step by step and every time Plex comes back with an empty library. As soon as I direct it back to the original folder it works. But PMS refuses to work off my USB connected NTFS RAID HDD.
- I am changing the directory to
D:\plexdata within the Plex web interface
- The Plex Media directory is
D:\plexdata\Plex Media Server
- The above is done while I am following the instructions
I don’t know what I am doing wrong but I’ve tried at least 4 times with the end result that Plex has no media, no library and is a blank slate. Any ideas? Maybe I am missing something obvious?
I guess 5th times a charm. I ended up deleting the copy of the Plex Media Server folder and recopying everything over again to the external drive. I guess the first copy was bad. Problem solved! Now a question…
- Even after deleting the original Plex Media Server folder in …appdata\local Plex is still making a PMS folder and is creating a Logs and Plug-in Support folder. Is this to be expected or is there another place in PMS I need to change the directory to D drive?
I spoke too soon. This morning I checked the Plex server and now Plex is empty again. No library no nothing. I don’t understand it. Any suggestions? My brain is fried. X.x
I just checked it again maybe 5 minutes later and the library is back to normal. I did nothing. It seems to be a bit intermittent. Or maybe it is a bit slow to load the library now that I moved the metadata to a USB 3.0 RAID external drive perhaps? The RAID HDD are 2x 7200 RPM WD Red if that helps.
- Did you move your server data again to the other drive?
I moved it last night from C to D drive for the 5th time and it seemed to have taken. Then I checked this morning and the library was empty. Then checked about 30 minutes later and library was back.
- are you using more than one Windows user accounts? Have you used PMS as a Windows system service?
No, just one admin account. No, I just installed PMS from it’s official install package. I don’t recall modifying it to be a service.
Thanks for your continued help @OttoKerner .
@JDubbedN said:
I just checked it again maybe 5 minutes later and the library is back to normal. I did nothing. It seems to be a bit intermittent. Or maybe it is a bit slow to load the library now that I moved the metadata to a USB 3.0 RAID external drive perhaps? The RAID HDD are 2x 7200 RPM WD Red if that helps.
- Did you move your server data again to the other drive?
I moved it last night from C to D drive for the 5th time and it seemed to have taken. Then I checked this morning and the library was empty. Then checked about 30 minutes later and library was back.
- are you using more than one Windows user accounts? Have you used PMS as a Windows system service?
No, just one admin account. No, I just installed PMS from it’s official install package. I don’t recall modifying it to be a service.
Thanks for your continued help @OttoKerner .
Could it maybe be the spinup of the RAID HDD causing the problem?
@JDubbedN said:
Could it maybe be the spinup of the RAID HDD causing the problem?
YES, very likely.
I’d never move the plex data folder onto a drive which spins down on its own volition.
Side note: nowaday’s SSDs will be able to handle the write load of a Plex server just fine. If you are concerned about the transcoded ‘media chunks’, which are constantly written and erased during transcoded and direct-streamed playback - there is a separate preference to move that particular folder to a different location:
Settings - Server - Transcoder - ‘Show Advanced’ - “Transcoder temporary directory”
I’ll do some more testing and report any findings. I didn’t even see the Transcoder Temp Directory. That was probably chewing up my SSD. I changed it to the D drive. Besides the metadata and the transcoder dir, any other settings in Plex I should change to reduce the writes off my SSD?
@JDubbedN said:
Besides the metadata and the transcoder dir, any other settings in Plex I should change to reduce the writes off my SSD?
Personally, I have ‘Remove old cache files every week’ disbled and do only re-enable it once a year or so for a few days. It retains the down-scaled posters etc for the different clients instead of deleting them and re-generating them on demand.
Having this ‘off’ may occasionally speed up navigation in the clients as well.
@OttoKerner said:
@JDubbedN said:
Besides the metadata and the transcoder dir, any other settings in Plex I should change to reduce the writes off my SSD?
Personally, I have ‘Remove old cache files every week’ disbled and do only re-enable it once a year or so for a few days. It retains the down-scaled posters etc for the different clients instead of deleting them and re-generating them on demand.
Having this ‘off’ may occasionally speed up navigation in the clients as well.
Done. Thanks for your help @OttoKerner . You’ve been invaluable.
One thing I won’t be able to do is monitor my RAID HDD’s because it’s in its own enclosure so I won’t really be able to test if the RAID is causing problems to Plex due to slow spin up or if they even sleep after being idle for a set time unless I take one of the HDD out and plug it up to my computer. But as soon as I put that HDD back into the RAID enclosure it will have to reclone if I understand RAID 1 correctly. Probably best to just leave it be or maybe looks up the specs on the HDD.
Copied my Metadata from my Old Server (backed up the entire PMS App Data folder along with the PMS Registry entry).
Changed the setting under advanced to point to the new Metadata location.
Shut down PMS.
Rebooted PC
Loaded up Plex.
Libraries are non existent.
Metadata folders are all there.
Can you advise what the impact is for having different userid’s for Old and new PMS hosts and how it can be remedied. ?
Did you think of not including \Plex Media Server as last part of the path name?
Yes, i did. its N:\Foldername.
Trying the appdata copy to the new location once again to see if it works.
Does it make a difference if the users were different between old and new PMS (they’re different hosts, in both cases the appdata folders are on a single NTFS formatted drive
Then it’s perhaps the main database file damaged.
This happens often if the old server was either not cleanly exited or was left running while the backup copy was made.
Restore one of the backup copies of the database file:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/
Hey there, just wanted to thank you for your prompt response !
Restoring the old DB worked perfectly.
I was also able to scan and add new files to my libraries.
Thanks Agian !!
