Help!? Star Trek TNG Season 3 appears as TOS Season 3

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.28.0.5999
OS: Linux Mint (for all intents and purposes it is Ubuntu)

I am using my Plex Server to host Star Trek: The Next Generation. Originally each season appeared as a separate show but I was able to figure out the correct way to name and organize the files such that they show up as one show with multiple seasons:

Star Trek TNG.sXXeXX.episode title.mkv

the stars are two digit season and episode numbers

This has worked great for seasons 1-2, 4-7. However, for some reason, the plex server sees season 3 as the original series of star trek, and pulls metadata down for that instead. It didn’t do this before I changed the file names.

I have the files in the following folder structure:

/Star Trek/Star Trek: The Next Generation/Season XX

With seasons 01 through 07 represented.

When I add the folder to the Plex Library, I am selecting “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, the folder which contains all the season folders.

My intention is to host other Star Trek shows under the main folder, which is why it is named “Star Trek”.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why it’s working fine for seasons 1,2,4,5,6, and 7, but season 3 it isn’t working. I used the EXACT same naming convention for all video files, and as you can see the naming convention for the folders is exactly the same as well.

I’m getting increasingly frustrated and wish plex just worked like a file sever where I can name and organize files however I want and to hell with the metadata/art/etc. But unless I’m mistaken there is NO way to do this. (If there is please let me know)

I have spent all weekend setting this up and I can’t get it to work. I am completely at a loss. From everything I understand about setting up plex, I’ve done everything right, and everything is working right for all the other seasons as well. I’ve added and removed the folder “Star Trek: The Next Generation” from the plex server library multiple times, and every time it processes it the same way, insisting season 3 is from the original series and not from the next generation.

What am I doing wrong???

2

Please help me I feel like I’m losing my mind

I tried adding the imdb ID to some of the season 3 files to see if that would help and it does not, it still sees the files as being part of the original series and it gives them the TOS episode names and cards.

Is there anyway to just manually enter the metadata like in iTunes? Tell it manually for each individual file what the show name, season number, episode number, and episode name is? Using plex feels like having a conversation with someone who hears the first word out of your mouth and then tries to figure out the entire sentence you were going to say is before you say it.

3

Stranger… stranger still

I tried removing the Star Trek TNG folder and adding just Star Trek TOS, with the files all named the same way and organized the same way.

It sees Season 3 of TOS as part of Star Trek: The Original Series, but it thinks Seasons 1 and 2 are part of Star Trek: The Next Generation. WHAT???

If I try to play season 1 or 2 episodes it does in fact play the original series but the names and episode cards are all from The Next Generation.

Apparently Plex thinks ANY star trek content that is seasons 1,2,4,5,6, and 7 is Star Trek:TNG and ANY star trek content that is season 3 is part of the original series???

This can’t be good for my blood pressure…

4

Try adding the date to the folders

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

5

The name is incorrect. “TNG” is an abbreviation.

Use the full, proper, name.

[chuck@lizum Star Trek The Next Generation.2012]$ ls Season\ 01
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E01-E02 - Encounter at Farpoint & The Naked Now.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E03 - Code of Honor.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E04 - The Last Outpost.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E05 - Where No One Has Gone Before.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E06 - Lonely Among Us.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E07 - Justice.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E08 - The Battle.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E09 - Hide and Q.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E10 - Haven.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E11 - The Big Goodbye.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E12 - Datalore.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E13 - Angel One.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E14 - 11001001.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E15 - Too Short a Season.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E16 - When the Bough Breaks.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E17 - Home Soil.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E18 - Coming of Age.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E19 - Heart of Glory.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E20 - The Arsenal of Freedom.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E21 - Symbiosis.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E22 - Skin of Evil.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E23 - We'll Always Have Paris.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E24 - Conspiracy.mkv
Star Trek The Next Generation - S01E25 - The Neutral Zone.mkv
[chuck@lizum Star Trek The Next Generation.2013]$
1 Like
6

Thank you for the suggestion. The issue persists. Season 3 still appears as TOS

7

I just noticed this too.

/Star Trek/Star Trek: The Next Generation/Season XX

If Star Trek The Next Generation is in a folder named Star Trek I think you’re confusing Plex

8

Ah so it’s the file name on the mkv file that isn’t working right. It will take me some time to change these file names. Strange that it works fine for all the seasons except season 3

9

@3rdPedalNirvana

  1. Don’t nest them. Convenient for you, bad for matching.
  2. Folder name is the series name.
[chuck@lizum tv2.2015]$ ls -la Star\ Trek/Season\ 01
total 142857588
drwxrwxr-x 2 chuck chuck       4096 Apr 26 02:50 ./
drwxrwxr-x 6 chuck chuck         93 Apr 26 10:38 ../
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 7799832967 Apr 26 02:22 Star Trek - S01E01 - The Man Trap.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4794914310 Apr 26 01:10 Star Trek - S01E02 - Charlie X.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 7827197100 Apr 26 02:23 Star Trek - S01E03 - Where No Man Has Gone Before.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4931438886 Apr 26 01:09 Star Trek - S01E04 - The Naked Time.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 5100598472 Apr 26 00:59 Star Trek - S01E05 - The Enemy Within.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 7098832550 Apr 26 01:08 Star Trek - S01E06 - Mudd's Women.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4473766214 Apr 26 00:59 Star Trek - S01E07 - What Are Little Girls Made Of.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4473899283 Apr 26 00:59 Star Trek - S01E08 - Miri.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4261595082 Apr 26 01:23 Star Trek - S01E09 - Dagger of the Mind.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4574462993 Apr 26 02:50 Star Trek - S01E10 - The Corbomite Maneuver.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4454802067 Apr 26 02:50 Star Trek - S01E11 - The Menagerie (1).mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4557501791 Apr 26 01:02 Star Trek - S01E12 - The Menagerie (2).mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4666750481 Apr 26 01:02 Star Trek - S01E13 - The Conscience of the King.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4799351008 Apr 26 01:23 Star Trek - S01E14 - Balance of Terror.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4251419549 Apr 26 01:24 Star Trek - S01E15 - Shore Leave.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4994042567 Apr 26 01:23 Star Trek - S01E16 - The Galileo Seven.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4865260939 Apr 26 01:24 Star Trek - S01E17 - The Squire of Gothos.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4253252515 Apr 26 01:26 Star Trek - S01E18 - Arena.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4718225722 Apr 26 01:24 Star Trek - S01E19 - Tomorrow is Yesterday.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 7869125077 Apr 26 02:24 Star Trek - S01E20 - Court Martial.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4672201613 Apr 26 01:26 Star Trek - S01E21 - The Return of the Archons.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4944937035 Apr 26 01:27 Star Trek - S01E22 - Space Seed.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4594182194 Apr 26 01:26 Star Trek - S01E23 - A Taste of Armageddon.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 5033264386 Apr 26 01:27 Star Trek - S01E24 - This Side of Paradise.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4261298471 Apr 26 01:30 Star Trek - S01E25 - The Devil in the Dark.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4711470524 Apr 26 01:27 Star Trek - S01E26 - Errand of Mercy.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4253974762 Apr 26 01:29 Star Trek - S01E27 - The Alternative Factor.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4785923290 Apr 26 01:29 Star Trek - S01E28 - The City on the Edge of Forever.mkv
-rw-rw-r-- 1 chuck chuck 4262571382 Apr 26 01:31 Star Trek - S01E29 - Operation - Annihilate!.mkv
[chuck@lizum tv2.2016]$
10

I actually tried that already. I thought that might be the issue before I wrote this post, so I changed the folder name to “Media”, and it didn’t help anything. I am going to try putting the full show name.

Is it more correct to use - instead of . between the show name, episode number, and episode name? is the S and E supposed to be capitalized?

11

@3rdPedalNirvana

I use official naming standard. I have a tool (FileBot) which automates all naming.

I will share the renaming rules if you want them.

12

ChuckPa can you please clarify what you mean by “Don’t nest them”?

What you posted looks like you have them in a folder “Season 01” in another folder “Star Trek”, just like I do.

13

@3rdPedalNirvana

Don’t have:

TV/
   Star Trek/
     Star Trek/
       Season 01/
.
.
.
   Star Trek TNG/
      Season 01/

Each series should exist, as peers, underneath your “TV” (however you name it) top level.

14

My tv2 (group 2) directory looks like this. Each series stands alone.

[chuck@lizum tv2.2016]$ ll | grep Star
drwxr-xr-x  7 chuck chuck  115 Aug  3  2019 Stargate Atlantis/
drwxr-xr-x 12 chuck chuck  220 Aug  3  2019 Stargate SG-1/
drwxr-xr-x  5 chuck chuck   73 Jun  5 14:50 Stargate Universe/
drwxrwxr-x  6 chuck chuck   93 Apr 26 10:38 Star Trek/
drwxr-xr-x  4 chuck chuck   52 Jun  5 14:50 Star Trek Continues/
drwxr-xr-x  9 chuck chuck  157 Aug  3  2019 Star Trek Deep Space Nine/
drwxr-xr-x  6 chuck chuck   94 Dec  2  2021 Star Trek Discovery/
drwxr-xr-x  7 chuck chuck  115 Mar  3  2021 Star Trek Enterprise/
drwxr-xr-x  4 chuck chuck   51 May  5 03:55 Star Trek - Strange New Worlds/
drwxrwxr-x  9 chuck chuck  157 Mar 21 23:56 Star Trek The Next Generation/
drwxr-xr-x 10 chuck chuck  178 Jan 29  2021 Star Trek Voyager/
[chuck@lizum tv2.2017]$
15

I’m confused. Does Plex look at the directory OR at the file name to figure out what it’s looking at?

16

So the same as what I have except the top folder can be named “TV” it can’t be named “Star Trek”? Can it be named “Media”? What names are off limits?

17

Plex uses two rules.

  1. It will attempt to group based on first directory found.
  2. That failing, and also overridden by, a full format episode name.

Notice, I use full standard (Series directory) and Episode naming

18

You can have a “Media”… Provided it’s only TV shows or only Movies.
You cannot comingle.

I have:

/nas/media/
   tv/
   tv2/
   tv3/
   tv4/
   movies/
   movies2/
   uhd/

I then place the files under those top levels.

I tell Plex to use /nas/media/tv, /nas/media/tv2, /nas/media/tv3 and /nas/media/tv4

There is no limit to the number of directories you can add like this.

19

I’m trying to understand how this makes sense from a software perspective. I point Plex directly at the first folder it should look in. It shouldn’t matter if the media is stored under:

/hi/hello/wow/fantastic/geese/regis/search/grand/security/galaga/secrets/guts/registration/surfing/skiing/lol/Media/Star Trek/

It shouldn’t matter how many BS directories are between the root and the folder I point it at if I point it at the top folder. Why would the folder structure ABOVE where I point Plex matter?

20

It absolutely does matter. Software is an automaton.
Software is not intuitive.

It sees “TOS” and “TNG”. There is no context to abbreviations.
Only your knowledge of the series provides context