I need to make a single, one-time recording, but seem completely unable to do so.
My EPG data is correct, but Plex will still identify every entry in the guide as a movie (my local libraries are fine).
I don’t care that “Modern Family” is being recognized as a movie – I still want to record the one episode.
However, when adding the entry to the DVR, every single showing of “Modern Family” that day is added instead. This would make sense (kind of – I still only want to record one episode) if I was recording a TV show, but since Plex thinks it’s a movie, it doesn’t; when one recording’s done, the next one will replace it.
Why am I forced to record every single showing of a movie when setting the DVR?
Most of what I intend to record does not have English titles, so even if Plex was able to scrape TV shows from the EPG properly, a lot would still be identified as a movie (as I understand, Plex will assume it’s a movie if it can’t scrape TheTVDB for the entry).
How am I supposed to record a “foreign” TV show if all Plex sees is multiple showings of the same movie?
This is already an issue: I recorded an episode of a show a few days ago. Today I tried recording another episode of that show, but Plex won’t let me add it to the DVR since it’s already present in my movie library. After deleting the previous episode (ie. movie) from my library, Plex will let me record it again.
I cannot make any sense of the DVR’s intended use. Can anyone enlighten me?
If a TV Show in the guide is being recognized as a Movie this statement about the EPG data being correct can’t be accurate.
A TV Show would have Season/Episode data which Plex would recognize as a TV Show and not allow recording to a Movie library. A TV Show can only be recorded to a TV Show Library, and a Movie can only be recorded to a Movie Library. Plex will not record something that already exists in your Library unless the current item is a partial recording or you have specified to replace lower resolution items.
It sounds like you might be using an XML file for your EPG data. If that is the case you might want to investigate the data to ensure things are being marked correctly in your guide data.
It’s accurate in the sense that I wasn’t missing the data Plex seems to require; the entries are right there in the guide and I just want to record video in that specific time slot, but it’s impossible.
I’m using OTA EPG from my provider. Gracenote does not cover the channels I need and since it’s not possible to watch a live-tv channel without a guide entry/add a second EPG source, I have no choice but to use my provider’s EPG.
The EPG is excellent – except it doesn’t work with Plex. So I can’t use the DVR feature it seems…
It would make so much more sense if Plex made it possible to always record to a ‘Other Videos’-library (or a local folder; let me manage my library manually after recording) in case the automatic series/movies assumption is wrong.
You might want to talk with your provider to see if they can add the season/episode data to TV Shows in their provided xmltv file so they are recognized as a TV Show. If everything is identified as a Movie then Plex will not record the subsequent airings if the “Movie” already exists in the library.
My provider has it’s own PVR solution which works fine (as does literally any other TV backend but Plex albeit with a bit more configuration), so they’ll have no interest in adding this info. While you’re completely right, doing this isn’t even worth a shot.
I get that Plex is trying to do the Apple “it just works” thing, but in this case it’s so smart it’s not actually working.
Plex absolutely supports what I’m trying to do (record a specific time slot, no questions asked). It just won’t enable the option for me to do it.
I’m basically demanding less than Plex already has to offer, but for some reason it’s all or nothing.
Since I have no clue who your provider actually is I pulled the National Denmark provider and created a single channel lineup for that provider using the Plex EPG data. After letting the guide data populate I do see season/episode information for that one channel. This is of course a small test just to see what data I could pull. I am located in the US so don’t have access to the same channels that you would have access to and therefore really can’t match my local channels to your to get the full guide data for your area. Have you tried using the Plex EPG instead of the xml file your provider utilizes?
I did the same thing earlier and some important channels were missing (hence my earlier remark about adding a second EPG source if I was to primarily rely on the Gracenote listings).
Apart from that, a lot of info were in the wrong language and yours is too: “Vildmarksveterinären” is either Swedish or Norwegian, not Danish.
To be honest, I can see how the Plex DVR is a work of art, but the planets need to align just right in order for it to work. Mine are currently far from aligning.
I am no expert on the inner workings of Plex, but I would assume that when setting up a new recording based on an EPG entry, Plex is fed the time slot by the EPG and will scrape for a series/movie entry.
If it can’t scrape for a series, it’s assumed a movie, which brings a world of hurt if the EPG provided isn’t up to Plex’ standards. I just need Plex to not assume something’s a movie if it’s not an apparent series.
I can’t imagine a DVR which doesn’t, at the most basic level, rely on time stamps. I may be wrong. Please let me provide the time stamps “manually”.
When I say Plex won’t enable the option for me to do it, I understand the GUI doesn’t actually support it, but the functionality is there.
Well, if it isn’t to expected standards, then you can’t expect it to work.
All I can say to help you, is you are better off fixing or improving your EPG directly, then wishing or expecting plex to make changes to whatever it expects to be provided by the user provided guide xml.
I am not expecting Plex to make changes to how recordings are currently handled under the right circumstances. I am requesting Plex to loosen up a bit and let me record without scraping if needed.
Honestly, I would be content if it was possible to disable the check for movie duplicates – I don’t mind sorting the library myself, but I need to be sure the DVR is not skipping broadcasts at any point for any reason; if a red dot is shown in the guide, the entry will be recorded and saved.
Similarly, why am I not allowed to watch a live-tv channel if it doesn’t have a guide entry?
I could probably live with using the Plex provided EPG data only, if I was still able to actually watch all channels despite me not being explicitly told what’s currently airing.
I could assign the wrong EPG entry to a channel and have it show up in the guide, but this really is a bad solution.
The solution to this would be to allow multiple EPG sources.
I am up for the task of updating my provider’s data myself, but I honestly have no idea where to source the information. Apart from that, Danish broadcasters have no obvious standards when naming series and their associated listings.
The series that made me create this thread currently has 4 consecutive seasons, but each season has a new name, ie. it’s technically four different shows with the latest one’s first season being season 4. I’m fairly sure Plex will never be able to handle this in a meaningful manner (and I’m not expecting it to), I just need a way to record it anyway.
Most of my issues would be resolved if one of these were true:
Add multiple EPG sources.
Record to an Other Videos-library.
Disable the movie duplicate check.
Manually input a recording time slot.
Record without scraping.
Which is why trying to create a one size fits all solution for literally the entire world with no fallback is bound to fail.
I will be using Tvheadend (it’s the “backend” for my Plex anyway - which is how I’m using my provider’s OTA EPG data) as my PVR; it’s too dumb to fail.
Now I just need to explain to the family that they should NOT set up recordings in Plex as they will fail for no apparent reason (from their point of view).
Keeping in mind that the DVR feature is useless for some while live-tv is still a valuable service, I would suggest Plex to add the option to disable recordings altogether. But I get the feeling that actually requesting this of Plex is a completely lost cause…
Plex DVR is so “smart” that when you record a movie and it overruns timeslot it was scheduled in the EPG , there is NO EFFING way you’re ever scheduling recording of that movie ever again.
(unless you pull up notebook , remote desktop to the server , delete the original movie file , scan the library and schedule the recording)
Imagine, you scheduled Formula 1 race recording. It was delayed due to the rain so it over ran its EPG slot therefore recording is incomplete.
No problem - there is a replay of the race in the evening. Good luck scheduling that one
Never had this issue in Sage DVR from 2000, MCE from 2008, TiVO from 2010 or Sky box… but not possible with Plex in 2021
We’ve been asking for changes you’re asking for even before DVR was a thing (date/time show with multiple airings in a single calendar day) or ability to record multiple movies with the same name, or just give us an option to use plain dumb DVR section that would simply hold all DVR recordings with EPG data…
I can only recommend you to give up arguing here (basic library structure has not changed since very first PMS over a decade ago) and either get XMLTV pretend everything under the sun has a S/E or use something else.
Plex is constantly blaming an imperfect world for their DVR not working in a basic expected way. Everyone (except for Plex) understands that EPG data will never be perfect. So users need a way to work around that. Pretty much ever other DVR in the world has the ability to record by time/channel number. But Plex won’t even respond to posts about this obvious need. People have trouble getting sports to record all the time.
For me, on Sunday nights, 60 Minutes is always running late after football, making every show after it late as well. I just want to record CBS from 7:00 to 11:30 and then split up the recording into actual shows afterwards. But Plex just wants to believe that I am confused about what I need or want. Almost everyone has the need for manual recording at some point and, after more than two years for me, Plex still won’t even entertain the idea.
And Plex, I understand that manual recordings don’t really fit into your overall design of TV Libraries. Obviously, manual recordings should go into an “Other Videos” library where the user has the responsibility of identifying what they are.
Done now since I know I’m just wasting my time anyway …
I am so sad to hear that this is the state of DVR. I hadn’t even thought about recording sports!
Since Plex’ EPG doesn’t cover the channels I need and my cable provider doesn’t offer series info in theirs, I’ve subscribed to a 3rd party EPG service.
This service does cover the channels Plex doesn’t and offer series info where my provider doesn’t, but it’s still not complete; the series I’m trying to record which made me create this thread STILL doesn’t have series info – I still can’t record it!
This is a professional EPG service! And so is Gracenote! But despite none of them appear to be adhering to any sort of standards, Plex insists the DVR should only work based on one. It doesn’t make sense!
From what I gather Plex is trying to achieve with the DVR feature, I would actually expect this to be the winning argument for enabling manual recordings to an “Other Videos” library as a fallback (sorry for quoting myself):
If you’re striving for the “it just works” thing, this is far from that experience.
Another point. In my 60 minutes example, if I just set it to record a massive amount of extra recording time on the end (i.e., to record 60 minutes and the subsequent shows that will also be late), then I push up against another Plex stupidity. I will have to wait until the recording is completely finished before I can watch any of it. With the stupid interface for watching live tv that is recording, there is no way to playback something after it’s EPG scheduled time is over. It’s not in the library yet because it’s not done recording and you can’t start playback from the grid either because the show is “over”. Plex never responds to questions/concerns about this stupidity either.
I don’t have any of these problems with the free NextPVR software that I use instead of the Plex DVR that I’ve paid for and don’t use, I do re-install Plex DVR every couple of months for kicks (just to see how much it still sucks) and then I remove it again. It theoretically is a professional product because we have to pay for it but it just isn’t.
I have the ability to receive from more television markets than what shows up if I enter my ZIP code, so I have created a virtual machine that once a day, downloads the latest XMLTV for the different markets. The script that downloads the different XML files then concatenates the XML files into one huge, single XMLTV file (~120 MB). I am able to now watch any of the channels but when I want to record a show, the record settings don’t recognize that it is TV shows I’m recording. I had to create a new library file I’ve called “Recorded TV”. Maybe it isn’t a complete loss, as I have created another script that converts the MPEG-TS file into an HEVC encoded MKV file. At the moment, I have to then move this MKV file to its final destination anyway. Despite the adage, “Garbage In/Garbage Out”, the final HEVC file actually looks better than the original MPEG-TS and takes up a fraction of the drive space.
My biggest complaint is when using data from XMLTVListings.com is that instead of seeing the channel labeled something like 40.1, FOX-40, or KTXL, it is “2158.stations.xmltv.tvmedia.ca”. I wish there was a way, when linking the tuned channel to the XMLTV listing, to not only link the two but create a preferred channel name. Also, because the names of the channels begin with a 2-5 digit number, channels are mixed up pretty well. It would be nice to also be able to create a custom channel number for each station.
It does not appear to allow that. I told it to record a show that has back-to-back episodes and both show the record marker but when I look in the DVR Schedule, it shows only one episode is going to record. I selected to record it on only one channel but left time as “Any” and it only got the first. Even though they are different episodes, it doesn’t seem to recognize that they are different.
