If video file replaced, must empty trash before episode will play

Plex Players Streaming Devices
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1

I often upgrade my media, deleting the video file and adding a new one. PMS automatically picks up the new file and marks the old one as Unavailable. Plex on Roku never had a problem playing the episode in this state. On Apple TV, Plex will hang and eventually error out. But if I empty the library’s trash, the episode plays back just fine. This has happened with various episodes of various TV shows. Based on how the Roku app worked, this shouldn’t be necessary.

If you need a log file or something, just let me know.

Server Version#: 1.28.2.6106
Player Version#: not sure - assume latest Apple TV release

2

Plex Documentation → Server Settings → Library

When replacing media, you need to scan the library, to pick up the new media, and empty the trash, to remove the deleted media from the system.

You can configure Plex to do so automatically if desired.

In Settings → Library there are several options for when Plex scans a library. There is also an option to empty the trash after a library scan.

3

I’ll elaborate a bit.

The settings on my server are (and have always been):

  • Scan my library automatically: Enabled
  • Run a partial scan when changes are detected: Enabled
  • Empty trash automatically after every scan: Disabled

With these settings, when a media file is replaced, I can play the episode successfully on:

  • Roku
  • Plex Web
  • iOS

The only place it won’t play: Apple TV
The only thing that I’ve found makes it work: Empty the trash
Player Version#: 8.7

4

This behavior became intolerable, so I gave up and enabled the “Empty trash automatically” feature. Would still like to see this acknowledged or better yet fixed.

5

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