The new tag is correct, but having a new tag along with a previously shown tag may defeat some Plex logic.
Is there something about the EPG123 xmltv file that you find missing or lacking?
Not at all.
I use XMLTV Schedules Direct in a docker so I don’t have to run another windows machine to service plex or emby dockers.
I still use epg123 on my windows machine and it works great, but Windows 7 is going away. Need to be prepared for an alternative solution.
So, I’ve continued my search as to what is going on with plex and this guide and found this:
And this
This is using the schedules direct guide with Jellyfin.
Jellyfin can see new and repeat tags with no problem.
So this is an issue on the Plex side.
Sorry for the delay. I looked over the logs you sent. Please turn off verbose logging. I don’t need that info at this point and it just adds a lot of noise to the logs.
Using Dr. Phil as an example, I’m seeing that your logs report you have nfo and xml files saved next to the video file. Where are these coming from? I also see you have files with the date format and some with the sXeY format. This is going to confuse PMS. You should stick to 1 or the other. Since your guide uses sXeY, I sould go with that.
You’ve also got some episodes with no episode info. Something is really strange with how your files are getting named.
Also, the xmltv data you posted above shows the new episode as being Season 17. But I see in your logs that you already have files for season 18. I can’t tell, but do you already have season 17 files? PMS will not overwrite previous files if the episode info matches.
Probably MCEBuddy. When I record on my Windows machine, I use it for transcoding and creating chapter marks.
I’m doing my best to clean up the directories, but sXeY format is what I am trying to work with. Some of those episodes were perhaps recorded on my windows machine. The guide there sucked.
As noted above, I am cleaning these directories out so it is possible some nfo’s were deleted. How does this impact the guide and recording new episodes?? None of this answers why new recordings, even of shows that are not on my server, are not being recorded.
This is a red herring. There are other shows where there are no such directory/folder issues that have the same problem.
To be clear, my issue is that plex will not schedule new episodes for recording. This goes for all new episodes of almost every show (98% of them).
In addition, the lack of a “new” tag in 98% of the guide is also a mystery. As I’ve already posted the same xml works fine in Jellyfin.
My best guess, from searching through the guide xml this week, is that if Plex sees the previous record date it assumes a repeat. If it sees previous record date and new date it assumes a repeat. If it sees only the new tag it assumes a show is new.
Is that right?
I’l have to check again. I was told it should just be based on the “new” tag. However, looking at your XML sample above, that episode is not new.
<new />
This indicates the tag is empty, which means it’s not new. Maybe using Dr. Phil is a bad example. Can you provide the xml for that episode of Dish Nation from your screenshot above?
I was able to find this in the current guide. From what I can see if the new tag is alone, the episode is flagged as new.
If the new tag is with the previously shown it will not show as new.
Here is the current guide:
Here is the xml
<programme start="20200124010000 +0000" stop="20200124020000 +0000" channel="I52199.json.schedulesdirect.org">
<title>Inside The Mind of a Serial Killer</title>
<sub-title>Cleveland Strangler</sub-title>
<desc>Exploring what drove a former marine to go on a killing spree that took the lives of 11 individuals; with footage from his police interview and court testimony.</desc>
<category>Crime</category>
<category>Documentary</category>
<category>Series</category>
<category>series</category>
<episode-num system="xmltv_ns">0.8.</episode-num>
<episode-num system="dd_progid">EP027312140022</episode-num>
<new />
<subtitles type="teletext" />
<rating system="USA Parental Rating">
<value>TV14</value>
</rating>
<rating system="Canadian Parental Rating">
<value>14+</value>
</rating>
</programme>
<programme start="20200124020000 +0000" stop="20200124030000 +0000" channel="I52199.json.schedulesdirect.org">
<title>Inside The Mind of a Serial Killer</title>
<sub-title>The Brownout Strangler</sub-title>
<desc>An American soldier stationed in Australia commits a series of murders which change American law forever.</desc>
<category>Crime</category>
<category>Documentary</category>
<category>Series</category>
<category>series</category>
<episode-num system="xmltv_ns">0.0.</episode-num>
<episode-num system="dd_progid">EP027312140021</episode-num>
<new />
<subtitles type="teletext" />
<rating system="USA Parental Rating">
<value>TV14</value>
</rating>
<rating system="Canadian Parental Rating">
<value>14+</value>
</rating>
</programme>
You XML doesn’t match what’s on the screen shot so I can’t confirm your findings. The xml shows episodes S0E8 and S0E0. I don’t remember if the DVR recognized S0, but it definitely wouldn’t recognize S0E0.
Edit - Sorry. Read those wrong. They are S01E09 and S01E01, which make sense as not being new if they are season 1.
No problem.
Not sure if its my system but trying to search these xml guides takes forever. Those two episodes were the only ones that I could find so far.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Ok, found out that previously_aired does supersede the new tag.
Edit - Also, Plex doesn’t use the new tag. There is another tag called premiere which is a better indication if an episode or even a movie is first aired or not. new can sometimes be used to indicate new for that channel which isn’t the same thing as first aired.
Clearly plex does use the new tag because its in use in xml I sent you and it shows up in the guide.
Could plex devs allow the new tag supercede the previously_aired tag?
What company generates guides, that uses premiere tag?
I’ll have to check the file but the ones you posted above do not have it.
I was referring to the post above.
If you want, I can send you that guide.
Ok, got some more info. Guess I wasn’t very clear in my question. He’s the definitive answer.
All episodes are assumed to be new unless we find the “previously-aired” tag. This avoids the new versus premiere issue.
Looking over your xmltv data, it looks like the source is wrongly adding in the previously-aired tag. Here’s an example.
<title>SportsCenter</title>
<desc>The latest news, highlights and inside information from every corner of the sports world is presented each day on "SportsCenter," ESPN's first-ever program when the network debuted in September of 1979. The flagship series airs an evening edition and a brand new midnight show each weekday before the stage is cleared for a live "SportsCenter" morning block that emphasizes fast-paced, highlights-driven reports and what's new on social media platforms.</desc>
<category>News</category>
<category>Sports talk</category>
<category>Sports non-event</category>
<category>tvshow</category>
<url>http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/sportscenter/index</url>
<episode-num system="dd_progid">SH000199170000</episode-num>
<previously-shown start="19790907" />
<new />
<subtitles type="teletext" />
</programme>
As you can see, this is a Sportcenter episode but the previously aired is referring to it’s original first episode. It’s like this for all episodes of Sportscenter. They all refer to the same first episode, so even if PMS saw this as new, it would record 1 episode then skip the rest since it can’t identify what actual episode it is.
My guess is that the source for that data is unable to determine the correct dates, so it assumes a few things or uses generic info which makes it wrong. To me, this is an issue with your source providing wrong previously-aired info.
I would be inclined to agree with you except the same guide data in Jellyfin is near perfect from what I can see.
The same source, schedules direct, is used in epg123 for my windows machine and there is no issue with recording new vs repeats.
To me the answer is clear.
As you mentioned in your previous answer, when there is a previously aired vs new conflict, previously aired always wins.
What I am wondering is if plex devs can reverse this so that new tag wins?
They could. but then if there is bad new tags, it could still be wrong. Like the case of Sportscenter I mentioned above. It’s missing data, so yes it will be marked as new, but it won’t record. Using the tag to override bad data is not the proper method to handle bad data.
What you are identifying is the very reason this post exists to begin with.
The previous aired tag and new tag are throughout the xml data.
This is why i suggest the new tag override the previously aired tag. Are you seeing new episodes that are missing the new tag? I’m not.
This is why it makes sense to focus on the new tag and ignore the previously aired unless on its own.
You can make a feature suggestion to have the “new” tag override the “previously aired”
No, but I can’t tell if they really are new since there is a previously aired tag that is for a different date. “new” is suppose to indicate it’s a brand new airing so there shouldn’t be a previously aired date. That’s just wrong.
Fair enough. I could also just use Jellyfin for recordings. 
Agreed. Thanks for all your help!
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