Is this ever going to work?

Server Version#: 1.18.3.2156
Player Version#:

Added new shows in the correct folder so it should autoscan and add them in and it doesn’t anymore. Does not work. I can’t believe they charge for this buggy software.

You’re going to need to provide more information than “It doesn’t work”.

I’m running PMS on macOS and all my TV shows are scanning properly.

Did you name the files correctly? Plex prefers a specific file naming convention as outlined in this support article:

https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

If you believe you’ve done it correctly, post EXACTLY the full path folder filenames and folks can take a look.

Yes. There are hundreds of files that have worked correctly for months. Over the past 2 days anything added does not work. Files that have a similar name that are older work, but the new ones do not.

For example The.Name.Of.Show.S01E01.ext shows up from a week ago and in the same folder The.Name.Of.Show.S01E02.ext from yesterday does not. It basically either stopped scanning or the scanning doesn’t work anymore.

What is the .ext? .mp4? or something else?

Again, EXACT details really matter because they really help.

Scanning is working, I just had several things added overnight. Help us to help you :slight_smile:

Your filenames could use some cleaning up. Per the link @darcilicious provided, PMS expects names to be in the form:
Show Name (4-digit year) - SxxEyy - Optional Info.ext

It’s possible that your naming scheme has worked up to a point but is now causing issues.

At any rate, you may also want to ensure the new episodes are not being picked up as duplicates of existing ones (which could happen if PMS gets confused by the filenames). Go to your TV library and select “Episodes” for the second filter and then “Duplicates” for the first filter (do it in that order). The result should look like this if there are no duplicates:

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MP4 and MKV

It is not possible. There are hundreds of files that worked for months and then about a week ago it stopped working. Filenames all similar. Multiple shows. they are not showing up as duplicates.If it never worked or the names of the show were different, but lets just say it was named “Episodes.S01E01.mkv”. and then E02, E03, and so on. The first 8 show up from older than a week ago and the 2 since then do not.

The hundreds of files all worked until recently, but somehow now it doesn’t;t even thought the naming pattern is the exact same.

ETA: In fact I just took an older file that showed up weeks ago and copied it to a different hard drive. I then deleted the file from Plex so it was gone. I then added it back into the folder where it was deleted from (my Plex folder) and it does not show up, but yeah it is probably the naming (that was sarcasm).

ETA: In fact I just took an older file that showed up weeks ago and copied it to a different hard drive. I then deleted the file from Plex so it was gone. I then added it back into the folder where it was deleted from (my Plex folder) and it does not show up, but yeah it is probably the naming (that was sarcasm).

So then I created a new folder and added it as part of the Plex library. Copied it (same name)how it has always been named and it showed up. But again it is probably the naming. SMDH.

This kind of reductive logic is dangerous. It’s like saying that I’ve always driven 5 MPH over the speed limit and never gotten a speeding ticket; but today I was driving 50 in a 45 zone and did, so the police must have changed their guidelines. But the truth is more that I’ve just been lucky until now.

I don’t think that any of us are stating that this is definitely the issue. However, best known practices are just that. And in this case, they are actual documented guidelines. Stray from them and you can experience undesired behavior. Starting from a known, expected-working configuration is always best.

You may also want to consider performing the Plex Dance on the effected episodes. Perhaps there’s some stray metadata floating around causing issues. After that, logs would probably be helpful.

Your example makes no sense.

What I think I will do is create a new folder. Move all the files to that folder and make it by “new” library. When I did this with a few files lo and behold it seemed to work. I will then get rid of the old folder as it will be empty.

It happened with anything newer than about a week. Multiple different shows. Not just one. None worked. In a new folder all worked. In other words 20 different shows with nameofshowS0XE0X.mkv put in library folder. None showed up. Put all 20 in a new folder and add that folder to be scanned. All showed up.

ETA: Seems to be working.

I’m not really sure if you mean it did not “auto” scan or if even when manually doing it it did not scan.

I would have a look at your scanner and server logs if you do not wish to share them here. Either the scan did not kick in for some reason, the files were ignored when scanning or the scanner could not see the files.

No I don’t know. I know naming was not the issue and it was real obvious. You telling me to fix a problem not there is ridiculous

Big Wheel, It seems to be fixed by creating a new folder, moving all files to that folder and making it the master library folder. Wasn’t that hard so at least it was done. Even before when I selected “update libraries” manually the files wouldn’t show up. With this new folder it is auto scanning and auto adding so it is all good. Maybe the folder went bad, or a file that was in there caused it. Who knows. It seemed as if they were ignored, but just over the last week.

sounds like a PERMISSIONS problem

ie plex could NOT read/access the files, so it could not scan or add them.

Ok. Glad you got it sorted. I wonder if file permissions changed on the folder but that seems strange to happen on a Mac for no reason.

If you happen to have the scanner logs from one of the failed times you manually kicked it off it would be interesting to see.

Just an FYI for the future.

You need to give more information when you have an issue. You were asked for exact details and kept ignoring that and just saying the same thing.

Naming might not have been the issue, but @chenks was trying to do what is called troubleshooting (perhaps you’ve heard of that) and you would not cooperate.

You were then asked for logs which you completely did not acknowledge about. You could have acknowledge that but logs could have helped solved this without the need for you to necessarily move all the files to a new folder.

Also, you do not need to pay for Plex in order to use the server functionality or for any apps outside of the Android and iOS apps (which are only a $5 unlock fee). Your purchase of Plex Pass just gets you additional features (which you may or may not need/use), so don’t put false statements out there (no I don’t work for Plex, just hate when people throw that line out there).

Part of my job is IT help desk and you are the type ticket I hate getting because there is no useful information and when asked for more information it is not given. If you give all the details you can and give the information clearly (and without the attitude) it will help speed the process of resolving your issue without having to result to possible extreme measures (creating a new folder and copying everything over).

By the way, you are not the only person that that advice applies to, but I felt it needed to be said based on your responses.

-Shark2k

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First I have no issue with the statement about checking the naming. Once that was show to not hav been an issue it was time to move on. Permissions, etc. made sense. I have no clue how to get the logs and would have done that and asked how to do that had it not been resolved. I do pay for Plex pass because I want to use it with my IOS device. The facts are that I pay for something and I expect full functionality of it. Not to mention your point was proven wrong as I got advice with the information I gave that was not related to naming.

Plex Web > settings > troubleshooting > download logs

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.