Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat (1950).avi is not detected as expected (“Season 1950, ep 8”) by the scanner but it is understanding it as “Season 1, ep 8” instead.
If I remove the release year from the filename, then it is working as expected.
I suppose something is failing because the release year and the season number are equal. Most of the time, it should not happen but the season number is special for this serie (http://thetvdb.com/?tab=seasonall&id=72860&lid=7).
@juherr said: Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat (1950).avi is not detected as expected (“Season 1950, ep 8”) by the scanner but it is understanding it as “Season 1, ep 8” instead.
If I remove the release year from the filename, then it is working as expected.
Then remove the release year from the file name. It is already there (as the season number) anyway.
What Otto said. The release year is really only needed in the folder name for the series. It is generally not needed in the file name and often screws things up when there. 90% or more of the identifying that Plex does is based off the main folder name.
In fact if the main folder is named correctly then the files themselves only absolutely need sXXeYY as a file name.
Thanks for the help. Both of you are proposing working workarounds and I’ve already applied the first one.
But IMO, a workaround doesn’t mean the issue doesn’t exist, it just means that the issue is a minor one.
Nowhere I can find does the above documentation say it’s OK to inject into a file name a (YEAR) field where TVDB doesn’t require one. As clearly shown in your own link: http://thetvdb.com/?tab=seasonall&id=72860&lid=7 and after extrapolating from the somewhat ‘misty’ Plex documentation for this particular series the obvious end result would be:
A TV Show Library
…Tom and Jerry
…Season 1950
…Tom and Jerry - S1950E08 - Cue Ball Cat.mp4
and having just placed a test file (named as shown) into the directory structure above I can report an instant, first time, fully populated match with TVDB and Plex.
TV Show Name - SXXXXEXX - Optional Information (YEAR).XXX
Ever the investigator and always curious how it is possible for folks to screw up a perfectly good file name I Plex Danced the series I just placed after ‘screwing’ up the name just as @juherr has and found that Plex and TVDB have no problem with it and I got the same satisfying instant fully populated match I got before.
I can only assume:
@juherr was messing around with names while the item was inside the library and that threw Plex into it’s usual tail-spin. When renaming items that have already been indexed (or attempted anyway) it’s is recommended by most Doctors to remove the show from the library, update the library, clean bundles, empty trash, fix the name, replace the show, update the library and that would be called The Plex Dance®. https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <------- clean bundles, empty trash, update libraries
or
The Directory Structure @juherr is using is so screwed up Plex is totally lost and can’t do a thing but sit and spin…
In my case, (YEAR) is part of Optional Information.
BTW, I’m just pointing that is strange to have TV Show Name - SYYYYEXX - Optional Information (YYYY).XXX failing and TV Show Name - SYYYYEXX - Optional Information (YYYZ).XXX working.
I’m not using the recommended directory structure:
Series Enfants/Tom and Jerry (1940)/Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat.mpg Series Enfants/Tom and Jerry (1940)/Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat (1950).mpg
But it still doesn’t explain why Series Enfants/Tom and Jerry (1940)/Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat (1950).mpg is failing and Series Enfants/Tom and Jerry (1940)/Tom and Jerry - s1950e08 - Cue Ball Cat (1951).mpg is working
Personally I don’t need an explanation of why NOT using the well documented and supported method of naming and structuring fails to produce reliable results.
When you insist on using your own methods - that are clearly WRONG - unexpected results can and often do occur.
From a functional user point of view, you’re right.
From a technical point of view, the issue is really strange and may hide some (important?) others.
Only a core dev will be able to understand what is happening.
Of all the available Plex libraries the TV Show library is the place where exact naming and structuring is very important - if you don’t want to battle with Plex every day of your life. It could be the way Plex is required to access the TVDB or other reasons I’m not privy to, but if you want a TV Show to behave properly you have to follow the instructions.
@PLEX6FC said:
…Tom and Jerry - S1940E01 - Puss Gets the Boot.mp4**
I bet these mp4 files have embedded ‘Title’ tags. You need to tell Plex to disregard their content.
Go to Settings - Server - Agents - Shows - TheTVDB
In there, grab the line ‘Local Media Assets’ with your mouse and drag it downwards, so it ends up being at the bottom of the stack of active agents.
Or fix the embedded ‘Title’ tag in your files, so it contains sensible data.
Afterwards, perform the Plex Dance with the mismatched episodes.
