I am setting up a plex server on a MAC Mini M4. I traditionally use the OTHER VIDEOS library because that traditionally (on my WINDOWS Plex server) Defaults everything to the FILE NAME of the file vs. any TITLE info. I WANT the file names to show not titles. I cannot seem to accomplish this on the MAC server.
I’ve tried OTHER VIDEOS and all combinations of
-PLEX VIDEO FILES SCANNER
-PLEX VIDEO FILES (What is the difference between the 2??)
-PLEX PERSONAL MEDIA
-PERSONAL MEDIA (Again What’s the difference)
This is fairly frustrating as have all the recent PLEX changes been. So can anybody provide me some help in building a library that contains either movies or TV shows that defaults the shown name to be the file name NOT the title?
Oh sorry. You did say other video library. I’m not aware of any difference with the mac os version of pms. I use windows and it does use the filename there. Maybe someone else in Mac can test and confirm if it is a bug.
The agents act the same. If you’re using an other-video type library and files have no embedded metadata, the agent should pick the file name (except for the file extension).
The only exception coming to mind is using a tv-show library as personal media library. In which case the library will default to „Episode 1“, „Episode 2“… naming.
@cslinger: can you create a new library as other-video, keeping all the scanner/agent options untouched and point it to the same library folder and share an example of the result?
Also… what type of file are we talking about (specifically, what container e.g. mp4, m4v, mov, mkv, avi…)? Do those files contain embedded metadata?
I have recreated the library a couple times and tried just some super small directories.
-Most files are MP4, some AVI from way back when I started doing this. Maybe some odd MKV or other but the the vast number are MP4.
-Some have metadata some do not.
-Some are named in an older format I was using (long ago) MOVIE_NAME_WHATEVER as an example. Others are just modern naming conventions moviename whatever. I do tend to put the date and rating after my naming. so moviename whatever 1985 PG13 for example.
None of the above has given me grief on the windows machine using the other videos library choice. All have defaulted to the file name on the windows machine again using the other videos library option.
There is just something with this MAC build that seems to grab whatever metadata and use that instead of the file name.
I’d love to figure this out, just because but honestly I think I am slowly just moving away from PLEX to my alternatives as PLEX seems to just be moving in the wrong direction for me.
Thanks to everybody and anybody providing any insight, just in case I forget to say so.
Ancient version of PMS that had an issue reading embedded metadata?
btw – this should only apply to your mp4/m4v/mov files. Plex won’t read embedded metadata from mkv or avi files.
If you don’t mind me asking… why do you want to cripple your PMS and place regular movies in an other-video type library, going with only file names?
I suppose you could use VLC for that?
Running version 4.148.0.
As for the why? It comes down to the fact that I have been doing this digital thing for a LONG time. Like well before PLEX and back when I started it was all basically figuring it out and DLNA etc. I started doing this stuff like 16 years ago and have a sizeable collection of DVD/BlueRay etc. converted. So I have lots of legacy stuff that isn’t named to current naming conventions etc. and I don’t have the time or desire to go back and do that much maintenance and I’ve just become a bit of a creature of habit. While the various Meta data solutions do work the vast majority of the time they don’t a a fair bit so I a just prefer to have a simpler more streamlined experience.
Not saying any of this is right, just right for me.
Mostly at this point its just sort of an annoyance if you will. This is something so incredibly simple, as well as something I have working under another server and it just bugs me at this point as more of a puzzle.
There’s apps that can do that for you.
It seems overkill to use Plex but then only to use other-video libraries and listing files as displayed in the file system – just my 2ct.
