Media added to library and during the scan most are auto deleted

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
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Server Version#: 1.29.2.6364
Player Version#:
Synology DS1621+
DSM Verson 7.1.1-42962 Update 2

I installed the Plex app on the Synology three days ago. I previously was running plex on a windows VM with the media stored on the Synology.

I was able to add three libraries of media. Movies (~650), TV Shows (30 episodes total), and an other video library with 10 files. All of that is working great.
I added an additional library of other videos, point it to the folder, change the scanner to Plex Video Files and the agent to personal metadata. Finish adding the library and go to it to see the progress. It finds 250+ media files and then a the entire second row and the far right item/thumbnail stay black and a red trashcan is in the middle of these when I mouse over. Before I can click on any the second row and the one on the top row disappear and the count goes down by that many. This continues until the library count is 33.

I have deleted the library and added it with as many different options I could think of. When it sees all the files the whittling down to 33 is what I end up with. As movies or shows type of library it does not see most of the files.

The files are not movies and most are .mkv files

All of this media was in the previous plex server and not moved/renamed etc.

Here is something I noticed the name of the library items being auto deleted are not the actual file names but the first part of the file name. The naming convention is type.year.location.quality.mkv. So there are many that start with aaaa.2024.quatar.1080p.mkv. There are quite a few files that start with aaaa. and bbbb. and cccc. The ones being deleted just say aaaa or bbbb not the entire file name. Not sure if this is the issue, it only really hit me as I was typing this.

Thanks for any suggestions.

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The naming convention, while flexible, must conform to minimal standards.

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

“Name (Year)/Name (Year).ext”

A lot of us use automated tools to assist. FileBot, TinyMedaManager, TheRenamer, etc

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ChuckPa,

Thank you for the quick reply.

I have read all the info in the link you provided. I do not see that I am violating the naming convention in any way besides having a period instead of a space.

Here is what I have.
/AllMedia
/UniqueMediaType
/type.location.year
/type.location.year.mkv

I believe the issue is that once I add the library as type Other Videos with the following settings on the Advanced tab of library creation. Scanner=Plex Video Files, Agent=Personal Media. During the initial scanning operations Plex changes the library type to Movies. I was not able to change the type of the library at this point.
Once it changed the library type most of the files were not found in any media database it was looking in. Looking in the console as this was happening every library entry that was not found ended up with the scanner seeing it as the same name. Not sure if this is expected behavior or not.

I deleted the library and created it again. Type Other Videos but i did not change anything on the Advanced tab. The scanner was Plex Video Files Scanner. Letting this run the library stayed as type Other Videos and all the library entries are there with the proper names.

So the issue of library items showing up and then being deleted on the initial scan is not an issue anymore.

Hoping if some other Plex users happen to have the same issue the above info may help them.

Thanks again for you quick reply.

4

I was pointing out this format.

You state Plex doesn’t see most of the files.
If you use the naming convention above, I can fully understand why.

Movies are of the form Name (year) [optional ignored info here].ext

This means, for example,

  • Avatar → Avatar (2009).mkv

and

  • Superman IV → Superman IV The Quest for Peace (1987) [2160p].mkv

If your naming for aaaa.2024.quatar.1080p.mkv is for “Other Videos” (Home Movies), then you can do whatever you want as long as Plex can see them.

You only must remember not to put these in a “Movies” or “Series” library section else you’ll get no matching or mismatching.

Have I indeed misunderstood? If so, I apologize.

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ChuckPa,

If there is any need of an apology, it is probably from me and not from you.

So first clarification. The files in question are not movies.

The example in my previous reply was all spaced out to show the hierarchy visually and it looks like when I submitted it all the leading spaces were removed. That did not help any ones understanding.

Here is the wordy description of what I tried to build visually last time.
I have a single media folder. Within that folder is a folder for each type, ie Movies, Series, Races, etc. Inside each of those folders there is a folder for each media file/files. Using your Superman IV example above the following is how it would be falling in my current naming and folder convention. /all media/movies/superman.IV/superman.IV.1987.1080p.mkv.
I am using periods instead of spaces.
The aaaa, bbbb, cccc were meant to mean that the starting of each media file could be one of three different things, not that string literally.
I am not sure what the rules for putting actual file/media names in the forum are so I was trying to be descriptive rather than use the exact name.

The three different prefix’s could be ‘motogp’, ‘moto2’ or ‘moto3’ instead of aaaa, bbbb, or cccc. After that it is year.location.quality.mkv. Here is an example path included. /Races/motogp.2024.quatar.1080p/motogp.2024.quatar.1080p.mkv. This is why I said I am following your recommendation but I am using a period instead of a space.

I hope the above helps clarify the naming convention I am using, and I apologize for seemingly making it more difficult than needed.

The issue I found, and can reproduce is as follows.
Create a new library of type Other Videos.
Choose the top level folder (/Races in the above example).
Go to the advanced tab in the new library settings and I change the Scanner from its default of ‘Plex Video Files Scanner’ to ‘Plex Video Files’.
Click the Add Library button and go to the newly created library and watch the files show up and then be deleted one line at a time until 33 remain. The remaining files have odd and incorrect titles (not the file names) and incorrect artwork…
Go to edit the library and the type is now set to ‘Movies’ and is not changeable that I could find.

When the library stays as type ‘Other Videos’ Plex sees every file and all is good.
The only difference between it working and not is the Scanner setting. If I leave it at the default ‘Plex Video Files Scanner’ the library stays type ‘Other Videos’, if I change that one drop down to ‘Plex Video Files’ Plex ends up changing the library type to ‘Movies’

Looking in the console as it was deleting all the files is where it made me think that if Plex thinks this is type ‘Movies’ then it thinks it should be able to find the info for the ‘Movie’ in some movie database it uses. When it can not find anything it removes the entry from the library, and logically so because it seems to not be a ‘Movie’.

I did not want to leave you (or anyone else reading through this) in any state of confusion due to my communication style.

Also as stated before, if this thread helps anyone else in the future then we are all better for it.

Thanks again for jumping in very quickly to assist a fellow Plex user in need.

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This action switches back to the OLD scanner.
It’s not to be used and is no longer maintained. (The underlying python is gone)

It’s provided solely for backward compatibility with older databases long enough to upgrade to the new scanner.

This isn’t surprising at all now the I understand what the process was.

I want to thank you for detailing your process and why you were getting the results you were.

My recommendation to you and all is to use the new scanner & agents.
They are written in C++. The Python is gone and the remaining functionality with the older python-base will continue to break until all functionality fails completely.

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