Server Version#:Ubuntu 18.04
Player Version#: downloaded 3 weeks ago - not sure
I loaded a fresh Ubuntu server and loaded plexmedia server. I created a temp library while getting files copied to an external USB drive.
I created a second library (tv shows) and mounted the USB drive to it. Plex started scanning and adding.
About an hour later the blank library now has a series of media files named caravam hunter and has about 500 episodes under it. In checking the individual episodes they are valid shows but of various series, seasons, and episodes. Is there something that would cause the media server to move episodes to a blank library and under a single name?
well… the common suspect is poor file naming or structuring.
How did you name yours (files and folders)? When you share an example… could you please also share which folder is the one you added to the library?
The drive is mounted to opt/plexmedia/Local/tv_series. The show files are in a folder on the root of the drive named TV.
The library I had created just testing plec was somewhere on the Linux drive and I never gave the plex user rights to it. The media content came from a friend that uses PLEX and had the content configured for plex. The scans for several hundred files worked well and picked up thumbnails and info.
Don’t know how better to describe the action. It appears media is being copied to a library out of the drive path where media is. I tried deleting it before any files showed in it but it never responded to the delete command.
Plex isn’t moving things.
It’s reading your file structure and trying to make sense of it. Therefore it expects files to follow a certain naming schema and (in case of tv shows) folder structures.
Plex will add the files and try to identify them against its online sources (e.g. TheTVDb.com). If names and folders are messed up (from a computer’s point of view), Plex will provide wrong information to that source and as a result show the files as the wrong shows.
Structure should look like this:
TV Shows <- the folder your library is pointing at
Show Name <- the main folder for a show
Season XX <- the folder for season X of that show
Show Name - sXXeYY - optional information, e.g. episode title.ext
Show Name - sXXeYY.ext <- episode file without the optional episode title
where XX is the season and YY the episode number; .ext is the file’s extension.
If you leave some of those folders out or add others (e.g. to group shows), Plex will get it wrong. That’s why I’m asking for a specific example
How can I find the path for the library? Once added in PLEX it doesn’t show after. What I am trying to say is the library /opt/plexmedia/Local/tv_series_TV…
Is fine.
There is a different library, with a completly different path that at this point have no idea where its at. I will have to search in Linux to find it. But the contents in /opt/plexmedia/Local/tv_series_TV… should not get placed in a different library that is not even in that path.
Does PLEX move unknown files to a different location?
Thank you. I probably set it wrong and it is creating a problem. The “bad” library is at /opt/plexmedia/Local. The actual content in Library TV Shows is at /opt/plexmedia/Local/tv_series_TV. So I can see where “orphaned” or bad files may get placed in a higher level folder. I have not looked at the actual folder in Linux yet.
But thank you for your paitence. I just would not ha e expected the files to have gotten copied to another library location.
If you move your files around… keep in mind Plex has a “feature” to track files. When scanning them, Plex creates a fingerprint of the file – this can help prevent losing the link between the files and your metadata (but also view states or ratings) if users fix typos or do minor fixes on the file names.
This can get in the way when you actually need to clean things up.
To “overcome” this feature, you’ll need to perform the following steps (it’s called the “Plex Dance”):
move the files (or show folders) outside the folder that is linked with the Plex library
scan the library for updates (... > Scan Library Files)
Just checked the Linux path. The Local folder only has tv_series folder in it. But sub folders of that folder has content of the library I want.
How can I remove the library that I don’t want, and not impact the content in the subfolders in the Linux file path. I just want to remove the plex entry for it, not the folder or contents. I tried clicking the delete under edit when it showed empty, and never got prompted with a confirmation, but never got an error either.
