Missing plex library, literally files and all

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Plex Media Server v1.29.2.6364-6d72b0cf6 -
QNAP TS-453Be x86_64 - build: linux-x86_64 qnap - GMT -06:00
Linux version: QTS 5.0.1.2194
Processor: 4-core Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU J3455 @ 1.50GHz

this is a strange situation. server has been running several years on a qnap 4 bay NAS including the library

i log in to my machine where i have the folders mapped to my imac to drop a new movie in the plex movie folder and the folder is gone. after investigating more all my plex media folders are gone but only them. zero issues with the nas, or any other storage on the disks (i have about 8-10 other folders that are just file dumps) no other program has access to the NAS

that said i did find the “allow media deletion” checked and i have no clue how that happened unless an upgrade caused it in the past few years. i am fairly confident i unchecked that when i set it up but i wont fall on my sword arguing that point

i went through my qnap logs and found no files were deleted through file manager. i am the only one with access to my computer i manage everything on so i know they didnt get deleted there. especially the multiple folders

i have my log files from plex downloaded but not entirely sure of where to start. before i recover my files i just want to get to the bottom of how/why this happened to ensure it doesnt happen again

thanks in advance!

2

Please confirm for me?

  1. Set Plex completely off to the side for now.

  2. Signing in as Administrator (or privilege level) - You open File Station

  3. You navigate to the shared folder(s) where you put your media (hopefully NOT in ‘Multimedia’)

  4. All files are gone ?

3

correct

4

Did you have the media in discrete shared folders or all in MultiMedia?

5

in multimedia, along with other folders (of the file dump type) only the associated plex folders are missing. all other folders are fine

DataVol1/Multimedia/Movies/

was the path

6

QTS update recently?

7

not that i recall, in looking at the logs the first instance where the media was not found was when was laid up recovering from a surgery and not even near the computer

8

PMS won’t delete media unless :

  1. Delete media permission is granted in the “Library” settings
  2. Someone clicks ‘Delete’ in the player app(s)

Wholesale removal is beyond what it can do

I asked about updates because:

  1. Multimedia shared folder – isn’t a ‘real’ shared folder. It’s a software (virtual) shared folder. (we warn strongly against using it in our QNAP FAQ)
  2. If Multimedia breaks – It can (and has been known to) do wholesale removals
9

understood, would it do wholesale and leave the other folders intact though?

10

Yes, it can do that because it’s Video sensitive.

The other thing is malware. QNAP has had issues with that.
It’s why they NAG / force everyone to turn off ADMIN username.

11

tons of videos in other folders though

i do run their malware app for what that is worth

and i keep it up to date

also, one of the missing folders was strictly mp3s

12

You have media in other (shared) folders which are videos, etc
but only “Multimedia” got blasted ??

13

I had:

Multimedia/Movies
Multimedia/Music
Multimedia/MusicVideos
Multimedia/TV
Multimedia/photos
Multimedia/Moviedump (movies awaiting reeincoding)
Multimedia/Downloads (gigs of unsorted movies)
Multimedia/Homemovies
Etc

The ONLY folders that were deleted were the ones mapped in the plex interface (movies, music, music videos, TV)

Everything else is in place and no issues

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