I have some MKV movie files that are not showing in my library when I scan for files on my PC. This tends to happen when mujltiple files have similar names such as if a movie or TV episode is split into several parts. For example, if I had files named “movie part 1” and “movie part 2” in the same folder on my PC, “movie part 1” will show in the Plex library but “movie part 2” will not be recognised. Is it possible to add missing files manually?
Sorry, but no answer here. I have the same problem.
Let’s try to be more specific…
Can you share what files (names) aren’t showing in Plex?
As the post above points out, there’s a number of potential scenarios how this could happen:
- files following the tv-show naming convention will be ignored in movie libraries and vice versa
- poorly named movies might have been matched as a different movie (but should still show under
recently added) - poorly named movies might be mismatched as another version of a movie already in your library (resulting in a little blue-ish square in the top-left corner of that movie, indicating the number of different versions hidden behind that record)
- files following the naming convention for multi-file movies end up as a single record in your library (e.g.
Movie Name-part 1.extandMovie Name-part 2.extwill result in an entry calledMovie Namewhich will play both entries in sequence) - files following the naming convention for local media assets will not be displayed or only show as an extra for the main movie of this folder
- some file types representing disc images (e.g.
isofiles) are not supported by Plex and will be ignored - depending on your library settings, movies might be automatically associated with a collection and only display inside that collection
- …
Thanks fr the prompt reply.
The files are:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
I did manage to “Split Apart”, but now I have two “Part 1” movies. The second one is really Part 2.
I first tried putting them in separate folder, then I tried renaming them to something different. Part 1 is now simply “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”, and part 2 is “Harry Potter Deathly Hallows 2”, but still there is two posters named “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”
Is there a simple way to rename the second as “Part 2”?
name them according to their official names incl. the year they have been released (as described in the related support articles on media preparation):
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010).extHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 (2011).ext
You should also be ok by replacing the [space]-[space] section with a simple [space].
Thanks for the tip. When I started the rescan, part 2 briefly showed the 2011 date, but by the time the scan was completed, there are still two posters named “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1”.
the Plex Dance
Thanks, I thought the Plex Dance was a bit of humor until I saw the thread.
I have all my movie files on one HDD, and the OS and plex on another. The Movies HDD is mounted by OpenMediaVault, does taking the movies HDD offline satisfy the “move all files for the show out of ‘sight’ of Plex”?
No. If a whole mount point of a library goes missing, Plex will consider it ‘temporarily unavailable’ and will simply do nothing.
The same applies if a path that has been added to a library (properties of the library, on the ‘Add Folders’ tab) goes completely empty.
Then, what’s the preferred way to “move all files for the show out of ‘sight’ of Plex”?
OTOH, this is getting to be a mess, what would happen if I removed both movie files, rescan the folders, then replace the original Part1 and Part2 files? Would I be back to where I started with Paet1 and Part2 as a single movie?
Not if you rename them according to the above recommendation.
So, there’s no way to combine the two parts back to the way that Plex initially indexed them?
Then, to perform the “Plex Dance” I am told to “move all files for the show out of ‘sight’ of Plex”. If taking the drive offline won’t do that, how should I proceed?
Move the file into a different folder or drive or volume that is not included in a Plex library.
Thanks. Then to summarize, I create a new folder in the root of the drive, move everything in the /Movies folder to the new folder, then do the dance, followed by moving the files back to the /Media/Movies folder?
No everything. Only those files which were mismatched by Plex.
Well, that certainly makes it easier since I have hundreds of files.
Thanks
BTW, just what does the “Plex Dance” accomplish? I am suspecting that it rebuilds the database?
It doesn’t rebuild the database as such.
It just removes references to the “bogohash” of your media files. Plex uses this bogohash to recognise files which were moved to a different folder or which were renamed. That is exactly what we don’t want. We want it to treat the file as if it has never been in the database.
Many thanks for your patience with me.
With many thanks to tom80H and OttoKerner, I have solved my issue. After doing an operation like this I write a summary into my personal Wiki so that the next time, maybe months or years later, I can recall what I did to fix the same issue.
Here is my summary (Technical critique would be welcomed):
Do the "Plex Dance"
From the Plex Forum, I learned that poorly named movies might be mismatched as another version of a movie already in my library. This resulted in a little blue-ish square in the top-left corner of that movie, indicating the number of different versions hidden behind that record.
In my case,
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
resulted in an entry called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which would play both parts in sequence.
Renaming the files to a conforming name schema only after they were already (incorrectly) matched, required that I perform the ‘Plex Dance™’ to erase their checksums from the plex database.
Here are the steps to fix the problem, (also from the Plex Forum):
(optional: disable the ‘‘SubZero’’ plugin if installed).
When treating only music, step 4 (Clean Bundles) can be omitted.
- move all files for the show out of ‘sight’ of Plex, like to a folder that Plex doesn’t see as a library.
- do a Libraries --> Scan Library Files in the web app (not ‘Refresh all’)
- Libraries --> Empty Trash
- Libraries --> “Clean Bundles”
- Double check naming schema. In my case, adding the release dates made the files different enough for Plex to see two movies.
The correct names are:
‘‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)’’
‘‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011)’’ - Move the files back to the /Movies library.
- Wait for the autoscan to complete, then perform Libraries --> “Scan Library Files” again
(optional: re-enable the SubZero plugin if installed.)
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