Multi-episode tv-shows: Files incorrectly recognized

General Discussions
4

@cjessing said:

@spikemixture said:
Filebot

Thanks but this will not help Plex recognize the episodes any better will it? The episode in question DID have the actual episode title in its name before I renamed it to try to alleviate the problem…

Filebot (link in my signature) will ‘pre-match’ your show with TVDB. It will get the names of the episodes from TVDB and then rename your files to be in complete compliance with TVDB and Plex naming standards with no questions, no guesswork, no shenannigans.

Here is the typical layout Plex and TVDB expect to see:

A TV Show Library/
…TV Show Name/ <---- exactly as it is listed at TVDB: http://thetvdb.com/
…Season 01/
…TV Show Name - S01E01 - Episode Title Optional.xxx

What is the show?
What is the show structure as it sits in your library?
Does the file actually contain both episodes: 11 and 12?

You should note that if you use this naming Plex thinks (wrongly) after you have watched episode 11 and 12 that you still need to watch episode 12. There are a couple of ways around that:

  1. manually mark episode 12 as watched
  2. rename the file s03e11
    2a) the next file will, of course be: s03e13

Now here is the community developed work-around for a Plex naming scheme that has never worked right since day number one:
Split that file apart and make it two episodes - easily done in a couple of minutes:
https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/173648/howto-splitting-multi-episode-files-with-mkvtoolnix-gui

Note: don’t expect MKVToolNix to make a very accurate edit, but it will be close. Try to make the best edit you can and live with the result. It will be less painful in the long run than having to battle Plex every time it runs across a double episode it can’t effectively deal with.

When you are changing names, structures and the like while the items are still in the library this will most likely not change a thing inside that bundle. Since the day Plex’s Mom dropped him out of her on that subway platform (a saintly Woman, prehaps a bit hygienically challenged) Plex simply can’t (maybe head trauma) update a bundle with new information via a simple ‘Refresh’ - like it says in the Plex Handbook. In this particular instance that Plex Handbook is as worthless as screen doors on a submarine (teats on a boar hog - inject your own colorful analogy here).

The Community developed yet another work around:

The Plex Dance®:

  1. remove entire show from library
  2. update library
  3. clean bundles
  4. empty trash
    https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <---- update libraries, clean bundles, empty trash
  5. make any changes necessary to repair/alter/fix file names and structures to be as perfect as possible
  6. replace show into library
  7. update library

Failure to follow these steps exactly and in the order they are presented will result in - not much - because it’s the ONLY way to reset a bundle.