Server Version#:1.40.2.8395
Player Version#:10.14.0.541
I’m somewhat new to trying to use plex more robustly so I spent time looking through the naming convention comments and searching the forums for guidance on my issue but I can’t seem to find anything to resolve the issue of personal .mp4 files not showing up in my library.
Plex is installed on a remote seedbox and I have a media library for “other video”. This folder which the library is pointed to consists of auto and motorcycle races captured and encoded, some in MKV and others in MP4.
Since it’s an ‘other video’ folder I haven’t been too concerned about naming convention (incorrectly?) but for the most part the the naming conventions on the video files are mostly like the format MotoGP.2024.Round03.USA.Race.Sat.Feed.1080i.H264, then either .mkv or .mp4.
The mkv files show up without any issue at all, but no matter what I’ve tried I can’t get the mp4 files to show up at all.
I’ve tried creating a new media library folder and adding them separately as a test…tried removing the files and doing the Plex Dance, tried renaming the files to remove the periods adding only spaces , even tried reducing the file name to something “round 3 motogp”, but nothing seems to work.
I perhaps am leaning toward this not being a naming convention issue because this is an “other video” library, but maybe that’s not the case?
I’m certain this is user error but I’m stumped where to go next. Apologies if I missed something but anyone have any ideas?
Wanted to mention I am remuxing one of the mp4 files to mkv as I type this to test that out.
I have read in a few posts that mp4 files contain metadata which can create a headache for Plex. It seems like those comments all were in the context of Movies or TV Shows where naming conventions are critical for Plex and not so much for personal movies captures where a database reference isn’t required. Maybe I missed something here though too.
The naming convention used by the other Libraries is primarily meant for use with the matching agents (correct me if I’m wrong). For “other video” libraries, as long as Plex can see the file, it’ll show up. This leads me to think it could be permissions, especially if mkv’s in the same folder are showing. I could be wrong, but that’s my suspicion.
I have a mix of MP4, VOB, and MKV in my “other videos” library and they all show/function without issue.
I’d look at permissions, or maybe a less cluttered name for the files:
Moto GP - Round 03 USA - Race Sat Feed (2024).[1080i.h264].mp4
The one and only file type I’ve ever seen my Plex “puke” on was the ancient .avi file lol.
To me your naming convention should be okay - but the way I demo’d it above with spaces and dashes is how I have mine in my library.
I’m not sure how Plex treats inheritance from a directory/folder, so I always ensure the specific file has correct permissions etc.
(Don’t know why I bothered censoring it before lol)
Hahaha I assumed there was good reason for censoring it but it’s breathing exercises
I’ll give the permissions a good look this evening. At the very least it was nice to confirm my understanding of the naming schema for other files (notwithstanding the naming convention I stick to is a bit onerous).
Oh yeah I remember avi files! Xvid or divx…seems so long ago before the magic of x264
Not being an active linux user nor encountering this before, once I updated the “Others” permission to “read” or “read/write”, Plex immediately recognizes the file and updates the library.
Do you happen to know if this file specific permission done while encoding the races? There must be something in my workflow that causes this so I’ll have to narrow that down.
Thanks again! Massively relieved to narrow get this resolved.
Glad that it was just a permission issue and not something else!
Yea, when it comes to linux the only trouble my server ever has with seeing something is down to permissions luckily I only had that issue in the first weeks of running my server, no issues since
That’s possible, but hard to say without knowing more detail about what’s going on “behind the scenes” as it were. I know I have some applications running in the background that have the ability to change file permissions as long as the service is run by the right user.
