Server Version#: 1.41.0.8994
Player Version#:
OS: Windows 11 Pro 24H2 (64-bit)
Hi, I recently moved my library from one Windows 11 machine to another. It’s not the first move this library has undergone, and everything looks OK on the surface: media and metadata are available and are streamed correctly. I’m not even sure that the move is related to the issue I am experiencing.
Anyway, the scanner now recognises only a small fraction of the movies that are added. Out of the 29 movies that I added in the most recent update, 5 were automatically matched and the rest need to be manually matched. This used to be MUCH better, with a failure rate of <5%. Before, I barely needed to perform a manual match, or to correct an automatic one.
I tried playing around with the scanner settings, but this appears to have no effect. Also, PMS refuses to save some changes. For instance, if I swith the scanner from “Plex Movie” to “Plex Movie Scanner” I get the message “Your changes could not be saved.”.
Could someone please inform me of the currently optimal scanner settings (the “Advanced” library window), or any other server settings that have an effect on movie matching? Please also provide instructions in case I need to provide logs.
Any help would be appreciated!
Please provide an example of a movie that failed to be recognized automatically, including the full path to the file and the file name. Also let us know which folder is specified in the library configuration.
In the library config the specifed folder is: \\area51\video\MOVIES\REGULAR
This config has worked very well for many, many years, until a few months ago. I have a feeling that something has been lost or damaged recently, impairing PMS’s ability to match new entries. It does discover the new media files, but appears to be unable to recognize most of them.
When making the PMS move I started from a freshly downloaded installer, and then imported the registry keys which pointed to the copied-over library files. Everything was immediately found by PMS. I have no real avenue of investigation.
Hi, thanks for the input.
However, I have to point out a few things:
I don’t see any fundamental discrepancy between the Plex naming requirements and what I am doing. You should disregard the root folder “\area51\video\MOVIES\REGULAR” when you avaluate the movie path; PMS does not see that.
It is true that my movies are separated in alphabetical blocks (e.g. “02 - ABC”), but that should not matter.
I’m an early adopter of Plex and have been organising my movie files like this forever, and it has always worked. Plex has successfully matched many thousands of movies; it is only recently that this has become problematic. Also, in a same scan run it does recognize some movies that are stored in exactly the same manner: 5 out of 29 in the most recent scan. That to me indicates that the folder structure or naming method is not the issue.
Over the years this setup has been carried over across several PMS host devices and across changes and upgrades in storage devices. It has always performed reliably.
Now, I have been thinking some more about this problem… could it be that when I restored the PMS folders from my previous installation I mistakenly replaced files related to movie scanning and matching? I copied the entire folder structure, including “Codecs”, “Drivers”, “Plug-in Support”, “Plug-ins” and “Scanners” to the Library location.
To be clear:
PMS is installed in C:\Program Files\Plex\Plex Media Server
The library is located in D:\Plex Media Server
Again, this setup has worked well for me. It’s not something I changed recently. To my mind, I have changed nothing - but I have to assume that something did change, causing the issues I’m now experiencing. I wonder if there is some way to “reset” or “repair” an existing PMS installation without wiping the library setup and content.
You can’t have read the documentation very carefully, then. Where in link posted above does it state:
Replace spaces with periods
Begin each folder name with an arbitrary date
Include redundant codec and resolution information (outside of the ignored [ square_bracket ] notation)
This is irrelevant, the fact of the matter is, as you have stated, is that it is no longer working. Plex has very detailed guidelines (see link already provided above) on how to organise media to work with their software. I’ve seen Plex be forgiving when some elements are ignored, but not using sub-folders to group movies and ensuring the folder name is the movie name itself are pretty fundamental. Sub-folders can be circumvented, but each one would need to be added to the library, not the level above.
Now, you are of course will within your rights to ignore this and do something different, however doing so will more than likely cause headaches.
There are plenty of software options out there that could assist with adapting your organisation. If you decide this is not for you, however, I suspect there will be very little in the way of help if you continue down this route.
I fear that this conversation is taking a wrong turn into folder naming strictness. Like I reported: it has worked for over a decade, for thousands of movies. That fact is not irrelevant; it is a solid baseline reference. Changing my organisation is precisely the last thing I want to do. I want to explore all other options first, and I’m hoping that this forum can help me with that.
What I would like to know is:
has the PMS movie matching algorithm or agent changed recently, perhaps making it more strict?
what is the currently optimal configuration for a library, specifically what should I choose for “Scanner” and “Agent” in the library’s Advanced screen?
should I check any other (global) settings?
is there a way to reset or repair a PMS installation so that it uses the current/optimal scanner method?
could my copy of the “old” library have caused some problem? I did follow the prescribed procedure.
Unfortunately, on the path (no pun intended) you are on, all signs posts will point towards folder organisation.
Maybe, only a Plex dev could confirm. Either way, your choices are reorganise your media or find a legacy version and remain stuck on an old version.
There is one for each, Plex Movies and Plex Series. The other options are, I believe, in the process of being removed from PMS altogether. There is a notice of this removal starting with the Nvidia Shield here on the forums.
No other settings refer to library management.
A new installation will default to the options above.
Unlikely - luck with the current structure just ran out.
While not what you want to hear, this is about as much as you will get in terms of help when deviating so far from the recommended structure.
Way back in 2020-2021 Plex announced new Movie and TV Series scanners that required more stringent naming standards with the warning that at some point in the future the old ones would be removed. People that were using Plex for many years have chosen to ignore this warning because it would mean renaming their libraries. Compounding problems is that you can do a one time change from legacy agent to new agent but going back starts to screw up your database. Doing it multiple times, well you get the picture.
The Shield was the first server platform to have the legacy agents removed with version 1.40, expect it to go away shortly for the rest of us.
This is EXACTLY the direction that the conversation needs to take. Plex replaced the legacy agents/scanners a couple of years ago. They have also slowly been dropping support for non-standard formats.
Look, I’m not saying that anyone is wrong in pointing out the naming convention. This convention has existed for untold years, and I am very much familiar with it. On the other hand, I can’t help but observe that my setup has worked flawlessly for years without manual intervention, until something like a few months ago. This is a long time after the replacement of legacy scanners mentioned in a previous post, leading me to believe there is no link between both events.
You know, after a bit more thought, I’m pretty sure that PMS has matched my movies based on the .nfo file that is always present in my movie folders and that always contains an iMDB link. I noticed that on occasions where the iMDB link was incorrect, the movie would be recognized incorrectly. And correcting the .nfo file would put PMS back on track.
I suppose this explains why and how my “improper” folder organisation has worked so well: the folder name was perhaps not used at all in the matching process.
Another interesting fact is that PMS does suggest the correct match most of the time when I manually match the majority of movies that were not automatically recognized. PMS is not totally clueless about the identity of the movie files.
I see that some forum users are unwilling to open mindedly think with me on what might have changed UNLESS I first rename all of my thousands of folders. Like I said: this is to me an extremely unattractive option, not out of some stubborn inflexibility, but because it would imply a ton of work caused by a new requirement that is rumored to have appeared out of nowhere for a system that has worked for years. It’s like the mechanic informing me that I would now have to fill up my trusty old car with unicorn tears instead of petrol because of memo x.
So, if we assume that matching happened based on .nfo file content, and I now notice that matching mostly fails, I can’t help but guess that something has changed inside of PMS that makes it not “see” or interpret those .nfo files anymore.
Is this a feature that was dropped? I reviewed the Release Notes ( Plex Media Server - #649 by chris_decker08 ) but did not see this mentioned. It is a looong page, so I may have overlooked it. But really, why would this capability ever be removed? Dropping “legacy” components does not imply losing functionality. It should only imply switching code base for improved coding efficiency, maintainability, performance and perhaps security - and in many cases it creates the opportunity to evolve the product and to add features.
So perhaps I did somehow screw up the installation so that the Agent (?) or Scanner (?) has become damaged?
When you moved your library from one server to another did you build a new server and just point it at your media location or copy the databases over?
The newer versions (`.40+) default to the new agents so you could drop your library and when you create it be sure to choose the legacy agent before the files are scanned. There was a mention that the if the .nfo reader broke it wouldn’t be fixed for legacy agents.
\area51\video\MOVIES\REGULAR <-- folder added to movie library.
\02 - ABC <-- intermediate folder
\10.14.24.Alien.Romulus.2024.1080p.WEB.h264-ETHEL <-- not movie_name (year)
\Alien.Romulus.2024.1080p.WEB.h264-ETHEL.mkv
Adjusting your structure is straightforward.
Add the intermediate folder to the library, not REGULAR.
Rename the movie folder to match Plex requirements. If you want to keep the “extra info,” place it in square brackets after the movie name and year: Alien Romulus (2024) [extra_stuff_here]
Rename the movie file to match Plex requirements. If you want to keep the “extra info,” place it in square brackets after the movie name and year: Alien Romulus (2024) [1080p.etc.].mkv.
As others have mentioned, there are many tools to help automate the process.
I use Tiny Media Manager (previously mentioned by @dbirch). The free version more than meets my needs. It has options to include information such as resolution, codec type, etc. in the name and included in square brackets.
PowerRenamer in Microsoft Power Tools is helpful for simple renaming with pattern matches or regular expressions. It makes quick work of tasks such as adding a year to file names, removing undesirable text from multiple files, etc
