Server Version#:1.32.1.6999
Player Version#:
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 22H2
Hi,
the agent I use is “Personal Media”, to manage a collection of series/movies . The scanner is “Plex Video Files Scanner”.
Introduction: Some time ago I had disabled “Local Media Assets” in agent settings, because it seemed the only way to show actual filenames instead of embedded filenames (metadata) (I prefer that Plex shows the same filenames as Windows).
But this way Plex does not show external subtitles anymore (I mean SRT files, properly renamed and placed in the same folder of the video files they are related to).
(Subtitles embedded in MKV files are shown and working fine, anyway).
So, what I did was check the “Local Media Assets” again, then I did a total metadata refresh and a rescan of the whole library. No way: SRT subtitles still unavailable: Plex acts as if the SRT files are not there (I tried to refresh/rescan many times, also restarting server).
I noticed that if I do a refresh metadata of an individual object (one video file), it works and then Plex immediately shows the subtitles properly.
But obviously I can’t do an individual refresh of hundreds of files.
So the questions are:
(1) Why does a total rescan + refresh not work and an individual refresh works?
(2) Is there a way to have external (SRT) subtitles showing and, at the same time, embedded filename (metadata) disabled? (Because it seems that activating “Local Media Assets” is related to both situations, but I want SRT and I don’t want embedded filename).
For some libraries I have both checked because I actually want some local metadata to show up.
Mkv files don’t ever use the Prefer local metadata setting. For some libraries I keep all mkv’s and only use mp4’s for items I actually want things in the properties to show up. That way you can leave it on if you need it for some things
I don’t know why refreshing the whole library doesn’t get them to show up. I have on occasion just not done anything and the scheduled tasks seem to pick those items up during nightly maintenance.
The only thing I can suggest is to try and click “analyze” for the whole library and then refresh metadata to see if your changes are recognized
Thank you for your feedback;
unfortunately my library/settings/advanced page seems different. My menu is in Italian but you can see that there are only four options and “use local assets” or “prefer local metadata” are not available (maybe it’s due to the agent/scanner I use, but I can’t change it, because of the way my collection is set up: a mix between movies and series in same subdirectories).
Since an individual metadata refresh works to make SRT available (and a total refresh does not work), anyway there is something strange, but I’ll try to analize the whole library, as you suggested, before doing another total rescan and metadata refresh.
After the three steps (analyze / scan / refresh metadata) of the whole library, SRT subtitles are still unavailable.
Since my library menu settings don’t show “use local assets” or “prefer local metadata” options, I don’t know what else I can do.
The SRT issue remains and at the moment the only thing I can do to enable those subtitles is refresh metadata of each object individually (quite frustrating but at least it works).
Yes, I had not noticed it, I agree with you when you say that using “Other videos” no other metadata is being pulled, so it would not make sense an option as “use local assets” or “prefer local metadata” in this case. It’s logical.
When I add a video, it’s almost immediately added. I’ve just tried to add a new AVI video together with its SRT file. It was automatically added and its subtitle is available. So it seems that for some reason the issue concerns videos added in the past only (I can’t tell when exactly this issue appeared).
I actually can’t understand why technically a total refresh is “weaker” than an individual refresh to pick the external subtitles.
I could not find a way to select all the items of the library as you suggested and try that way, because I have many directories and subdirectories and it seems that those folders cannot be selected directly without opening them one by one. Maybe someday I can try your suggestion, opening each directory and selecting its items (still not a solution, but at least a workaround exists).
I see you are on Windows. Make sure you update to the latest PMS version 1.32.2 as there are Windows-specific issues addressed in this new release that can affect scanning.
Try this:
on an affected video, open the context menu ⋯
Pick “Match”
Now ignore the rotating spinner and open the “Auto Match” menu
Pick “Personal Media”
Thanks, yes I am on Windows , I updated PMS yesterday and now I have version 1.32.2.7100 (I usually update immediately when a new version is released).
When you want to pick multiple items in a library you have to click on the little circle in the upper left corner of the first poster, shift, then anywhere inside the last poster. You will see the circle appear as you hover your mouse over the poster
I had a similar problem with intro detection and the “analyze” feature. Scanning the library, multiple shows, or one show at a time didn’t work. I had to move all the way down to the season poster for intros to be detected
I don’t know if what I suggested will even work. I tried to test it but, like I said, my subtitle scanned in automatically before I even had time to add the 2nd one
Thanks. The only problem is that the affected videos are placed in many different directories/subdirectories, because of how my collection is organized, but I’ll try.
Thank you, the little circle is useful but I’ll try it a little at at time, because I can’t use this method for a total selection, all at once (my collection is structured in many subdirectories).
However, it’s technically interesting (strange but good) that the newly added files can show their external subtitles properly (and automatically, after adding them to the library) and only the older ones are affected.
