@clwill, @bfoley407’s comment reminded me that another difference is that I’m using the full nsmb.conf file that I shared in an earlier post. In my testing (and bug report to Apple), it seemed like only two of the settings were needed to work around the issue, but perhaps other values are necessary too. Certainly worth a try.
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@bfoley407 This sounds exactly on point. I don’t see the lag in finder that you state, but the symptoms sound spot on.
@Anyware Yep, I think that’s the right solution. I’ll go nab your whole SMB file and give that a go.
Edit: And thanks to @FLIPNEUS for the empty trash thing. Recreating the collections was the hard part.
Thanks all.
I think I’m in the same situation as @clwill. I’ve tried a bunch of variations on the nsmb.conf file without success. I always get stuck at 1019 files UNLESS I have the finder window open to the movies folder. The best workaround I’ve found so far is the script I shared to continually check if the finder window is open and if not, open it.
Out of curiosity, are you also running AutoMounter? Trying to find the commonalities and differences.
Yes I have AutoMounter running as well. (Have not tried disabling this, is there any success here with that?)
M1 Mac Mini OS 15.2
Synology DS418.
AutoMounter seems to help, so it’s good to hear that you have it.
If you haven’t tried the full nsmb.conf file that I shared a while back, it’s worth giving it a try. Many of us have found that the combination of AutoMounter and the full configuration file works around the issue.
It’s finally working with that Git verion of the nsmb.conf file. I will summarize here the one I had previously that did not work:
streams=yes
soft=yes
signing_required=yes
dir_cache_off=no
protocol_vers_map=6
port445=no_netbios
notify_off=yes
mc_prefer_wired=yes
mc_on=no
dir_cache_max_cnt=0
and working for me is:
[default]
# Disable packet signing
signing_required=no
# Use NTFS streams if supported
streams=yes
# Turn off SMB notifications
notify_off=yes
# Disable NetBIOS (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102050)
port445=no_netbios
# Negotiate SMB version(s) (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102050)
# 6 == 0110 SMB 2/3 should be enabled
# 4 == 0100 SMB 3 should be enabled
protocol_vers_map=4
# Soft mount by default
soft=yes
# Disable directory caching
dir_cache_off=yes
# Limit caching
dir_cache_max_cnt=0
# Prefer wired connection, if available (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102010)
mc_prefer_wired=yes
# Disable SMB multichannel support (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102010)
mc_on=no
Major differences seem to be these three lines:
signing_required=no
dir_cache_off=yes
protocol_vers_map=4
Not sure which of them actually made the difference.
I have decided on a multi-prong strategy to see if I can nail this issue.
- I’m running @Anyware’s nsmb.conf file in its entirety
- I’m running automounter (at startup)
- I have @bri1232001 's script for opening the Movies folder running at startup
- I have Settings → Energy → Prevent Sleeping when Display is Off → On (prevents dismounts)
The only change to the Plex setup is Library → Empty trash after scan is Off. The other 3 automatic scan options are on (as I’ve always had them).
I’ve been a day like this and I still have all my movies. I’ll report back after a few more.
Thanks for all the input.
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Great news! I hope it continues to work well for you.
The two lines that seem to be required (based on my extensive testing) are:
dir_cache_off=yes
mc_on=no
When either of those is missing, I can reproduce the directory caching issue easily. The real question is whether any of the others help to reduce the issue even more. All I can say is that with AutoMounter and the full nsmb.conf, I’ve been running without issue for over a month now.
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The other suggestion I have is that once you run AutoMounter, disable/delete all other SMB connections for those folders. So remove your media folders from “Connect to server” in the Mac Go menu, and remove any of those paths from login items. Let AutoMounter manage it all. My theory is that if the SMB connections are managed in both AutoMounter and macOS, the macOS configuration takes precedence, which will eventually time out. The more “redundancy” I had configured for SMB, the worse it got for me.
I’m facing the same issue: some movies are disappearing (from 1056 to 990)
Here my config:
PMS Version 1.41.3.9314
Running on mac mini M4 pro M4 Pro with mac OS Sequoia15.2 (24C101)
All my data for plex are stored on a Synology (DSM 7.2.2-72806 Update 2)
the work around which seems to work now is to keep open a finder window open…
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Try the nsmb.conf file talked about here: Plex Files Unavailable but they’re not missing - #511 by bri1232001
This is the only solution that’s worked for me aside form keeping the finder window open. My setup has been stable now for a few days (with no need to keep finder window open).
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Adding to this thread with the same issue. Latest Mac Mini as host, files on NAS.
I’ve tried the workarounds and employ best practices setup-wise and actually was good for about a month or so this time, and today all of a sudden for no reason my library (movies) went from 1000+ down to under 600.
The usual re-scan brings them back, but it brings them back as if I just added them for the first time causing me to lose fixed matches as well as posters, which is driving me insane.
This is this umpteenth time I have go through my library to fix these details after the movies disappear from Plex. Is there a way to back up the fixed matches and posters, as well as metadata added? (such as personally added tags and all that?) so when this inevitably happens again all the work does not get undone?
Notes: - As many report, I suspect the NAS did not actually disconnect / the Mac Mini did not lose connection with the pertinent volumes. I know this because there are no notifications or popups about it, which usually pop up when this is the case.
-
I also run AutoMounter which I installed purely due to this issue to triple-try to make sure to keeps things connected. I think it helps and one of the reasons I’ve gone so long in this instance without this incident happening for a month+, even though it just happened again.
-
No lag whatsoever browsing finder for the NAS volumes, and can load and see all files fine in there. This makes no sense!
Disable “empty trash” for scans, and only empty it manually when you’ve confirmed plex is still seeing everything.
This will keep your fixed matches, posters and items in collections. (This issue is why I rebuilt all my collections in Kometa (plex meta manager))
Thank you! Looking into Kometa, good stuff
I have been experiencing similar issues. Around 100+ media shows disappear after a system scan. To get them back I have to rename one of the shows and they then they magically get found and recategorised. It appears to be the same shows every time. I can’t see any errors in the MacOS system logs related to this.
Looking through the Plex Server Log I see the following
Jan 19, 2025 08:28:02.699 [0x16f13b000] DEBUG - Activity: updated activity 8d9fe3a6-4f87-4ac5-ade1-ebab0897e6b6 - completed 99.0% - Scanning TV Shows
Jan 19, 2025 08:28:02.699 [0x16f13b000] DEBUG - Scanner [Plex TV Series]: Idle and left with 17810 media items.
Jan 19, 2025 08:28:02.702 [0x16f13b000] DEBUG - Removing 1310 media items that were left.
After attending to those this comes up
Jan 19, 2025 08:28:26.555 [0x16f13b000] DEBUG - Removing 266 directories that were left.
It then removes from Plex those media files. They are still there and visible to MacOS and to Synology. There are as best I can tell no differences in ownership or permissions on the media files and directories. There don’t appear to be any further log entries for the media deleted. With the next system scan they disappear again.
This started after the Sequoia upgrade as best I can tell
Stopped in to report that it’s now about a week later, and my Movies library appears to be working. At least not suddenly down to under 1000 movies. Not sure which piece of the puzzle is important, but it seems fine (per my previous post).
Only thing is I’m not sure it’s all OK because with emptying trash disabled, I don’t know if some movies are marked “unavailable”. Anyone have any good way to check this?
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Thanks for the update! Continuing to cross my fingers for you.
Ensure you disable “Empty trash automatically after every scan” in Settings → Library to prevent this from happening. It will “trash” the items, but the metadata will remain and will be re-associated when the media is again available.
It’s not a solution to the problem, but will help to mitigate its more harmful effects.
I feel like we’ve had an uptick in users finding this thread recently. With 500 posts, it’s gotta be hard to decipher what bandaids fix this issue. Anyone know if a summary post of fixes can be created and pinned to the top?
