Symptoms - for those with a high folder count (>1000) on an external file share (e.g. SMB) media files are dropped during a scheduled scan.
The fix for me was adding the following parameters to my NSMB.CONF configuration file
dir_cache_off=yes
mc_on=no
The cause is still unknown. Those parameters affect directory caching. However, I’ve not found documentation that shows MacOS has any limits on those caches. Probably best to focus on how Plex deals with large numbers of folders in a directory and see if there are any limits there. If not then it may be a Sequoia problem.
Thanks. I did have that turned off but then found it difficult to force Plex to re-find the lost files. In the end I adjusted the NSMB.CONF parameters to turn off caching ( dir_cache_off=yes, mc_on=no ) and the problem has not reoccured.
Im running a Mini m4 with a 16tb external (NTFS) and have a similar issue. i transferred my external over from a raspberry pi and have 3 folders ( movies, tv shows and music ). it loaded about 1900 of my 3000 movies and would not even look at the other files. Since i couldn’t figure out what was wrong i put everything back to the pi with no issue.
Hello everyone, I have been struggling with this for months now and I am very frustrated. I have a Mac Mini Intel, running plex media server with a 14TB Buffalo Terastation mounted using Automounter. I tried to implement the NSMB.conf file and have read and followed all the instructions. When I put the nsmb.conf file in and reboot, the nas is no longer detectable. I can still log into it on the web and all smb permisions are enabled on both the NAS and the Mac Mini. I have made sure to allow it in file sharing the Mac settings. I have tried toggling multiple switches and rebooting many times. I feel so lost and confused and honestly scared to ask for help. This is my first comment here but reddit has not been kind to a dumb guy trying to learn.
Sorry to hear about your struggle…indeed, these features and configuration files can be arcane.
While I don’t have any Buffalo equipment myself, it sounds like there might be a nsmb.conf setting that is preventing your Mac from seeing/connecting at all when the full configuration file is in place. So, I’d suggesting commenting-out configuration settings one by one (with a reboot in between) to see if they resolve your issue. You can comment-out a line by prefixing it with a “#” symbol…just like the comments that are already in the file. By doing this, you’re telling the system to ignore that line and assume a default/standard value for that setting.
If I had to speculate at some settings and an order to comment-out, I’d try this:
protocol_vers_map - this specifies the version of the SMB protocol that is required to connect to a remote share. If your Buffalo TeraStation isn’t configured to work with SMB 3, removing this configuration item (by commenting it out) should allow connecting with SMB 2.
signing_required - maybe the TeraStation is configured to require signed packets. Easy to try.
port445 - starting to really guess here, but I’d try this next.
soft - really reaching here, but this would be my fourth.
Of course, you can continue commenting-out items beyond this, but these seem to be the most likely settings to me. If you do figure it out, please let us know so that others can learn from your experience.
Ok, if this fixes my problem, I am laughing like a madman.
I put a # symbol before the protocol command and instantly the automounter popped up to login into the NAS. The drive is successfully mounted and the big movie folder is scanning. I will run some tests but the plex is already performing a lot better. Movies wouldn’t even load earlier. I feel like this might have fixed it. It’s been over a month and it came down to a # symbol
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your assistance, my wife thanks you, my kids definitely thank you for having Bluey back
You deserve a reward, can I send you a gift pack??
Fantastic news! I hope it continues to work well for you. Must be that your Buffalo TeraStation is configured to require SMB 2, which is perfectly fine.
No extra thanks required…but thank you for the kind thoughts!
Fantastic! Thank you for letting us know that the configuration is working for you!
For what it’s worth, there have been a couple of reports that make me wonder if there is a third configuration setting that sometimes makes a difference. So, if you see the problem rear its head again, you might try the whole configuration file. No need to do it proactively, though.
I upgraded to macOS Sequoia 15.3 today and re-ran my testing suite to see if this issue is fixed. Unfortunately, the bug(s) are still present, so the workarounds that we’ve discovered in this thread still apply.
Im sure they can fix it if they are interested. Unfortunately, they are not. We all already paid our $ for the app so we are no longer useful to them for generating revenue. Sucks but that’s how it is, unfortunately.
I sympathize with Plex because the problem is MacOS’s new implementation of Samba. But then the fact that I think Emby and others aren’t having this problem means that there is something in code that is causing this.
Is there anything is this code that would affect say how qbit connects to things? I solved one problem and now I have another. Not sure if this is even the place to ask about it.
It seems that this problem is due to a buggy SMB implementation in recent versions of macOS. This is a service that software should be able to rely on for its operations, but in this case, it’s causing issues with Plex (and other software that accesses SMB shares, I’m sure).
The natural question is whether Plex could implement a “workaround.” Because this would likely entail re-writing how Plex accesses SMB file shares, it would be a big ask. It would change how Plex accesses and works with files, and that is core to its functionality.
Plus, SMB is probably working just fine with Plex on other operating systems. Changes like this would introduce a lot of risk, probably some new bugs, and would forevermore require the Plex staff to maintain their own SMB system.
The right answer is for Apple to fix their SMB issues. It’s just that we have to endure the pain in the meantime.
@Anyware… to play devils advocate here, this is assuming the SMB changes on macOS’s side are in fact an issue or bug, and not by design.
I would like assume that Plex devs could easily find this information out through Apple’s developer support portal. This is not information that the regular support staff would know. Though, given this has been open for 5 months and Plex devs have said nothing about working with Apple on this, makes me feel like they have not attempted this avenue yet.
I think that at least part of the reason for Emby’s ability to function reliably with macOS’ Samba implementation is that it allows users to configure network locations directly in its library configuration. It doesn’t require the use of shares mounted at the OS-level.
This, to me, implies that it likely has a built-in means to monitor these connections and re-establish them if they disconnect or produce read errors. This is, of course, supposition, but it would make sense in my mind.
There’s nothing preventing Plex from doing something similar (allowing direct network share connections) and I think there may even be a feature suggestion out there for it. Maybe. But right now, it is completely dependent on the OS doing the right thing.
@pshanew I absolutely agree. I had mentioned something similar WAY up in this thread. Personally, I feel this is a necessary implementation for Plex, but also not a dire one that needs to be rushed.
