Plex Media Scanner does not find (all) media in "Other Videos" library

General Discussions
1

Hi!

I wanted to keep some downloaded YouTube content in my PMS, however it’s a major pain, since most of the time the Media Scanner does not find any media.

I have: a other videos library, with the Plex Video File Scanner and the Personal Media Agent running. There’s one folder added ("/media/YouTube"), which contains subfolders (channel names) and media files in these subfolders. (Example filename: “/media/YouTube/Bootstrap Studio/Creating Apples Website in Bootstrap Studio 4 (Tutorial).mp4”)

Initially it didn’t detect any videos, but in fidgeting around to create log output I could post here it suddenly worked on the n-th attempt of creating the library and adding stuff to it.

However I cannot for the life of me add additional videos and get them recognized.
What I’m doing is: add another subfolder, copy over the videos. From the media scanner logs it detects that there’s something going on, but doesn’t find any files. (Example filename: “/media/YouTube/EverTales/King Thrushbeard.mp4”)

INFO - Plex Media Scanner v1.18.2.2058-e67a4e892 - Ubuntu PC x86_64 - build: linux-x86_64 - GMT 00:00
INFO - Linux version: 18.04.3 LTS (Bionic Beaver), language: C
INFO - Processor Intel® Celeron® CPU G1610T @ 2.30GHz
INFO - /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Scanner --scan --refresh --section 6 --activity 7cf6402e-ad58-451b-b1cb-306bb125b90c --directory /media/YouTube/EverTales
DEBUG - Opening 20 database sessions to library (com.plexapp.plugins.library), SQLite 3.26.0, threadsafe=1
DEBUG - Scanning YouTube using xn(Plex Video Files Scanner) with 0 current media items and 1 section locations in the database…
DEBUG - HTTP requesting PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/?percentComplete=0
DEBUG - HTTP 200 response from PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/?percentComplete=0
DEBUG - HTTP requesting GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/notify/cullTimeline?librarySectionID=6&sinceTime=1574615582
DEBUG - HTTP 200 response from GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/notify/cullTimeline?librarySectionID=6&sinceTime=1574615582
DEBUG - Performing a scan with ‘Plex Video Files Scanner’ (language: xn virtual: 0).
DEBUG - * Scanning /media/YouTube/EverTales
DEBUG - Scanner: Processing directory /media/YouTube/EverTales (parent: yes)
DEBUG - Skipping over directory ‘EverTales’, as nothing has changed; removing 0 media items from map.

I would greatly appreciate any help!
Thank you!
Holger

2

I need to see the full DEBUG logs ZIP file but initial concern:

  • use of /media, when Gnome’s Nautilus is involved can be a source of “permission denied” (you can read it because they are your files but user “plex” cannot)

  • Won’t know more without seeing the ZIP. Debugging from excerpts is nearly impossible.

3

User plex can see everything, at least from the command line an “ls” showed all files.

I still changed the mountpoint (easy, as my PMS is in a linux container), same effect though.

Logs are attached.

Thank you!

Plex Media Server Logs_2019-11-24_18-14-36.zip (4.2 MB)

4

There is nothing reported in the logs at all.

Is the media local or on a NAS?

If on the LAN, I’ll again ask the permissions / visibility question.

Also, what happened when you “danced” it ?

5

I think you are right: it has to do with there the media is!

The host comptuer is running proxmox, pms is run in a lxc on the host. The files are all in a ZFS pool, which is shared as a (read only) mountpoint with the pms. This works like a charm for all my TV shows and Movies. Has been working like this for the past 7(?) years.

To test is out I created a temporary folder in the PMS lxc itself and copied a movie file there. Quickly added a new library (“Other Videos”, “Plex Video Files Scanner”, Personal Media Agent and the local folder) and the video is instantly found.

Now the million dollar question is: what is different when adding a “normal” TV show from adding a “Other Video”? User plex can see everything, so when I e.g. try to add one of the subfolders to the library directly, I get a listing with all the movies’ file names in the UI. Plus: my shows and movies are in the same mountpoint, in different subfolders, with the exact same rights.

6

If you were able to create a directory within the container itself, copy files there, with them instantly found, then the root issue is in the specific directories being referenced which exist outside the container.

7

I honestly don’t get it. The folders for movies, tv shows and youtube videos are subfolders at the same level in the share (and hence also mountpoint). There is literally no difference other than the library type, same owner/permissions and the name for the YouTube folder is even more straightforward (just letters, no spaces etc.)

As there doesn’t seem a fix in sight (as the cause is kind of elusive), I migrated my db and spun up the PMS docker container (using the same mountpoint). Worked instantly like a charm…

Thanks for your help Chuck!

8

At the risk of being flamed, this is why I don’t use docker.

When I setup a PMS server on a host:

  1. I never move it
  2. The abstraction introduced by Docker
    a. screws with UID/GID mapping
    b. screws with directory mapping
    c. screws with iNotify mapping
  3. I can demonstrate moving a PMS installation from one host to another is as fast, if not faster and more portable than Docker. Prime example: Try to migrate docker from any of Fedora, Synology or QNAP to any of the others. All fail.

Summary: It messes with more than it’s worth. It’s a good technology for specific application types. IMHO, Plex Media Server is a system-level service and shouldn’t be constrained in this way just because it can be done.

9

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