TL;DR: If my PMS data and library are on an external drive, can I plug that drive into any computer where my PMS is set up? Can I swap between computers at will without causing problems?
I’ve been running Plex for years without a single issue on my win10 machine, with both the library and the server data existing on the same physical drive. I’m in the process of transferring my data/library to an external drive (WD Elements) and will be using the server on my Raspberry Pi 4 (which is already up and running with the PMS). I’m intend to have the Pi4 be the new permanent home for my server (I need portability) but am wondering out loud if I can just unplug my external drive from the Pi4 whenever I want and plug it into my win10 box and have everything work without hassle. Has anyone done this?
Plex does not like its media disappearing “out from underneath its feet”.
You would need turn off all automatic updating as well as all other library management automation to do so.
Moving equipment from system to system while live brings its own set of perils (the enumeration changes each time its inserted which can cause the installation path to change).
Can’t be done.
Windows and Linux are referring folder paths, drives and network shares differently.
All media added under one OS won’t be accessible when the database is transferred to the other OS.
And that is not the only issue you’ll encounter.
Thanks for the heads up. I’ve got everything working on the Pi4, except that when I try and add my library I’m not able to drill down within the external drive. I can easily do it via the explorer, but not inside Plex.
I was able to fix this by unmounting my external drive (which had mounted to /media) and mounting it to /desktop. This server is live!
Thanks for all the help!
