Plex refuses to get metadata for a TV show

[Kaz_E]

Server Version#:
Player Version#:

I’m trying to add my Star Wars The Clone Wars episode in “absolute order” but Plex isn’t getting metadata for it. I know for a fact that TheTVDB has the absolute ordering.

This is what Plex shows

I did set the ordering to absolute

I tried “Fix Match” multiple times but still nothing.

Episode naming: Star Wars - The Clone Wars - E01 - Cat and Mouse [1080p]

Any help is appreciated

[pshanew]

It appears that your naming is a little off. Absolute order on TheTVDB has all episodes grouped into season 1 so, to match, your files should likely be named following this pattern:
Star Wars The Clone Wars - S01E01 - Cat and Mouse [1080p].mkv

Note a couple of things:

• The inclusion of the S01 so that it matches with what TheTVDB expects for absolute ordering.
• The removal of the hyphen between “Star Wars” and “The Clone Wars.” Hyphens are used by the scanning agent to separate sections of the filename (show name, season/episode info, optional info). Having the extra one in there could cause it some challenges in parsing the info.

[Kaz_E]

Should I put the files inside a “Season 1” folder?

[pshanew]

Yes. The path should look like:

TV Shows\          <--- Whatever folder your library points to
     Star Wars The Clone Wars\
          Season 01\
               Star Wars The Clone Wars - S01E01 - Cat and Mouse [1080p].mkv

I just did quick test on my server to ensure that it works.

If it doesn’t work after renaming/scanning, you may need to perform the steps at this link (Plex Dance):

The Plex Dance ™

The purpose of this is to remove all cached metadata and xml data for an item that Plex usually keeps. This helps when you want to “start from scratch” for particular item move all files for the media item out of the directory your Library is looking at, so Plex will not “see” it anymore scan the library library (to detect changes) empty trash clean bundles (in menu next to server name, when accessed under ‘More’) double check naming schema and move files back scan the library Support articl…

[FordGuy61]

FYI, check out the Media Organization docs. They show how Plex expects movies, TV shows, etc to be organized.

Plex is particularly sensitive with TV show organization. Using the structure in @pshanew’s post is highly recommended. If you vary from it Plex might still interpret things correctly, but in reality you’re just getting lucky.

If you need to re-name a lot of files, take a look at FileBot. Many people on the forum use it to help with file naming and organization.

[Kaz_E]

Thank you. I am using Filebot.

I renamed the file exactly like in @pshanew’s post but it still won’t get meta data. I did the Plex Dance thing but it seems like it still has the show info cached. Any other way to start from scratch?

[pshanew]

Hmm… You could try deleting the agent’s metadata cache, located here:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Caches\*

Stop PMS before doing it. There shouldn’t be any ill-effects from doing so, but you may want to backup the directory first. Afterward, start PMS and do “The Dance” again.

If that doesn’t work, I’m not sure. It may be log time.

And, full disclosure, I’m testing on PMS 1.18.2.2058, running on Linux. It shouldn’t make a difference, but…

[FordGuy61]

TheTVDB updated their API recently and Plex was impacted.

You might update to latest PMS version, 1.18.2.2058, if you’ve not already done so. The announcement mentions a TVDB fix:

(Agents) Make the Framework use modern HTTP libs, fixes certain TheTVDB requests failing among others.

If deleting cache or updating to latest version does not help, then time to pull logs.

---

Additional Info WRT TheTVDB Changes

TheTVDB metadata - V3 API and related issues

Master discussion - TVDB V3 metadata issues. The purpose of this thread is to bring the many threads which are spread throughout the forum into one discussion. This will remain open while the issue is ongoing. It is linked to the companion announcement on this issue. Content from other threads have been moved here. Those threads have been subsequently closed in favor of continuation here. Please do not create new topics as it only creates more work and confusion. I also ask: Don’t cr…

Notice: Metadata using TVDB agent

You may notice a failure to fetch metadata for new media if you are using TVDB as an agent. This is due to TVDB changing their API to v3. Please see this post on their forums for further details. https://forums.thetvdb.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=60048

[Kaz_E]

I finally managed to fix it.

Just in case someone else is looking for a solution, file structure and naming (Episode 3 is The Clone Wars movie):