Plex refuses to index / display TV Shows

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#: 4.131.1

I have been using Plex to play TV Shows that have been stored locally on my disks for years.

For no apparent reason today, a bunch of the shows that have worked fine in the past are missing.

I can launch a Scan Library task. They will show up momentarily during the scan library task. Then once the task is finished, they disappear again.

I installed Plex Server on a different PC. I copied the files over there. They scan fine and stay in the library.

This leads me to believe that there is something wrong with the library database on the computer.

Is there a way to delete and recreate the database?

As much as I do not want to have to go re-Label literally hundreds of Movies and TV Shows, I don’t see any other choice.

Has anyone else ever run into this issue before?

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  1. check the server database file for damage: https://support.plex.tv/articles/repair-a-corrupted-database/
  2. follow the naming rules. No, the fact that it used to work previously, or does work in a new server installation is not conclusive proof that the naming is correct. https://support.plex.tv/articles/201543057-why-is-some-of-my-content-not-found/
1 Like
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Thanks for the link to the SQLite article.

None of those commands worked. As far as the tool was concerned, the database was fine.

I ended up deleting the latest copy of the database. I relaunched Plex and all of the media is showing up again.

The only issue is that I am missing all of the metadata for the shows. The “cover” image does not show up in the library list. The description of the show does not show up when I drill down into it.

I have tried to refresh the metadata but that did not work.

What else can I do to get that information back or otherwise rebuild it?

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Is the show in a “matched” or in an “unmatched” state?
Please copy the Plex media info XML of one episode of that show into here.

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How do I tell if it is Matched or Unmatched?

Here is the XML

<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionUUID="47e628af-e2cb-4217-aee1-00a5fc6ffe87" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1713470776">

<Video ratingKey="9429" key="/library/metadata/9429" parentRatingKey="9428" grandparentRatingKey="9427" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://9427/1/123?lang=xn" parentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.none://9427/1?lang=xn" grandparentGuid="com.plexapp.agents.none://9427?lang=xn" type="episode" title="2024-06-07" grandparentKey="/library/metadata/9427" parentKey="/library/metadata/9428" librarySectionTitle="TV Shows" librarySectionID="2" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/2" grandparentTitle="Sesame Street" parentTitle="Season 1" summary="" index="123" parentIndex="1" year="2024" thumb="/library/metadata/9429/thumb/1717880279" duration="2242248" originallyAvailableAt="2024-06-07" addedAt="1717822508" updatedAt="1717880279" createdAtAccuracy="epoch" createdAtTZOffset="-25200">

<Media id="22340" duration="2242248" bitrate="870" width="272" height="208" aspectRatio="1.33" audioChannels="2" audioCodec="mp3" videoCodec="mpeg4" videoResolution="sd" container="avi" videoFrameRate="NTSC" videoProfile="advanced simple">

<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="22341" key="/library/parts/22341/1498335750/file.avi" duration="2242248" file="E:\Plex\TV Shows\Sesame.Street\BigPack\SESAME ST AVI\Sesame Street - 123 Count With Me.avi" size="243884032" container="avi" deepAnalysisVersion="6" requiredBandwidths="1156,950,859,859,859,859,859,859" videoProfile="advanced simple">

<Stream id="62757" streamType="1" codec="mpeg4" index="0" bitrate="748" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" codecID="XVID" codedHeight="208" codedWidth="272" frameRate="29.970" height="208" level="5" profile="advanced simple" refFrames="1" requiredBandwidths="1042,841,750,750,750,750,750,750" width="272" displayTitle="SD (MPEG4)" extendedDisplayTitle="SD (MPEG4)"> </Stream>

<Stream id="62758" streamType="2" selected="1" codec="mp3" index="1" channels="2" bitrate="109" audioChannelLayout="stereo" requiredBandwidths="110,110,110,110,110,110,110,110" samplingRate="48000" streamIdentifier="1" displayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)" extendedDisplayTitle="Unknown (MP3 Stereo)"> </Stream>

</Part>

</Media>

<Extras size="0"> </Extras>

<Related> </Related>

</Video>

</MediaContainer>
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It keeps pruning the XML.

Do I have to use special escape characters for the forum?
PlexTroubleshoot.txt (2.3 KB)

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It is unmatched, as is indicated by this guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://9427/1/123?lang=xn

Neither your folder structure, nor your file names are according to Plex’s requirements.
Files which are named like this will never appear in a Plex library of the type “TV shows”.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

Is this library even of the appropriate type? I see you have named it “TV shows” but the name doesn’t determine which scanner and metadata agent is selected in a library.
I suggest you first fix the folder structure and file names, then scrap the library in Plex and recreate it. Make sure to select the right library type this time.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/categories/plex-media-server/libraries/

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Despite not using Plex’s naming conventions, I deleted the database and rediscovered everything.

It is showing up correctly. It is sorted by Movies and TV Shows respectively.

In this case, not following the hyper specific Plex naming conventions is not the reason for this issue.

I’m sticking with database corruption.

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