My tv shows are scanning all whacked out, skipping seasons dumping all files into one episode, some are working some are not.
These files have all been properly named, it will even pickup show a season 1 and skip season 2 where the setup was proper show-season-sxxexx. Both folders 1 and 2 will contain exactly the correct file names and match the style, but yet where is season 2?
The file structure has been intact for many years and rebuilt on a few different servers and worked just fine with auto scan, also these shows are being correctly matched at the show level. Never had an issue. I can even see the stupid missing seasons as they scan in, they just don’t appear or screw up sometimes. I even removed the plex server authorized device, uninstalled plex, deleted app data local plex media directory and reinstalled, claimed server and added everything back! Same results!
Bought new pc I was going to dedicate to plex and half of the tv shows are fouling out to some extent. What gives?? 1000 dollar mistake?!. I just wanted to be able to shut my huge rig down so it doesn’t act like a furnace for my office but two days later and I still can’t get its crap right.
I currently have a working plex library on another machine, however path names are different and I would rather try to actually get it to work right instead of dumping database files over and changing paths and reg keys etc….
Plex Media Server version?
1.something, not 4.something
Settings → Server_Name → General
Media in MP4 container with bad metadata? If configured to do so, Plex will prefer the embedded metadata. Edit the Library → Advanced. Deselect Prefer local metadata, save changes, refresh metadata for the library.
File/Folder permissions?
If media is stored on a NAS, etc, ensure Plex Media Server has at least read only permissions to the media files.
Database Corruption
a) Configure server for debug level logs
Settings → Server_Name → General , Show Advanced.
b) Restart Plex Media Server. Wait 2 - 3 minutes for Plex to start & stabilize.
c) scan your libraries.
d) When the scan is finished, download server logs (Settings → Troubleshooting), and attach the entire ZIP file to the thread.
Library Type
You must use a TV Show library.
It cannot contain any movie files.
Plex does not support mixing movies and TV shows in the same library.
Naming & Organization Naming & Organizing Your TV Show Files
Provide a directory listing for one of the shows that is giving you trouble.
Include the full path to the files.
None of the above, plus I just recently replicated this media set to an old pc a few months ago and it worked well.
I repartitioned and formatted the data drive even though permissions looked correct, I’ve had issues with adding secondary “shucked” drives with just a format, also the new machine is running windows 11.
Gotta be one of the two unless the media scanner is just really not picking up old shows like Sanford and son and the Rockford files correctly.
I’ve literally tried everything. This time I formatted the drive to have the same letter as the other server. I even tried the official way to relocate a database and as soon as I removed the duplicate folder in the library that was non existent to the server in the right step of the process, the parts missing just dropped in an instant with no real scanning.
I don’t know, I’ve literally setup and installed plex on over a dozen machines throughout the years and have never had this problem with my library. All the files that won’t scan on the new one show up on the old one and are playable. Thank god veritas backs that server up.
Since plex is a media player in itself I assume it’s not an internal windows video codec missing from the new machine.
I solved the issue, I had to move the plex database in a certain way, it did not like the process documented that allows you to “bump” the libraries to a new path (I did it right)
Apparently the scanner was the issue, the problem isn’t resolved for my old media, unsure if new scans will be fine or not, but I did find a workaround.
Remove all traces of plex on the destination, delete the server as an authorized device, make the destinations drive letter and root path to the libraries identical, copy all data matching the old server exactly (so the path will be right on the destination with no change) copy the plex media server from app data local from user account on source to destination (entire folder contents). Install plex on the destination (it will behave like an upgrade) launch it, open the local hosts web browser, claim the destinations server back that you deauthorized. Run a full scan, plex will scan instantly and not mess with current content.
I’m not sure why the scanner was fouling but I’m pretty sure it’s not me, or the machine. I’m pretty sure if i was to remove one of the shows, scan, add the show back scan I would face the problem again so I am not trying it.
Maybe this will come in helpful for anyone facing a similar issue, or wants a more robust way to move a server (the only real difference is I made the drive letter match so the plex-tv folder etc would not need any alteration after the move
