I added a movie to my Plex library and noticed that I had a typo in one of the chapter stop names. I wanted to fix this, so I re-created the .m4v file with Handbrake (because I don’t know a good program to edit chapter stop names from within an existing .m4v file), making sure there were no typos this time, and replaced the old file with the new one in my Plex library (i.e., I deleted the old version from the directory I store my movies, and copied this new one in it’s place.) I then re-scanned my Plex library, but the movie (the new “fixed” version) still showed the old chapter stop name with the typo. Also, Plex still remembered exactly where I had left off watching the previous version. I would think it should show the re-added movie as “unplayed,” but it didn’t.
Next I tried deleting the movie from my library (from within the Plex app) and emptying the Plex trash. I then re-copied the “fixed” version to my movies directory and re-scanned the Plex library. No luck. The chapter stop name with the typo was still there, and Plex still remembered where I left off (even though I had deleted the movie and emptied the trash before re-adding it).
Finally, I re-tried the steps from above, but also stopped the Plex server, re-started it, and waited several days before adding the “fixed” version again. Still no luck, and Plex still somehow remembered where I left off.
I confirmed that my “fixed” version is indeed “fixed” by opening it in VLC and looking at the chapter stop names, and the typo was gone.
How do I delete a movie from Plex and get Plex to truly forget that it was ever added in the first place, so that I can re-add it like it’s the first time? (And so it grabs new chapter stop names, and shows the movie as initially ‘unplayed,’ and not where I left off last time?) Deleting the movie from the app and emptying the trash doesn’t do this!
Thanks so much for the reply. Unfortunately, no dice. I followed the instructions precisely and Plex put everything back as before. The old chapter stops are still used and it shows just where I left off watching last time. I tried the full procedure multiple times (including emptying the trash and cleaning the bundles several times per attempt), and even tried stopping the Plex Server and re-starting it before re-adding the movie files, but no luck. Any other ideas? Thanks!
Ist it possible that there are several different versions of the movie on this server?
If that is the case, you might have to remove all of them for the Dance.
btw. it is crucial to perform all of the steps, all in the prescribed order. otherwise the procedure is useless.
The movie is Aliens (1986). I had a directory (Aliens (1986)) inside my Media/Movies directory with two files in it: ‘Aliens SE (1986).m4v’ and ‘1986 Theatrical Version-other.m4v’. I deleted everything (files and directory), and even emptied the recycle bin on the drive before beginning the procedure. After finishing the Plex dance, I re-added everything as before.
Would doing “analyze” on the video help, Otto? I thought that all the work at examining the contents of a video file (chapter markers, subtitle count and labels, etc) would be re-examined by the analyze function.
Just today I added an x265 version and an SD version of “Cruella” to Plex. The chapters were ripped from the Blu-ray . Somehow, I forgot to add the chapters into the SD version. I always add the higher quality version first, let Plex do it’s thing, then add the SD version. After Plex had generated chapter and preview images for the SD version, I realized that it did not, in fact have any chapter markers.
Viewing the XML for the movie, it appears to me that new chapter markers and previews must have been generated using the information from the x265 file, but using the SD version as the source. The SD version has Media id="1424331" , the x265 version has Media id="1424307, and further down in the XML, I find for the chapter section, thumb="/library/media/1424331/chapterImages/1", which seems to indicate Plex created chapters from a non existing chapter list from the SD version…
Don’t know if any of this is related to the OP, but it seems something may be out of whack, Any thoughts, @OttoKerner?
Attaching a zip file of XML, and mediainfo.txt files from the two versions. Cruella.zip (17.8 KB)
No luck. Same as before. It looks like some of the server maintenance activities occur weekly, so maybe I have to wait more than 7 days. In any event, waiting 24 hours didn’t help.
If the chapter stops and/or playback position are stored in an .xml file somewhere, is it possible to manually delete the file, so that Plex will be forced to recreate it when the movie is re-added?
Still looking for other options, if you have any. BTW, I previously tried (as divideby0 also suggested) doing an “analyze” on the video, but that didn’t make any difference. Thanks!
My next step I’d do is Plex dance every copy of the video all at once. Since Plex loves to lump every copy of a video together, it might use one set of data for tags, such as chapter titles, even though alternate files have different info… Do the dance to do a fresh start, make Plex load everything all over again.
So remove all copies from the library location. re-scan library. empty trash. clean bundle. Then add the files one-by-one, with a fresh scan between each add.
I did the Plex dance and then waited over a week before re-adding the movie. Plex is still holding on to the old chapter stops and playback position with an icy death grip.
I removed all copies of the movie (in my case only the special edition and the theatrical version), did the Plex dance, then waited over a week, and added only the special edition back. Still no luck.
Chapter titles and timestamps are extracted from one file, and those titles and timestamps are also used for other versions of the movie. I think that’s expected behavior.
When I delete all versions of the movie, Scan ..., Empty Trash, Clean Bundles, if I add a file back with corrected Chapter markers, those are now used.
Do you have other versions of this movie, perhaps that you’ve Split Apart or that are in other Libraries?
Watched status is tracked slightly differently - this is expected behavior. Watched status is linked to the movie’s GUID, not a specific instance of the movie in a specific library.
