PMS stops scanning on particular files/folders?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: Windows7 Version 1.18.3.2111, Synology Linux: Version 1.18.3.2111
Player Version#: Player vor Windows or Mac (autoupdated) even the Webversion.

Since the last 2 versions the scanning process stucks on particular files/folders. Both on Windows and Linux PMS.

Music Librayies only. (I created a whole now library with all the fancy musicbrainz settings and I use an old library. Both stuck.)

dash

Scanning seems to be finished, and the downloading of metadata is ongoing in the background (Altert tab), but no new files seem to be scanned.

I have moved the files/folder which are shown when it seems to be stuck, but after restarting PMS (which is the only way to get the scanning working again) the scann process stucks on other files/folders…

The log says nothing interesting.

Has this been seen by anyone here too?
What could be the cause and how could I fix it?

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that I cannot just restart the windows PMS.
A process

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Plex Media Scanner.exe" --match --log-file-suffix " Matcher" --files @C:\temp\7ac391ee-2d33-46c2-93c0-cc98f25c5627.txt

needs to be killed, otherwise I can restart PMS, but it imediately hangs on the same file/folder.

EDIT2:

I’ve created an archive with two of the “problematic” folders.
Its on Dropbox and I can PM any supporter the link to check the files.
Hopefully they help to reproduce the stucking of the scans (which here, can be reproduced after a reboot at any time, one of the folders is in a mediafolder).

2

Let us be the judge of that. Please provide your logs.

3

I got the files and I was able to scan all 4 folders properly so it’s not the music files themselves. I do notice that your file structure is quite long and use have some non standard keyboard characters in them. I can’t tell if this might be the issue, but I would first try creating a new music library with just these 4 folders, but in a much simpler layout. Try using the recommended structure.

\music
-\artist-album
–\track# - track name.ext

4

I have created a new test library with same setting and PMS scanned the test folders ok. I’m glad, the problem is not the files/folders then.

Well, then it seems clearly to be the Scanner which has problems, not my folderscructure, which PMS can oviously use and work with.

I cannot change the overall structure of all my files/folders as not only Plex is using them (backup, sync and other media servers and tools use them too).

Also, PMS is reading most (aka 70%) of the files/folders correct w/o any problem, so I assume changing the folderstructure won’t help, as its not about recognizing the music, its about scanning the files/folders.

Remember, before musicbrainz functionality was introduced, PMS did not hang or stucked until its was restarted. It scanned properly and w/o leaving zombie-tasks after it was shut down.

Well, I assume its not up to me to change only folderscructure, its more up the us finding the culprit (WHY plexscanner hangs) and improve the scanner functionality :wink:

I’m willing to help, just have no Idea where to start, but sending you the logs (which does not seem to have helped in that case?)

EDIT: Oh, I just found a workaround to continue scannung.
If I kill the stucked process “Plex Media Scanner.exe” via TaskManager, PMS is recreating it and it continues to scan. PMS is then skipping the “problematic files/foldes” and continues its works.

I can see it in the logs. PMS is matching and finishing processes and downloading media again.

Not the nicest way to tread PMS, but it works until an update will fix the problem…

5

That might be the problem. The scanner can run into issues if the file is also being accessed at the same time by another program.

From your previous logs it looked like it was getting stuck at the part where PMS runs the fingerprinting on the music file. This is done slightly different than before. My guess is that it’s 1 of 2 things, or possibly the combination of both.

  • the folder structure
  • the back/sync you have enabled

If you can identify which is the problem, maybe the devs can work on a solution.

6

Hey @anon18523487,
its not the other services (backup/sync/etc,) because they’re not running at the same time. That would kill my machine :wink:

IMHO it is not the folderstructure, because Plex is indexing other folders (which are way more deeper in other subfolders) just normal.

I too suspect to fingerprinting process.

From my tests, I witness, that when I kill (via taskmanager) the Plex Media Scanner.exe (which seems responsible for starting the fingerprinting after searching the files to fingerprint) the scanning process continues just as normal (until it hangs on some other file/folder).

I suspect (just from experience, no investigation) the fingerprinting process has a whatever problem and that is not catched, so it hangs. Because the fingerprinting never finishes and the father process waits until infinity, instead of kicking it after, say, 2 mins, the process hangs until user interaction or servershutdown.

I the log-zip, I put some screenshots from process explorer, didn’t they tell you (or a developer) anything useful?

I don’t want to blame Plex here, but I really don’t think, the problem is on my side.

Anyways, I did some tests. I copied about 500GB musicfiles to a local harddrive and set up a new library with same settings and it hangs too. Before, I “shortened” the folderstructure as you proposed. Not exactly the same, but mostly.
Remember, its not about matching the musicfiles, its about scanning (and maybe fingerprinting).

If you need some more testing on my side or if I can be of any further help, let me know.

Until then, I use my workaround to get the libraries filled.
Thank you.

7

I understand. It might be Plex but there is something on your system that is contributing. When you used the shorter path with those files, it worked without freezing so Plex can scan those files, but something is preventing the scanning from working properly when they were in that original folder structure.

I wonder if the freeze is actually being caused by another file and not the ones you suspected. I went back to your logs and the last files to be fingerprinted were the albums in your “Johann Sebastian Bach” folder. Specifically, the file “16 - J.S. Bach - Concerto I in G major BWV 592 - III Presto.flac”.

Can you try just removing that 1 file from the original location and try another refresh?

8

Sure,

Step 1:

When I remove the file, PMS hangs on the next file in the next folder.

The folder was "CD 3 - BWV 531, 532, 592, 730, 731, 733, 653b, 736, 737, 589, 588, 735".

The file “16 - J.S. Bach - Concerto I in G major BWV 592 - III Presto.flac” is the last one in that folder, so
now Plex hangs at next folder "CD 4 - BWV 551, 535, 766, 525, 542, 690, 691, 131a".

After I kill the process,
it hangs on the next folder "CD 5 - BWV 599-633"
and so on.

I can watch the hanging foldernames in the activity, where the process icon shows
acivity instead of acivity

I kill the process, and plex continues to the next file/folder.

With the mentioned “Johann Sebastian Bach” folder, it was hard work, because it has 17 subfolders… followed by a huge amount of further folders of the “Johann Sebastian Bach - Complete Works”…
…but after Plex had done those folders (with my little help), it now hangs on a simple folder:

C:\Users\mp3\steffen der pape - musik\

stuck
With simple filenames like

"01 Spur - Hitshusen 1.mp3"
or
"07 Spur - Dresden 2.mp3"

Step 2:

I have now removed the hole “Johann Sebastian Bach” folders to prevent PMS to hang on it again, in case, a foldername like "CD 3 - BWV 531, 532, 592, 730, 731, 733, 653b, 736, 737, 589, 588, 735" starts the problem.

Although, I’m not sure, if that helps, because, after a complete restart of PMS, I can see, that PMS has “cached” a lot of those folders and is now processing aka downloading metadata. The files are shown correctly as “unavailable” because I have moved them.

Anyway, now PMS hangs again on that folder
C:\Users\mp3\steffen der pape - musik\

stuckagain
Which I had renamed to

C:\Users\mp3\steffen der pape - musik_HANG_TEST\

to see if it that helps PMS, but it obviously did not.

ATM, I’m out of ideas. Lets have a breakfast… :slight_smile:

Thanks for the help!

9

Can you send me one of those bach files? I’ll try to test and see if it something in these files.

10

I have sent you a PM.
Meanwhile, I’ll try to skip/ignore all those “stucky” folders via .plexignore.

11

Bummer, that only works for new folders in library, known folders are not ignored anymore.

12

sounds like you need to fix the offending file or folder so the scanner doesn’t get stuck

13

…
there are no offending files.

Its just the new MusicBrainz Plex Code to process/index/scan/fingerprint/Idontnow the files/folders. Nothing more :slight_smile:
Hard work will be to find the culprit.

All the files which stop the scanner now from its work were and are greatly indexed with older versions of PMS and/or other agents.

14

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