Re-create library while retaining collections and posters etc

[KonXD]

Server Version#: 6.11.1
Player Version#: 4.87.2

Hi all, have searched all over the internet to try and self-answer this, but can’t get a win.

Have been trying to get Hardware transcoding working on an Unraid server for 12+ months and 3 GPUs. Now on an RTX2060 and convinced that the settings are all OK and transcoding is actually sort of working… but really really really poorly. If I set up a new plex docker container and re-create the libraries from scratch, it all works. When I copy in the contents of my old Plex Media Server folder… goes back to broken. Same files play fine to MPC, VLC etc. Only Plex has issue.

So I guess my database (and more) is corrupt. Removing com.plexapp.plugins.library.db and re-assigning libraries is not enough to fix it. I’ve systematically gone through and deleted the contents of each folder within Plex Media Server… some break it completely, others don’t achieve any fix. So at this point I’m at a loss which broken files need to be deleted, and will accept that I need to just start from scratch. (As I said, this has been a problem for over a year, so don’t have any database backups that aren’t also broken).

However I’ve spent many many hours creating Playlists, Collections, correctly matching titles, Fixing Posters etc. that I would rather avoid having to do all over again. Also have some extra plugins like Hama and Subliminal that I’d really like to avoid have to set up all over again.

Is there any hope that I can basically blow everything away but retain all that manual tidy-up effort? Or I’m rolling up the sleeves and re-tidying thousands of files again?

Many thanks for any help or pointing in the right direction =)

Extra info: After database rebuild, dump and restore, I have better time playing most content… seems that only a few titles @4k with > 40Mbps bitrate in HEVC (main10) with 10 bit depth are giving problems. However files of ~20Mbps same settings work OK.

Regardless, on a new container where the libraries are specified on first launch, it will play all of it without a hitch… makes no sense to me =(

[KonXD]

I guess this thread will just be for my own future reference:

Blowing away all the contents of the folder where Plex container points for configs, then launching Plex will give the ‘new setup’ wizard and prompt to create a library. After making a library the playback of HDR works absolutely fine with transcoding, EVEN to Xbox One and Chromium Browser.

As soon as ANY files from the old config directory are copied in - doesn’t matter if it’s metadata, media, library, preferences, plugins etc. - it will immediately stop being able to transcode properly and seems to limit GPU usage to about 1% and begin playing 10 seconds, pausing to buffer for 30 seconds, play 10 seconds etc.

Given this, it seems highly unlikely that there is any capacity to copy over settings, collections, posters etc. from old configs without completely breaking plex ability to transcode.

[KonXD]

Final conclusions:

After a total config wipe and fresh setup of plex, streaming HEVC/HDR to Chromium browser web player or Xbox One works flawlessly. However after adding additional libraries and playing some other content, Plex seems to break and forget how to properly utilize the GPU, only doing about 3% GPU usage for the transcode, and going into buffer loops.

Possible maybe when a 4K screen is attached to Xbox, it will work as direct play and skip the need for transcode, but playing a large file size 4k video and expecting the transcode to 1080p beyond the first 15 minutes of a fresh plex config… not gonna happen.

No means found to address the original topic of thread, as in starting a fresh config and then pulling over metadata, collections etc. from old config.