[Runtime-Bug] Library Match Cannot Differentiate Media of Same Name

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.43.1.10611
Player Version#: 4.159.0
The server is unable to identify two different shows with the same name and merges it under one show.

For Example:

Ghosts\
…2019\
Ghosts\
…2021\

Quantum Leap\
…1989
Quantum Leap\
…2022

Plex Dance already apply; result is the same.

2

Follow Plex naming requirements.

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

After renaming, Plex Dance both shows, returning them one at a time to the library (make sure the first is correctly imported before proceeding with the second).

For example:

/tv
  /Quantum Leap (1989)
    /Season 01
      /Quantum Leap (1989) s01e01.mkv
  /Quantum Leap (2022)
    /Season 01 
      /Quantum Leap (2022) s01e01.mkv
3

It’s already in that format, it’s not detecting, it’s grouping the two together for some reason

4

try doing an “unmatch” and then rematch each show.

5

File naming & structure is unclear in your first post.

Please show exactly how the files are named and organized - directory listing, etc. Include the folder added to the tv show library.

Also, Plex supports adding the IMDB/TMDB/TVDB ID to the show folder name. This tells Plex exactly which show to match. See documentation for details.

6

Can you give a full example of a file path? From what you initially provided, it reads like your structure is this:

/tv/Ghosts/2019/Season 01/Ghosts S01E01.ext
/tv/Ghosts/2021/Season 01/Ghosts S01E01.ext

when it should be

/tv/Ghosts (2019)/Season 01/Ghosts (2019) S01E01.ext
/tv/Ghosts (2021)/Season 01/Ghosts (2021) S01E01.ext

Beyond that, if the shows are in two different top-level folders, there should be a “split apart” option at the show level: Merge or Split Items | Plex Support, and you can also add identifiers to the top-level folder for better differentiation (see the last bullet point of “Some important notes” in Naming and Organizing Your TV Show Files | Plex Support):

/tv/Ghosts (2019) {tvdb-361701}/Season 01/Ghosts (2019) S01E01.ext
/tv/Ghosts (2021) {tvdb-400267}/Season 01/Ghosts (2021) S01E01.ext
7

I have tried the below:
/tv/ghosts/2019/season 1/xxx.mp4
/tv/ghosts/ghosts 2019/season 1/xxx.mp4
/tv/ghosts/ghosts (2019)/season 1/xxx.mp4
/tv/ghosts/2021/season 1/xxx.mp4
/tv/ghosts/ghosts 2021/season 1/xxx.mp4
/tv/ghosts/ghosts (2021)/season 1/xxx.mp4

I believe because both of these, although same show but US/UK version, it groups them under the same show. Previous version, and Windows version doesn’t have the same issue. This is only the case when using it on Linux.

8

Don’t put them under that ghosts folder, this how I have them on my linux machine

tv/Ghosts (2021)
tv/Ghosts AU (2025)
tv/Ghosts UK (2019)

9

how come the logic for Linux is different than that of Windows?

10

you were lucky it worked on Windows, maybe just because it was an older version. Plex has always wanted the shows directly under the tv folder, not subfolders

11

Use TMDB to hint the correct show

tv/Ghosts (2019) {tmdb-17174}/Season 01/…

https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/126027-ghosts

/tv/Ghosts (2021) {tmtb-126027}/Season 01/…

12

Yeah, it doesn’t support subfolders like movies… I made this same mistake when I first started with series.

Some shows worked others didn’t at the end of the day it’s not supported.