(Solved) TV shows do not show in app

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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1

I am running Plex Server v1.2.12 on Truenas Scale.

I have recently added a bunch of media to my local server, and Plex is not showing all of the new items in the app. I have messed with naming conventions, access permissions, and everything else I can find across the many threads on this same topic. The video files are .mkv and filenames are not prohibitively long. I’ve moved the media out, I’ve moved it back in. I completely deleted Plex off my server and reinstalled it from scratch, and when it scanned the library it once again found only the stuff it already had and wouldn’t show any of the new items that are missing.

The scanner logs show that Plex is detecting that the media folders are there, as these excerpts show:

Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.291 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Scanner: Processing directory /data/Television/Black Mirror (parent: yes)
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.292 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Skipping over directory 'Black Mirror', as nothing has changed; removing 0 media items from map.
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.292 [140001041832704] DEBUG - [HCl#2d6] HTTP requesting GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/updateProgressMessage?message=Scanning%20Black%20Mirror
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.292 [140001041685248] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#2d6] HTTP/1.1 (0.0s) 200 response from GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/updateProgressMessage?message=Scanning%20Black%20Mirror (reused)
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Scanner: Processing directory /data/Television/Black Mirror/Season 1 (parent: yes)
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Skipping over directory 'Black Mirror/Season 1', as nothing has changed; removing 0 media items from map.
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001064365824] DEBUG - [HCl#2d7] HTTP requesting PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/7594efb8-bc99-40c4-bbe3-ee5924ceeae2?percentComplete=%2B0%2E140028283&subtitle=Black%20Mirror%20-%20Season%201
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001041832704] DEBUG - [HCl#2d8] HTTP requesting GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/updateProgressMessage?message=Scanning%20Black%20Mirror%2FSeason%201
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001041685248] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#2d8] HTTP/1.1 (0.0s) 200 response from GET http://127.0.0.1:32400/:/metadata/updateProgressMessage?message=Scanning%20Black%20Mirror%2FSeason%201 (reused)
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.293 [140001041685248] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#2d7] HTTP/1.1 (0.0s) 200 response from PUT http://127.0.0.1:32400/activities/7594efb8-bc99-40c4-bbe3-ee5924ceeae2?percentComplete=%2B0%2E140028283&subtitle=Black%20Mirror%20-%20Season%201 (reused)

Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.672 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Updating directory 'Black Mirror' (ID 482) to time 2025-08-02 00:46:15.
Aug 19, 2025 11:58:18.672 [140001064365824] DEBUG - Updating directory 'Black Mirror/Season 1' (ID 483) to time 2025-08-05 01:48:20.

I have been totally unable to figure out why things won’t show up and appreciate any help you all can provide.

I picked Black Mirror as an example, but I have quite a few shows doing the same thing.

2

Let’s start with the basics:
Are these the first tv shows you ever added to your server? If so, did you create a wholly separate media folder for your TV shows’ video files?
And did you create a separate library of the type “TV shows” within Plex and pointed it to the “TV shows” folder on your media storage?

How are the actual files named precisely?
https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/

3

Starting with the basics makes total sense. These are not the first tv shows I’ve ever added. My server has been up for a while with both movies and tv shows. I absolutely have a separate TV library in Plex pointed to my television folder and up till now adding new shows worked perfectly fine.

Here are two episodes of two shows added at the same time:

  • Works perfectly: /mnt/media/media_server/Media/Television/Marvel’s Daredevil/Season 1/Marvel’s Daredevil - S01E01 - Into the Ring Bluray-1080p.mkv
  • Does not work at all: /mnt/media/media_server/Media/Television/Black Mirror/Season 1/Black Mirror - S01E01 - The National Anthem Bluray-1080p.mkv

I’ve went through the help doc on file naming conventions and as far as I can tell it ought to be fine. Since some media in the same folder plays I can’t imagine it’s a permissions issue.

I am bamboozled.

4

This is looking almost perfect.
Are you 100% certain that your tv sahow library has been pointed to the folder
/mnt/media/media_server/Media/Television
only? Not a single folder level above, nor below it?
To remove ambiguity, insert the release year of the show, like this

/mnt/media/media_server/Media/Television/Black Mirror (2011)/Season 1/Black Mirror - S01E01 - The National Anthem Bluray-1080p.mkv

If you can rule out an access permissions issue,
perform the Plex Dance with the whole show.

If that still doesn’t change things, see if your database file is damaged: GitHub - ChuckPa/DBRepair: Database repair utility for Plex Media Server databases

Are you looking at your server with a tv app , or the mobile plex app?
I recommend using the web app first to check for proper recognition.
The other apps may use more aggressive caching, which can delay fresh info from appearing for a while.

5

The Plex Dance got Black Mirror working perfectly. I’m trying it with a second problem show, and as long as it works I will mark this as solved!

6

Everyting is working great. Thank you so much!