I been enjoying Plex for a while, but something has been bugging me and tonight I sat down to try and fix it.
So this is an anime question, specifically Naruto. I’ve read a lot of posts about it, but didn’t see any addressing this particular issue, so if I missed it, I apologize in advance.
Let’s begin with noting that all the episodes are named correctly matching the TV Database. I made triple sure before posting. I’ll write the name etc. below. What’s happening is that Season 1 and half of Season 2 are perfectly recognized by Plex. Scroll to an episode, see some art, summary etc. At episode 21 in season 2, all of that disappears, and stays gone for the rest of the seasons. The episodes are still in Plex, I can still watch them, but they have none of the corresponding media, or even titles. It goes from Episode 20 (Full Title) to Episode 21 (nothing else). Plex still tracks watched vs unwatched on all subsequent episodes, but doesn’t seem to be recognizing them at all.
Here’s the naming:
TV Shows\Naruto\Season 2\Naruto - 2x21 - Live or Let Die Risk It All to Win It All.mkv
I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why Plex would start not recognizing the episodes here. The name is missing a colon (Live or Let Die: Risk It All To Win It All! in the TV Database) but that’s because windows doesn’t support that character, and plenty of episodes have missing characters like that. Why, after this particular episode, does Plex stop recognizing them?
Maybe relevant note: I used Filebot to rename all the files, and they all (even the ones that are recognized use that naming convention).
Is it maybe pulling from an incomplete database? Should these episodes be using Absolute Order? What am I missing? Any help would be appreciated.
@JuiceWSA - I completely agree with the layout of your instructions above, and I mean no disrespect, but in this case I’m not sure this is the issue at hand. I read it as if he says that the items are found - and playable - within Plex but that the actual metadata is missing. I think the user needs to clean the agent cache, before doing the Plex Dance. Chance are otherwise Plex will just “download” from the cache and get the corrupt metadata again.
Btw. There are 3rd party agents for Anime-stuff, such as the AniDB and others. I don’t use them myself but it might be worthwhile to check also (albeit it has nothing todo with this issue at hand).
@Peter_W said: @JuiceWSA - I completely agree with the layout of your instructions above, and I mean no disrespect, but in this case I’m not sure this is the issue at hand. I read it as if he says that the items are found - and playable - within Plex but that the actual metadata is missing. I think the user needs to clean the agent cache, before doing the Plex Dance. Chance are otherwise Plex will just “download” from the cache and get the corrupt metadata again.
Btw. There are 3rd party agents for Anime-stuff, such as the AniDB and others. I don’t use them myself but it might be worthwhile to check also (albeit it has nothing todo with this issue at hand).
We have to start somewhere and IMO the FIRST step in any troubleshooting effort is to bring the files and structure into compliance. That, coupled with a Plex Dance® usually produces the intended results - if not, troubleshooting can continue with the help of some log files, or wild shots in the dark (my favorite) the issue can usually be located.
I just got a first time, instant, fully populated match with:
A TV Show Library
…Naruto
…Season 02
…Naruto - S02E21.mp4
What does that mean? I dunno, but one thing is certain: we can pretty much rule out non-compliance.
I really appreciate the replies. I started this renaming adventure after reading a post, I’m pretty sure on this forum but it was admittedly a while ago, about using Filebot, and as far as I have seen so far, it uses the #x# format exclusively, so I assumed that was correct. Plus, it works for everything else. Still, that’s a newb mistake, and I apologize. I should have read the official documentation more. I’ll have to look up if its possible to change that convention in filebot, or do them by hand, but either way I’ll get it done.
I renamed just that episode so far and did the Plex Dance, step by step, but to no joy. No change at all. Metadata for all previous episodes, none for that episode and on. I will figure out a way to bring all of the files in compliance, but just in case I get the same result, I looked into clearing the agent cache (https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/202967376-Clearing-Plugin-Channel-Agent-HTTP-Caches). I’m going to rename (everything) and try again first, but for future reference, the plugin-support/cache folder has a bunch of subfolders. I can rule out most of them, but I’m not sure exactly which one (ones) I should delete? Obviously stuff like .plexmusic .lastfm should be fine, but “.tvdatabase”, “.fanarttv,” maybe even “.system” could all contribute to episodes. So if it comes to that, which folders should I delete? Of course, I’ll back up the main folder before I make any changes.
Thanks again for all the replies and the help.
I will certainly report back to let everyone know what worked.
FileBot - link in my signature - can pre-match and re-name every single episode in this entire series (while it’s OUTSIDE the library) in 5 seconds. Drag and drop, folders and all, into the left pane, click ‘Match’, then arrow down to ‘Edit Format’, select Episode Format, select ‘Firefly - S01E01 - Serenity’. Now FileBot will remember.
Your entire show is already in the left pane so… click Match again (this time with feeling) and click TVDB as the database. 2 or 3 seconds to negotiate the net get the info and apply it to your files. Rename and BOOM! All done. If you have figured out the {Plex} Profile and have also figured out how to use it FileBot will also rename all your folders for you - otherwise you’ll have to do that yourself.
After having done the First 4 Steps above in The Plex Dance® (we’re now on step 5) you have nice clean bundles and Plex is ready to receive your brand new show. Step 6 and 7 await your attention. There is a reason The Plex Dance® was invented. It was invented as a ‘work-around’ to about a 40 year old bug (slightly exaggerated) in Plex that the developers are unwilling/unable to correct wherein once Plex gets it’s teeth into a bundle (in our case a bogus bundle), it takes The Plex Dance® to get Plex to drop the effing bundle!
As I’m sure you all expected, it turned out to be as simple as the naming after all. That {plex} tag in FileBot (which admittedly I barely understand but got to work nonetheless, let me rename all of my Naruto seasons (blessedly the hard part has been done already and I didn’t have to Bulk Rename or manually match anything cause the names were close enough) really quickly. I did the Plex Dance (this still cracks me up, but as an avid retro gaming enthusiast I totally get it), and when I updated my library after that, everything is perfect. I didn’t have to delete any of the cache files. Now because I’m a perfectionist I have to go about renaming my entire library and reimporting, even though this problem hasn’t occurred anywhere else using #x# naming convention. Thanks again for all the explanations and advice, and maybe more importantly, making my first post on this forum a good one. I subbed I to Plex I think over a year ago and I still feel like I’m living in the future when I’m streaming cartoons from my own pc to my phone or console etc. So I got no beef at all with having to name stuff a certain a way.
I love a success story - and also that you got it working.
Yea, we’re in stitches doing The Plex Dance® as we’re looking at two buttons - one says Update and the other one says Refresh and neither one of them do anything in regard to actually getting a bundle refreshed. It’s hilarious.
The good news is once you Plex Dance® million times you no longer need the steps scrawled on a post-it note stuck to your monitor.
I subbed I to Plex I think over a year ago and I still feel like I’m living in the future when I’m streaming cartoons from my own pc to my phone or console etc. So I got no beef at all with having to name stuff a certain a way.
