TV Show 'Season Poster & Metadata" not appearing

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I’ve been working on this issue for a few weeks now and searching online and the Plex forums for the answer.

I had a hard drive failure where I had to backup all my TV shows, redo my RAID, and then import them back. This took weeks to do because of the size of the library. During this time my library must have auto updated, even though I had auto update off. I tried restoring to a previous library but the previous versions had issues with restoring the metadata, as well. On other forum and thread suggestions I’ve renamed the directory and did a scan on the empty library, cleaned the bundles, emptied trash and optimized, named the directory back, and then scanned. This is for all shows.

Issue comes back. Main poster appears, episodes are named correctly with all their metadata. The season posters do not appear.

I’ve verified my naming scheme matches completely with the databases. I’ve tried using TheTVDB and TheMovieDB, as well as unmatching and re-matching and Fixing incorrect match for the shows. I’ve trashed the library completely, and started fresh. Uninstalled PMS, re-installed. I’m using the latest version, however, I’ve tried previous versions, and all provides the same issue. I tried deleting a few other plug-in folders and metadata folders. Either they repopulate and the issue persists, or I have another problem and I have to paste back the original configuration that I saved for such instances.

I’ve even added new shows and the problem is still appearing. I’ve looked at previous threads from a year ago stating a similar issue, but all the threads state that a version update had fixed the issue, and some had workarounds that I tried using, as stated above. Rebooting system has had no effect and the log files show no problems, as far as I can tell.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Currently running Windows 7 Ult x64. I’m working on transferring to a new system using Server 2012 R2, but not planning to attempt until the issue is resolved. If necessary, I may migrate if that would help the issue, but I’m not thinking that will fix the issue as the process seems unrelated.

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2

Thanks for posting this. This is exactly the same issue that I’m having here. Glad that I’m not alone here. We both have Plex Pass so if no one is able to help us in this forum, we can take it over to the hidden PP-only forums, too.

3

You’re out of compliance:

A TV Show Library/
…The A-Team/
…Season 01/
…The A-Team - S01E01 - Episode Name Optional.xxx

Yea, it used to work. It doesn’t work now. Such is the way with non-compliance. One day fine, next day not fine.

4

But @JuiceWSA, why does the text metadata download just fine for both the OP and myself? In both cases, the Series poster downloads just fine. All text based metadata for series, season, and episode downloads fine. It’s only the season poster, and the episode thumbnails that do not download.

5

You can try to battle the Plexasaurus, but in the end she’ll just stomp a you-shaped divot into the ground and move on to the next contestant.

Try this:

Remove one of these ‘rogue’ shows from your library. Update Library. Clean Bundles. Empty Trash:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions
Create a new library.
Make your file names and structures 100% compliant - as I have shown above.
(FileBot can do this in seconds - link in my signature)
Drop them into that new library.
Update the library.

What happened?

6

Thanks for the instructions. I will try those ASAP. One question - clean bundles looks like it’s only part of a scheduled maintenance task. Can we force it to run on our command instead of waiting for the schedule to come around?

7

If you follow that (or this) link (the orange text) you’ll go right to the page that tells you where all that stuff is.
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions

For the record - this is The Plex Dance®:

  1. remove items you’ve been trying to rename with no luck from the library
  2. update library
  3. clean bundles
  4. empty trash
    https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/200392106-Library-Actions <---- update libraries, clean bundles, empty trash
  5. rename/restructure as necessary to gain compliance - complete compliance.
  6. replace items into library
  7. update library

for TV Shows the Entire Show is recommended, but you can try to sneak past the beast with just a Season. If she grinds you in to the dirt under her heel - do the whole show.

The idea is that you’ve got a show bundle with bogus info in it. Plex’s uncanny (and quite annoying) ability to hold on to a bogus bundle is thwarted by complete removal of bad items, a bundle flush, a trash dump, followed by the addition of a brand new, correctly named and structured item that will create a bundle with the right stuff in it.

We hope.

8

can someone suggest a software to do the renaming? I have about 600 TV Series with about 45,000 episodes. My naming scheme should fit fine for the search. I’m not sure why the transition in the code, but it’s quite drastic in a very negative way. One of the main reasons I switched to Plex was because of the excellent search in diverse naming schemes. I could keep my show naming simple. Very poor choice of a force change. Plus, the “Plex Dance” that required in order to get it searching properly AFTER you update the naming?.. Not cool at all.

9

From JuiceWSA signature in the post above yours. It’s what I use.

FileBot For Easy Plex File Naming: http://www.filebot.net/

10

@Doramius said:
I’m not sure why the transition in the code, but it’s quite drastic in a very negative way.

‘The Switch’ is partially due to Plex losing access to Google’s API that kicked in when bad file names were encountered - that was some time ago (early/mid 2016). The Plex naming guide has never changed however. If your file names and structure where bad then, they’re still bad now. Just because you only now became aware of it and Plex stopped working with them doesn’t necessarily constitute a ‘forced change’.

Things do change over time. Plex things will also change again in the near future and we all may have to alter the way we do bidness in a TV Show library soon. At this time we have at least one ‘work around’ - adding the previously unnecessary (YEAR) for TV Show Remakes and different versions. Before all we had to do was match the name at TVDB. Now we need to do things that aren’t yet documented. Unfortunate, but factual.

One of the main reasons I switched to Plex was because of the excellent search in diverse naming schemes. I could keep my show naming simple.

Simple doesn’t mean correct, unfortunately. Plex does now and always has had to communicate with the online databases in order to get that material we all love (posters, descriptions, air dates, etc). The Plex Naming scheme is simple. It’s just different from what you think is simple. The Plex Naming scheme works across all the major media handlers. Other media handlers may be able to ‘handle’ your naming. Apparently Plex does not.

Plus, the “Plex Dance” that required in order to get it searching properly AFTER you update the naming?.. Not cool at all.

I can’t argue with that logic. The Plex Dance® is the community work around invented long ago when it was discovered a button with ‘Refresh’ written on it was unable to ‘Refresh’ the bogus info in a bundle. ‘Long Ago’ being the key words in that sentence. It’s an ongoing bug that Plex is either unwilling or unable to fix, but the fact remains if you want to update your bogus bundle with a proper one you’re going to need The Plex Dance®.

The trick is getting it all right BEFORE it hits the library - and in walks FileBot (Yep, in my signature). Filebot can work manually by dragging entire TV Shows into it’s left window then ‘Matching’ and ‘Renaming’ by pressing the appropriate buttons. It’s then up to you to make sure the Structure is correct. Filebot can also be set up in an automated environment (that link too is in my signature).

TL:DR…

That’s the problem with Guides - if you don’t read them they don’t help much:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/categories/200028098-Media-Preparation

:bz

11

We’re getting somewhere now. I took one test show with one season and 3 episodes in it, did the plex dance, and dropped the files into a new library. There, I was able to see and select many different episode thumbnails! Yay! (no season thumbnails but then I realized that, ugh, I had named the folder “Season 1” instead of “Season 01” - I can’t believe that actually makes a difference, and it didn’t use to when I first started using plex in 2014 but…oh well)

So then I tried doing the plex dance on a different TV show, except this time after renaming everything - perfectly in compliance this time, down to the 01 instead of 1 - I put the show back in its original TV show library.

The problem immediately reocurred - I can see different options for Series posters and backdrops, but nothing shows up for Season posters and episode thumbnails. One thing of note - Plex seems to have “remembered” that I had already watched this test show. Every episode was marked as watched. Gah! I was under the impression that deleting the show from plex, deleting bundles and emptying trash would purge all that stuff from that library’s database. Is there ANY way to get an existing Plex library to forget all about a show, so I can re-add it with a fresh, compliant folder structure?

12

@sha256 said:
We’re getting somewhere now. I took one test show with one season and 3 episodes in it, did the plex dance, and dropped the files into a new library. There, I was able to see and select many different episode thumbnails! Yay! (no season thumbnails but then I realized that, ugh, I had named the folder “Season 1” instead of “Season 01” - I can’t believe that actually makes a difference, and it didn’t use to when I first started using plex in 2014 but…oh well)

That is an interesting twist in this mystery. I always use 01 myself, but I do have plenty of previously matched 1s that are working and always assumed 1s would work as well as 01s - maybe not - but here’s what I think is happening:
You are leaving out one or more of The Plex Dance® steps and that bogus bundle for that ‘old show’ still remains. When you create a new library and a new and proper structure Plex thinks it’s a new show and writes a good bundle for it. Drop it back in that old library and the old bogus bundle kicks in.

That’s 100% guesswork on my part, but it sounds good. :slight_smile:

So then I tried doing the plex dance on a different TV show, except this time after renaming everything - perfectly in compliance this time, down to the 01 instead of 1 - I put the show back in its original TV show library.

The problem immediately reocurred - I can see different options for Series posters and backdrops, but nothing shows up for Season posters and episode thumbnails. One thing of note - Plex seems to have “remembered” that I had already watched this test show. Every episode was marked as watched. Gah! I was under the impression that deleting the show from plex, deleting bundles and emptying trash would purge all that stuff from that library’s database. Is there ANY way to get an existing Plex library to forget all about a show, so I can re-add it with a fresh, compliant folder structure?

I’ve noticed that too. Plex keeps that watched status somewhere other than a bundle apparently, because I whack many bundles often and replace them with brand new ones and - yep - that watched status lingers on.

It’s easy enough to go to the front end of a show and mark them all as watched, or unwatched, so that little fly speck on the wall is no problem.

The 800LB Gorilla in the room is that you have discovered the wonders of compliance (FileBot is your friend) and your future life with Plex is going to go along more smoothly now that you have seen the light.

I think the most productive steps you could do are continue with a new library - or libraries. As you bring stuff into complete compliance whack their old versions (update library, clean bundles, empty trash) then drop perfectly named and structured stuff into the new Library - or Libraries. Eventually you’ll get where you needed to be all along.

The trick to this whole thing is to have compliant material BEFORE it hits the libraries and FileBot will absolutely make that happen because FileBot goes to the database, gets the exact names, knows the structures (if you don’t - you should let it do ALL the work) and names your stuff perfectly. There is no guesswork. When you drop it in a library it matches the first time every time and you can concentrate on some other dramatic event - not that one.

13

I used filebot, and it took a while. I’ve only done the first 50 shows. Ran into an issue on 2 series’ because the total file paths on a few episodes were longer than 260 characters [no thanks to the developers for making the file path “simple”]. It’s okay though, as I was able to do an extensive “Plex Dance” in recreating folder paths.

After the “Plex Dance” I too got the Series posters, and even the Episode names appeared. Verified the naming convention is correct. I too also got the watched and partially watched info. I tried a “Fix Incorrect Match” and a few updated to have Season posters, but not all.

Got any more suggestions?

14

If your stuff exists in a database and you’re still having to Fix Incorrect Match there’s still a problem with your naming/structuring.

Possibilities include, but are not limited to:

MP4/M4V files with bogus embedded metadata. Plex Devs believe in their hearts that everyone on the whirling blue orb should be using MKV files. The bogus embedded metadata in the Title Field of an MKV file isn’t read by Plex. Not only is the Bogus Embedded metadata read by Plex in an MP4.M4V file, it’s given the highest priority - even higher than a proper file name! This will bork an otherwise good file name/structuring match unless you DRAG Local Media Assets to the bottom of every available Agent List. Local Media Assets will do what it needs to do (subs, extras, local artwork, etc) from the bottom of the list, but the default location for LMA is right at the top! If you’re using MP4/M4V files you have to move Local Media Assets to the bottom of the lists or remove all embedded Title Fields. Moving LMA is easier.

Also regarding Agents: Under each Agent Area there are Tabs for each Agent - TMDB, Plex Movie, TVDB, etc. Each of these tabs needs to have that particular Agent in the top slot (with LMA at the bottom).

Yes, unfortunately if you make changes you’ll once again need to Plex Dance® 'cause there’s that old nut that just won’t go away.

15

I usually use AVI or MKV. MKV is the majority of what I have, mainly because the software I have to rip my discs has it as the main file type. I can choose MP4, but if subtitles are required then the subs are hardcoded in the MP4. MKV allows me to set it as an option. I’m not super huge on MKV, but I do like the multitrack use in layers as well as it’s somewhat compressed format. M4V…well let’s just not get silly. Not a bad format for an iPhone, but I’d like to use something less proprietary. Again, I’m mainly AVI & MKV. I don’t have too many tags for the tracks or the files.

Anyway, The Dick Tracy Show [1966] and Eerie, Indiana: The Other Dimension [1998], just absolutely will not search properly. I’ve matched the title exactly to TheTVDB and TheMovieDB. Eerie Indiana keeps Identifying the original Eerie, Indiana (which that one transferred fine), but there’s no way manually to force FB to choose the correct one. If there’s a way, the instructions are not providing it. And I half expected my Dr. Who to get mucked up. That one went smooth, too. Again, Season folders are setup ‘Season XX’. And my shows are already setup as ‘SXXEXX - episode.mkv’ format. If the developer or programmer who did the coding for the searches, in these apps, was under my management…he’d be rewriting his resume for McDonalds.

I kept running into length of string issues because some program names are really long. [IE: X:\PLEX\TVshows\Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension [1998]\Season 01\Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension - S01E02 - The Goody-Two-Shoes People.mkv] That’s a pretty long string.

16

That programmer is next in line, but you’re in the Micky D’s interview room right now:

A Movie Name (YEAR).xxx is the compliant format.
A Movie Name [YEAR].xxx ensures Plex can’t find a match because everything in a [Bracket] is ignored by Plex.

https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/categories/200028098-Media-Preparation
There’s some informative reading in those pages.

AVI files?

I’ll take 2.6 billion MP4s over one AVI file all this week and every week after this one. That deserves a:
=))

17

Most of my shows are older shows. If I want better codecs like H.264, AAC, etc. to maintain resolution, bitrate, and quality, I’ll use mkv and layer them together. Otherwise, avi holds the quality and compression just fine, and is readable by most devices and programs in use, today. Sort of like an old toaster…don’t need it to be fancy to get the job done.

Now, I’ve used both brackets along with { }, and even removed the date altogether, but it hasn’t helped the situation. It doesn’t find them. Posting the naming convention link ‘again’ isn’t going to help, as I’ve read through it several times. Best help would be to create a dummy file and try the various naming to see if the result appears the same.

Word of advice, people have come to this forum for help, and you obviously haven’t provided any assistance without directing negative criticism, instigation or insult specifically to those looking for assistance. If you can’t do this in a mature manner, with respect, from here on out -please visit THIS LINK, then come back when you can.

**Update: **Some shows just don’t rename properly. Filebot does not have any manual override to search for the name yourself. Closest is to misspell the title and have it ask you to enter the series name that it can’t find. ‘Family Dog (1993)’ brings up ‘Dog Days’. Trying ‘The Family Dog (1993)’ Keeps bringing up ‘The Family’ and doesn’t seem to register the word “Dog”. FIlebot seems to work on new and really popular shows, but for some of these rarer shows, it does not read well. And the names and titles match exactly with TheTVDB. Tried altering them a bit to see if they would strike any matches or force a pull of titles with the hope that the correct one appears, and still get nothing. The program does rename, but you have to do a search for the actual title. Handy if it searches correctly, but poor if the show doesn’t exist in the database or it doesn’t search properly.

18

If at some time you do want to convert the avi files, you should convert to mp4 imho. I notice you have a Plex pass, so you have access to the following thread. I don’t think I have any avi’s left in my library - I used Cayar’s script to convert them.

Regarding the issue with matching. I tested what should be proper name and structure (TV Shows\Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension\Season 01\Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension S01E01.mp4) on a test machine running Version 1.3.3.3148 and do not get any artwork or metadata. Same naming on my server running Version 1.4.0.3173 and I get an instant match and artwork and metadata. Still looking at my logs trying to figure out if this a version issue or something different with my machines.

19

Ok, I did get it to pull poster and metadata from my test server using the same naming and structure. It was user error on my part. It was an agent settings change that I forgot to change back from earlier testing. 8-}

20

@astrofisher said:
Ok, I did get it to pull poster and metadata from my test server using the same naming and structure. It was user error on my part. It was an agent settings change that I forgot to change back from earlier testing. 8-}

…and that just illustrates how important it is to have all the jigsaw puzzle pieces in the right holes - without using a hammer - so when the puzzle is done you can see it’s Dogs Playing Poker.
(how many times did you Plex Dance® that test? I haven’t tried it yet, but I’ll be sure to check the naming and structuring if I do)

:slight_smile:

OK - I did. But checking everything twice to ward off The Plex Dance® and using my trusty test file:

F:\MCEB-TV\ <-----one of my TV Show Libraries
…Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension
…Season 01
…Eerie, Indiana The Other Dimension - S01E01.mp4

Instantly resulted in:

Comfortably nestled in among all the other properly named and structured items in this TV Show Library:

It couldn’t grab a Season Poster - There isn’t one at TVDB - but in Plex style it placed the main poster in the Season Slot just like it always does in this case:

The other thing it didn’t grab was the episode image - because there isn’t one over there to grab, but the good part is I get to see the lovely Ingrid Bergman (the cleverly planned test file of hers always pays off) who shows up at times like this and that’s not such a bad thing…:

If you actually had an episode of ‘Eerie’ Plex would grab one from your file, just like it grabbed Ms. Bergman from mine.