TV Show's metadata and file paths are correct but different files are played using strange fall-through logic

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
1

Server Version#: 1.22.0.4163
Player Version#: Web Version 4.51.3, iOS 7.14

I’m having some very strange behavior in my Doctor Who (2005) Season 0 directory. Clicking on any one episode in certain groups will fall back to playing an earlier episode. The episode that plays changes depending on what other episodes have been included in the library.

I have adhered carefully to the TV episode file naming rules. These files are in the following directory and format:

Doctor Who (2005)/Season 00/Doctor Who (2005) S00EXX [Name].mkv (or .mp4)

Whenever I make changes, I am sure to do the Plex Dance (to the tune of David Bowie).

Here is one scenario I have identified:

  1. Click 04, and it plays correctly.
  2. Click any between 05-18, and it will play correctly.
  3. Click any between 19-31, and it wlll play 04.
  4. Remove 04. Plex Dance.
  5. Click any between 19-31, and it will play correctly.
  6. Restore 04. Plex Dance.
  7. Click any between 19-31, and it will play 04.

Here is a second scenario:

  1. Click 56, and it plays correctly.
  2. Click 51, 52, 53, 54, or 55, and 47 plays.
  3. Remove 47. Plex Dance.
  4. Click 51, 52, 53, 54, or 55, and 51 plays.
  5. Remove 51. Plex Dance.
  6. Click 52, 53, 54, or 55, and 52 plays.
  7. Repeat removal with 52-52 and Plex Dance.
  8. At each removal, the lowest number will play when clicking on any of the higher numbers.

It is worth noting that this behavior is exactly the same if I create an entirely new Library containing only Doctor Who (2005)/Season 00.

I’m at my wits’ end. Any help will be hugely appreciated.

2

Hoping that someone will take pity on me and respond. I’m wondering if this could have something to do with an attempt when I initially added Doctor Who 2005 to leverage thetvdb.com’s Absolute Order. I have long since undone that, and all episodes are working except for these here in the specials.

I suspect the problem is in the database since attempts to change the file name and even to replace with completely new re-encoded files have not helped.

3

There’s no season 00 on tvdb or themovidedb. Try organizing the Specials according to this document:

They even cite Doctor Who as a known issue.

4

Hey, thanks for the help. I’m a little confused though because there is a Season 00/Specials on thetvdb:

https://thetvdb.com/series/doctor-who-2005/seasons/official/0

And I’ve followed the naming conventions in the Support article. The metadata all populates correctly. The right data is displayed for the right file. Unfortunately, the right file does not then play when I click it.

5

I’ve never seen that before. And I suspect it is a DB issue as well. do you have your DB set to optimize DB once a week in scheduled task settings?

6

I do have it set for weekly optimization. I’ve also manually invoked optimization a few times during this troubleshoot.

7

@BigWheel is there a SQLite statement that could remove all traces of Doctor Who (2005) from the DB, and then I could start again? Or is my only hope to rebuild the entire DB from scratch?

8

You can also create a new library just for testing

9

Yeah, that makes sense. As I mentioned in my original post, I did actually try to create a new library, and I encountered the same problem.

10

@woodiekeenan possible to get your server logs after it happens?

11

To be clear, I will try to capture server logs for the moment that I click an episode and a different episode plays.

12

Yes please. (you can message them to me if you don’t want to post publicly)

13

Sent. Thank you.

15

Another similar report Multiple episodes of TV Shows all play the same wrong file when selected - #9 by MovieFan.Plex.

I was able to reproduce the issue using Doctor Who, although I get different episodes playing back than you, but they are still wrong. As mentioned in that thread, I’ve posted a bug with our team.

16

Thank you so much @anon18523487 and @BigWheel. I appreciate the time and the assistance. Here’s hoping the PO and the Scrummaster prioritize this bug.

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