TV Shows are successfully recorded to an UnRAID NAS from Plex server running on a separate system running Ubuntu and successfully added to the library for years.
However when MCE Buddy running on a different computer picks up the file after it is 2 days old then converts it it shows unavailable even after rescanning the library.
I have converted media files this way in the past and it has not been a problem. The files always start out is .TS files then get converted to .mp4 and always work after a rescan.
Now, however they do not change after the library scan. The library still refers to the .TS file. Even If I delete the entry for the episode from the library, delete the .mp4 file, rescan the library, move the file back then rescan again the episode does not reappear. Its as if the file does not exist on the file system. I moved the file to another directory for a Home Movies library and ran a scan and the .mp4 TV episode shows up in that Home Movies library.
The only thing that has changed is a newer version of the Plex Media Server and also the PC running MCE Buddy running Windows 10 has been replaced by a new PC running Windows 11
Does anyone have any advice on how to get these converted files to show back up in the library they were in prior to when they were externally converted / file extension changed?
I have tried moving renaming these files. Deleting from the library. Rescan, Empty Trash, Analyze. Nothing seems to cause the path of the file to change in the library item.
Update: I also deleted a file that was not converted. It now shows “unavailable” in the Library instead of just disappearing from the library. This seems to have nothing to do with the external conversion process.
Simply what seems to be happening is that once the file is added to the library it stays that way unchanged (with 1 exception) whether you delete or rename the file. The only thing that does change is that it gets marked as “Unavailable.” when the file name changes or is deleted.
Process it externally, but keep the same name, then replace the orignal – ANALYZE the file
If you, as you’ve done here,
– Taken an existing file (already matched and indexed)
– Processed externally ( and changed the naming / extension )
– * Add the new file back – adjacent the original
– * Scan files so Plex now knows it has two copies of the file
– * Remove the original (delete/move the file from where Plex sees it)
– * Scan files
– * Empty Trash
– * Clean Bundles
This process does:
Adds the new version/file
Removes the old version
Cleans up the database so there are no remnants of the original file.
I do appreciate the reply. I will try your suggestion. There are two issues with it however.
This has happened on many episodes. I will have to try to find them all somehow. This will be a long process for the amount of files affected.
It seems that this is not just about converting files externally. This has always worked in the past for me. i.e change a file outside of Plex rescan the library and the change is picked correctly up by Plex.
What is also not working is deleting files outside Plex with no conversion or renaming involved. Inside Plex deleting a library item still works.
To explain further:
Form outside Plex I deleted a file belonging to an episode that was recorded by Plex. Prior to deleting the file, this episode did not show unavailable in Plex which was correct. Everything was as it should be. However without converting the file I simply deleted the episode file outside Plex then ran a rescan. This should have made the episode disappear from the library as it always has in the past for me. However now it is keeping the episode in the library and marking it unavailable. The info for the episode inside Plex is still referencing the deleted file.
More Information. New episodes not recorded by Plex and copied to the directory where the library points to are picked up when a scan is run. So it just seems to apply to file name changes deletions
This seems to coincide when I upgraded from plexmediaserver_1.32.7.7621 to
plexmediaserver_1.32.8.7639
Converted shows scanned after the date of the upgrade have this issue. Converted shows scanned before the date of the upgrade do not have this issue
