Ever since March, metadata for my TV shows has stopped loading. Originally this issue affected the metadata for movies, but I was able to fix it by disabling and removing a raspberry pi that my roommate was using as a DNS-level adblocker from our network. However this did not fix the problem with TV metadata. Upon further investigation, it seems as though any attempt to use the TVDB agent for metadata results in “Your changes could not be saved.” If I select Personal Media Shows as an agent, it has no problem saving. But then no metadata displays.
I’ve seen in previous posts that TVDB’s API was messed up a while back, but that the issue was fixed. However, like I said I haven’t been able to connect to TVDB’s database to load metadata since March. I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled the Plex Media Server and Plex app about a dozen times at this point to no avail. When I try using Kodi, that program has no issues loading the metadata for either TV shows or movies. I’ve been running the latest version of Plex whenever it’s released.
I’m at my wits end because at this point I don’t know what to do to make this work. I can’t force it to use The Movie Database as an agent because the option simply isn’t available for TV shows. I don’t even know if it’s possible to add TMD as a plugin or where I would find it. Any help in this would be greatly appreciated, as I’m about ready to leave Plex and switch to Kodi or something else if I can’t get this to work.
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Server Version#: 1.20.4.3517
Player Version#: 1.22.0.1421-be6a7c42
I’m seeing some errors in your logs. Do you have Python installed manually? If so, try removing it. It might be interfering with the embedded Python that comes with PMS.
I checked to see if I did have Python installed but it doesn’t look like it. Tried closing down everything Python-related while still keeping whatever was related to PMS. Still getting the same “Your changes could not be saved.” error.
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The other possibility is an installation error. Try uninstalling and reinstalling PMS. This won’t affect your current setup.
I tried that, logged off then uninstalled before reinstalling and signing in. Still getting the same “Your changes could not be saved.” error. I don’t understand why Plex is having such trouble with TVDB.
I went over your logs again and I am seeing an error I missed last time.
Nov 06, 2020 00:24:02.279 [0244] DEBUG - Request: [127.0.0.1:51292 (Loopback)] GET /:/plugins/com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb/prefs (22 live) GZIP Signed-in Token (NiteiKnight)
Nov 06, 2020 00:24:02.279 [0244] WARN - Request for plug-in [com.plexapp.agents.thetvdb] but it doesn’t exist.
That would indicate the agent bundle is missing from your system. It should be located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Plex\Plex Media Server\Resources\Plug-ins-ab5e1197c\. Can you provide a screenshot of that folder using file explorer?
That particular folder (Plug-ins-ab5e1197c) doesn’t exist in my Resources folder. Could that be the problem? The only folder I have that looks like that is (Plug-ins-309e93364).
The plugin folder is specific to the PMS build. If you don’t have that folder than your PMS is installed wrong. Try re-installing your PMS and see if that helps.
Edit - I don’t know how to do that on Docker, not my area of knowledge.
But I’ve uninstalled and reinstalled PMS over five times already, and nothing’s changed. At what point do I rule that out? Like am I missing something in uninstalling PMS from my server? I’m always downloading the installer from the Plex website, and it always results in this same problem. Do I delete my library before uninstalling?
Oh sorry, you’re not using docker. Got it mixed up with another issue. Have you updated PMS since we started this? Your original logs were from 2 weeks ago so if you’ve updated, the folder will be different now. I’ll need a new log if that is the case. Try running the scanner again before grabbing the logs.
I just got a server update (didn’t fix anything though). Here’s the most recent logs from it:
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Am I correct that the show “2 Dope Queens” is one that won’t match? If so, can you provide me the XML from one of these episodes. Investigate Media Information and Formats | Plex Support
From your logs it looks like the agent for your library may have been set to “Personal Media” at one point. Shows won’t match with that and they stay unmatched no matter how many times you rescan your library. You’ll have to do a manual “fix match” for these or perform the Plex Dance after making sure your library is set to use TheTVDB agent.
That’s one of the shows that won’t match, but really all of my TV shows won’t match. It’s not just that one, but it’s simply the first.
I noticed at one point that the library agent was set to “Personal Media” and have tried to set it to TVDB, but that’s where the originating issue of not being able to save the setting to use the TVDB agent came in. When I try to do a manual “fix match” I get a “No matches were found using this agent” error. I tried doing the Plex dance a couple times, though that never solved anything. I can give it another try though and ensure that the TVDB agent is selected.
EDIT: did the Plex dance, still got the “Your changes could not be saved” when I tried to change the agent for the TV shows library
I am seeing an error that is odd. Are you familiar with getting the PMS registry? If so, please export the entire Plex Media Server section and PM that to me.
I can’t say I am, how would I go about doing that?
Open the Windows Registry Editor. The easy way is to type “regedit” into the search box. Then along the left will be text, it works like a tree, expand them in this order.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software
Plex, Inc.
Plex Media Server
When you get to the last one, a bunch of stuff should appear on the right. Ignore this. Back on the left, right click on Plex Media Server and select export from the list. Pick a folder, give it a name, change the type to Text File, and hit save. Write me a PM (right click on my avatar, select message) and attach that file to it.
I feel like I am having a similar issue lately where all my movie metadata populates fine but my shows are not. I believe I possibly found a workaround or at least what may be causing the issue if I match the show using moviedb instead of tvdb the metadata populates. Just curious if this issue was ever resolved or if anyone has insight on my current problem. Everything worked fine up until maybe 2 or 3 months ago.
Still having this issue, devs tried but weren’t able to help. How did you select moviedb as an agent for tv shows? It’s not an option on my end.
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I want to chime in and say there’s news that TVDB has gone Subscription model. Could that be why?
https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/js00td/looks_like_tvdb_is_switching_to_a_subscription/ link to sub discussion
https://thetvdb.com/subscribe for direct link to announcement
I very much want to completely disable TVDB metadata from PLeX right now, as The Movie Database has been getting me everything I need. However, I need to keep going to each file, switch agents, then match it with the correct title, ad nauseum because it’s per-show that I have to do it.
Love PLeX, but TVDB is hard to love.
I have friends who seem to have TVDB working fine still… Not sure what the issue is. My resolution using The Movie Database is I fix match or match a series, while it is loading you hit search options and change the Agent to The Movie Database and wait for the results and match the series. This has been at the very least a band-aid fix for me hope it works for you too.
