I ran across an issue where I have the same TV series in 2 different libraries. One is for personally owned, ripped/encoded files (we’ll call this Library1) and the other is DVR recorded over the air for new, live episodes (Library2). On the DVR recording settings, I have it set to keep only the latest 5 episodes (because I don’t want the server to delete watched automatically, and I will eventually be getting a hard copy version of the same files - so no need to keep them permanently taking up extra space).
For some reason, Plex will delete all the files except the latest 5 in Library1, even though the DVR is set to Library2. I was shocked to see my 50+ season series completely gone from a library that has no deletion properties set because of a DVR setting in a completely different library!
For now I have removed the DVR recording entirely until this (bug?) gets fixed. I did some interwebs searches and found other instances of this dating back 3+ years, so I’m not hopeful that this will be fixed anytime soon, but I mostly wanted to surface the issue and also see if it’s just me or others are still having this issue as well. I suspect that it’s such a niche issue that it has never gotten traction from the dev team to look into or fix.
Would you believe that this is expected behavior and is unlikely to be changed? This is for the same reason that the DVR won’t record duplicate episodes if they exist in any library on your server. It is aware of the show’s existence whatever libraries it lives in.
Here’s a fun experiment. Edit the show in one library (the “primary”). On the advanced tab, set “Delete episodes after playing” to “On next refresh.” (Don’t perform a library scan.)
Now, go check the same setting for the same show in the DVR library. Notice that the setting propagated there as well. Be sure to change it back.
Or, don’t actually do that. It might be too risky. Just trust me that it behaves the way I described. The two instances of the show are linked in the database. So, the DVR settings for “Keep” and “Delete…” propagate to the show in your DVR library, which propagate to the show in your normal library.
So, for series split across multiple libraries, you’ll likely just need to manage deletions manually.
It’s crazy to think that this is intended behavior! Why would a setting in a DVR library affect a non DVR library (especially when it comes to DELETING FILES!)?! How can Plex think that this is okay? Honestly this gives me one less reason to use the sub-par live/DVR features in Plex. I also find it infuriating that when recording a new series on DVR, it will show up like it has matched to a show, but hasn’t actually. You have to go in to every new recording and fix match…
Plex Admins - Can I please get an answer as to why even though I don’t have SNL set to record from the DVR AT ALL anymore, it’s still fcking deleting all but 5 SNL episodes in ANOTHER FCKING LIBRARY!?!?!?!?
HOW IN THE HOLY HELL CAN THIS BE ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR?!?!?
I’ve now had Plex delete this entire series (50 GD seasons) 3 times!!! This is REALLY getting old!
I provided the practical/technical explanation above. As far as Plex is concerned, it’s still the same series no matter which libraries it lives in the server. It’s the same reason it knows not to record a duplicate of an episode from the DVR when it’s already present in another, non-DVR library.
This is an excerpt from the XML info from an episode of Farscape in my DVR TV library:
Notice that the grandparentGuid (the parentGuid is the season and the episode itself has its own GUID) is the same even though they’re in separate libraries. A lot of information about the show is tied to the grandparentGuid. Including the settings related to retention/deletion.
So you’ll need to check the show and ensure the “Keep” and “Delete…” settings are configured such that all episodes are kept and none are deleted. These settings are in the advanced tab when you edit the show (at the show-level, not season- or episode-level). The changes should propagate to the show in your other library, but you may want to double check.
If what you’re asking for is an explanation from Plex as to why it was designed this way, all I can say is good luck. You could create a feature suggestion for them to maintain separate keep/delete… settings for instances of the same show in different libraries.
Thanks again for your thoughtful reply pshanew. I understand how it’s supposed to work after your first explanation. The problem is, it’s not working as intended. Since you pointed out that it was intended behavior to have media deleted, even in a different library, if the DVR setting is set to only keep 5 I DELETED the recording schedule. The DVR was no longer set to record SNL at all. Yet it still kept the “keep only 5 setting”. I added the recording back to the DVR, and it defaulted to “keep only 5”. This is telling me that Plex is not removing that setting across the board when you delete a recording scheduling. I have since put that setting back to “keep all”, and I’ll try again for the 4th time.
My gripe:
If you’re going to allow a setting to delete files automatically, at least put a note saying such next to the setting. Plex already does this with the “replace lower resolution items” setting.
Preferably, have an option to only delete files from certain libraries.
At minimum fix the stupid bug (yes, this is a bug, not a “feature”) where the “keep latest 5” setting continues to delete files even after the recording schedule has been deleted.
. But maybe a Plex dev will pop in and say “Hey, that’s never what we intended.”