Server Version#: 1.25.8.5663-e071c3d62
Player Version#: Several different ones
I have my PlexMedia server running on a Linux box. I access it from several different clients (Android, FireStick, Linux) without any issues - except for the following.
I have created a library that I call Documentaries. It obtains its video material from a directory named /Video/Documentaries in the Linux system where the server lives. There are many subdirectories under /Video/Documentaries; one of them is called Nuclear. Under Nuclear I have a number of video files (with .avi, mp4 and .mkv extensions) and two subdirectories: Nuclear\ Secrets and Nuclear_Tests. Under Nuclear\ Secrets I have five .avi files, and under Nuclear_Tests I have I have three .mkv files and one .mpg file.
The problem is that my Plex clients (all of them) can only see a small subset of the files under Nuclear. The can see the Nuclear\ Secrets and Nuclear_Tests directories, but none of the video files directly under Nuclear. They can see (and play) the video files under Nuclear\ Secrets, but nothing under Nuclear_Tests. In fact, when I tap into that folder from the Android client, I get a message that explicitly says that no video files are present in Nuclear_Tests.
I know it is not a matter of file ownership and permissions, for all the files and directories involved have the same ownership and access permissions. I know it is not due to the fact that some file and directory names contain embedded spaces, for some of the files/directories correctly accessed have such embedded spaces, while some of those not accessed do not - and vice-versa. Since all clients that I am using display the same behavior, I am guessing it is something to do with the Plex Media server.
Any idea on what be going on here? Any suggestions on how to debug and fix the problem?
The file types generally have nothing to do with it picking something up (except for ISO files). The actual file names generally do matter depending on the type of library. Movie libraries will ignore files with tv episode notation. and tv libraries will ignore files without.
What type of library is it? ( movies, Other videos, TV ) I am guessing you are viewing things in Folder View. Do they show up if looking at in the normal movie view grid?
Thanks for your feedback. I am viewing things in Folder View all right, and the type of library is TV Shows . Can this be changed on the fly, without having to re-add the whole thing again? I tried editing the library, and it does not seem to give me that option.
You could add a S01E01 ( meaning season 1 episode 1) to the files as you see fit for each file (some may need to be S01E02 ) then scan the library for files
Like Nuclear S01E01.mkv
an “Other Videos” library type does not care about file names, so you could use that type of library, but it will not get online metadata. but that will require you to create a new Other Videos library from scratch
I renamed the files involved, and they are now picked up. The metadata are all wrong, but that’s a different issue. Can this be disabled - i.e. can one get Plex not to try and get metadata for files in specific directories?
You can unmatch something and it should stay unmatched. but is it not by folder you would need to navigate to the top level of the show and unmatch it.
Thanks. The truth is that the TV Shows setting does not really work very well for what I have in this particular library - there are some series all right, but most of the files are just individual ones, not associated with any TV series. I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and delete this library, only to add it again as Other Videos - letting Plex try to get metadata for these files makes a mess of the whole thing, for it gets the wrong metadata most of the time.
