Why can't Plex access my data folder?

[joshuafox2]

Using plexmediaserver_1.14.1.5488 on Linux Mint (Ubuntu variant).

I cannot point a library at my Videos directory, which is in a second internal harddisk. The Video directories are disabled in the Plex file chooser as in this screenshot:

Following these instructions, I tried various things: chmod -R a+rw Videos, giving group ownership to this directory (with the plex user in that group), and even changing the PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_USER from plex to my username. (On each reconfiguration, I restarted Plex.)

However, the directories are still inaccessible.

How can I get Plex to recognize these files?

[pshanew]

Have you tried mounting the partition with the Plex user and group IDs? For example:
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/media -o uid=124,gid=130,rw

Substitute your device and mount point. The user and group IDs above are what the plex user has on my system, so you’ll want to double check what yours are. This also assumes PMS is running as the plex user.

Also ensure that, after mounting, the mounted directories have read, write, and execute permissions for the plex user.

[joshuafox2]

Videos is a directory on a larger disk, rather than a partition. Can I somehow mount this for the plex user?

I did change ownership as shown by ls -l: drwxrwxrwx 5 plex plugdev 4096 Apr 23 22:51 Videos. Note that groups plex shows plex : plex video plugdev. Also, I did chmod a+rw Videos. With these changes, the problem still exists.

[ChuckPa]

Using EXT, NTFS, or other format drives (internal or external) on Linux

This document is of primary interest to anyone who has connected USB drives or has media on other internal drives but user plex can’t access it due to Linux’s default security mechanisms. WARNING: This procedure will not work for SNAP, Docker or other container mechanisms unless expressly handled within the confines of the container. This procedure is intended for use with the dpkg package. We will walk through the steps needed to add these external USB hard drives and internal hard drives…

plugdev is not required nor should it be there.

Proper perms for the video files, with you as owner:

find /top/level/directory -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
find /top/level/directory -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

[ChuckPa]

Supplemental information:

On Gnome-based systems, /media is claimed exclusive access by Nautilus.
Relocating the mount point away from there, via /etc/fstab, will avoid the exclusivity lock to your username and user plex to read the media as you define with normal permissions.

[joshuafox2]

Thank you. I’ll try that.