Group Versions Not Showing All Versions

[Grimmer 3]

I have discovered recently that this is also happening on my server. However, when I view it through the browser interface all 3 versions appear but when I view it through the Roku app there are only 2.

 

For audio tracks I have sometimes noticed only two of the 4 are listed but by cursoring up (in Roku) I find the other two. However, this doesn't work/apply to movie versions. Cursoring up does not reveal additional versions it scrolls to the bottom of the list (of 2).

 

[Luke 37129]

Hi there @Grimmerlet's look at a specific example:

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

[Grimmer 3]

Digging a little deeper, it appears to have been related to the user.  I had a normal user logged into the Roku app and an administrator user logged into the web browser app.  I have also experimented with a third user that has more privileges than the normal user, but not as many as the administrator user.  The third user can also see all three versions. However, I have not yet determined what, if anything, is different between the normal and third user.  Everything is the same on the user profile, access, and parental controls tabs except for these 3 things:

Normal: "Hide this user from login screens on the local network" is not checked whereas for the third use it is checked.

Third user has "Access to all Libraries"  checked whereas the normal user it is unchecked but has all of the individual libraries except for one (the library that holds the sample movie is checked).

I am using tags to restrict content.  The normal user has 4 restricted tags, the third user has 1 restricted tag (which is also one of the tags in the normal user's list of tags)

I have separated the three versions of the sample movie and verified that their metadata is the same and none of the three contain any tags.  I also verified that the owner and group of all the media files are set to emby & emby.  Then I have grouped them back together and still the normal user is only able to see 2 versions, whereas the third user is able to see all three versions.

I also noted when looking at these screen shots that the normal user sees the primary image and banner in the details page, whereas the third user does not have either displayed in the same details screen.

I did not post photos of the Roku app since it is replicating the user-based behavior as the web browser client does.  The admin user results have been identical to the third user's.

The only difference in the 3 versions of the video are the volume levels of the two audio tracks.  Version 1 has the original audio tracks from Handbrake: AC3 stereo and AAC stereo.  Version 2 has a slightly boosted AC3 (replacing the original AC3) and a straight copy of the AAC track.  Version 3 has a straight copy of the boosted AC3 track and an even more boosted version of the original AC3 track transcoded to AAC.  (The version 1 file was originally an mp4.  A few days after making the boosted test files (mkv), ffmpeg was used to convert the original mp4 to an mkv (direct copy of all streams).

Both users are very old on the system; however, the third user is not as old and has also been updated / refreshed more recently than the normal user.

Normal user's view (Edge Browser):

 

Third user's (and admin user's) view (Edge browser):

 

 

 

[Luke 37129]

Hi, what if you grant them both access to all just as a test?

[Grimmer 3]

I haven't had time to sit down and do some additional proper probing of the issue yet; however, I did try your quick suggestion and checked the "Allow Access to All Libraries" checkbox. The behavior didn't change. 

I also elevated the normal user to admin. It still only showed the 2 versions (no change to behavior) 

I also logged into the newest user account which was setup as a backup admin account. That user can see all three versions. 

 

When I get home I'll sit down and dig a little deeper. 

 

[Grimmer 3]

@Luke

OK... Here is what I've found that makes the difference.  (Let me know if you want to hear about all the stuff that didn't make a difference and I'll try to remember.)

If the user has a "block" tag in its parental control list that has already been used anywhere on the server, only 2 of the 3 versions can be seen.  Even though none of the three versions have any tags and can all three be seen when they are split apart.  I re-grouped the versions and deleted all of the tags from the parental controls tab, one-by-one.  After deleting the last tag that had already been assigned to any media (even in a different library --- note that none of the media in the cartoon library has ever had any tag assigned in its metadata), the third version appeared.  Note that there was still a tag in that user's parental controls, but it has never been assigned to any media.  To further test this, I deleted all of the tags for that user and added a new one "xyz" that I've never used at all.  All three versions still visible.  I went to a different title within the cartoon library and assigned it the tag "xyz".  The third version disappeared.  I went back and removed the tag "xyz" from the other title and the third version was still not listed (i.e. it did not come back).  I deleted the "xyz" tag from the user's parental control list and the third version reappeared.  I re-added the "xyz" tag to the user's list and the third version disappeared again.  (I also tested with two previously unused tags on the parental controls list and all 3 versions were visible, as soon as one or more previously used tags were added to the list only 2 of the 3 versions were visible.)

I would imagine that the server's database is keeping a list of active tags (which apparently is a list of tags that have ever been used whether they are currently active or not).  And for some reason, when there are more than 2 versions for a title the routine that restricts which versions are visible is misidentifying it as a tagged item against any tag on the "previously used" server's database list.  Earlier on in rearranging the 3 versions of Peter and the Wolf, I would get different pairs of the 2 out of 3 versions that would appear.  I don't know if it was randomly picking the two that would show up or if it was based on the order they were scanned by the server.  I did note that when any user in my testing was able to see all three versions, it was putting version 2 at the top of the list followed by 1 and 3.  When any user could only see 2 of the versions it was putting version 1 at the top of the list followed by version 2.

I just went back and added a version 4 to Peter and the Wolf and only 2 of the 4 appeared (v1, v2) for the user with a previously used tag in its parental controls list.  The other user without restriction tags can see all 4 (v2, v1, v3, v4)

Also, the presence or absence of the portrait and banner on the details page I mentioned above was simply due to the individual user's display settings.  There is an individual checkbox for the portrait and banner use in the app settings of that user.

 

Edited April 28 by Grimmer

[ebr 14939]

Hi.  This issue is not limited to the Roku app, correct?

[Grimmer 3]

Correct. I first noticed it between the web app and the Roku app, but later realized it was because different users were logged in on the different platforms.

The most recent testing described above was performed in the web app (Edge); however, I have seen the same results on the Roku app and the Android app (local and remote).

[Luke 37129]

On 4/28/2024 at 9:27 AM, Grimmer said:

I haven't had time to sit down and do some additional proper probing of the issue yet; however, I did try your quick suggestion and checked the "Allow Access to All Libraries" checkbox. The behavior didn't change. 

I also elevated the normal user to admin. It still only showed the 2 versions (no change to behavior) 

I also logged into the newest user account which was setup as a backup admin account. That user can see all three versions. 

 

When I get home I'll sit down and dig a little deeper. 

 

This is all based on library access, so that's why elevating to admin had no impact.

[Grimmer 3]

17 hours ago, Luke said:

This is all based on library access, so that's why elevating to admin had no impact.

Agreed, it appears to be related to tags used to block certain titles.  More specifically the routines determining which versions to block when media that has more than 2 versions.  Also, perhaps a gap in evaluating the active status of a given tag.

[Luke 37129]

Active status?

[Grimmer 3]

2 hours ago, Luke said:

Active status?

See description above for details...

I added a new - never used tag called xyz to the user's block list.  It had no effect and that user could still see all versions of Peter and the Wolf.  I then went to a different title and added the xyz tag to its metadata (="Active" in use somewhere on the server).  At that point the user could no longer see more than 2 of the versions of Peter and the Wolf.  I went back to the other title and removed the xyz tag, meaning that no title on the server had that tag in its metadata (= "inactive" / not used anywhere).  The user still could not see more than 2 versions of Peter and the Wolf.  (I.e. it did not revert to its original behavior once the xyz tag was removed from the other title.)  If the xyz tag was removed from the user's block list all versions were visible.  If the xyz tag was re-added to the user's blocklist only 2 versions were visible even though the xyz tag was no longer in the metadata for any title on the server.

If any tag that has been used in any title's metadata at any time (and doesn't need to be currently used anywhere) is present in a user's block list, then that user cannot see more than 2 versions of a given title on my server (in any client - Web, Roku, Android).  Any number of tags in a user's block list that have never been used in any metadata it is OK and the user can see all versions available for a title, but once one or more tags that have ever been used in metadata (even if currently not present in any metadata) are included in a user's block list, that user can only see 2 versions available for a title, even though all versions of that title have no tags in their metadata (separated or grouped).

[Luke 37129]

When you say title, what exactly were you adding the tag to, and removing it from?

[Grimmer 3]

I am adding / removing from the metadata for any given movie title.  The other place is in the user's parental controls tab. I am not aware of anywhere else the tags can be put / used. Is there something else I'm missing out on? 

 

[Grimmer 3]

"Restricted" tag is a hold over from when all the kids were younger and is no longer used but I left it on the list in case I missed something when updating to the tiered system. 

All of the movies that are restricted from general users (younger kids) are tagged with L1 and L2. (L3 was included for future use but has never been added to any movie title's metadata.) The movies that are restricted from the adult kids are tagged with L2 only.

The younger kids' accounts parental controls are blocking tags L1 and L2 (and the never used L3 and the previously but no longer used "Restricted"). The adult kids' accounts parental controls are blocking only L2 (and L3 and Restricted as noted above). 

 

[Luke 37129]

Are you sure you're adding the tag to the specific version in the set that you want to tag?

[Grimmer 3]

As noted above there are no tags on any of the versions of Peter and the Wolf. The server is incorrectly deciding not to show anything more than 2 versions if the user has a block tag in his parental controls that has ever been used in any metadata. Even though it is completely unrelated and never has been present in the Peter and the Wolf versions.