Is there a way to "force" Emby to recognize new added content?

[RLanger7228 56]

I have created some "custom" TV shows to accumulate groups of related miscellaneous videos.  The TV show format, with season sub-folder organization suits my purposes perfectly.  The main folder for each show is titled "SHOW NAME";  Sub-folders are "SEASON 1", "SEASON 2", etc;  Naming of episodes are "SHOW NAME - S#E# - episode title", and are all within their respective season folder.

Of Course, they can't be IDENTIFIED because they don't exist in any online databases (IMDB, TVDB, etc).  I go back & edit the metadata, and tick the "lock to prevent future changes" for the show, seasons & episodes.  It's a bit of work, but the final presentation works very well for me.

When I first started with Emby these shows were acknowledged, but with no automatic assignment of metadata or images (as expected).  Some I was able to manually edit & they were fine.  Unfortunately, some were a bit "mixed up" due to sloppy file naming conventions on my part.  In order to correct the problems I moved the entire folder to a separate, non-indexed shared folder on my NAS using File Station, then went into Emby (Version 4.8.10.0) & deleted the show (to eliminate any "incorrect" data related to the title), then went back to File Station on my Synology NAS (DS718+, DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 6) and edited the file names, folder names & show titles to consistently match the structure & naming conventions I mentioned above.

When I moved the entire corrected folders back into the DOCUMENTARIES folder (indexed under Emby for TV Shows), the shows were no longer recognized - they fail to show up in the TV show list at all.  Individual shows have an option to RESCAN FILES, but I can't seem to find that option for the TV show section as a whole.  I tried clicking the Refresh Page link in my browser address window ↩︎, and then tried completely closing the window & restarted Emby from the Home Page on my NAS, to try to force it to re-scan the indexed folders.  The shows still don't show up in the list.  I have seen Emby take a little time for changes to show up, but I have been re-checking (& refreshing) Emby while writing this post, and after at least 1/2 hour they are still not showing up.  I thought, perhaps, having deleted the shows might prevent them from being re-recognized, but one of the shows was renamed completely, so that can't be the issue..

Is there a way to "force" Emby to recognize new added content when it fails to do so own its own?

[RLanger7228 56]

FOLLOW-UP:

One of the 2 shows in question finally showed up as an unidentified show with no metadata, all seasons & episodes present.  When I couldn't find the other show, I searched for part of its name and found it had been incorrectly identified.  All of its episodes were present as well.  However, this was over 5 hours after they were moved to the appropriate folder.

While Emby DID eventually acknowledge the new content, there was a significant delay in their showing up in the TV show list.  Why would it take that long?  Is there a way to "require" Emby to recognize new content immediately?  If I had wanted to edit the new show right after adding it, I would not have been able to.

[Happy2Play 9444]

Without logs it is impossible to say.  If using Real Time Monitoring items will be added roughly 90 seconds after being added to Emby assuming RTM is working on your platform/setup.  Otherwise media is only added during a library scan via manual or scheduled.

 

But since this is Synology it is either library setup or iNotify limits need adjusted.

[Luke 40092]

Hi, yes can you please provide an example and attach the log file? Thanks.

[RLanger7228 56]

One of the shows I tried to add was titled "Off Grid", which was misidentified as (something) Off Grid.

There were several logs for the date in question, 10/27/24 (screenshot).  I did a multi-select & downloaded all for that date.  I received only one file.  I assume they are aggregated, though the filename looks like only one of them.  If you need more, please let me know.

I did not perform a manual scan, nor did schedule them (that I know of).

How can I enable RTM on a Synology NAS (DS718+,  DSM 7.1.1-42962 Update 6,  Emby version 4.8.10.0)?

 

ffmpeg-transcode-c5bf4ea3-a2ea-49d3-bbea-eccd889cae7f_1.txt

[Happy2Play 9444]

Please attach the server log as a ffmpeg log is of no use for importing files.

But any of the logs that are from the time you added media.

[RLanger7228 56]

OK

embyserver-63865643026.txt

[Luke 40092]

1 hour ago, RLanger7228 said:

OK

embyserver-63865643026.txt 470.14 kB · 0 downloads

Is this the example that you want to focus on from this log file?

Quote

One of the shows I tried to add was titled "Off Grid", which was misidentified as (something) Off Grid.

I don't see the activity of it being imported and incorrectly detected. Perhaps that was in an earlier log file?

[RLanger7228 56]

This one is a day earlier.

 

BTW,, is there a way to retain more days of logs?

embyserver-63865584000.txt

[Happy2Play 9444]

16 hours ago, RLanger7228 said:

BTW,, is there a way to retain more days of logs?

You have to edit your system.xml

<LogFileRetentionDays>3</LogFileRetentionDays>

 

[RLanger7228 56]

Thank you.  I found a copy of the file in (local shared folder)/EmbyServer/embyserver-backup-full/config.  I found the line in that file that needs editing & changed 3 to 14, to have 2 weeks of logs.  How do I get the newly file edited back into the Emby system?

[Happy2Play 9444]

Synology would require you to ssh to Emby programdata location.

/var/packages/EmbyServer/var/config

Not ideal but I guess since you edited the Backup file you could do a restore.

[RLanger7228 56]

I am not familiar with using SSH, so I guess restore will be the preferred method.  I will set aside the original System.XML file (as a backup, just in case) and upload the one I edited to the appropriate backup folder on my NAS, then execute a restore when I get the time to address this issue.  I will let you know how it goes.

[Happy2Play 9444]

Might want to learn it especially since you have a Synology.

There is this guide also

 

[RLanger7228 56]

After Editing my collection to bring it up to speed in Emby, I started adding completely new content again.  I added 2 new movies & a new episode of a "custom" TV show (called "Short Films").  I would like to add custom edits to the metadata right now, but none of them are showing up in Emby: not in "recents", the TV show season where the episode was added, nor in "SEARCH", where other content with a similar name IS showing - in the main server client on my laptop.

The files were uploaded to appropriate (Emby Indexed) folders using File Station on my Synology NAS DS718+.  For the TV show, I tried going to the season & clicking Re-Scan files.  For a minute, it reverted the titles of episodes to the original file names, the last episode went missing, then the last episode showed up again & the titles went back to how I had edited them (I has perviously locked further metadata changes on all the episodes I edit).  I only mention this because it is weird (alls well that ends well).  HOWEVER, the new episode still did not show up.  It is titled "Short Films - S6S82 - Show title".  The previously last episode, that disappeared & came back, was episode 81.

On 10/28/2024 at 3:38 AM, Happy2Play said:

Without logs it is impossible to say.  If using Real Time Monitoring items will be added roughly 90 seconds after being added to Emby assuming RTM is working on your platform/setup.  Otherwise media is only added during a library scan via manual or scheduled.

 

But since this is Synology it is either library setup or iNotify limits need adjusted.

How can I find the RTM setting to make sure it is active?  If, as you say, it may not be working on my platform, how can I perform a manual scan whenever I add new content?  Is there another way to add content, besides using FileStation, that will trigger Emby to index the new content immediately?  Also, will a manual scan change any metadata for the already existing content in my library?

For completeness sake, I included the log file from today.  I tried refreshing the web page, clicking the circular arrow in the browser IP address window, but the new content is still not showing up in Emby about 1/2 hour after uploading. About an hour later, the episode is showing up in SEARCH, but not in the episode listing for season 6 of Short Films.  The movie is not showing up in SEARCH.

embyserver - 2024-11-03.txt

[Happy2Play 9444]

59 minutes ago, RLanger7228 said:

How can I find the RTM setting to make sure it is active?  If, as you say, it may not be working on my platform, how can I perform a manual scan whenever I add new content?

It is a per library setting but per your log it does not work as iNotify has to be modified.

System.IO.IOException: The configured user limit (8192) on the number of inotify watches has been reached, or the operating system failed to allocate a required resource.

As for manual scan you have many options.

Scheduled task manually trigger library scan, or add additional triggers at different times.

Manually Run from Library page

Manually scan the library

Manually scan the Series

Get the libraryids and use the api/script to scan.

[RLanger7228 56]

Thank you!  

However, the last real programming/scripting I did was in BASIC, 6502 Assembler & DBASE 3.  The first computer program I ever wrote was in a box of computer punch cards that had to be fed into a reader every time the program ran, back in 1974 (Heaven help you if the box ever spilled).

I found the "Scan Library Files" under the "Library" setting in SETTINGS, and the same in "Scheduled Tasks", along with "Scan Metadata".  Running these brought the new content into the Emby display in less than 5 minutes.

I think simply clicking the "Scan Library Files" button after I add a new batch of content will be a lot easier than learning a new scripting language from scratch, especially since many computer languages are based on C+ or other languages that use completely different conventions/structures than BASIC or ASSEMBLER.  Learning a different Romantic language than the one you speak is easier than learning Chinese, for example, which would require learning a very different way of expressing thoughts (including tonal variations that change meaning).  When I tried to teach myself how to write apps for the iPhone, I ran into a VERY steep learning curve, even using Swift, which does much of the coding for you.  Trying to insert custom coding segments was quite a challenge, and if I forgot to open a new file with a required service, I had to restart from the beginning to rebuild the base to include it.

[Happy2Play 9444]

All the info is provided for you in the How to link to fix iNotify but yes running a scan when you add media is just as effective depending on how automated your adding media actually is.

[RLanger7228 56]

My adding is not automated.  I convert DVDs and upload them manually, then edit the metadata as required - sort of a hobby.  Waiting for Emby to add them by itself was frustrating.  Cliking the SCAN link allows me to proceed with what I need to do in a timely fashion.  Thanx again.

[Luke 40092]

8 hours ago, RLanger7228 said:

My adding is not automated.  I convert DVDs and upload them manually, then edit the metadata as required - sort of a hobby.  Waiting for Emby to add them by itself was frustrating.  Cliking the SCAN link allows me to proceed with what I need to do in a timely fashion.  Thanx again.

Did you try the INotify changes?

[FrostByte 5258]

The Inotify changes don't require any programming experience.  The small bit of code is in the instructions, so just cut-n-paste.  There are plenty of people here who can help if needed.

[Carlo 4552]

@RLanger7228Have you made the simple change given above to adjust the amount of inotify handles the system uses?
If you don't make that change Emby will not be notified of new media and will only find it doing a full library scan.

[RLanger7228 56]

OK.  I looked at the instructions more carefully & saw that it WAS pretty easy, though executing code I didn't write at the root level gives me pause.  However, the commands look fairly straight forward, so I overcame my reluctance & created a new Task (as in the screenshot).  I selected the task & Ran it.  I created new content & uploaded it to a movie indexed folder on my NAS.

Going to the Home icon in Emby shows that the new content was added, recognized & IDENTIFIED promptly, solving the problem!  Thank you for your suggestions & support.  BTW, it occurred to me that these increases might impact memory usage or CPU performance.  Do you know if or how much this may impact them?

 

When I tried to go to Terminal to check the settings, as you had suggested, I could not locate a Terminal portal on my NAS.  I may need to set this up, though I would have to research the Synology knowledge base on how to accomplish that.  Since I never use Terminal for my routine NAS management, I am reluctant to create such a powerful access to my NAS without understanding the full implications of opening that portal.  Might it be possible to install/configure one, but deactivate it when I am not using it specifically, perhaps by a single setting I could turn on & off at need (without having to reconfigure it each time)?

Edited November 10, 2024 by RLanger7228
Added another related question.

[RLanger7228 56]

FOLLOW-UP:

I added additional content to appropriately index folders after the movie I mentioned above.  First, I added some TV episodes to a couple of "custom" shows I created called "Behind the Scenes" & "Creating Disney".  They were not recognized promptly, and required me to run a Library File Scan to get them recognized.  I thought, perhaps, it was because they were added to the TV library, or to non-'"normally indexed" shows (as distinct from Movies, which DID add promptly).  I tried adding another movie, but this was also not recognized promptly & required a Library File Scan.  Disappointing.

Any thoughts?  I included the most recent Log file, is case it might be helpful

embyserver - 2024-11-10 12noon.txt

[Happy2Play 9444]

I will guess you need to verify the inotify values per the linked topic and my need to enable debug logging to see the complete librarymonitor process.

But you still have a library throwing inotify error.

2024-11-10 07:39:54.788 Error LibraryMonitor: Error in Directory watcher for: /volume1/video/Documenteries & Tributes

	System.IO.IOException: System.IO.IOException: The configured user limit (8192) on the number of inotify watches has been reached, or the operating system failed to allocate a required resource.

But appears to still stop the library and refresh item

2024-11-10 07:39:54.788 Info LibraryMonitor: Stopping directory watching for path /volume1/video/Documenteries & Tributes
2024-11-10 07:39:54.819 Info LibraryMonitor: Stopping directory watching for path /volume1/video/Documenteries & Tributes
2024-11-10 07:41:21.789 Info LibraryMonitor: Season 1 - Movies (/volume1/video/Documenteries & Tributes/Behind the Scenes/Season 1 - Movies) will be refreshed.

Then it looks like this was seen by RTM

2024-11-10 11:03:58.753 Info LibraryMonitor: Disney (/volume1/video/Disney) will be refreshed.
2024-11-10 11:03:58.999 Info MediaProbeManager: ProcessRun 'ffprobe' Execute: /var/packages/EmbyServer/target/bin/ffprobe -i file:"/volume1/video/Disney/Darby O'Gill and the Little Prople.mp4" -threads 0 -v info -print_format json -show_streams -show_chapters -show_format -show_data
2024-11-10 11:03:59.093 Info MediaProbeManager: ProcessRun 'ffprobe' Process exited with code 0 - Succeeded