Orphaned Collections

[mickeyfinn 26]

In trying to fix another issue, I removed a movie library and replaced it with the same library using a UNC path rather than a local path, then re-scanning the entire library.  However, this caused a problem with existing collections made up of titles from the old library.  I now cannot see the original collections and when I try to re-create collections for those titles, I get an error stating the collection already exists.  I tried editing the collection.xml files in AppData\Roaming\MediaBrowser-Server\data\collections\ to update the local paths to the UNC location, and re-scanning the libraries, but the collections remain missing.  In the server log, I get messages stating it cannot locate content for these collections at the old local path (Warn - BaseItem: Unable to find linked item at path M:\My Movies\...).  Metadata manager does not show any of the orphaned collections or content either.

 

If possible, it would be great to be able to restore the original collections, but if that is not possible, I'd be fine with deleting the original orphaned collections and re-adding the titles.  Even deleting all collections and starting from scratch would be fine.  Any ideas how I might do this?

[mickeyfinn 26]

To add to the information above, any attempts to re-add a collection I had before making this change, results in the following error:

 

A child with the ID <long text string> already exists.

 

Can anyone suggest how I might be able to fix this?

[Koleckai Silvestri 1151]

Do the orphans have directories under %appdata%\MediaBrowser-Server\data\collections? If so delete them and run a library scan again.

[Guest CubexDE]

Do the orphans have directories under %appdata%\MediaBrowser-Server\data\collections? If so delete them and run a library scan again.

 

Someone above stated that they managed to bring back their collections totally intact after "reconfiguring [their] library folders," whatever that means. I'd prefer this since I spent a lot of hard work on many collections to get them exactly how I want them and I hate the idea that, even if I follow your instructions and rebuild all my collections, the same thing could happen again at some point down the road and once again all my effort will be wasted.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1151]

I meant to just delete the ones that said there were duplicates. Just trying to help the original poster solve his problem.

 

Hope you get it figured out.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Koleckai Silvestri

[Guest CubexDE]

Right but AFAIK that would result in having to rebuild the collections. I'm hoping to not have to. OP got it figured out somehow but now he has left the thread and won't explain how.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1151]

Inside each Collection Folder is a file called collection.xml. This file contains the paths to the items in the collection. If the path changes you'll need to edit each file and update the paths. 

 

Easier to just rebuild them in the interface. At least for me.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Koleckai Silvestri

[mickeyfinn 26]

Thanks to all for their comments so far.  Just to be clear, I have not got this figured out yet.  I have tried editing the collection.xml files to reflect the new paths, then re-scan the library.  This does not fix the issue.  I have not tried deleting the directories to see if I am then able to rebuild the collections without getting the duplicate errors.  I will try this and let you know how it goes tonight.

[mickeyfinn 26]

So, deleting the directories worked.  I still had to rebuild the collections manually however. 

[Guest CubexDE]

Easier to just rebuild them in the interface. At least for me.

 

Yes but how often am I going to have to go through this? If it happens every couple of months I'll just forego having collections altogether, it's not worth the effort.

[Koleckai Silvestri 1151]

Yes but how often am I going to have to go through this? If it happens every couple of months I'll just forego having collections altogether, it's not worth the effort.

Don't know. I guess it depends on the stability of your systems. Last time I did it was in March but that was a complete server install with no data carried over. Before that I think I updated them when the feature to build the collections was added to the system.

[mickeyfinn 26]

In my case, I caused the issue by changing the path of the libraries of the collection contents.  So this was a one-off.  I've not had any instances when any collections periodically suffer from this problem.