File Folder changes to series Folder

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

I have my Recorded TV file structure as such:  E:\StreamingWebSiteName\SeriesName\Seasonnumber\episodes.  Example: E:\Paramount+\The Daily Show\The Daily Show_S30E19_February 5, 2025.mvk.

Thais has worked great for a long time until today.  There are many subfolders under Paramount + such as FBI, Ghosts, etc.   The folder Paramount + is just a folder like Netflix and HULU.  I created the folder and "locked" it so it could not be changed in EMBY.  See EMBY1.png for example.  I downloaded the series 1923 which is a Paramount + series.  EMBY immediately assumed 1923 was a season of Paramount + and changed Paramount + to Paramount - Famous Studios Cartoons and downloaded Metadata for the "series".  See EMBY.png for an example.  

Am I missing a setting that will stop EMBY from adding Metadata to a folder?

 

[Abobader 3464]

Hello classic57ba@gmail.com,

** This is an auto reply **

Please wait for someone from staff support or our members to reply to you.

It's recommended to provide more info, as it explain in this thread:

Thank you.

Emby Team

[Happy2Play 9780]

Yes number named shows can throw Emby's detection system off so most likely 1923 is seen as a season folder making Paramount + a Series folder.

You can try to add the year to your Series folders ie 1923 (2022) as there are a few topics on the issue of nested folder structures.

Edited February 23, 2025 by Happy2Play

[Happy2Play 9780]

Note you may have to remove everything from the Paramount + folder and readd them again if it does not play nicely with the wrong level identification.

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Happy2Play, thanks.  I have "temporarily" addressed the issue with removing all content from that folder and re-adding them.  I agree that the addition of year would address this issue but the episodes are downloaded in the background and I have no control over the naming convention of an individual series.  They could (and probably would) hit the folder without my being able to intercept them and change the name.

When I look at the "Metadata Manager" it has 2 subdirectories.  "Shows" and "Folders".  Actual folders do not show up in the "Shows" subdirectory so EMBY knows at some point this is just a folder.  I would think the "Lock" switches would have some impact.

Shouldn't the "Lock" switch on a specific folder have some impact on this issue?  If not, what does the "lock" switch actually do?

[Happy2Play 9780]

Back in the day we had control over this and could make a folder a folder but was removed and Emby autodetection system interprets structure per naming scheme.

As for Lock @Lukewould have to comment as I don't really think it will lock a type of folder.

[Luke 42078]

Right the lock is a metadata lock. It doesn't lock it out of the basic scanning engine. 

Are you mixing movies and series together under your network folders?

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

No, only series.  I have used EMBY for years and never had this issue until I downloaded 1923.

[Neminem 1519]

I only use this folder naming, and did not have problems with that show or 1883

1923 (2022) [TvdbId=416491]

Year and tvdbid makes all the difference and Emby don't have to guess.

[Happy2Play 9780]

Yes at a minimum adding year to show name should resolve the issue as a plain folder with 1923 could be a show or a season.

Edited February 28, 2025 by Happy2Play

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Last entry.  As I said in one of the upper posts: "I agree that the addition of year would address this issue but the episodes are downloaded in the background and I have no control over the naming convention of an individual series.  They could (and probably would) hit the folder without my being able to intercept them and change the name."

I have no control over the directory name.  The series is downloaded in the background and the folder name is automatically created by the software I am using to download the series. Ther is no option to make any changes to the directory name during the download process.   Adding un-necessary information to "fool" the scanning engine to not examine a folder, sounds like creating another band aid.  To me, the solution would be to add a check box that says: "This is a folder, ignore it during the scan".  EMBY knows it is a folder because it shows up in "Folders" but not in "Shows".

My 2 cents worth.  I will mark this topic complete.

 

[Luke 42078]

Were you able to find the series that caused it? It is probably a newly added one.

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Luke, I download TV Series through another software package.  As part of the download process that package creates a subfolder for each streaming website.  For example, E:\Paramount+.  It then creates a subfolder for the series title.  For Example. E:\Paramount+\Elsbeth.  It then creates a subfolder for the season.  For example, E:\Paramount+\Elsbeth\S02.   It stores the video in that subfolder. 

The problem occurred when I chose the series "1923".  It is a spinoff of Yellowstone.  During the download process the software package created the following directory structure: E:\Paramount+\1923\S02...  When EMBY sees 1923 as a subdirectory it assumes it is a season and changes Paramount+ folder to "Paramount - Famous Studio Cartoons" assuming that it is a series and 1923 is the season.

I have no control over the naming convention for the main directory or the Series name in the software package I use to download.

A I said above, EMBY knows that Paramount+ is a folder because in the metadata manager it shows up in "Folders" but not in "Shows".  That all changes when it sees 1923.

I hope this helps.  IMHO, one solution would be to add a "switch" that, when activated, would tell the scanning engine to not examine that folder.

 

[Luke 42078]

Are you able to configure the downloader to add a year to the series folder?

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

No sir.  I cannot make any changes (in advance) to the "streaming website" or the "Series Name".  I can make changes to the "episode name"? but that won't help. 

[ebr 16184]

17 minutes ago, classic57ba@gmail.com said:

I cannot make any changes (in advance)

Does that mean you can change it after the fact and it will still work?

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Yes, I can change it after the fact but, the download process is done in the background.  The videos are downloaded while I am sleeping.  (unattended).  By the time I get to the directory, EMBY has already made the change.

[ebr 16184]

13 minutes ago, classic57ba@gmail.com said:

Yes, I can change it after the fact but, the download process is done in the background.  The videos are downloaded while I am sleeping.  (unattended).  By the time I get to the directory, EMBY has already made the change.

But if you change the naming as we suggested then it will correct itself.

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Ok, I will try that and provide feedback.

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

I renamed the folder from "1923 Yellowstone" folder back to its original "1923".  EMBY made the change of the "Paramount+" folder as previously noted making it a series.  I changed the folder name to "1923 Yellowstone" and it corrected it as you stated.  I'll just need to go in each week and modify the directory name when a new episode drops.  When the new episode drops, it will create a new subfolder named "1923", because it now does not exist, and the process starts all over again.  There will already be a folder named "1923 Yellowstone" there but the download software will not put the new episode in that folder.  So, I will probably move the episode to the "1923 Yellowstone" directory and delete the "1923" directory.  Sounds like a lot of manual intervention for something that should be automatic.

[Neminem 1519]

Hmmmm so you are using your download folder as an Emby media folder ?

May I ask what download tool are you using ?

There are ways around this.

But will not discus this on the Emby forum, since its a gray area.

Edited March 6, 2025 by Neminem

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

9 minutes ago, Neminem said:

Hmmmm so you are using your download folder as an Emby media folder ?

Not sure how to answer your question so this is structure.

My E:\ drive houses "EMBY Recorded TV" library.  That is the only thing on this drive.  All other libraries are located on different hard drives.  The EMBY pointer for the library is pointed to E:\.  The external download software also points to drive E:\ as the location to save new episodes.  The external download software searches, based on day and time I designate, to determine if new episodes exist for a specific series.  If a new episode exists, it checks the E:\ drive to see if a folder exists for the streaming website exists.  If not, it creates the folder. If so, it checks to see if a subfolder for the series exists. If not, it creates the series subfolder.  It then checks to see if a season subfolder exists, if not, it creates the season subfolder.  It then places the episode in the season subfolder.  Again, I have no control over the naming convention for the streaming website name or the series name.

So, I think the answer to your question is yes.  Not sure how making the download folder a different folder would make a difference.  If I did, I would have to transfer the media manually or create some batch file to make it transfer.  More un-necessary manual intervention.

[Neminem 1519]

So it comes down to laziness

Guess you are not lazy enough.

Have you ever considered using Sonarr and Radarr to sort it out for you, they can import your media, rename and sort into folders/seasons/files with the right naming.

They can be used fully legally just don't add indexers and download clients.

[classic57ba@gmail.com 0]

Neminem, not familiar with either of those.  Want to download directly from streaming services where I am a member.  Paramount+, HULU, Max etc.  Not sure Sonarr can accomplish that.  I'll look into Sonarr but I paid way way way too much for the software I am currently using to abandon it yet.

Thanks for the recommendation.