Metadata Refresh and Thumbnail Replace not working

[Erik 124]

Hello,

I had some off thumbnail behavior recently (Not matching the video position) and so I deleted all the .bif files from that library folder. I have been trying to "refresh metadata" with the options to replace all images and replace thumbnails but the process never seems to start/complete.

The images for chapters now show broken for the one series I was troubleshooting this with, but the images were never removed from the actual video directory.

Newly recorded tv shows (OTA) are identified, images fetched and thumbnails generated, but nothing can be refreshed that isn't brand new.

Logs PM'd to Luke

Troubleshooting:

- Reinstalled the server over itself

- updates checked for video card/system/OS

- Other TV series I tried just to isolate and have the same issue.

 

Suggestions?

Thanks!

[Luke 42077]

HI there, can you please provide a specific example?

How to Report a Problem

Thanks !

 

[Erik 124]

Sure,
Restarted Emby Service

Folder as of now

Notice no .bif files

Selecting refresh on this

 

No change, same DIR image as above, images for each file but no .bif files are not created. This time the images updated it seems, but took a longer time (I used to be able to watch the files removed and added in seconds).

 

 

-----

Same test with Season 24 of the same show and it never re-adds the images, info or bif file. I can provide additional logs if needed. The timestamp is from 2:20pm EST (started refreshes) 

 

 

quick-extract-imageseries-0BA4DC64DCBE_1.txt quick-extract-imageseries-0E436D712A6D_1.txt quick-extract-imageseries-A409AEDC6615_1.txt quick-extract-imageseries-C1A0689AEFA1_1.txt embyserver.txt

Edited October 31, 2025 by Erik

[Luke 42077]

HI, the video preview thumbnail extraction is taking a long time for some videos. You may want to consider setting to be scheduled task only in the library options.

This way when you refresh metadata, every other aspect of it will finish relatively quickly and will appear as expected.

[Erik 124]

Thanks @Luke, however, the .big files are never created at all. I can refresh a single file or multiple files and they do not get re-created. Only new recorded shows are getting .bif files generated, I am unable to have the files created for any past tv recordings currently.

I let the library refresh and the scheduled task run since by last post (3 days ago) and there is no bif files generated for that show still.

Not sure what else to do so I can get the bif files back.

[Luke 42077]

Is this just for ts files?   The thumbnail process has to seek through the media and mpegts is not always seekable.  It’s normal that this may fail with some files. 

[Christian2m65cu 0]

On 31/10/2025 at 22:56, Erik said:

Hello,

I had some off thumbnail behavior recently (Not matching the video position) and so I deleted all the .bif files from that library folder. I have been trying to "refresh metadata" with the options to replace all images and replace thumbnails but the process never seems to start/complete.

The images for chapters now show broken for the one series I was troubleshooting this with, but the images were never removed from the actual video directory.

Newly recorded tv shows (OTA) are identified, images fetched and thumbnails generated, but nothing can be refreshed that isn't brand new.

Logs PM'd to Luke

Troubleshooting:

- Reinstalled the server over itself

- updates checked for video card/system/OS

- Other TV series I tried just to isolate and have the same issue.

- Rent a Car in Dubai

Suggestions?

Thanks!

It looks like the issue could be related to how the system is caching or handling metadata refreshes. Have you tried clearing any local cache or checking permissions on the folder where the .bif files are located? Sometimes, restarting the media server and forcing a metadata refresh might help too. Also, ensure that no files are locked or in use during the refresh process.

[Erik 124]

18 hours ago, Luke said:

Is this just for ts files?   The thumbnail process has to seek through the media and mpegts is not always seekable.  It’s normal that this may fail with some files. 

I am seeing it on TS files correct. However, NEW TS files successfully have a BIF file created, any refresh attempt on and TS file fails to create the BIF file. I don't know why there is a difference, but if I remove files from the library, scan the library and then put them back in....correct scanning and all files are created.

[Luke 42077]

OK we are looking into it. Thanks.

[Erik 124]

Hi, Just wondering if the issue has been found.

Not only for refreshing data, but also new content (from HDhomerun recordings through emby) have not been creating .bif thumbnails for the last month. It has worked for years and not we are really missing it when trying to move past commercials for sure!

Thanks!

[Luke 42077]

Hi, have you updated to Emby Server 4.9.1.90? has that helped?

[Erik 124]

Hi, yes I have been on 4.9.1.90 for about a month now. 

From the weekly recorded TV Shows, I have not seen any BIF file created since October.

This is on two separate Emby Servers at two different locations. The only commonalities are; Windows 10 OS and NVIDIA Dedicated GPU, otherwise they both started exibiting the same issue at around the same start time (as posted above). So I am leaning on that fact to tell me its not a unique server issue, but something in emby that really doesn't like bif file creation this fall...lol

Thanks

[Luke 42077]

OK we'll have a new stable release very soon so please try again with that and let us know how things compare. Thanks.

[Erik 124]

I’ll standby for the next release, thanks @Luke

[sjabaker 9]

Did the new 4.9.3.0 release make any difference for you @Erik?

I think I have the same issue, with new Live TV recordings (from HDHomeRun devices to .ts files) mostly not getting any thumbnails generated. It also seems likely to be the same/similar issue as in two other threads (with no definitive resolution in either).

I'd never had problems with .bif files being generated for all my Live TV .ts recordings (for >5 years), but late last year I realised that all of a sudden hardly any recordings were getting preview thumbnails. I can't nail down exactly when it stopped working properly (work was super-intense so I was barely watching any recordings), but it was definitely all fine/normal in early September, and problems had started by late October-ish(?), or at least early November. Neither running the scheduled task nor specifically refreshing metadata for an affected recording with the 'replace existing thumbnails' option enabled would successfully create them if they were missed originally.

Although I didn't really have time to do any troubleshooting, I saw some references to issues with image extraction, and some notes about fixes that looked related in the release notes for 4.9.2.6-beta & 4.9.2.7-beta, so I thought it'd hopefully go back to normal once I updated to 4.9.3.0 - unfortunately, however, v4.9.3.0 has made no difference and it's still failing to create thumbnails for many/most recordings (though it does for some).

It seems like it might be associated with slow-processing and perhaps timing-out - at least, running the scheduled task seems to take significantly longer than (I think) I recall it used to, and the successes tend to be TV show episodes in SD whereas movies in HD are basically guaranteed not to get thumbnails (so length / overall file size seems to have an effect).

Did something change in the thumbnail generation process around late-Sep / Oct last year that might have caused this (and not been resolved in 4.9.3.0), and what can I do to try and get back to the prior functionality/performance?