Emby Update Has Wiped My Entire Library Configuration — I Want a Fix, Not a Link to Instructions

[KLF&TLF 28]

I've just updated Emby Server v4.10.2.0, and what a complete mess.

My entire library configuration has disappeared. All my external drives are still connected, my media files are still there, but Emby is now presenting me with an empty library.

I've logged back into Emby Premiere, which has made absolutely no difference, and when I check the Backup & Restore plugin, the backup folder now shows "undefined".

So not only has the update apparently lost my library configuration, it also seems to have lost the settings telling Emby where my backups are stored.

Wonderful.

I've spent considerable time building and maintaining my libraries, metadata, collections and watched history. I have absolutely no intention of rebuilding everything from scratch because an update has decided to forget it all.

What I want from Emby support is straightforward:

• Explain why an update could cause an existing library configuration and backup settings to disappear.

• Tell me exactly how to locate and reconnect my original server configuration and database.

• Explain how to recover my previous Backup & Restore settings, including the original backup location.

• Provide clear, step-by-step recovery instructions specific to this problem.

And please, don't simply direct me to a generic support article and expect me to work it out myself.

I want someone from Emby to actually help resolve this, preferably without putting my existing data at further risk.

I have a Time Machine backup from a few weeks ago if that becomes necessary, but I shouldn't have to contemplate restoring old files just to recover from a routine software update.

Can someone from the Emby team please explain how to restore my original configuration without rebuilding my entire library?

[Neminem 1967]

They might can, but not with out logs from when that happende  

[KLF&TLF 28]

Well, 18 hours later and still not a word from Emby support. Not exactly impressive when you're paying for Premiere.

Yes, I appreciate the comment about the logs, and I acknowledge I didn't include them in my original post. I'm happy to provide whatever is needed, but surely someone from Emby could have responded and asked for them? Even a simple acknowledgement would have been nice.

In the meantime, I've had little choice but to rebuild everything myself.

It's taken me 6 hours just to reimport my library, and now I'm looking at another 6 hours, if I'm lucky, correcting incorrectly identified shows, sorting out metadata and trying to work out which season and episode I was up to across more than 1,000 TV shows. What a delightful way to spend a weekend.

And here's what I find particularly ridiculous. I've gone to the trouble of including TVDB unique identifiers in my folder structure, yet Emby still struggles to identify some shows correctly. Surely that's the whole point of having a unique identifier?

I understand software updates can go wrong, but what I don't understand is the lack of communication or assistance when they do. I'm not expecting miracles, just some acknowledgement and practical help rather than being left to sort out the mess myself.

Frankly, Emby only just beats Plex in my opinion, and that's hardly a glowing endorsement. There really needs to be a decent alternative somewhere between the two.

Twelve hours of rebuilding something that was working perfectly well before the update isn't my idea of a premium experience.

I'd still like to know what happened with v4.10.2.0 and, more importantly, what Emby intends to do to prevent this happening again.

[ebr 16946]

Hi.  Do you have the logs from when this occurred?  It was probably a permissions issue or something similar.

How to Report a Problem

 

[KLF&TLF 28]

58 minutes ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Do you have the logs from when this occurred?  It was probably a permissions issue or something similar.

How to Report a Problem

 

Thanks for responding.

What I don't understand is why this would suddenly be a permissions issue when all I did was update Emby Server from within the application, exactly as I've done with every previous update.

Nothing else changed on my Mac. The external drives remained connected, the media files were still accessible, and everything was working normally before the update.

If it was a permissions issue, what would have caused those permissions to change during a routine update? And why would that result in my entire library configuration disappearing, along with the Backup & Restore plugin losing its configured backup location?

I appreciate that logs may help identify the cause, but I'd like to understand what could have happened here rather than simply putting it down to a possible permissions issue.

I've now spent the best part of 12 hours rebuilding everything, so I'd particularly like to know whether this is something that could happen again.

I'll check what logs are still available. Can you confirm which logs you need and whether they'll still contain the relevant information now that I've rebuilt the libraries?

[Luke 43420]

3 minutes ago, KLF&TLF said:

Thanks for responding.

What I don't understand is why this would suddenly be a permissions issue when all I did was update Emby Server from within the application, exactly as I've done with every previous update.

Nothing else changed on my Mac. The external drives remained connected, the media files were still accessible, and everything was working normally before the update.

If it was a permissions issue, what would have caused those permissions to change during a routine update? And why would that result in my entire library configuration disappearing, along with the Backup & Restore plugin losing its configured backup location?

I appreciate that logs may help identify the cause, but I'd like to understand what could have happened here rather than simply putting it down to a possible permissions issue.

I've now spent the best part of 12 hours rebuilding everything, so I'd particularly like to know whether this is something that could happen again.

I'll check what logs are still available. Can you confirm which logs you need and whether they'll still contain the relevant information now that I've rebuilt the libraries?

HI, the embyserver log files from before and after you updated would be ideal.