Question about my non-standard .nfo files

[Spanky 1]

emby has overwritten all of my .nfo files.

 

I'm super upset about this. Why would it do that without major warning?

 

Why couldn't emby create it's own separate .nfo?

 

Or rename any original that it intended to replace?

It is not ok to replace peoples files.

[Deathsquirrel 745]

NFO is the default metadata format for Emby.  Look in the settings under Library.  There metadata controls in several of the tabs as well as in each individual library.  Emby should update the existing metadata files as required according to your configuration choices.

[Spanky 1]

NFO is the default metadata format for Emby.  Look in the settings under Library.  There metadata controls in several of the tabs as well as in each individual library.  Emby should update the existing metadata files as required according to your configuration choices.

 

Thank you for the reply, but that doesn't bring my .nfo files back, and doesn't change the fact that this should never have been allowed to happen in the first place.

 

It's literally destroying peoples files. Hundreds of them. I'm just glad that I didn't let it loose on my main server, or it would have been thousands. How was that ever a good idea?

 

Surely there are other ways, without resorting to that.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Spanky

[Luke 42080]

Did you enable saving of metadata to local media folders? Why do you feel the nfo's are destroyed? All we've done is update them with metadata from Emby Server.

 

You can also explicit turn off nfo saving under the Metadata tab, so by leaving it on, the server is only doing what you're asking it to do.

[Spanky 1]

I believe I did enable that option, yes.

 

I feel they are destroyed, because they no longer contain the original data. That data was important to me, and it's going to be a very long process trying to reacquire it.

 

I'm new to emby, so I obviously didn't understand the implications, but nfo saving seemed like a beneficial feature for the operation of the software, and in turn, I presume, Kodi.

 

I did not know it would replace my original files.

 

As I mentioned before, it would be easy for emby to rename any .nfo it was about overwrite, and then create a separate .nfo

 

e.g. Film.Title.[emby].nfo

 

Thus eliminating this issue entirely.

If I ever felt the need, it would then be easy to batch rename the files back to their original state.

 

I don't want to be rude, but I'm so pissed off that my files are gone. 

[Luke 42080]

What exact data is missing? Emby will preserve any unrecognized custom tags within nfo files.

[One2Go 120]

I feel your pain and frustration and this is one of the things that I was afraid would happen if you enable letting Emby update your metadata. When migrating from MB (using XML files) to Emby one of the first changes to settings that I made was, to disable updating or creating metadata in the media folders. I also spend countless hours to bring my metadata to the point were it is informative and to my liking and no procedure or program will mess with what I created using my precious time. Since creating my metadata is done through human intervention, no automatic update by using software or websites that contain metadata can even come close to the accuracy and detail that manual creation by a human achieves. Since I also experienced mysterious disappearance of backdrop images when moving them in the metadata manager from the back of the priority to the top, I started to create backups of my images since many of them are Photoshop creations. In addition be careful when you use the metadata manager to delete an image it deletes it from the media content folder not just its database.

 

Like with any other product there are growing pains that can only be addressed when they surface, therefore take comfort in the fact the you may have helped someone else in creating a suitable setup.

[Luke 42080]

I feel your pain and frustration and this is one of the things that I was afraid would happen if you enable letting Emby update your metadata. When migrating from MB (using XML files) to Emby one of the first changes to settings that I made was, to disable updating or creating metadata in the media folders. I also spend countless hours to bring my metadata to the point were it is informative and to my liking and no procedure or program will mess with what I created using my precious time. Since creating my metadata is done through human intervention, no automatic update by using software or websites that contain metadata can even come close to the accuracy and detail that manual creation by a human achieves. Since I also experienced mysterious disappearance of backdrop images when moving them in the metadata manager from the back of the priority to the top, I started to create backups of my images since many of them are Photoshop creations. In addition be careful when you use the metadata manager to delete an image it deletes it from the media content folder not just its database.

 

Like with any other product there are growing pains that can only be addressed when they surface, therefore take comfort in the fact the you may have helped someone else in creating a suitable setup.

 

Actually your comment here is an attempt to "pile on" without even knowing all the facts. I will need to address this in order to prevent other users from reading your comments and falsely thinking they are related to what we're discussing here. So here is an example of what his nfo looked like, which is not a valid nfo format:

 

 

The server simply re-saved this nfo into something valid, for example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>
<tvshow>
  <plot>Jake Epping, a recently divorced English teacher from Maine, is presented with the chance to travel back in time to Dallas, Texas in 1960 by his longtime friend Al Templeton. He is convinced into going and attempts to prevent the assassination of JFK in November 1963. However, he becomes attached to the life he makes in the past and this could be his mission's undoing.</plot>
  <outline>Jake Epping, a recently divorced English teacher from Maine, is presented with the chance to travel back in time to Dallas, Texas in 1960 by his longtime friend Al Templeton. He is convinced into going and attempts to prevent the assassination of JFK in November 1963. However, he becomes attached to the life he makes in the past and this could be his mission's undoing.</outline>
  <lockdata>false</lockdata>
  <dateadded>2016-03-07 23:15:01</dateadded>
  <title>11.22.63</title>
  <originaltitle>11.22.63</originaltitle>
  <trailer>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QIShmtBdto</trailer>
  <trailer>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNiVxwXn9CU</trailer>
  <trailer>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXUx__qQGew</trailer>
  <rating>8.3</rating>
  <year>2016</year>
  <sorttitle>0000000011 0000000022 0000000063</sorttitle>
  <mpaa>TV-MA</mpaa>
  <website>http://www.hulu.com/112263</website>
  <imdb_id>tt2879552</imdb_id>
  <tmdbid>64464</tmdbid>
  <premiered>2016-02-15</premiered>
  <releasedate>2016-02-15</releasedate>
  <enddate>2016-04-04</enddate>
  <runtime>50</runtime>
  <genre>Drama</genre>
  <genre>Mystery</genre>
  <genre>Sci-Fi</genre>
  <studio>Hulu</studio>
  <tvrageid>45210</tvrageid>
  <tvdbid>301824</tvdbid>
  <actor>
    <name>James Franco</name>
    <role>Jake Epping</role>
    <type>Actor</type>
    <sortorder>0</sortorder>
  </actor>
  <id>301824</id>
  <season>-1</season>
  <episode>-1</episode>
  <status>Ended</status>
  <airs_time>12:01 AM</airs_time>
  <airs_dayofweek>Monday</airs_dayofweek>
  <votes>39149</votes>
</tvshow>

Now you're probably wondering, why did this happen? Because he explicit asked the server to do this by opting into the feature and turning it on. If he wants to keep his proprietary nfo format there is an easy fix, just turn off the saving feature in Emby Server. Problem solved.

[Spanky 1]

"not a valid nfo format"?

 

As I mentioned in our PM, these types of nfo files have been in use since the 1980's.

 

They contain much valuable information, both technical and historic, not to mention the ascii artwork.

 

I understand that they are not compatible with emby, but I strongly believe that they should be preserved.

 

This is the type of thing I have lost, and I am gutted

 

[pünktchen 1409]

Your nfo files are only valid for the "scene" but not for any media center or media manager software like Kodi, Plex, MediaPortal, Ember MM, TMM, CouchPotato and of course Emby!

[One2Go 120]

Actually your comment here is an attempt to "pile on" without even knowing all the facts. I will need to address this in order to prevent other users from reading your comments and falsely thinking they are related to what we're discussing here. So here is an example of what his nfo looked like, which is not a valid nfo format:

 

Easy things first, yes I wrongly assumed that he was talking about a proper NFO file with information pertaining to the media content, not just media info and some ASCII art that come with scene releases. Agreed that it is his own undoing for not saving his scene NFO files when Emby writes NFO files in the same location. It is for this reason that I liked it that MB created its own metadata directory to keep everything neat and tidy.

 

However, no piling on from my side, false assumption on your part. I was posting about actual problems that have been my experience and that I posted about here https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/46880-image-arranging-causes-error-and-overwrites-image-on-media-server/

 

Everyone that starts out new with EMBY will have to learn to some degree how it works and what is different from past experiences or having to modify assumptions based upon other program's conventions, which takes time and trial and error.

 

To protect my time investment I found it necessary to take the steps of backing up images anytime I am editing or modifying a particular media content, because mysterious deletion of images have been a fact on my UnRaid server as posted in the above link.

 

It is obvious that I am not using Emby the way most users may use it. The only need I have for EMBY's metadata fetcher is the function of finding actor images every other needed metadata I have manually provided. I am also a firm believer that the more functions are being included in a program, the greater the chances of problems. With the Swiss Army Knife approach in programs there are more bleeding edges one can get cut on.

[Luke 42080]

Easy things first, yes I wrongly assumed that he was talking about a proper NFO file with information pertaining to the media content, not just media info and some ASCII art that come with scene releases. Agreed that it is his own undoing for not saving his scene NFO files when Emby writes NFO files in the same location. It is for this reason that I liked it that MB created its own metadata directory to keep everything neat and tidy.

 

However, no piling on from my side, false assumption on your part. I was posting about actual problems that have been my experience and that I posted about here https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/46880-image-arranging-causes-error-and-overwrites-image-on-media-server/

 

Everyone that starts out new with EMBY will have to learn to some degree how it works and what is different from past experiences or having to modify assumptions based upon other program's conventions, which takes time and trial and error.

 

To protect my time investment I found it necessary to take the steps of backing up images anytime I am editing or modifying a particular media content, because mysterious deletion of images have been a fact on my UnRaid server as posted in the above link.

 

It is obvious that I am not using Emby the way most users may use it. The only need I have for EMBY's metadata fetcher is the function of finding actor images every other needed metadata I have manually provided. I am also a firm believer that the more functions are being included in a program, the greater the chances of problems. With the Swiss Army Knife approach in programs there are more bleeding edges one can get cut on.

 

Thank you for the feedback. We are here to help and address your concerns. I only had to respond above in order to ensure that other readers know and understand what this thread is exactly about. Thanks !

[hein 12]

Quite a while ago I suffered the same fate as Spanky, losing all my beloved non-standard NFOs and being equally pissed about it.

As they were not deleted or moved, but overwritten, it took me a while to realize what Emby was doing and the backup strategy I used for this kind of media storage in the past was useless in restoring them.

Reacquiring the files was a true pain in the ass, too. Impossible even, for many of them.

 

Long story short: I learned my lesson back then and took appropriate measures to prevent something like this from happening again.

Emby's writing privs have been revoked, saving of metadata to NFOs with the media turned off and non-standard NFOs are being separately backed up.

 

I understand that most people would consider placing value and hanging onto a bit of ASCII art a useless sentimentality if not even a bit eccentric.

But I guess that could be said about any hobby.

And I challenge whoever has no appreciation for the ASCII art part of the demo scene to create some themselves. Quite sobering, not even considering how much better tools have gotten since the 80s.

 

 

So why am I bringing this old thread back up?

Due to recent events and developments it has become apparent to me, that personalized metadata can only be considered safe of and for Emby, when stored as NFOs with the media files.

With all other options it might go the way of the dodo during future updates, database migrations, etc.

Again I acknowledge that most Emby users probably rely exclusively on automatically scraped metadata. But there are those eccentrics of us who painstakingly curate said metadata in countless hours as a labor of love. See all the recent threads of people losing their custom metadata due to 4.x migrations.

 

For myself I just built a hacky workaround with OverlayFS to solve the conundrum of letting Emby "write" to my media directories (to create it's own NFOs), without being able to actually touch any of my files.

But I also administrate Emby servers for a few friends and this is not a solution I am able to implement in good conscience on third-party remotely managed servers.

 

So sorry for the wall of text.. this is a very long-winded way of expanding on and re-iterating Spanky's plea: is there any chance you could re-evaluate your stance and consider an option for Emby to just ignore and leave alone (or at least only rename) non-standard NFO files when using the "Nfo Metadata saver"-settings instead of overwriting them?

 

 

 

Cheers and thanks for reading,

hein

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Nice necropost

 

just name you "arty" nfo to not match the movie name and problem is sovled

 

as emby saves its nfo's with the same name as the movie/episode

[hein 12]

If a topic is still relevant and there is already a thread about it, why duplicate past efforts?

 

I know the possible workarounds.

But those are not solutions

Especially when it comes to deploying them to various servers / non-homogeneous environments.

 

I get that most people think worrying about custom NFO file integrity is silly.

But as someone who was part of creating them for a long time, I don't.

[PenkethBoy 2068]

Ok fine - each to their own

 

just ok of curiosity how do you view these arty nfo's - other than in a text editor/viewer program

 

and if you dont create them anymore do they still get created for new content or has this died off?

[hein 12]

Aside from using a proper viewer (infekt and jane are popular choices nowadays) there are websites that collect and render ANSI/ASCII art, e.g.:

http://blocktronics.org/

http://artscene.textfiles.com/

 

Some people have them hanging as prints on the wall..

 

Maybe not as predominant as back in the day, but ASCII art is alive, kicking and still being created in e.g. demo and warez scene today.

 

Hmm.. this discussion gives me an idea..

An Emby plugin that displays rendered ASCII art - where available - below the media infos

Might have to take a stab at that during my next vacation

[PenkethBoy 2068]

LOL - I did ask!

 

No rush on the plugin for me