Collection has disappeared from library

[nortok00 2]

Hello all,

 

I'm hoping someone can assist. I did a search but couldn't find anything that addressed my problem.

 

I setup Emby for my father about 9 months ago and everything was fine until now. He just notified me that a bunch of files have gone missing from the Library however they're still on the hard drive so I'm not sure what has happened. He never touches the settings area so other than Emby and Windows updates nothing has changed.

 

OS: Windows 10

Access to library: Chrome browser with localhost URL (everything runs on the same machine meaning the server, browser, media files)

Emby Server: 3.2.33.0

 

All of the files are from one folder under one Library. The problem Library is set to Unset (mixed content) and it has two main folders below it. I have it set to this because these are rips of DVD sets and have additional files such as trailers, etc. that aren't necessarily found in the online databases for metadata and the two main folders themselves contain sub-folders. Ex:

 

Folder 1

- CD1

-- main movie file (mp4)

-- trailer 1 file (mp4)

-- trailer 2 file (mp4)

- CD2

-- main movie file (mp4)

-- trailer 1 file (mp4)

-- trailer 2 file (mp4)

- CD3

-- main movie file (mp4)

-- trailer 1 file (mp4)

-- trailer 2 file (mp4)

 

Folder 2

- CD1

-- main movie file (mp4)

-- trailer 1 file (mp4)

-- trailer 2 file (mp4)

- CD2

-- main movie file (mp4)

-- trailer 1 file (mp4)

-- trailer 2 file (mp4)

 

What's interesting is that one of the main folders is still being found but the second one has disappeared. I tried moving the problem folder out then re-scanned and added it back in and re-scanned. This didn't work. I also tried moving out all of the trailers leaving only the main movie but that didn't work. I think I also set the content type of the Library to Home Videos but that also didn't work.

 

The only thing different about the two folders is that I had re-encoded all the files in the folder that still shows up from HEVC/MP3 to AVC/AAC. The directory that has gone missing I didn't get a chance to re-encode and all the files are AVC/MP3 (although I wouldn't think this would suddenly cause issues).

 

What's more interesting is that the exact same folder/directory has disappeared from my Library as well. We're both running the same version of Emby and access the library the same way (via Chrome/Localhost URL). The Library (called "Box Sets") still shows on my main Emby screen under "My Media" but when I click into it there is nothing there (I only had one of the DVD rips loaded). The same thing shows on my father's and when I click into it only one of the folders is showing. It's like it's not being seen.

 

The only log files on his machine were server log files which I grabbed. Let me know what you need to help troubleshoot. I can also provide my log files. I can also provide a snippet of some of the files with the exact folder structure if that helps.

 

Is there some master cache file I should delete that might not be facilitating a full re-scan or something else I should look at?

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

[ebr 16187]

Can we please see the actual file and folder names and full contents?

 

Thanks.

[nortok00 2]

Yep. Sure.

 

The problem folder is structured like this:

 

Collections (Called "Boxed Sets" in Emby. This is the top level folder with the two main DVD Sets below it)

- That's Entertainment The Complete Collection (Top Level Folder for DVD Set #1)

-- That's Entertainment 1 (1974) (Sub-folder #1) 

--- Poster.jpg

--- That's Entertainment 1 - Overture.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 1.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 1 - Theatrical Trailer.mp4

-- That's Entertainment 2 (1976) (Sub-folder #2)

--- Poster.jpg

--- That's Entertainment 2 - Overture.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 2 - Theatrical Trailer.mp4

--- That's Entertaintment 2.mp4

-- That's Entertainment 3 (1994) (Sub-folder #3)

--- Poster.jpg

--- That's Entertainment 3 - Overture.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 3.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 3 - Theatrical Trailer.mp4

-- That's Entertainment 4 Treasures From The Vault (Sub-folder #4)

--- Poster.jpg

--- Behind The Screen (70th Anniversary).mp4

--- Featurette Just One More Time.mp4

--- Featurette The Lion Roars Again.mp4

--- MGM's 25th Anniversary Luncheon.mp4

--- That's Entertainment 50 Years Of MGM.mp4

--- The Masters Behind The Musicals.mp4

--- The Mike Douglas Show Excerpt.mp4

--- The Musical Outtakes Jukebox.mp4

 

As you can see most of these files would never be found in any online DB for metadata which is why I set the main library to "Unset". I filled in most of the metadata for these mp4s. The other main folder (DVD Set #2) that is working on my father's machine is structured in a similar way. There are a bunch of sub-folders each with the main movie and then other mp4s like trailers, etc. I can provide that structure as well. As mentioned this was working at one time. I don't know what has changed that is causing this to not be seen.

 

What's interesting is that while I was doing the rescan on my father's machine (after moving the folder out and back in again) I saw a few notifications pop-up saying something like "New movie found" and one of them was That's Entertainment 2.mp4 so I thought it was working but nothing appears in Emby. The only thing that shows for me is the top level folder/Library ("Box Sets") but nothing is in it. For my father because he has the two DVD Sets he sees the top level folder/Library ("Box Sets") and then the second DVD Set.

 

Thanks.

[Happy2Play 9783]

Are you able to use "search" to find any of the titles?  Your list does not show any metadata just static folder image, nothing for the actual media.  Are there any nfo or xml files?

[nortok00 2]

Nothing shows up on my Emby when I search for those files. I think I searched on my father's machine as well and nothing showed up there either but will have to check again as I'n not 100% certain I did a search. I'm pretty sure they aren't showing in his either.

 

I have an XML file (collection.xml) in the root of the problem folder (apologies I forgot to include that in my list). If I remember correctly I tested the built in "Collection" feature but it didn't give me the display I wanted (which was to show the sub-folders of each DVD Set). That's when I set up a new Library and set the content type to "Unset (mixed content)" and that gave me the display I wanted. This means the XML file has been there all along and isn't recent. I don't have any NFO files. I know there aren't any NFO files or XML files on my father's machine.

 

Is there something I should do with the XML file (delete it and rescan)? As mentioned this has been there all along.

 

What's interesting when I look at his server logs (and will have to look at mine as well) is that it shows when I removed the Library (cleaning / deleting) but shows nothing of rescanning it even though I saw that popup notification of having found That's Entertainment 2. I would've thought that would show in the log as well. Yet when I look at the info for the other DVD Set that is being found I see the usual info associated with files being imported (ex: Info App: MovieDbProvider: Finding id for item: Extra - Doris Day's Best Friends)

 

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

[Luke 42083]

i would definitely remove the collection.xml file.

[Happy2Play 9783]

Not 100% if the xml plugin is needed for this legacy collection format.  I would have to do some testing.

[Luke 42083]

Can you show us all of your emby libraries and the paths that are used for each?

 

Are there any folders being used in multiple libraries? Do you possibly have a situation such as this:

 

Library 1 - d:\movies

 

Library 2 - d:\movies\sports

 

In this situation Library 2 will show up blank.

[nortok00 2]

Hi all. As per the suggestion I removed collection.xml and that seemed to do the trick. Here's what I did... On my machine I shut the server down, removed collection.xml out of the "That's Entertainment" folder then moved the whole folder out of \public videos\ (my main folder). I then restarted the server and rescanned. I shut the server down again and moved the folder back in (without collection.xml) then restarted the server at which point I could see all the files being added back in. I'm sure all I had to do was remove the xml and rescan but given I had done so many things trying to get this to work I figured it was better to do all of the extra shutting down and moving the folder, etc.

 

I can only assume there must be an xml on my father's machine I don't recall testing the Collections feature on his machine but it's possible. I will check it on the weekend and provide an update.

 

Two things:

- Are the xmls not used anymore (meaning if I find others I should get rid of them)? I read the comment about this being a legacy feature.

- When I was fiddling around with the Collections feature in Emby back in January I think it automatically created a Collections Library on my homepage under "My Media". For awhile I had two "Collections" showing because that's what I also called my "Unset" Library. I have since renamed it to "Box Sets" to avoid confusion. Please see the attached screenshot with the highlighted section. How do I remove this? I don't have any Collections under here (as seen in screenshot 2). I looked under the sub-menu (three dots) but there's no delete. I thought this would automatically disappear given there's nothing in it but it hasn't and I can see a way to manually delete it.

 

To answer your question @@Luke...

 

Everything is in my public videos folder (c:\users\public\public videos) then below this is:

- Box Sets (set to "Unset (Mixed Content)") I had previously called this "Collections" but renamed it to avoid confusion.This has multiple folders below it with multiple media files in each. This is the "Box Sets" Library in Emby

- Movies (set to "Movies") with multiple folders below it with one media file in each. This is the "Movies" Library in Emby.

- TV Shows (set to "TV Shows) with multiple folders below it with multiple media files in each. This is the "TV Shows" in Emby.

- Music (set to "Music') with multiple folders below it with multiple media files in each. This is the "Music" in Emby.

 

The above structure also maps to my Libraries (Collections/Box Sets, Movies, TV Shows, Music)

 

My father's is setup the same way. So basically it's:

c:\users\public\public videos\

- \Box Sets\

-- \That's Entertainment Collection\ (previously problem folder)

--- \folder1\

--- \folder2\

--- \folder3\

-- \Doris Day Collection\ (this is on my father's and is working)

--- \folder1\

--- \folder2\

--- \folder3\

--- \folder4\

- \Movies\ (this is on mine and my father's)

-- \folder1\

-- \folder2\

-- \folder3\

-- \folder4\

-- \folder5\

-- \folder6\

-- \folder7\

- \TV Shows\ (this is on mine and my father's)

-- \folder1\

--- \Season1\

--- \Season2\

--- \Season3\

--- \Season4\

-- \folder2\

--- \Season1\

--- \Season2\

--- \Season3\

- Music (this is on mine)

-- \folder1\

-- \folder2\

-- \folder3\

-- \folder4\

-- \folder5\

 

I don't think this structure is what you mentioned but let me know if this setup isn't ideal. Thanks for letting me know about what can cause an empty folder. I wouldn't have thought of that.

 

[Luke 42083]

Well done.

[Happy2Play 9783]

The collection.xml in nested folders is the legacy way of doing collections.  Looking at the screenshots you provided Legacy collections will not show up in "Collections View" (your second image), only collections made by Emby, those collections reside in \emby-server\data\collections..