NFO files not getting created on scan in home video library

[timekiller 5]

Hello! I have an issue where my Emby server is not automatically generating nfo files for new content. All my libraries are setup the same (screenshot attached). I want nfo files stored with the media. Right now thumbnails and .bif files are created, but not nfo. I've tried turning the settings off and back on, but that didn't seem to work. 

If I manually "Refresh Metadata" on a library the nfo files are created. 

In the logs I see several lines like this:

2021-02-09 05:06:03.001 Error LibraryMonitor: Error in Directory watcher for: /mnt/Websites
        *** Error Report ***
        Version: 4.5.4.0
        Command line: /system/EmbyServer.dll -programdata /config -ffdetect /bin/ffdetect -ffmpeg /bin/ffmpeg -ffprobe /bin/ffprobe -restartexitcode 3
        Operating system: Linux version 4.19.107-Unraid (root@38721b48cdfb) (gcc version 9.2.0 (GCC)) #1 SMP Sun Mar 8 14:34:03 CDT 2020
        Framework: .NET Core 3.1.8
        OS/Process: x64/x64
        Runtime: system/System.Private.CoreLib.dll
        Processor count: 8
        Data path: /config
        Application path: /system
        System.IO.InternalBufferOverflowException: System.IO.InternalBufferOverflowException: Too many changes at once in directory:/mnt/Websites.
        Source: 
        TargetSite: 
        No Stack Trace Available

Full log attached.

embyserver.zip

[ebr 16177]

Hi.  This is a Home Videos and Photos type library?

[timekiller 5]

1 hour ago, ebr said:

Hi.  This is a Home Videos and Photos type library?

Something like that lol. No Movies or TV shows if that's what you mean.

[ebr 16177]

46 minutes ago, timekiller said:

Something like that lol. No Movies or TV shows if that's what you mean.

I mean when you setup the library, you gave it a type...

[timekiller 5]

5 minutes ago, ebr said:

I mean when you setup the library, you gave it a type...

ahh, yeah sorry - the library type is Home videos and photos

[Luke 42078]

Please try refreshing the metadata again, then attach the emby server log. thanks.

[timekiller 5]

Attached is a new log. Here is what I did:

1. Shut down Emby, deleted old log file.
2. Started Emby.
3. Copied a video to a library folder that is setup as a "Movies" type library
4. Watched as the video got scanned and identified. - this DID create an nfo
5. Deleted video
6. Copied a video to another library (Home videos & photos type)
7. Waited for scan - no NFO created
8. Waited some more to make sure Emby had "settled"
9. Did a Manual refresh on the library - this created the NFO

embyserver.zip

[timekiller 5]

Is there anything else I can try on this?

 

Thanks

[Luke 42078]

If you open one of these videos in the metadata editor and click save, does an nfo get created then?

[timekiller 5]

14 hours ago, Luke said:

If you open one of these videos in the metadata editor and click save, does an nfo get created then?

Yes it does

[Luke 42078]

Ok this is sort of the way it currently works. An nfo doesn't get created unless there's some new information such as metadata obtained from the internet, or saved via the metadata editor. For home videos, there is no internet metadata so saving an nfo file would only serve to repeat the information that is already in the file. Is that what you really want?

[timekiller 5]

23 minutes ago, Luke said:

Ok this is sort of the way it currently works. An nfo doesn't get created unless there's some new information such as metadata obtained from the internet, or saved via the metadata editor. For home videos, there is no internet metadata so saving an nfo file would only serve to repeat the information that is already in the file. Is that what you really want?

There is no nfo file being initially created. The reason I have it configured to store data in the nfo with the video is because I have external scripts that update the nfo with my own set of metadata. In order for my scripts to run, the nfo has to exist. Even if a home video has no metadata from the internet, there is still data that can go into an nfo such as video codec, bitrate, duration etc. Shouldn't Emby capture this if I'm telling it to create the nfo? I feel like this used to work and something changed...

[Luke 42078]

Quote

Even if a home video has no metadata from the internet, there is still data that can go into an nfo such as video codec, bitrate, duration etc.

Yes there is, and we do capture it, but is there really value in repeating information that is already available in the video file?

[timekiller 5]

26 minutes ago, Luke said:

Yes there is, and we do capture it, but is there really value in repeating information that is already available in the video file?

You capture this information in every nfo you create - obviously you see some value in it.

I realize I am an edge case. I see now that I'll have to work around this by triggering the initial nfo creation with an API call (I'm assuming that will be possible). It would just be nice if I didn't have to do that.

Consider the reason for storing nfo files with videos - the obvious use case is so the data is portable between systems, but a secondary use is for manual/scripted edits. It's a lot faster/easier for me to find/grep/sed/awk text files recursively than to learn and program around the API.

Edited February 11, 2021 by timekiller

[jordy 284]

Hi Folks,

When I upload a new video to a library set up as "Home Videos & Photos", The file is auto detected correctly, an image is extracted and correctly named BUT no .nfo file is created.

Running the "Scan Library Files" task does not create .nfo files for this library type.

In order to create a .nfo file, I need to manually run the "Refresh Metadata" task on the library.

Is this intended functionality or a bug?

thanks

@jordy

jordy

[K22R8CT 25]

On 3/8/2021 at 10:29 AM, jordy said:

Running the "Scan Library Files" task does not create .nfo files for this library type.

In order to create a .nfo file, I need to manually run the "Refresh Metadata" task on the library.

I'm seeing the same behavior in all library types.

For example, Radarr upgrades a title and deletes the associated files (nfo, bif, srt, etc.)

Emby automatically detects the change and recreates the bif and srt but not the NFO (unless I manually refresh Metadata.)

If I understand, that's intentional:

On 2/11/2021 at 12:55 PM, Luke said:

An nfo doesn't get created unless there's some new information such as metadata obtained from the internet, or saved via the metadata editor.

which confuses me because I assumed in general nfo's were kept in sync with Emby metadata.

I use them as a kind of backup, in case my Emby DB gets corrupted and I have to start fresh and re-import. Or worst case transition to different software.

Are they not meant to be used that way?

Edited May 26, 2022 by Anon28109

[Luke 42078]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:47 PM, Anon28109 said:

I'm seeing the same behavior in all library types.

For example, Radarr upgrades a title and deletes the associated files (nfo, bif, srt, etc.)

Emby automatically detects the change and recreates the bif and srt but not the NFO (unless I manually refresh Metadata.)

If I understand, that's intentional:

which confuses me because I assumed in general nfo's were kept in sync with Emby metadata.

I use them as a kind of backup, in case my Emby DB gets corrupted and I have to start fresh and re-import. Or worst case transition to different software.

Are they not meant to be used that way?

Yes, but if nothing is pulled from the internet, and if there are no custom edits, then what exactly is being backed up? At that point it's just info that could easily be retrieved from the file again.

[K22R8CT 25]

10 hours ago, Luke said:

Yes, but if nothing is pulled from the internet, and if there are no custom edits, then what exactly is being backed up? At that point it's just info that could easily be retrieved from the file again.

Anything installation-specific e.g. watched status, date added.

[Luke 42078]

On 6/6/2022 at 11:16 AM, Anon28109 said:

Anything installation-specific e.g. watched status

We don't use watch data with nfos, so I guess it would just be date added.

[K22R8CT 25]

8 hours ago, Luke said:

We don't use watch data with nfos, so I guess it would just be date added.

It's in the settings of the Metadata plugin though.

And I checked a recent file and confirmed the xml:

  <watched>false</watched>
  <resume>
    <position>0</position>
    <total>4916.778</total>
  </resume>

[Happy2Play 9780]

17 minutes ago, Anon28109 said:

It's in the settings of the Metadata plugin though.

And I checked a recent file and confirmed the xml:

  <watched>false</watched>
  <resume>
    <position>0</position>
    <total>4916.778</total>
  </resume>

Yes, you can assign this info for one user but with Emby being a multi-user platform it no longer reads the information from the nfo.  I believe only Kodi will actually utilize this information.

Emby tracks all userdata by provider id and if item does not have provider id then a Emby generated id is used, but unfortunately if that media is moved then the status is lost as it will get a new id.

[K22R8CT 25]

So it seems like in my use case (no Kodi and regularly scheduled Backups with the plugin) the NFO files are pointless.

I guess I'll disable them.

[K22R8CT 25]

3 minutes ago, Anon28109 said:

So it seems like in my use case (no Kodi and regularly scheduled Backups with the plugin) the NFO files are pointless.

I guess I'll disable them.

No wait, I still need them to work around the bug where if a file's upgraded with a different extension it's marked as new.

[Luke 42078]

Have your questions been answered?

[K22R8CT 25]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Have your questions been answered?

I'm a little confused because if Emby's not reading the NFO why is it I can prevent "date added" from being reset (on an upgraded file with a different extension) if I restore the original NFO? 

19 hours ago, Happy2Play said:

Emby being a multi-user platform it no longer reads the information from the nfo