I'm in the process of setting up Jellyfin. The basic setup is easy enough (I'm using docker compose), but I can't make it recognize tv shows properly. The metadata lookup works for movies, though.

For tv shows, it returns a (seemingly) random tv show and assigns it to all tv shows in my library. So I end up with many instances of the same show in the UI. If I change the metadata source from TheMovieDB to TheTVDB I end up with a different show, but with the same result: Every show in my library is assigned to the same invalid metadata.

I can select shows and manually identify it, but that's really cumbersome for a big libary.

If also tried the same with Emby and I don't get the same error there.

I've also tried to but a tvshow.nfo file into folders to help the lookup, but it doesn't seem to be recognized at all.

I know I can put metadata on the folder name of a series (like the show id of themoviedb), but I really don't want to do this, as I have another mediaserver server (Kodi) the same library to my Smart-TV. It would mess up that libary - also: Emby seems to be able to do the lookup correctly, so why wouldn't Jellyfin?

I know about this page: https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/server/media/shows/

My library is mostly structured this way:

Show_name/
Show_name/S01 
Show_name/S01/S01E01.mkv

(I don't think the "S01" part is the problem, I tried to rename to "Season 1" without success)

Any ideas what could be the problem here?

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What you linked gives a really clear naming convention and yours doesn't follow it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Yes, I suspected that. But I've also tried to change that already, to no avail.... :-(

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Have you told the library to rescan after making the change?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

yes I have. still thanks for the question, I tend to forget about obvious stuff like that... :)

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I know I can put metadata on the folder name of a series (like the show id of themoviedb), but I really don’t want to do this, as I have another mediaserver server (Kodi) the same library to my Smart-TV. It would mess up that libary

https://kodi.wiki/view/Naming_video_files/Movies

Kodi supports the same "{sourceid-xxxx}" tag syntax as jellyfin or plex, so it wouldn't mess anything up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Good to know, but still a lot of source paths would change. that's my worry...

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

In that case, I'd just stick to fixing it by hand.

I have a around 600 TV shows in my library and only had to manually match a dozen or so.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I fear that will be what I have to do. I'm just so confused why Emby seems to have no problem at allwith it, but Jellyfin does... Not a single show is automatically assigned correctly.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Try something like this for 1 show:

Show_name [ID]/
Show_name [ID]/Season 01
Show_name [ID]/Season 01/S01E01 Episode name.mkv

Clear all the log task in jellyfin Task menu:

Dashboard>Scheduled Task>Maintenance

Optimize Database
Clear Log Folder
Clear Cache Folder
Clear Activity Logs
Clear Transcodes Folder

Clear all your Browsers cache/history/data

This depends on what browser you use

Do a full rescan of your Jellyfin show

Dashboard>Libraries>Scan All Libraries

Replace all metadata and check to replace existing images

Jellyfin main menu (where you see your shows thumbnail) > "three dots" > refresh metadata > replace all metadata > check replace existing images

If this works for the TV show you changed according to Jellyfin's recommendations, you can bulk edit your TV shows names and folders with Sonarr. You don't need to redownload them, just use your local files.

If this doesn't work check your Jellyfin's docker logs/configuration/metadata downloader

Hope it helps !

Edit: here's an example on how to edit naming scheme with sonarr: https://trash-guides.info/Sonarr/Sonarr-recommended-naming-scheme/

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@ryan_harg "Do not abbreviate the Season folder with S01 or SE01 or alike."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

As I wrote, I've already tried to change that, but it gives me the same result.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@ryan_harg that was difficult to read from your post for me.

Have you got all show folders in the same as the movies? Is your library folder in Jellyfin setup as show (I assume so, just to double check)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I have multiple folders with movies and multiple folders with tv shows. Each folder is imported as either "movie only" or "tv show only"...