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[CountryBumkin]

I am missing some of my media (movies).
I posted about this a while back - and now it happened again (or I just noticed more missing from the previous event).

I know "MC doesn't delete files", so I must be doing something wrong (or a bug).

All of my media is stored on multiple internal hard drives (in RAID6), no NAS, no removable disks.

This weekend, I was converting the last of my Video_ts movies to mkv format, and I noticed some of my movies missing. The "movie folder" is still there with some files in it (like JRsidecar and Folder.jpg) but no movie. I'm missing about eight (that I noticed so far) out of 450+. It's hard to know for sure if any movies with the entire folders are gone, since I don't have a printed list to compare to.
It's possible that I did something this weekend during the mkv convert project that removed/deleted these movies, but I can't think of anything (plus most missing movies were BD movie rips, and I was working with DVD rips).

Regardless, going forward, I'm asking if I have my MC settings setup the best way to protect my media.

In "Library & Folders">Configure Auto Update, I have now set "Fix Broken Links" to NO (it was Yes: Protect Files on Missing Drives), and I just unchecked "Update for External Changes". Is there anything else I can/should do in the MC settings to make sure I (assuming it was me) don't accidently delete any more movies?

Thanks.

[Arindelle]

Can't be much help but frankly I have never seen JRiver remove a file unless I manually tell it to delete it. Most files that disappear I find are really only gone from the library and never removed physically from the hard drives.

I don't see how changing your configuration would have anything to do with file deletion, unless you have some autoimport rules have some fancy replacing expressions in them. I avoid anything automatic in import except maybe building thumbnails, but I do like that it fixes broken links. I never have JRiver move anything automatically based on conditions (do you? Myabe they are not erased they are just moved somewhere else, I know that's a long shot )

Its funny though because I've read people saying that it is better to set fix broken links to no before. The only reason maybe would be for having USB external drives that don't have fixed drive letters (?) which I really avoid and only use for my second archive backups. Maybe its different on Macs or Linux. Personally,  I think the best all around config is to set Fix Broken Links to Yes: Protect Files on Missing Drives. Update for external changes I need/want to be on as sometimes I use external tools on files. What I think should not be checked is "Ignore Files previously removed from Library" which I find problematic sometimes. Easy enough to remove items, not always easy to find what might have been omitted. IMHO of course

Regardless, unless there is some automatic stuff going on that goes beyond basic configuration, I don't see how these options would get rid of your files.

Maybe check your RAID configuration (again a long shot so probably not).

[CountryBumkin]

Probably due to some error on may part - just can't think of what I could have done. Fortunately "the more mistakes one makes, the more experienced one becomes", so I'm getting some good experience. I might be an expert by the time all my media is gone.

I have had some trouble with other files "going to the wrong places" when I used the "Rename, Move & Copy" tool with the "Move all files in folder" box checked. But that didn't delete files, it just moved files I wasn't expecting.

Why do you recommend leavening the "Ignore Files previously removed.." unchecked. What is the significance of that?

[JimH]

If you soft delete a file to remove it from MC, that option and how it's set tells MC whether to add it back if you import from its location again.

Did you try a search from Windows Explorer?  The files might still be there.

[CountryBumkin]

I discovered the missing files when I was in Windows Explorer and looking at the contents of each movies folder. I noticed a few of the folders had movie stuff (the jpg and JRsidecar) but no movie file.

Anyways I have all the original disks, so I just re-ripped them.

_______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________
I wonder if the problem might have been caused by my ripping procedure.

Sometimes when I use makeMKV it will rip the movie with the file name "title001.mkv". So after the rip, I open Windows Explorer and rename the "title001" to the correct movie's name. But usually by the time I get back into MC program, the file has already been imported as "title001.mkv, then I have to use the "Delete" in MC to remove it. When I delete there are two choices, the "Delete" "Remove from Media Library" and the "Delete" "Remove from Media Library and permanently from the disk" choice. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not which is used on the "tile001" entry. - Maybe this has nothing to do with the problem.

All of this extra work can be prevented if I could just remember to turn off MC's import feature until after the movie is ripped and the name has been corrected.

[JimH]

Or rip to a folder that MC doesn't watch.  You can set that in the Auto Import options.  You can also add a folder and tell MC to exclude it (not watch it).

[Krazykanuck]

Not sure if it's related.
I am converting movies to mkv as well replacing video.ts versions.
If you delete the video.ts version it will delete the mkv as well if they are in the same movie folder.

[RoderickGI]

Not sure if it's related.
I am converting movies to mkv as well replacing video.ts versions.
If you delete the video.ts version it will delete the mkv as well if they are in the same movie folder.

I wouldn't have expected that to happen, since they are separate files, and essentially duplicates of the movie. But if that is what happens, it sounds like the cause for you CountryBumkin.

But usually by the time I get back into MC program, the file has already been imported as "title001.mkv, then I have to use the "Delete" in MC to remove it.

If you left "Fix Broken Links" to "Yes: Protect Files on Missing Drives" then you shouldn't need to delete the "title001.mkv" as it would be cleaned up by the next Auto-Import. I would be changing that and the "Update for External Changes" back to what you had before, and then use one of the following methods:

1. Rip to a non-watched folder, rename the MKV file, and then move the file to a watched folder outside MC.
2. Turn off Auto-Import before you start any ripping process, then turn it back on after finishing all ripping, renaming, and moving.
3. Just leave the "title001.mkv" to be cleaned up by Auto-Import the next time it runs.

[glynor]

I think I've seen a bug before that I haven't been able to track down related to deleting VIDEO_TS based rips. I have not been able to confirm it, though, as I don't have any of these anymore.

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103382.msg718241#msg718241

PS. Unchecking Update Files for External Changes won't help with this at all. That only tells MC whether to update the Library when tags in the files change externally.

[RoderickGI]

PS. Unchecking Update Files for External Changes won't help with this at all. That only tells MC whether to update the Library when tags in the files change externally.

Yes. I only mentioned that as it is my preferred setting, and is what CountryBumkin was using before trying to fix this problem.

[glynor]

I was referring to this from the original post:

and I just unchecked "Update for External Changes". Is there anything else I can/should do in the MC settings to make sure I (assuming it was me) don't accidently delete any more movies?

Not anything you said. I'm a bit slow on this thread. I'm in the middle of moving, so I'm not as quick as I usually am here.  

[Arindelle]

Why do you recommend leavening the "Ignore Files previously removed.." unchecked. What is the significance of that?

Or rip to a folder that MC doesn't watch.  You can set that in the Auto Import options.  You can also add a folder and tell MC to exclude it (not watch it).

Jim just explained very clearly the mechanism; sometimes I just delete a file from the library (soft delete) either by error or I want to replace it with a file with same name (like a better rip), then it wouldn't import it and if I'm not really following up right away it becomes a "mystery" file ... euh a "where-is-that-track" file.   

[glynor]

Jim just explained very clearly the mechanism; sometimes I just delete a file from the library (soft delete) either by error or I want to replace it with a file with same name (like a better rip), then it wouldn't import it and if I'm not really following up right away it becomes a "mystery" file ... euh a "where-is-that-track" file.   

Yeah. Same here.

If a file is in one of my watched directories, I want MC to know about it. Period.

[CountryBumkin]

I think I've seen a bug before that I haven't been able to track down related to deleting VIDEO_TS based rips. I have not been able to confirm it, though, as I don't have any of these anymore.

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=103382.msg718241#msg718241

PS. Unchecking Update Files for External Changes won't help with this at all. That only tells MC whether to update the Library when tags in the files change externally.

What is an "external change"?
Would running "Get Movie & TV Info" tool to update art be an internal or external change? Is making a change to a file using the Tag editor an internal or external change?
I would think that external means "outside of MC", like changing something through Windows Explorer or third-party Tagging software. Is this the case?

[Arindelle]

I would think that external means "outside of MC", like changing something through Windows Explorer or third-party Tagging software. Is this the case?

thats what I've always taken it to mean

[glynor]

What is an "external change"?

I would think that external means "outside of MC", like changing something through Windows Explorer or third-party Tagging software. Is this the case?

thats what I've always taken it to mean

That is correct.

Would running "Get Movie & TV Info" tool to update art be an internal or external change? Is making a change to a file using the Tag editor an internal or external change?

No. Nothing you can do from inside MC would be an external change, unless you do it with a separate copy of MC not using the same Library.

Basically, that option means: Keep MC's Library in sync with changes to the file tags that this Library in MC didn't make to the files itself. It is the equivalent of selecting the files and doing Tools > Library Tools > Update Library (from Tags) (except it is automatic).