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[tzr916]

Once in a while I will delete a tv recording in MC before comskip has finished with it, so MC pops up something like "error file in use". Especially common on big files. MC removes them from the library, but the actual ts file(s) are still on the hard drive. I can usually remember and get them deleted manually through windows, but I know I've forgotten some... How can I use MC to find these "failed to delete" shows?

[Yaobing]

You can take a look at the "Removed" smartlist.  TV recordings are tracked in that list when deleted.

You can also try re-importing the folder (make sure you set it up so you only import videos, not images, text files etc.).

[tzr916]

Hmm, I don't have a "Removed" smartlist  ?

[Yaobing]

I don't remember how I got it  , probably I created it myself, which you can do too.

Create a new smartlist, set Media Type is Video (you can add other types too, but since you are interested in TV shows, Video is enough).  Add this modification: Limit database to Removed.

The following is an export from mine:

Code: [Select]

[Media Type]=[Audio],[Video] ~d=r ~sort=[Date Recorded]-d,[Name],[Filename],[Media Type],[Album Artist (auto)],[Album],[Disc #],[Track #]
(the ~sort part does not matter)

[tzr916]

Thank you, I have created the Removed smart list. It's got 16k+ items in the list! Obviously I might only have a handful of items sitting on the hard drive that I'm trying to find and delete. So how exactly does this list help me do that?

[Yaobing]

When I suggested that, I was thinking about your recent deletes.  If you are trying to get rid of such files that you tried to delete a long time ago, it would be tough.

I wonder if you can create an expression that detects a file still exists on its original location.  If so you can just add that condition to the Removed rule you just created.  This way you can list those that you removed from the library but are still on your hard drive.

Any one offering ideas?

[Yaobing]

I got it.

[=ismissing([filename])]=0

You can add this expression as a Custom rule in the Removed smartlist (but perhaps rename the smartlist "Removed but still exist on disk").

You should be careful and examine the list closely before deleting anything because some may represent those that you removed from the library but wanted to keep on disk.

[RoderickGI]

You should be careful and examine the list closely before deleting anything because some may represent those that you removed from the library but wanted to keep on disk.

Ideally, I would use the right-click > Locate > On Disk (external) function to check what other files were in the directory, before deleting anything. That is how I check incomplete recording left over files.

[tzr916]

Thank you! Adding the expression worked but.... When I first hit apply/ok, it populated 13 items (20BG), all is good seems to work... I then right clicked on one of them and did Locate on disk, it switched the screen over to Drives and Devices>Explorer> with a blank area just saying "Working" for several minutes. I waited and waited but nothing came up, so I went back to the smart list and now there's only 9 items (11GB) ?? The 9 items left all have the same name but are discrete items, so I right clicked on one of them and did Locate on disk, it switched the screen over to Drives and Devices>Explorer> and it pulled up the entire list of things on that drive/folder, without highlighting the show I had told it to Locate. So again I went back the smart list and now there are ZERO items in that list!!! I've tried refreshing, but still zero items.... So I manually browse in MC to Drives and Devices>Explorer> and those 9 items are in fact still there, but the smart list no longer shows them!

Also, I did all of this on the Server machine, and before I right clicked and did Locate on disk, with 13 items (20GB) showing on the server... I went to a client and pulled up the smart list and there's nothing, zero files showing in the smart list! Even verified the properties of the smart list and tried Refresh.

So, now I know those 9 files and can manually delete them, but what about the other 4 files (9GB)? I don't remember what those even were. And the smart list seems to be broken, won't find any files now!

It's like, as soon as I told MC to Locate on disk, that smart list isn't valid anymore.

[Yaobing]

Ideally, I would use the right-click > Locate > On Disk (external)

You should have chosen "On Disk (external)", instead of "On Disk (inside MC)".

I just tried it.  If you choose "On Disk (inside Media Center)", the file is located, but for some reason I don't understand it is removed from "Removed" database too.

[tzr916]

Oh dang, next time... Guess I will just delete those 9 items manually, and figure out what those other 4 items were some other way.

Any idea why the smart list did not work at all on a client? Lot easier to do these types of tasks on a client then remoting into the server, dropping out of theater view, etc...

[Yaobing]

When you manually delete those files, make sure you do it in Windows explorer, not inside MC.  Since they are found only in "Removed" database inside MC, deleting them from there will remove them from "Removed" database too.  You can re-import them before deleting them, in which case you should do it from inside MC, in a regular video view, not from "Removed" smartlist.

Regarding those files that were lost from Removed database, the only way that I can think of to find them is to re-import them.  First make sure you clean up as many unwanted files as possible (like those 9 files that are still in your smartlist).  Then you manually import the folder that you think contain those files.  When doing the import, make sure you choose to import only the videos (even only videos with file type .TS).  This way you will not pull in unwanted files.  Then you can go to "Recently imported" smartlist and find those files.

[Yaobing]

Any idea why the smart list did not work at all on a client? Lot easier to do these types of tasks on a client then remoting into the server, dropping out of theater view, etc...

Probably due to the way ismissing() is implemented.  I am guessing it looks for files on specified disks, but those disks are on another computer and can not be accessible.

[tzr916]

Got em all. Some old stuff in there from 2018... Recovered 20GB of space. Thanks!

[RoderickGI]

I just tried it.  If you choose "On Disk (inside Media Center)", the file is located, but for some reason I don't understand it is removed from "Removed" database too.

Probably due to the way the MC Explorer works. If the flag "Show Only Files In Library" isn't ticked, MC temporarily imports all files into a separate database to be able to display non-Library files. That's why the process sat there "working" for a long time tzr916. It was importing all files in the location it was pointed at. I'm guessing that this import process removes them from the Removed Database, much like any other re-import process would. Probably not what you would want MC to do in this circumstance, but the function wouldn't find the files otherwise, I suspect.

tzr916, the "On Disk (external)" function will only work on the server (well, unless you have a specific setup I won't go into here), so you need to do this cleanup on the server both for that function and the Smartlist to work.