Kodi Community Forum - NVIDIA SHIELD PRO - Poster on TV Shows not showing

So...

Kodi 18 didn't work for me. Couldn't find my NAS. I am now using my NAS for backup and I have external drives attached to my Shield. I started over with a fresh Kodi install.

In the past, my NFO files were created with Media Companion. Somewhere I was advised to let Kodi do the scrape, so this time I let it scrape my TV library. I see some of my posters worked and some didn't. Just shows a Movie Camera.

What's the fix. I am pretty sure I just need to rename the poster and the fanart files. What is the format and once I do that, do I rescrape? Set content again?

Thanks,
wdpcpa

(2019-07-08, 01:30)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]I am pretty sure I just need to rename the poster and the fanart files. What is the format

https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork_types Then use the other linked pages to see how/where they are saved

(2019-07-08, 01:30)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]and once I do that, do I rescrape?

Two options...
1. Set Content to None, allow the Remove and Clean Library, then set back to TV Shows and rescrape
2. If you are happy with the current metadata install Artwork Beef and let it load the artwork.

If still having problems, submit a Debug Log which captures the scraping process.

(2019-07-08, 01:42)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]
(2019-07-08, 01:30)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]
Two options...
1. Set Content to None, allow the Remove and Clean Library, then set back to TV Shows and rescrape
2. If you are happy with the current metadata install Artwork Beef and let it load the artwork.

If still having problems, submit a Debug Log which captures the scraping process.

I have not installed anything but TV shows. Should I just start over clean and add artwork beef prior to adding the library. Will that just clean everything up? I don't know anything about add ons but doesn't look difficult.

I am a senior and thus stuff stretches my brain. I know once I get it done, I am done though.

I watched a video and it said I could configure artwork beef to download the artwork rather than link. I think that is what I want to do.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

(2019-07-08, 04:33)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]Should I just start over clean and add artwork beef prior to adding the library

Before answering, can you answer these...
1. Do you have local artwork or are you relying on the scraper to add artwork?
2. Do you want all the rich extended artwork (discart, clearlogo, clearart, extrafanart etc) or are you happy with basic poster and fanart?
3. How many TV Shows have you added
4. Will you be wanting the same for Movies?
5. What platform are you using- Windows, Android, other?

As you say, once it is setup, the learning curve is over. Just need advise the easiest method for you.

(2019-07-08, 05:29)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]
(2019-07-08, 04:33)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]Should I just start over clean and add artwork beef prior to adding the library
Before answering, can you answer these...
1. Do you have local artwork or are you relying on the scraper to add artwork?
I have local artwork. Trueblood has 7 seasons. The parent Folder is "Trueblood". Each season is Labeled separately and contains the MKV file. Parent folder has:
fanart.jpg, folder.jpg (this is a banner), season01.tbn, season02.tbn ect.

Inside Season 1 folder there is a TBN for each show. The first one is named "True Blood - S01E01 - Strange Love.tbn

Not all the Shows have the individual tbn but this one does.

2. Do you want all the rich extended artwork (discart, clearlogo, clearart, extrafanart etc) or are you happy with basic poster and fanart?
Both. Gotham and Eden worked fine from an art perspective and skins were fine. But I am concerned about future proofing. Concerned that a future Kodi will require a type I don't have or understand.

3. How many TV Shows have you added

44 series. Some like "Sherlock" have only a few shows per Season. Some like "Dallas (1978-1991) have lots.

4. Will you be wanting the same for Movies?
Unsure but seems it would be best to do everything the same. I thought I would start with TV shows and learn on that. A movie example is "21 Jump Street". Each movie has its own folder. Inside the folder there are 21 Jump Street.mp4, 21 Jump Street.nfo, 21 Jump Street.tbn, 21 Jump Street-fanart.jpg. Folder named .actors. In this case that folder is empty.

There may be some movies that just say fanart.jpg but most follow the above format.

I also have Music Videos.

5. What platform are you using- Windows, Android, other?

I have an Nvidia Pro now which is android. The NAS never worked right so I have 3 external hard drives using a HooToo USB 3.0 powered Hub. Shield sees all 3 hard drives.

As you say, once it is setup, the learning curve is over. Just need advise the easiest method for you.

Thank you so much. I appreciate your time and patience. What I really liked about my old XBMC was that I set the content as Movie, TV, etc, and that was the main selections. But I could also select video and see my library by folder. So after clicking Video, I could click on Movies A to J, Movies K to Z, Documentaries, Concerts, Kids Movies, Scary Movies, Christmas Movies, TV Shows, and even Home Movies. I still got all the art and it was faster. It will be interesting to see what my options will be with Kodi 18.

Text in purple, really? Rofl

Ah, silly me. Of course you are using Android. Sometimes we browse the forum and forget where we are. Smile

(2019-07-08, 06:14)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]1. Do you have local artwork or are you relying on the scraper to add artwork?
I have local artwork. Trueblood has 7 seasons. The parent Folder is "Trueblood". Each season is Labeled separately and contains the MKV file. Parent folder has:
fanart.jpg, folder.jpg (this is a banner), season01.tbn, season02.tbn ect.

Inside Season 1 folder there is a TBN for each show. The first one is named "True Blood - S01E01 - Strange Love.tbn

Not all the Shows have the individual tbn but this one does.

Ok, one problem that I see immediately is your artwork naming. We have not used *.tbn artwork for many years, and I don't think Kodi recognises that extension anymore.

All artwork is named according to this... https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork_types Also click the linked TV Show page and view the screenshots.

If you are using TMM, either you have the wrong settings in TMM, or this collection was created quite a few years ago.

Before we move forward, you need to decide how to rectify the artwork naming.
1. Rename your artwork in accordance with that wiki page
2. Delete your artwork and nfo files and run TMM over your tv shows again
3. Delete your artwork and nfo files and let Kodi scrape them.
4. Any other option...

Considering the artwork names, I also suggest that your NFO Files may be incompatible. I can check for you if you upload one tvshow.nfo and one episode nfo to Kodi Paste Site

(2019-07-08, 06:47)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]Ah, silly me. Of course you are using Android. Sometimes we browse the forum and forget where we are.

(2019-07-08, 06:14)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]1. Do you have local artwork or are you relying on the scraper to add artwork?
I have local artwork. Trueblood has 7 seasons. The parent Folder is "Trueblood". Each season is Labeled separately and contains the MKV file. Parent folder has:
fanart.jpg, folder.jpg (this is a banner), season01.tbn, season02.tbn ect.

Inside Season 1 folder there is a TBN for each show. The first one is named "True Blood - S01E01 - Strange Love.tbn

Not all the Shows have the individual tbn but this one does.
Ok, one problem that I see immediately is your artwork naming. We have not used *.tbn artwork for many years, and I don't think Kodi recognises that extension anymore.

All artwork is named according to this... https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork_types Also click the linked TV Show page and view the screenshots.

If you are using TMM, either you have the wrong settings in TMM, or this collection was created quite a few years ago.

Before we move forward, you need to decide how to rectify the artwork naming.
1. Rename your artwork in accordance with that wiki page
2. Delete your artwork and nfo files and run TMM over your tv shows again
3. Delete your artwork and nfo files and let Kodi scrape them.
4. Any other option...

Considering the artwork names, I also suggest that your NFO Files may be incompatible. I can check for you if you upload one tvshow.nfo and one episode nfo to Kodi Paste Site

I am using Media Companion for NFO files and artwork.

Here are the NFO files:

TVShow.nfo is at https://paste.kodi.tv/zakigahuli
Episode NFO is at https://paste.kodi.tv/esaselozov

I will look around and see if I can find a file renamer. Looks like there should be a program that allows a find and replace whereby TBN can be replaced with JPG in bulk.

@wdpcpa

Thanks. Unfortunately those nfo files are full of errors. These will not work correctly in Kodi so you will need to delete them.

The problems with the tvshow.nfo

xml:
  <episodeguide>

    <url cache="82283">http://www.thetvdb.com/api/6E82FED600783400/series/82283/all/en.zip</url>

  </episodeguide>

Wrong version API, so your episodes will not be added

xml:
  <state>0</state>

  <id>82283</id>

  <mpaa>TV-MA</mpaa>

  <genre>Drama / Fantasy</genre>

  <imdbid>tt0844441</imdbid>

  <runtime>60</runtime>

  <rating>8.5</rating>

  <episodeactorsource>tvdb</episodeactorsource>

  <tvshowactorsource>tvdb</tvshowactorsource>

  <sortorder>default</sortorder>

  <language>en</language>

All of the above are either incompatible or in a depracated format.

The episode.nfo has such little information that they serve absolutely no purpose.

In case you ask... I have no idea why the nfo files are in such a bad state. Only the developers of the Media Manager can answer that.

(2019-07-08, 21:13)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]@wdpcpa

Thanks. Unfortunately those nfo files are full of errors. These will not work correctly in Kodi so you will need to delete them.

The problems with the tvshow.nfo
xml:
 <episodeguide>

<url cache="82283">http://www.thetvdb.com/api/6E82FED600783400/series/82283/all/en.zip</url>

</episodeguide>
Wrong version API, so your episodes will not be added
xml:
 <state>0</state>

<id>82283</id>

<mpaa>TV-MA</mpaa>

<genre>Drama / Fantasy</genre>

<imdbid>tt0844441</imdbid>

<runtime>60</runtime>

<rating>8.5</rating>

<episodeactorsource>tvdb</episodeactorsource>

<tvshowactorsource>tvdb</tvshowactorsource>

<sortorder>default</sortorder>

<language>en</language>
All of the above are either incompatible or in a depracated format.

The episode.nfo has such little information that they serve absolutely no purpose.

In case you ask... I have no idea why the nfo files are in such a bad state. Only the developers of the Media Manager can answer that.

What I am hearing is the whole thing needs to be switched out. Folder by folder. How is the best way to do this. Delete art work and NFO files and start fresh adding video sources?

I could use VLC to actually watch things why I get all NFO files and art work done.

(2019-07-09, 01:38)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]What I am hearing is the whole thing needs to be switched out. Folder by folder. How is the best way to do this. Delete art work and NFO files and start fresh adding video sources?

The options are...

(2019-07-08, 06:47)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]Before we move forward, you need to decide how to rectify the artwork naming.
1. Rename your artwork in accordance with that wiki page
2. Delete your artwork and nfo files and run TMM over your tv shows again
3. Delete your artwork and nfo files and let Kodi scrape them.
4. Any other option...

But it also comes down to what you are trying to achieve. Looking at your nfo files, there is nothing in them to indicate you have spent time curating them, so they are just standard scraped information. If this is the case then I would use Option 3 above.

First run the Refresh Source to Step 8 which will remove your tv shows. Do this for each TV Show source... https://kodi.wiki/view/Updating_or_remov...esh_Source

If your NAS is accessible from, say, Windows then use the file manager and search nfo and bulk delete, then search tbn and bulk delete etc.

Once all the artwork and nfo files are deleted, continue the Refresh Source from Step 9

If all your tv shows and episodes are named correctly, the will all be scanned back into the library with artwork.

If you want NFO Files as a backup (recommended) then run the Video Export function... https://kodi.wiki/view/Import-export_library

(2019-07-09, 02:16)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]First run the Refresh Source to Step 8 which will remove your tv shows. Do this for each TV Show source... https://kodi.wiki/view/Updating_or_remov...esh_Source

If your NAS is accessible from, say, Windows then use the file manager and search nfo and bulk delete, then search tbn and bulk delete etc.

Once all the artwork and nfo files are deleted, continue the Refresh Source from Step 9

If all your tv shows and episodes are named correctly, the will all be scanned back into the library with artwork.

If you want NFO Files as a backup (recommended) then run the Video Export function... https://kodi.wiki/view/Import-export_library

I think I got this. Told the wife I was going to rebuild everything and we would just use VLC till I finished and backed up the new data base.

1. I can follow the refresh.
2. I now have external drives attached to the shield instead of trying to use my NAS. My NAS is for backup. I can see those drives over my network, so I can search and delete from my office computer. Or I could just move the external drive to my office computer.
3. I am not sure how export would work. I think I would just mirror the external drive folders on the NAS drive folders. "Free File Sync" used to work well for that. That should get me the new NFO files and artwork on my NAS and delete old files.
4. I recall I had some difficulty with some shows. For "Dallas" I see I can use a "parsing NFO file" to make sure the correct show gets scraped.
5. The other one I recall having trouble with are my "Saturday Night Live Collections". My parent folder is "Saturday Night Live Collections". Sub folders are "Best of Chris Farley", "Best of Mike Myers", etc. Then each .NFO file has a "<set>Saturday Night Live Collections</set>" in the NFO file. I am not sure how I am going to do that one. May just not use the sub folder structure and just let the Set command organize it.

I think I have a plan now. Thanks for your help. Let me know if you have any more tips.

(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]I am not sure how export would work. I think I would just mirror the external drive folders on the NAS drive folders. "Free File Sync" used to work well for that. That should get me the new NFO files and artwork on my NAS and delete old files

It will export a NFO File for each movie, tv show and episode. This will save your scraped data, artwork (if you choose) and your playcount, last played and watched status data. It is always quicker to rebuild from nfo files rather than online.

(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]I recall I had some difficulty with some shows. For "Dallas" I see I can use a "parsing NFO file" to make sure the correct show gets scraped.

Yes, Parsing NFO is a good option. Before resorting to the Parsing NFO, it always works wonders if you add the year... eg Dallas (2012) or Dallas (1978)

(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]The other one I recall having trouble with are my "Saturday Night Live Collections". My parent folder is "Saturday Night Live Collections". Sub folders are "Best of Chris Farley", "Best of Mike Myers", etc

That may confuse the scraper as Saturday Night Live is a tv show, so the scraper will try to scrape it. I would add this as a separate Source so Kodi understands that Saturday Night Live is the name of the source, not a tv show to be scraped.

(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]Then each .NFO file has a "<set>Saturday Night Live Collections</set>" in the NFO file.

The <set> tag applies to movies only. There are no Sets in TV Shows.

(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]Let me know if you have any more tips.

You mention Best of Chris Farley but there is no tv show named like that at TheMovieDB, just a movie... https://www.themoviedb.org/search?query=...uage=en-US
Same with Best of Mike Myers... https://www.themoviedb.org/search?query=...uage=en-US
They seem to be movies, not tv shows.

In November 2018, Kodi changed the default scraper for TV Shows from TVDB to TheMovieDB. Each as good as each other, but when you are double checking your tv shows just remember to check the correct site for the scraper you have activated.

(2019-07-09, 06:10)Karellen Wrote: [ -> ]
(2019-07-09, 05:40)wdpcpa Wrote: [ -> ]

Holy cow, I just realized what you are trying to tell me. Kodi doesn't automatically save a NFO file. OK I will export the NFO file and artwork. I see the Wiki caution about Artwork but I think it will be OK to export that as well. Thanks for the help.