[jriker1]

Found some tool to create NFO files, now the logs say nothing's changed but when I go into Kodi now under the word Movies it shows 2 unwatched which is accurate. However when I click on movies all I get is a blank page with what I think is a box on the left for cover art, and two dots in the top right. If I click on that, and select genres or whatever it's blank. If I drill into the actual drive manually I can see the cover art and images. How do I get this so when I put in the USB stick, have the nfo files, and it loads them, that when I click on Movies in the beginning it will just show me a list of movies. Nothing else. No dot dot to navigate, or select movies by certain categories? Keep in mind will only have a handful of movies at a time on a stick so not like I'm going to have a 100 to filter.

Thanks.

JR

[PatK]

Wait, all is coming clear

as mud

So in Kodi I can manually navigate to the movie folders and it pulls up image art for backgrounds and box art, however, because there is no NFO file in each folder it just says NOPE!!!!!! I'm not gonna show this movie!!!!!? Being dramatic

Eureka Alert!

Kodi meta-data is based and revolves around the .nfo file, without it, Kodi knows nothing, but file mode shows up some stuff, perhaps artwork. Emby looks like a backend server system for Kodi, I didn't see any mention of scraper functionality (although I'm a little unfamiliar with the program, relying exclusively on the built in functions of Kodi). A scraper is a simple add-on that glues the Kodi library to the meta database web sites like IMdb, TMdb and others, which in its interrogation of the database produce the .nfo file used in the library (the .nfo file is internal until you export to separate files, at which time you can edit, and re-scrape locally).

Setting up your source with a scraper will allow Kodi to scan in your library (properly named titles), if you have artwork with your movies properly named Artwork (wiki) Kodi should pick them up from the internet and will create the .nfo files internally, an export will allow them to be seen in your folders. "two dots" usually is an indication of 'parent folder' (this can be switched off).

How do I get this so when I put in the USB stick, have the nfo files, and it loads them, that when I click on Movies, in the beginning, it will just show me a list of movies. Nothing else. No dot dot to navigate, or select movies by certain categories? Keep in mind will only have a handful of movies at a time on a stick so not like I'm going to have a 100 to filter.

Might be useful to have a peek here Video management (wiki) You would treat the USB as any other source, select it, set a scraper and scan it into the library (a few titles will scrape in pretty quick), alternatively just use file mode to access the titles.

Looking back at your first post and 'no internet', you would pre-scrape your titles, export the meta-data, then use local information only scraper on the remote machine without an Internet connection.

[jriker1]

OK, so I tried Media Companion before your post came. Got NFO files and associated images in each video folder. I've loaded Kodi several times, however based on the last one I still can not get the movies to show or search in Kodi other then thru the sub sub file menu. I just want to be able to click on movies and select the movie I want to watch based on it's cover art. Below is what my debug log is showing right now. Note it has been cleared and is just the last loading of the videos. So it seems to see it, but perhaps something it doesn't like?

https://pastebin.com/aUvbWFXh

Also below is a link to one of the generated nfo files.

https://pastebin.com/d6Y77SWj

Thoughts?

Thanks.

JR

[BatterPudding]

http://kodi.wiki/view/Nfo

http://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/movies

[jriker1]

In case there was some overlap. Are the links you sent BatterPudding in relation to an issue with my included NFO file, or just informational. Curious if what was generated by Media Companion is accurate as it starts with an XML tag at the top which the links do not have. Think for testing I just need a very basic NFO file, and see if the file shows in the movies menu.

So just to reiterate, I have the above NFO file in the folder named the same as the movie, Kodi is now showing under the Movies library 2 unwatched movies, but no movies to select on the screen, in any sub menu, or using the search and typing in part of the movie name returns nothing. So seems like it's seeing it but not fully processing it or something.

Thanks.

JR

[trogggy]

The xml tag is normal - it's on all my Media Companion-generated .nfo's that work fine. I might be missing something here - probably am - but are you scanning to the library after the .nfo files are put on the stick? Without that step nothing's going to happen.

[PatK]

To compare

https://pastebin.com/SSXfxhJN

vs.

https://pastebin.com/d6Y77SWj

It would seem media companion perhaps isn't delivering a .nfo that is fully compatible. @BatterPudding link is showing you the wiki for a good template if you want to manually add one, but I see no reason should you use a Kodi scrape and export. @trogggy offers the obvious 'are you scanning to the library'.

[jriker1]

Right now my folder looks like:

/.actors
/extrafanart
/extrathumbs
disk.png
logo.png
SS (2016).nfo
SS (2016)..sup
SS (2016).wmv
SS (2016)-fanart.jpg
SS (2016).-poster.jpg

So the nfo file is on the stick in the folder. Though a week ago it wasn't. Have Kodi set to refresh the data ever startup.

What also concerns me is I don't see anything in the nfo referencing the .actors folder. Lot of pointers to http links but this device will be fully offline.

I know in my debug logs I see things like this:

00:37:51.985 T:4780   DEBUG: CUtil::GetMatchingSource: no matching source found for [D:\Movies\SS (2016)\]

Not sure if that means anything. And before it

00:37:50.978 T:8864   DEBUG: VideoInfoScanner: Skipping dir 'D:\Movies\SS (2016)\' due to no change

So not sure if it's skipping everything. Never see a reference to "processing" the nfo or anything either.

EDIT: I replaced the content of the no file with PatKs but no joy. Also cleared the movie data thru the gui and rebooted. Still nothing showing. Sure we will get there just frustrating as if you painfully drill down to the Files, all looks good with images and all.

Thanks.

JR

[PatK]

Ensure you have a local .nfo in the folder with a movie. Open Kodi and using file (video button) go to the folder location, hit 'I' on the keyboard for information, at this point, you will either get the information page (indicating it's scraped), or the result will be the scraping of the meta-data according to your choice of scraper and settings in the source. Which is it? Scraping means that the .info in the folder is not understood by Kodi.

[trogggy]

I can confirm there's nothing wrong with your .nfo file.
I saved it along with a dummy .wmv file, scanned it and it's in my library now.
When you figure out what's gone wrong there go back to MC settings,check "Save Actor Thumbs to the '.Actors' folder" and re-scrape. That will save actors to local folders.
Edit: Try this...
1. Move the folder out of your kodi source (so it's unavailable to kodi).
2. Run 'clean library'
3. Put the folder back
4. scan for new content

[jriker1]

OK thanks I'll try this. Trying to understand how Kodi works so just setup another instance on one of my desktops. No other themes just default. Left using Kodi to pull the movie info rather than local scraping like I have on the NUC. added Lexmark/Movies folder on my usb stick to be movies and look recursively into each folder for a file with the same name. It asked physically if I wanted to refresh so said yes, and the movies showed. That said, there was NO change to any content in my USB drive folders. Thought the nfo file and all images would be pulled into there each movie's folder. Apparently all the images are stored elsewhere other than where the movie is.

So I also have turned on to update the library on startup . I deleted one of the movies from the flash drive after closing Kodi. Turned on Kodi again and the images and reference to the movie was still there. When I click on the movie cover it just sits there but isn't the point of "update on startup" that it would confirm what's on the drive and adjust accordingly when Kodi starts?

By the way trogggy, when you say scan content, doesn't the update on startup do that or supposed to? I also have

<videolibrary>
<cleanonupdate>true</cleanonupdate>
</videolibrary>

in the advanced settings xml file.

Thanks.

JR

[trogggy]

Update on startup should do a scan, yes.
Nothing is taken from your usb - rather it's copied into various places in the kodi userdata folder.
And yes, AFAIK with those advancedsettings you'd expect the library to be cleaned and scanned on startup, so your missing video should disappear from the library.
If it were me I'd first check that everything's okay if you update manually (ie make changes on the stick, run 'clean library', then 'update library' from the GUI). Then think about automating the process.
The log should tell you if advancedsettings are being read, and if a clean is being done - but I'd sort the rest out first.

[jriker1]

OK so went in and did a Scan for changes, then did a Scan for new content, and did an Update Library. The video I delete still shows in the library.


JR

[trogggy]

Scan for changes?
Is that 'clean library'?

[jriker1]

Did a clean library after pulling the drive. Also asked if I wanted to keep my reference to d:\movies as it couldn't be found. Said yea. Did a scan and didn't see anything. On the movies page nothing showed other than 1 unwatched listed. wondering if I'm doing something wrong with the Aeon 7 mq theme and need to do something for content to show but no idea.

As suggested I went into the lexar drive and highlighted movies. Hit the "I" key and said No video files found in this path!

If I go to media settings > videos > Lexar > Movies and click "I" on one of the actual movie folders it pulls up info about the movie. But still nothing on the main movies page other than 1 unwatched.

JR