[Tstrbl]

This is a frustrating problem which I just cannot work out.

I've been gradually scanning video folders into my Kodi video library. First I create the metadata, .nfo, poster.jpg using MediaElch. Next I select the folder which contains to the video file from my source, following the folders from the 'files' the 'Files' navigator and select 'scan to library' from the Context Menu. Kodi then displays the information page, with poster, other data displayed, for the new tile in the video library.

Up until now, at this point I would simply press the back button and return to the file display for the folder. There are about 1000 separate folders in this folder and each one contains its own video file. Now, instead of taking me back immediately, it hangs for about two minutes. I cannot understand why it has started to do this.

I've tried powering down kodi and restarting. I've rebooted my NAS. I just can't work out why what once took seconds now takes minutes. I know this sounds like the most trivial of problems, but it is frustrating because if I have to wait a few minutes each time I scan a film into the library it will take up a lot of time.

Any idea why this might be happening? It also happens if I simply navigate into the folder containing one of the film files and then try to navigate back to the main folder. I have several other folders containing large numbers of video subfolders and it does not happen when I navigate in these folders. It started happening after I added and deleted a video file from the library a few times as I was working out how to scan multipart video files properly. This may or may not be related.

I did look at the debug log file but can't really understand what's significant and what's not. Should I post that here?

[DarrenHill]

Upload the log to paste.kodi.tv and supply the link to it here, then the community and team can look over it and see if we can help.

As described it sound perhaps more like a network issue, but the log may shed some light perhaps.

[Tstrbl]

Thanks for quick reply. Yes, maybe network issue, but in that case why does it only happen with this folder and not with any of the other folders using the same network?

https://paste.kodi.tv/olibocihug

[DarrenHill]

Unfortunately you've got a couple of banned addons (wiki) installed on your device (we don't support anything related to F4m as it has too close ties with piracy).

Whilst those are installed, we cannot offer any assistance here. See the forum rules (wiki) for details, especially the piracy policy (wiki) section.

[DarrenHill]

The forum moderators have determined that banned addons (wiki) are present on your system. To receive assistance here, these banned items must be removed. If a clean log is not submitted within 3 days, then the relevant post(s) will be removed after this time.

[Tstrbl]

Sorry about that. I never use that addon, and I really can't remember why I installed it in the first place...I've uninstalled it.

https://paste.kodi.tv/eyoraperam

[DarrenHill]

Are you trying to do this through your VPN? There are a lot of VPN errors in the log.

Note also that we do not generally support VPN usage here (see the VPN policy (wiki) for details), again for piracy and geolock breaching reasons (not that those apply here).

Those add-ons, whilst not banned, are only supported via the LE forums rather than here.

[Karellen]

Also, over 1,100 movies in a single source will certainly bog down your system as it tries to load the data for each movie.

There is no fixed rule, but I aim for no more than 150-200 movies per source. Can be increased or decreased depending on the power of your hardware.

[Tstrbl]

Also, over 1,100 movies in a single source will certainly bog down your system as it tries to load the data for each movie.

There is no fixed rule, but I aim for no more than 150-200 movies per source. Can be increased or decreased depending on the power of your hardware.

Yes, I wondered about that. But then it seemed to slow from a few seconds of processing to a few minutes quite abruptly...should it have gradually slowed if it was because I was scanning my way through a large folder? Or be slow from the beginning?

So I should create folders with no more than 200 subfolders for films, or should I create a new source for each of these main film folders?

[Tstrbl]

Are you trying to do this through your VPN? There are a lot of VPN errors in the log.

Note also that we do not generally support VPN usage here (see the VPN policy (wiki) for details), again for piracy and geolock breaching reasons (not that those apply here).

Those add-ons, whilst not banned, are only supported via the LE forums rather than here.

Yes, I noticed that. I actually never use the VPN, at least not on this Kodi box. Maybe I should just kill that whole addon.

[DarrenHill]

It's always worthwhile to keep things as simple as possible

[Karellen]

should I create a new source for each of these main film folders

This one. A new Source in Kodi with a smaller number of movies in the Source. You may end up with 4 or 5 Sources

should it have gradually slowed if it was because I was scanning my way through a large folder

Yes, I think it should have been a gradual slowing down. The abrupt change is strange. I can see the time skips in the log, but I cannot see what is causing it. But as darrenhill has already stated there are a lot of VPN messages mixed in so it would not be surprising if it is contributing or totally causing the problem.

[Tstrbl]

should I create a new source for each of these main film folders

This one. A new Source in Kodi with a smaller number of movies in the Source. You may end up with 4 or 5 Sources

Well...this is just one of about 20 large folders so I will probably end up having about 60-80 movie sources if I do it that way. Will Kodi be OK with that?

What is the best way to restructure my sources if I've already scanned some video files into the library. For example, I have a folder which now has about 200 or so individual video folders in it. Can I simply make this folder a source or do I need to delete and empty the larger, original source folder first and then rescan the video files back into the smaller new sources?

[DarrenHill]

There's details on the wiki for some of this - Adding video sources (wiki)

For movies, the scraper will scan through the tree set for it recursively (at least if using the default settings), and the folder naming doesn't matter. If you're going to be using stuff like additional fan art then it's recommended to have each movie in its own folder, simply so all that extra information is files correctly in the same place as the original movie. Otherwise you can put the movies in their own folders, all together in one folder or in a mixture, it doesn't really matter.

For TV shows it's a bit more complicated, as each individual show has to be in its own folder (where show is defined as the entry in the scraper database, so "Game of Thrones" would be the individual show for example. Inside that you put all your episodes, in sub-folders by series/season if you wish. By default when you set the source for a TV show, the folders at the next level down are assumed by default to be the ones containing the individual shows and a flag is set for that. If that is not correct then the scraping will go wrong, but you can set or clear that flag via the context menu for the folder (it's under manage content if I remember correctly, it's in one of the menu options anyway).

[Klojum]

Well...this is just one of about 20 large folders so I will probably end up having about 60-80 movie sources if I do it that way.

I'd say you'd be doing something wrong. If you have a 1000 movie folders, under a single movie root folder, that is no problem. Just point the movie video source in Kodi to that root folder, and you're good to go. Any hiccups might happen from the (bloated?) nfo files created by MediaElch.

But 1000 movie folders as root folders... that's not a good idea.