Plex Server doesn't see shared subs folders /or media

[Enquiries]

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/1doy7d2/cant_get_terramaster_nas_plex_media_library_to/

Same issue...


A quick thought / question:

Does Plex (or the Terramaster NAS) require media folders to have specific names or folder hierarchies?

I tried to create a shared folder called "Music" which is also the default Plex library name for music media files, but this had the same issue - the library is always empty even though it is pointing to the NAS folders that contain the music files.

It is not clear which NAS user account Plex Media Server uses, which might be a reason why the NAS shared folders are not being "read" by the Plex library. There seems to be a "hidden" user called "plex", which does not appear as a NAS user or a member of any group in the NAS GUI, but is shown as the owner of the "Plex" shared folder.

Information on how Plex works on a NAS seems to be very patchy....I've watched several YT videos on "how to set up Plex on a NAS" (including those for TerraMaster) an

[ed]

I understand the frustration you're facing with Plex not detecting shared folders on your TerraMaster NAS. Based on your description, here are a few thoughts that might help:

Folder Hierarchy and Naming:
Plex typically doesn’t require specific folder names, but it does benefit from a logical and organized file structure. For music, make sure the files are organized by artist/album or use the "Music" library type in Plex. Sometimes Plex might not detect files if they are not named according to its expected formats, so you might want to ensure the files follow the naming conventions (e.g., Artist - Album - Track Number - Track Name) for better matching.

NAS User Permissions:
It does sound like the issue could be related to permissions, particularly with the hidden “plex” user. Even though this user is shown as the owner of the "Plex" shared folder, it might not have sufficient permissions to access other shared folders on the NAS. You could try manually adjusting the permissions to ensure the "plex" user has read access to the media files in your shared folders.

To check and modify these permissions:

Go to the TerraMaster NAS GUI.
Ensure that the user account running Plex Media Server has appropriate access to the folders.
You can also try setting the shared folders to be publicly accessible as a troubleshooting step to ensure permissions aren't the issue.
Re-indexing and Library Refresh:
Sometimes, Plex may not immediately detect new media. Try refreshing or re-scanning the library in Plex to force it to check the folder again. You can do this from the Plex dashboard by going to your library and selecting "Update Library" or "Refresh Metadata."

NAS User Account for Plex:
The "plex" user account might not appear in the NAS user list, but it is created by Plex for internal use. It’s important to ensure that the media folder permissions are set correctly for the Plex service to access it. If possible, you could grant full access to the Plex user or the group associated with Plex on the NAS to ensure it can read from the music folder.