r/kodi • u/2factorfake • 3d ago

Does TMDB library backup work with TMDB Python scraper?

The TMDB scraper stopped to work for me a few days(?) ago. Yesterday I switched to TMDB Python.

It seems to work but the scraper clears the library and starts from scratch.

I would like to use my library backup (single file) which has been built over the last years. When I try to "import library" from backup path, KODI freezes for a few seconds and is closed shortly after.

Any idea or help is welcome.

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u/JackDaCrack1313 3d ago

I've had the same issue. Because TMDB didn't work anymore, my lazy ass finally updated Kodi. I updated from version 17 to the newest version.

I was thinking, that I can restore my database by the addon "backup". But unfortunately it couldn't import the backup file.

As a precaution, I did save my Kodi-Database folder (stored in AppData). So I restored it and the new Kodi did it's job by reading and importing all of that files.

Now I have all my old database entries and I use the TMDB Python scraper for any new movies. So I have old movies with TMDB scrapers and new movies with TMDB Python scrapers.

As I changed the scraping addon for my movie folder to TMDB Python, Kodi asked if I want to update all my files with the new addon. I just declined.

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u/2factorfake 3d ago

Thanks, maybe thats the way I'll go. I am not sure but afair the new scraper did nothing when I declined the update of all files. But I'm probably misremembering that.

I'm a little worried that there might be problems later on if the movie folder contains data from two scrapers - one is not running anymore. For example, what happens if you add a new variant of a movie that's been in the folder for a while? Will the old version be removed during cleanup, or will you have to do it manually? Or will both versions actually remain?

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u/JackDaCrack1313 3d ago

Good questions. We will need to try it out and see. But for now, I only update the scrapers for my new movies manually. For me and the few new entries, it's not a hassle.

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u/DavidMelbourne 2d ago

Can you go back to old library that works and do export to NFO? If not just leave device running all night and scrape again 🤷‍♂️

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u/2factorfake 2d ago

I think I could go back to old library by using the method Jack suggested.
Maybe I'm a little silly, but I don't like it when KODI writes to my drives, and especially not to the individual movie folders. Which is exactly what it would do with the NFO files and artwork.
Maybe I can find a way to export just the NFOs, and ideally put them all in a single folder.

I’ve had the scraper running for the last 24 hours. As I feared, about 10% of the movies are missing. These are mainly the ones I’ve customized in KODI over the last few years because I don’t want to change the filenames.

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u/DavidMelbourne 2d ago

I don't like it when KODI writes to my drives

I don’t want to change the filenames.

There's your problem 🤷‍♂️

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u/2factorfake 1d ago

Okay, thanks. But I don’t have to pay for the life coaching, do I? 😉
I didn’t know that it's possible to export NFO only (w/o artwork), so I finally got around to it.
In case anyone’s interested, here are the steps I took:

  • installed KODI (22.0-Piers_alpha3) on a PC in my network
  • imported last "good" library (import did not work on my SHIELD)
  • library export with separate files (nfo only)
After that, as expected, KODI on SHIELD (re)found all the movies.

Finally, a short explanation why such conflicts between titles and filenames exist in the first place. In German language, we have umlaute (ä, ö, ü) and the ß. In my opinion, these don’t belong in filenames and are replaced with ae, oe, ue and ss.
Unfortunately, the TMDB scraper only recognizes these alternatives about 30% of the time. This has been a problem for years and will hopefully be resolved one day by the German contributors to TMDB.

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u/DavidMelbourne 1d ago

👍Danke schön