Help Setting Up Mylar

Information and Tutorials on features in Mylar and how to use it
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mccorkled
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Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2021 12:28 am

Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by mccorkled »

I have been trying to get this working for several years now off and on and I could really use some help. I am using a Docker version and it would be worth it to me to donate to the project for a TeamViewer sessions setting this up. I have written several tutorials on various programs such as Radarr, Sonarr, etc. and I would love to add this to my list to help others.

Thank you.
Offspring
Posts: 271
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:26 am

Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by Offspring »

Hi mccorkled, what problem(s) are you running into? You mention you've been trying to get it up and running for years off and on, but you don't specify what exactly you're having issues with.
TVS2021
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:20 pm

Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by TVS2021 »

I'm setting things up now, too, and I don't think I understand what half of the settings mean. I'm using Radarr and Sonarr successfully but with Mylar, I do have my problems. I also use the Docker image if that changes anything.

Under Web Interface I've setup the Comic Location to /comics and added my ComicVine API key.
Under Download Settings I've setup NZBGet and a Torrent watch directory (but I'm not even at that point where I'm automatically downloading things).
Under Serach providers, I've added NZBHydra (no torrents yet).
Under Quality & Post Processing, I've added the folder to monitor where torrents will be downloaded. Post-Processing is configured to "move" the files.

I've added a few series and for most of them, the files are getting recognized correctly.

But for those that are not recognized, I have troubles.
For one, what purpose does the Scan Comic Library directory have? I've alreade setup a Comic Location? Do I just put /comics there again?
Should this be another folder where comics magically appear?

Anyway, some of the comics that Mylar doesn't recognize on its own show then up on the "Import Results Managment" (that's actually named "Ultron Import Results"). If I click here on Import on any comic, even those that are already recognized by Mylar, not much changes but on the same page I can "remove" them again. (From what, where are they imported to?)

The Status for one unrecognized example reads "No Results" (for what?).

Why can I even see comics that — for my understanding — are already imported (?) since I can see them on the comic's page with Status "Downloaded".
(What's the difference between Downloaded and Archived?)

Here's what happening in the log when I "Recheck Files". (I replaced the title and year of the comic with placeholders.)

Code: Select all

INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.999 : Thread-22 : [FILE-RESCAN] Now checking files for <title> (<year>) in /comics/<year> - <title>
INFO    :: mylar.traverse_directories.1505 : Thread-22 : there are 1 files.
INFO    :: mylar.listFiles.214 : Thread-22 : FAILED FILES: [{'parse_status': 'failure', 'sub': None, 'comicfilename': '<year> - <title> (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr', 'comiclocation': '/comics/<year> - <title>', 'series_name': '', 'series_volume': 'v1', 'alt_series': '<year>', 'alt_issue': '<title> (c2c)', 'issue_year': '<year>', 'issue_number': None, 'issueid': None, 'scangroup': 'FB-DCP', 'booktype': 'issue'}]
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1560 : Thread-22 : [FILE-RESCAN] Updated the status of 1 issues for <title> (<year>) that were not found.
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1564 : Thread-22 : [FILE-RESCAN] Total files located: 0
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1690 : Thread-22 : [FILE-RESCAN] I have physically found 0 issues, ignored 0 issues, snatched 0 issues, and accounted for 0 in an Archived state [ Total Issue Count: 0 / 1 ]

Mylar sees the file, more or less recognizes it correctly and then … fails it?

Can't I manually import files? I just need to tell Mylar that that one cbr file in a comic's folder is that one issue.
Last edited by TVS2021 on Sun Jun 20, 2021 3:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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evilhero
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Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by evilhero »

[Scan Comic Library does exactly what it says it does on the description for it - it will scan in a location containing comics and attempt to parse the information in order to add them into your watchlist. Do not set the scan location to your Comic Location as then it will create a circular reference and attempt to import comics onto itself which is not what you want. If you don't want to move your comics from w/e location into your ComicLocation path, as your comics may already reside in the ComicLocation path, use the Set import paths to series location paths option so that it will not move the files, but set the series paths for files detected during the import to the path that's being scanned in (mylar will monitor that location for the specific series scanned in, not the ComicLocation path)

Scan Comic Library is referred to as importing - which is different than post-processing. Importing will only import files that belong to series that are not on your watchlist. Post-processing will process files that belong to series that are on your watchlist. The two do not overlap, ever.

If you can 'remove' the series from the importer than that usually means that they were imported successfully. You should see the status change to Imported, which is hyperlinked to the related series page within Mylar (depending on what your'e doing you might have to refresh the page for the status' to correctly show in some cases). If it says they were Imported - then they should appear on your watchlist (main home page) with the directory location for the series being within the ComicLocation path, or if you use the Set import paths to series location paths option I mentioned above, it will be where the series files originally are located (and still are).
The Status for one unrecognized example reads "No Results" (for what?).
You're misunderstanding what the import process entails. It first has to scan in all your physical files, parse them for metadata if it exists, and if not or if it's incomplete, attempt to parse the filename for information. Once it completes that aspect, you can view the results on the Import Results Management page to see what Mylar figured out. If it's correct you can then use the import option beside each result to try to get Mylar to import that particular set into your watchlist.

The result of this is dependent on lots of different things - how you have your files named, if they have any relevant metadata, if the determined series name matches up to what's on CV, if the volume indicated is the correct one, etc. So if it says 'no results' then it couldn't determine what the file was even after doing all of that - which usually means either your filename is named something completely different than what it is, or the filename convention being used is causing false negatives (I say 'usually' - obviously there are other reasons it could throw back a no results).

If you can see the comics on the series detail page as Downloaded - that means they've been physically found in the location for the particular series (the 'Directory' location near the top of every series page). 'Archived' means the file was at one point determined to be present, but it can't be scanned in now - either the file has been physically removed, or it's been renamed to something that can't be parsed.

Mylar sees the file, more or less recognizes it correctly and then … fails it?
It doesn't recognise, which is why it's thrown into the `Failed Files` portion.

I have no clue what it was that you were trying to check, or what series, or what the filename was - so I can't really offer any kind of solution since I don't know how the file was named in the first place, which is kinda important. You'd have to paste that exact same snippet as above, but without anything edited out --> think of it this way, if you're asking a mechanic for help and tell the mechanic that your <blank> vehicle is making weird noises that sound like <blank>....you're not gonna get the response you're needing.

If you want Mylar to detect the file, if it's in the proper location, you'll need to divulge that filename (it doesn't have to be scary - everyone is doing it).
TVS2021
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:20 pm

Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by TVS2021 »

Thank you for your response.

I don't think, I have a use-case for Scan Comic Library since I just moved the few comics I have manually to the appropriate series folder inside Comic Location path after I added the series to Mylar.
evilhero wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:09 am Scan Comic Library is referred to as importing - which is different than post-processing. Importing will only import files that belong to series that are not on your watchlist. Post-processing will process files that belong to series that are on your watchlist. The two do not overlap, ever.
Good to know. I assume "watchlist" is just the list of comics I have added (as wanted?) to Mylar. The term "watchlist" isn't used anywhere except in the Reading List Management — but I don't understand what's happening here, or is this just a list for me to track what I want to read next?
evilhero wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:09 am You're misunderstanding what the import process entails. It first has to scan in all your physical files, parse them for metadata if it exists, and if not or if it's incomplete, attempt to parse the filename for information. Once it completes that aspect, you can view the results on the Import Results Management page to see what Mylar figured out. If it's correct you can then use the import option beside each result to try to get Mylar to import that particular set into your watchlist.
I clearly must have. I was thinking of the Manual File Import option on Sonarr where one can manually assign files to episodes if Sonarr doesn't recognize on its own.
evilhero wrote: Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:09 am If you want Mylar to detect the file, if it's in the proper location, you'll need to divulge that filename (it doesn't have to be scary - everyone is doing it).
Sorry. Sometimes, there are rules not to show titles because of legal issues. I hoped just the order of metadata would help.

Apparently, the naming scheme I setup for files is not good enough for Mylar's scanning:

Neither

Code: Select all

Supergirl Movie Special (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr
nor

Code: Select all

1985 - Supergirl Movie Special #01 (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr
was recognized but

Code: Select all

Supergirl Movie Special (1985) #01 (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr
works:

Code: Select all

INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.999 : Thread-25 : [FILE-RESCAN] Now checking files for Supergirl Movie Special (1985) in /comics/1985 - Supergirl Movie Special
INFO    :: mylar.traverse_directories.1505 : Thread-25 : there are 1 files.
INFO    :: mylar.listFiles.214 : Thread-25 : FAILED FILES: [{'parse_status': 'failure', 'sub': None, 'comicfilename': 'Supergirl Movie Special (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr', 'comiclocation': '/comics/1985 - Supergirl Movie Special', 'series_name': 'Supergirl Movie Special (c2c)', 'series_volume': 'v1', 'alt_series': None, 'alt_issue': None, 'issue_year': None, 'issue_number': None, 'issueid': None, 'scangroup': 'FB-DCP', 'booktype': 'issue'}]
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1560 : Thread-25 : [FILE-RESCAN] Updated the status of 1 issues for Supergirl Movie Special (1985) that were not found.
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1564 : Thread-25 : [FILE-RESCAN] Total files located: 0
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1690 : Thread-25 : [FILE-RESCAN] I have physically found 0 issues, ignored 0 issues, snatched 0 issues, and accounted for 0 in an Archived state [ Total Issue Count: 0 / 1 ]

INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.999 : Thread-26 : [FILE-RESCAN] Now checking files for Supergirl Movie Special (1985) in /comics/1985 - Supergirl Movie Special
INFO    :: mylar.traverse_directories.1505 : Thread-26 : there are 1 files.
INFO    :: mylar.listFiles.214 : Thread-26 : FAILED FILES: [{'parse_status': 'failure', 'sub': None, 'comicfilename': '1985 - Supergirl Movie Special #01 (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr', 'comiclocation': '/comics/1985 - Supergirl Movie Special', 'series_name': '1985 - Supergirl Movie Special', 'series_volume': None, 'alt_series': '1985', 'alt_issue': 'Supergirl Movie Special', 'issue_year': '1985', 'issue_number': '01', 'issueid': None, 'scangroup': 'FB-DCP', 'booktype': 'issue'}]
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1560 : Thread-26 : [FILE-RESCAN] Updated the status of 1 issues for Supergirl Movie Special (1985) that were not found.
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1564 : Thread-26 : [FILE-RESCAN] Total files located: 0
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1690 : Thread-26 : [FILE-RESCAN] I have physically found 0 issues, ignored 0 issues, snatched 0 issues, and accounted for 0 in an Archived state [ Total Issue Count: 0 / 1 ]

INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.999 : Thread-27 : [FILE-RESCAN] Now checking files for Supergirl Movie Special (1985) in /comics/1985 - Supergirl Movie Special
INFO    :: mylar.traverse_directories.1505 : Thread-27 : there are 1 files.
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1564 : Thread-27 : [FILE-RESCAN] Total files located: 1
INFO    :: mylar.forceRescan.1690 : Thread-27 : [FILE-RESCAN] I have physically found 1 issues, ignored 0 issues, snatched 0 issues, and accounted for 0 in an Archived state [ Total Issue Count: 1 / 1 ]
I will check the other failed files, too, and rename them accordingly.

I'm sorry, it must feel like I'm an idiot but the whole scene and Mylar itself are new to me.
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evilhero
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Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by evilhero »

The watchlist is what we term to all of the series that you have Mylar 'watching'. So the main home page of mylar where it shows all the series, that's what we term as the watchlist. The readlist portion is to allow you to keep track of what you've read and or offload items to an external device - totally separate things but they probably use the term watchlist with a little too much freddom.

So the filename you posted, I can explain why they didn't parse properly (or be detected as valid filenames):

Code: Select all

Supergirl Movie Special (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr
:
Due to not having an issue number present in the filename. Because the series edition (check the series detail page - it will say near the top Edition: Print) is set to a print edition, Mylar assumes an issue number be present. For an issue to be recognized that does not contain an issue number, the series edition type must be : TPB or One-Shot. In this case it's actually a One-Shot, so you could go into the Edit Settings tab within the series page for Supergirl and change the booktype to One-Shot. After doing this, it would be able to scan it in with this naming convention.

Code: Select all

1985 - Supergirl Movie Special #01 (c2c) (FB-DCP).cbr
:
Due to having the year at the very beginning of the file. When Mylar sees a number at the very beginning it assumes it's part of the series name. In this case, you have it as 1985 -, which Mylar would assume is part of the series - if you didn't have a dash present (I know right). The dash to Mylar signifies a break in the wording, and in normal situations this type of numbering is identical to how story arc reading order is presented, with the reading order number being the first thing in the filename followed by a dash. So in this case, Mylar thinks 1985 is the reading order number. If you had put the year after the issue number, it would have picked it up just fine - or within brackets, as anything within brackets Mylar assumes is either unnecessary information (ie. c2c, scanner name, etc) or the year the issue was published (kinda like what you did when you got it to be recognised).

So yeah, with filename parsing the position of the arguements within the file do matter significantly. These are all items that you wouldn't even think about it when it comes to naming the files, as opposed to being exposed to how files are crappily named on a day-to-day basis (meaning myself lol).

No need to apologise about learning - everyone starts off at the same base at some point in their life. One can't assume people just automatically know everything right from the hop, especially if you're just getting into the comics scene. Take your time, explore the options in Mylar, come back and ask some Q's - it's all good, we're here all week! Or if you want a more wild (and vivid) array of responses, check us out on our discord where we can answer questions much quicker.

Have fun!
TVS2021
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2021 12:20 pm

Re: Help Setting Up Mylar

Post by TVS2021 »

evilhero wrote: Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:11 pm Due to not having an issue number present in the filename. Because the series edition (check the series detail page - it will say near the top Edition: Print) is set to a print edition, Mylar assumes an issue number be present. For an issue to be recognized that does not contain an issue number, the series edition type must be : TPB or One-Shot. In this case it's actually a One-Shot, so you could go into the Edit Settings tab within the series page for Supergirl and change the booktype to One-Shot. After doing this, it would be able to scan it in with this naming convention.
Hm, it's set to One-Shot but good information to know for the future anyway.

I had one issue that came with wrong metatags and I overcorrected from there and made a mess of all the ones that didn't get recognized. I have it working right now. Thanks!
Mylar v0.5.3 running in a Docker on OpenMediaVault 4
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