SABnzbd Forums

Hi,

I hope someone can help me. I use sabnzbd together with Sickbeard. Everything works fine, but:

Sickbeard creates a folder for every show I add (which is ok, but if I delete the folder Sickbeard complaints). But sabnzb doesn't use those folders. Instead every archive is extracted in a way that creates another folder which is named after the file. So I have my 'completed' folder with all shows I watch as empty subfolders (from Sickbeard) plus the folders from the extracted archives on the same hierarchy (from sabnzbd). Folder salad.

I would prefer if the downloaded files were extracted into the folders that were set in Sickbeard (without creating subfolders)
OR
if everything just extracts into my 'completed' folder without any subfolders at all. Just plain video files.

I think there is an easy solution and I don't see it. Or maybe I need a postprocessing script...
Thanks for any help :-)

From your description, both programs appear to be working correctly The "typical" process is Sick Beard will check your default "Existing Shows" main directory (which will have a sub-folder for each TV show you've added, as you mention, and possibly another sub-folder below that for each season of that show if you've enabled this sorting feature in Sick Beard) and compare the episodes you have against what is available. It will send the NZB file for any needed shows to sabnzbd.

SabnNZBD will initially download the show to the folder you've set as"Temporary Download Folder". Once it is complete, it will unpack and move the files to the "Completed Download Folder". Here is the key: You *must* set the Sick Beard "TV Download Dir" (under Config/Post Processing) to the same folder as your SabNZBD "Completed Download Folder." Sick Beard will then scan those files once completed, rename them,and move them to your Sick Beard Existing Shows directory under the correct folder.

I suppose you could set the SabNZBD "Completed Download Folder" as your Sick Beard's default "Existing Shows" directory, but I'd not recommend it. If you do, Sick Beard will scan all downloaded files from SabNZBD in that directory and at a minimum give you errors in your log when it finds new files that aren't TV Shows (i.e. movies, software, etc..) If you use SabNZBD to sort TV shows into a sub folder of your "Completed Download Folder" so ONLY the downloaded TV shows go into that folder, it would probably work but as I download from one system and move them to a separate server using Sick Beard I haven't tried it.

Bottom line: You should really have two separate folders; one for completed downloads from SabNZBD and one for your permanent TV show storage for Sick Beard. Point Sick Beard's Post Processing TV Download Dir to the SabNZBD completed downloads folder, and Sick Beard will do the work of renaming and moving files to your permanent TV show storage folder.

I see, thank you very much for your explanation :-) It's always nice when somebody takes the time to write a few sentences because reading the old threads in the forum or the manual doesn't help much really.
There is a problem though:

You *must* set the Sick Beard "TV Download Dir" (under Config/Post Processing) to the same folder as your SabNZBD "Completed Download Folder."

My Versions: SABnzbd 0.7.11, Sickbeard alpha build 499
In Sickbeard it says (under Postprocessing -> TV Download Dir):
"The folder where your download client puts TV downloads. NOTE: Use only if not using SABnzbd+ post processing. Or if SABnzbd+ and Sick Beard are on different PCs. "
and under "Scan and process":
"Scan and post-process any files in your TV Download Dir? NOTE: Do not use if you use sabToSickbeard w/ SABnzbd+!"
Is "sabToSickbeard" that script I don't need because I have a new version? Should I turn that on then?

Normally I would have done what you proposed already, but I use SABnzbd Postprocessing so I left both blank/unchecked (and there is no option in SABnzbd to turn postprocessing off). Btw, does the "plus" in SABnzbd+ make a difference? ^^
Nevertheless, Sickbeard has the information where every show has its folder because you define that for every show you add. And in my case it is "Completed download folder"/ShowXYZ (e.g. D:\Downloads\Dexter). But there is no scanning. So maybe Sickbeard completely relies on SABnzbd to do the postprocessing and just downloads anything that is new as opposed to scanning what is there and concluding from that. Which is actually what I prefer because I delete every file after watching it (and surely don't want Sickbeard to give me that file again ^^). I don't want to create a TV show library.
Postprocessing in SABnzbd works to a point (deleting .nzb,.nfo or sample files). I just need a setting like in WinRAR "Extract here" as opposed to "Extract in folder", so that it just extracts the contents without any subfolders. (And optionally move it to the correct folder created by Sickbeard.)

Regarding your final suggestion: I didn't find an "Existing Shows" folder in Sickbeard, probably because I have a newer version. And I can't make two separate folders, I think. The "completed downloads" is probably taken as the "existing shows" folder automatically, or it takes the setting you initially make as the designated folder for a show.
So I just enabled "scan and process". Maybe that helps, I have to test it. But I still want it without any folders...^^