Metadata for MOVIES not downloading

Hi

For the past few days I am having a problem of metadata not loading for MOVIES I add to my collection. When I try updating the metadata manually, I get a ‘Network Error’ message (Screenshot from iPad attached. Same error comes up in ATV as well).

This problem is occurring only for MOVIES and NOT for TV Content. As new episodes of an existing TV Show pick up their metadata from the existing cache, I put in a few NEW TV Shows and the metadata for the shows were automatically picked up from the internet. So the problem is happening ONLY for MOVIES.

My internet connection is perfectly fine. The problem is occurring on ALL ATVs and iOS Devices (iPads & iPhones) across my home.

Please help me to fix this problem.

Warm regards

John D

Are you able to reach themoviedb.com which is where.Infuse gets its metadata.

Do I need to configure Infuse to access themoviedb.com ?

No, it is builtin to Infuse to use themoviedb.com for movie metadata and thetvdb.org for the TV metadata.

Then why am I unable to get metadata for movies. Its across all my devices :frowning:

Can you see themoviedb.org on a web browser?

And what country are you in?

I am unable to browse to the site using a browser. I am in India.

I want you to know that I was not having this problem till last week some time.

Sounds like your provider has blocked that site in their DNS server. You can try changing your DNS server to one of Googles public DNS servers (IP addresses 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4) and see if that helps

Thank you for trying to help but that didnt work either :frowning:

After digging around a bit it seems that several internet providers in India have recently blocked both the website and the API site of themoviedb.org.

From what I’ve been able to find it seems the one option that will work reliably is to use a VPN. There are some threads on themoviedb.org forum talking about this but since it’s blocked you won’t be able to view them. Here is a tweet that references the issue https://twitter.com/sanchit_gera/status/1096769323903774720

There are mentions of different providers, which one are you using and I’ll see if they are mentioned.

My ISP is ACT Fibernet

Sorry, it appears that ACT has again blocked themoviedb.org as of somewhere around the 16th of Feb.

Just curious, what you see when you go to google search and search for “india blocks themoviedb.org” ? That’s where I found links to the problem and maybe you can see the cached pages on google search for themoviedb.org.

Do you have a VPN you can use?

I have ExpressVPN which helps me to overcome the problem on iPad and iPhone but I dont know what to do about the ATVs.

Can you set up the VPN on your home router? VPN Setup Guides | ExpressVPN

EDIT: Also found this that may help shed some light. 6 Best VPNs for Apple TV in 2021 and How To Set Up Correctly

Hi sorry for the delayed response. I have spent the past two days going back and forth with ExpressVPN before being told that my current high end D-Link Router cannot be configured for ExpressVPN because I have a STATIC IP. I believe I will have to go in for a TWO ROUTER setup . Honestly, I am lost :frowning:

Sure sorry to hear that. Haven’t seen any signs of ACT changing to allow themoviedb again either.

Hope you’re able to get a router that will work with your VPN and get back to normal.

EDIT to add: Looks like you might find some info here on a twitter feed https://twitter.com/nithinpb/status/1085171906523906049

Unfortunately there is not much that ACT or any other service provider can do about this. TMDB has been reported by someone as a site supporting movie piracy (ridiculous), based on which TRAI (who dont have a mind of their own) has instructed all ISPs to ban them.

The problem I have with installing any VPN at router level is that I have a STATIC IP which I mandatorily require for certain applications I use. At this time I have started accessing movies thru PLEX which seems to work fine because they obviously pick up metadata from a site other than TMDB.

I know it’s not ideal but you could connect to plex in the infuse app, so on your plex server you can manually add posters and wallpapers from a website that isn’t blocked.

I second using plex as the server and infuse as the front end. The other option is a violent uprising against your current government.

Hi guys thanks for your suggestions on using Plex as server. If you see my last message you will find that I have already started using Plex Server (with Infuse front end).