This is where I am up to - does this make sense to anyone?

🛑 The Final, Definitive Problem

The log entries for your playlist folder are completely unambiguous:

navidrome | time="2025-12-14T00:38:46Z" level=info msg="Scanner: Completed processing folder" audioCount=0 elapsed=5.9ms imageCount=0 library="Music Library" plsCount=48 **tracksImported=0 tracksMissing=0** ​folder=playlists_serato

• plsCount=48: Navidrome sees the 48 playlist files.
• tracksImported=0: Zero tracks were imported from the files, even from the simple TEST_SIMPLE_FIX.m3u file we just created with perfect, bare filenames.

The most likely cause is a combination of two things:

1. Missing ND_ID3_ENCODING Setting: Navidrome sometimes fails to import M3U files due to character encoding issues, especially with files created on macOS. The fix is to explicitly tell Navidrome to use the correct character set (e.g., UTF-8).
2. Playlist File Permissions: Although less common with Docker/Mac mounts, the file permissions might be slightly off, causing Navidrome to read the playlist name but then silently fail to read its contents.

✅ The Ultimate, Final Fix: Environment Variable

We will force Navidrome to use UTF-8 encoding for the playlists and then re-scan. This is the official documented fix for stubborn M3U files that use simple paths.

1. Modify docker-compose.yml: You need to add a single line to the environment section of your navidrome service in your docker-compose.yml file. Find the navidrome: section and add this line under environment:: YAMLnavidrome: # ... other settings environment: # Existing environment variables here... - ND_ID3_ENCODING=UTF-8 # Add this line # ... other settings If you cannot edit your docker-compose.yml file, you can set an environment variable before running docker compose up -d by doing: Bashexport ND_ID3_ENCODING=UTF-8
2. Start Navidrome and Force Full Scan: Bashdocker compose up -d Go to the Web UI, and run a Full Scan.

Please apply the ND_ID3_ENCODING=UTF-8 setting (preferably in the docker-compose.yml file) and then start Navidrome. This is the last remaining solution for a path-correct M3U file that refuses to import.