@mw4925 said:
I installed the 2nd 4GB stick, i.e. I now have 2x4GB RAM installed in my DS718+; with that, I had hoped it would resolve playback issues with certain recordings but, unfortunately, this hasn’t come true - see new thread issues-playing-certain-recordings-on-ds718-and-apple-tv-4th-gen
Thanks @ChuckPA - I tried to switch back to 1.12.3 but Synology won’t let me downgrade the package. I guess the only option is to uninstall Plex. But if I did that, would I loose all my settings and scheduled recordings?
To switch back:
Ok - I’m back at 1.12.3.4973 and I have recreated the issue - see attached logs.
I started the programme at 18:07 UK time (GMT+1):
BTW, no matter how often I repeat watching this recording the issues always happen at exactly the same point and in the same way.
That’s an interesting issue.
The video freezes are likely because of the software transcoding. It’s not detecting the hardware is available.
Have you updated DSM since PMS 1.12.3 was installed?
If so, simply uninstall and reinstall the 64 bit version you’re using. It will reassert the necessary hardware permissions rules. I have a change in QA which will make it as simple as stopping and restarting PMS from this point forward.
May 07, 2018 18:07:17.507 [0x7f5e73511700] DEBUG - Starting a transcode session 8FE7B3CD-48B6-4260-A708-5655B62FD74E at offset -1.0 (state=3)
May 07, 2018 18:07:17.514 [0x7f5e73511700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 07, 2018 18:07:17.514 [0x7f5e73511700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /volume1/media/tv/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2010)/Season 55/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2007) - S55E03 - Episode 3.ts
May 07, 2018 18:07:17.515 [0x7f5e73511700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
May 07, 2018 18:07:17.519 [0x7f5e73511700] DEBUG - Job running: EAE_ROOT='/volume1/Plex/tmp_transcoding/pms-e3b8c88d-b182-4585-8c1b-16262578f2a6/EasyAudioEncoder' FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/volume1/Plex/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/7814ac9-1285-linux-ubuntu-x86_64/
Here’s the sequence of DSM and Plex installations:
30 MAR DSM - updated
10 APR Plex - installed version from Package Center
11 APR Plex - manually installed version 1.12.2.4929
12 APR DSM - updated to DSM 6.1.6-15266 Update 1
13 APR Plex - manually installed version 1.12.3.4973
06 MAY Plex - manually installed version 1.13.0.5003 (beta)
07 MAY Plex - uninstalled Plex package via Package Center
07 MAY Plex - manually installed version 1.12.3.4973
07 MAY Plex - uninstalled Plex package via Package Center
07 MAY Plex - manually installed version 1.12.3.4973
I tried again - no change - see attached logs:
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.961 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - Starting a transcode session AF49E874-AD01-418E-AE62-CA99AFD992A0 at offset -1.0 (state=3)
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.968 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.968 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /volume1/media/tv/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2010)/Season 55/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2007) - S55E03 - Episode 3.ts
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.969 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
I started the programme at around 20:30:15 UK time.
I have now rebooted my DS and watched the same programme again (starting at about 20:49:05) - again no change - see logs attached.
May 07, 2018 20:49:06.860 [0x7eff76bc5700] DEBUG - Starting a transcode session 697A8907-BFA6-48E6-939B-268D190E3488 at offset -1.0 (state=3)
May 07, 2018 20:49:06.867 [0x7eff76bc5700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 07, 2018 20:49:06.867 [0x7eff76bc5700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /volume1/media/tv/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2010)/Season 55/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2007) - S55E03 - Episode 3.ts
May 07, 2018 20:49:06.868 [0x7eff76bc5700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:This can’t be happening. Code is code and it doesn’t not work because it wanted a long weekend holiday. 
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.961 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - Found session GUID of AF49E874-AD01-418E-AE62-CA99AFD992A0 in session start.
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.961 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - Starting a transcode session AF49E874-AD01-418E-AE62-CA99AFD992A0 at offset -1.0 (state=3)
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.968 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.968 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /volume1/media/tv/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2010)/Season 55/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2007) - S55E03 - Episode 3.ts
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.969 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
May 07, 2018 20:30:16.973 [0x7f08bb911700] DEBUG - Job running: EAE_ROOT='/volume1/Plex/tmp_transcoding/pms-e79d9c1e-5944-4c2b-8605-d14584bb36d7/EasyAudioEncoder' FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/volume1/Plex/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/7814ac9-1285-linux-ubuntu-x86_64/' XDG_CACHE_HOME='/volume1/Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/' XDG_DATA_HOME='/volume1/@appstore/Plex Media Server/Resources
Let’s dig deeper to make 100% certain your hardware is there and seen.
admin user is not disabled.admin with the administrator password. (ssh would be: ssh -l admin ip.addr.of.syno)sudo -su root
ls -la /dev/driIf there is a DSM fault, you will see:
admin@moesern:~$ sudo -su root
sh-4.3# ls -la /dev/dri
ls: cannot access /dev/dri: No such file or directory
sh-4.3#
If it’s detecting correctly, it will look similar to this (from my QNAP)
[~] # ls -la /dev/dri
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 admin administrators 100 2018-05-05 22:13 ./
drwxr-xr-x 20 admin administrators 22360 2018-05-07 01:43 ../
crw------- 1 admin administrators 226, 0 2018-05-07 12:29 card0
crw------- 1 admin administrators 226, 64 2018-05-06 02:18 controlD64
crw------- 1 admin administrators 226, 128 2018-05-06 02:18 renderD128
[~] #
Notice the permissions in the left column crw------- .
If working correctly for Plex, you will see crw-rw----- and owned by root: in group video.
Last, we make certain Plex is a member of the video group.
sh-4.3# grep plex /etc/group
video:x:65536:plex
sh-4.3#
Please type these commands as I have shown and do your best to replicate my output. Please show me what’s different on your system.
I just watched another HD programme and this is working fine - see attached logs. I started the programme at around 21:00:30.
I won’t have time to investigate this further tonight but I will check your last comments tomorrow…
Thanks, You got lucky because of subtitles it appears. There is still no sign of hardware transcoding capability which is a serious problem
I’ve checked my DS and here’s my output.
sh-4.3# ls -la /dev/dri
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 100 May 7 20:43 .
drwxr-xr-x 13 root root 18780 May 8 00:43 ..
crw-rw---- 1 root video 226, 0 May 7 20:43 card0
crw-rw---- 1 root video 226, 64 May 7 20:43 controlD64
crw-rw---- 1 root video 226, 128 May 7 20:43 renderD128
sh-4.3#
sh-4.3# grep plex /etc/group
administrators:x:101:admin,plex
video:x:65537:plex
sh-4.3#
Only difference seems to be that your device files are owned by admin:administrators whereas mine are owned by root:video
Now nothing makes sense.
We need to figure out what is unique to your configuration such that it won’t report using hardware transcoding reliably
Please give me a bit to ask in Engineering for their thoughts
Confusing - I agree :’(
If you look at my first post in thread issues-playing-certain-recordings-on-ds718-and-apple-tv-4th-gen you see that the hardware transcoding was working on 05 MAY. On 06 MAY, I added the 2nd 4GB stick and updated to 1.13.0.5003 (beta). However, the issue with that programme freezing frequently has been going on since 23 APR.
Build 5003 has been replaced due to a problem. (what beta is for).
Just to play safe: Drop back to 1.12.3, verify it works, then up to the NEW 1.13.0 (destroy your copy of 1.13.0.5003)
I reverted to 1.12.3 yesterday - see my comment https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1665371/#Comment_1665371 in this thread
Reboot the box. I cannot think of anything else and we’re all coming up blank. Everything happening defies logic and reality
I did a full shutdown, removed power, left it for 20 min or so, plugged it back in and booted it up. I have repeated my test and there’s no change - still freezing at the very same points.
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.530 [0x7fa1c77ff700] DEBUG - Starting a transcode session 5453CBD5-FA1C-4266-A905-15176410A849 at offset -1.0 (state=3)
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.530 [0x7fa1cbbf8700] DEBUG - Request: [192.168.1.112:52321 (Subnet)] GET /photo/:/transcode/?height=300&minSize=0&url=http%3A%2F%2F127.0.0.1%3A32400%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F140%2Fthumb%2F1524565261&width=300 (14 live) TLS GZIP Signed-in Token (mw4925)
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.531 [0x7fa1cbbf8700] DEBUG - Photo transcoder: Request for url [127.0.0.1:32400/library/metadata/140/thumb/1524565261] (is local: 1 upscaled: 0)
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.531 [0x7fa1cbbf8700] DEBUG - Content-Length of /volume1/Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/PhotoTranscoder/00/00353410290ac5e9b3afaea5a12dd142fb06c2ce.jpg is 19646.
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.532 [0x7fa1cd911700] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.112:52320] 200 GET /transcode/sessions (14 live) TLS GZIP 2ms 602 bytes (pipelined: 7)
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.533 [0x7fa1cd911700] DEBUG - Completed: [192.168.1.112:52321] 200 GET /photo/:/transcode/?height=300&minSize=0&url=http%3A%2F%2F127.0.0.1%3A32400%2Flibrary%2Fmetadata%2F140%2Fthumb%2F1524565261&width=300 (14 live) TLS GZIP 2ms 19646 bytes (pipelined: 3)
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.538 [0x7fa1c77ff700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.538 [0x7fa1c77ff700] DEBUG - [Universal] Using local file path instead of URL: /volume1/media/tv/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2010)/Season 55/Have I Got a Bit More News for You (2007) - S55E03 - Episode 3.ts
May 08, 2018 17:34:28.538 [0x7fa1c77ff700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:Just saw that 1.13.0.5023 is now available as public release. Should I try this one or stick with 1.12.3?
I’ve played around with this a bit more and started testing using the Plex web interface from my DS as this is easier (saves me having to go downstairs to the telly). I played the same “Have I Got a Bit More News for You” programme that I have used for all testing and noticed the following:
it starts playing as Original (4.6 Mbps, 1080p HD)
19 secs into the programme it stops playing the screen goes black and at the same time the quality setting changes to Converting automatically and then to Auto (Now: 6.8 Mbps, 1080p)
after a few secs of buffering it starts playing again
at 28 secs it changes to Auto (Now: 3.1 Mbps, 720p)
at 44 secs it changes to Auto (Now: 1.1 Mbps, SD)
at 1:46 an error message comes up, but the programme continues playing:
Playback Error
An error occurred trying to play "Episode 3".
shaka3015 (Media)
Playback of my last test started at 19:22 - see attached logs
What I also noticed when perfuming a grep TPU on the Media Server log, that the hardware transcoding seems to work once it switched to Auto mode:
May 08, 2018 19:22:56.055 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 08, 2018 19:22:56.056 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
May 08, 2018 19:23:05.936 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
May 08, 2018 19:23:05.937 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
May 08, 2018 19:26:01.385 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:01.386 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:26:01.386 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:26:01.386 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:29.294 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:29.295 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:26:29.295 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:26:29.295 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:46.832 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:46.833 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:26:46.833 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:26:46.833 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:59.861 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:26:59.862 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:26:59.862 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:26:59.862 [0x7ff2c5efb700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:28:51.938 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:28:51.938 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:28:51.938 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:28:51.939 [0x7ff2c3309700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:28:59.600 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:28:59.600 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:28:59.601 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:28:59.601 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:05.633 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:05.634 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:29:05.634 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:29:05.634 [0x7ff2c737d700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:21.383 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:21.383 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:29:21.383 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:29:21.384 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:50.658 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:50.659 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:29:50.659 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:29:50.659 [0x7ff2c5055700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:54.365 [0x7ff2c766b700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:29:54.366 [0x7ff2c766b700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:29:54.366 [0x7ff2c766b700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:29:54.366 [0x7ff2c766b700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:30:13.129 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:30:13.130 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:30:13.130 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:30:13.130 [0x7ff2cef35700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:30:46.320 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
May 08, 2018 19:30:46.321 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
May 08, 2018 19:30:46.321 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: not using zero-copy because video is interlaced
May 08, 2018 19:30:46.321 [0x7ff2cf223700] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapiThat is a VERY interesting find (vaapi vs “auto bit rate”).
Would you mind making the same test again with:
You only need to play for 15 seconds of each, then stop. Once with “auto bit rate” ON and the next with it ‘OFF’.
You may have stumbled on a pretty serious regression . If so, HOTFIX time
