Works on windows from everything I’ve found.
Definitely works on Windows 10 at least - I’ve got a PC that’s several years old now, with an Intel Core i5 6500 and AMD R9 390, and hardware acceleration uses the graphics card (I see “video encode” and “video decode” usage in task manager → performance when transcoding)
Yep:
AMD FX-8350 / AMD R9 380
Happily holding hands to wade through whatever needs wading through.
(making it all look so easy)
Granted they don’t get much of a chance to dance, but when they do - they take the trophy.
is there a way to make it work through synology (more specifically, xpenology)?
This thread is so far past me, that I understand little. But you are at least talking about AMD Graphics cards.
Here is my plea, Have I wandered down a rabbit hole that is a dead end?
I am ONLY using Plex for my home. I live so far out I can only get 3Mbps download and 512Kbps upload. It will never be more than a local server… and it is only my wife and me.
Server Version#: 1.19.4.2935
I am running an Intel NUC Intel Core i3-8121U 2.20 GHz/ 3.20 GHz 8 GB of LPDDR4 memory with a Radeon 540 discrete graphics with 2GB GDDR5 graphics memory with Windows 10 Pro. It is dedicated to being a PMS. I went this way because it is small and I thought having a discrete graphics would handle converting the TS files.
It is hardwired to the modem which has 802.11N wifi which is extended with a Netgear AC1200 with 802.11ac wifi. A look at the Dashboard shows a peak demand of 17Mbps and an average of around 9Mbps
I am using Apple TV HD to access Plex, Acorn, Amazon, Disney, etc.I have a combination of .TS, .MP4, .M4V files.
To put it mildly I am SICK and TIRED of Playback freezes or “your server is not fast enough…” error messages.
I discovered in the log file these messages:
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.327 [6284] INFO - [FFMPEG] - MFT name: ‘AMDh265Encoder’
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice nvdec
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvdec
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Cannot load nvcuda.dll
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Jul 21, 2020 14:42:14.456 [6284] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice dxva2
Obviously, the reason it “Cannot load nvcuda.dll” is that it is for NVIDA graphics, I have Radeon 540 graphics card. Why is Plex looking for the wrong card? Was I supposed to set it someplace? If so where?
I am hoping one of you can help me understand what I need to do.
Thanks so much for the help, Fred
Plex Media Server.1.log (10.0 MB)
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As Nvidia now requires a license for vGPU within ESX… can we get AMD PCIe GPU Support?
Thx
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You seem to understand AMD transcoding as best I can tell.
Would you please look at my post #44 or 45 in this thread?
Sorry to come banging on the door unannounced, but I am frustrated as all get out.
Thank you so much, Fred
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@FredYates NUC8i3CYSM I presume? I’ve taken a look at your log.
Jul 21, 2020 14:45:50.628 [4744] DEBUG - Codecs: testing hevc_mf (encoder)
Jul 21, 2020 14:45:50.897 [4744] INFO - [FFMPEG] - MFT name: ‘AMDh265Encoder’
Jul 21, 2020 14:45:51.018 [4744] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264 (decoder) with hwdevice nvdec
Jul 21, 2020 14:45:51.019 [4744] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvdec
Jul 21, 2020 14:45:51.019 [4744] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Just to be sure, did you install GPU drivers or are you using the Windows default ones? Because even if your AMD GPU doesn’t work for the HW transcoding, the internal Intel one should work.
So first step I guess is to make sure that you have the latest AMD drivers installed:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28065/Radeon-540-Graphics-Driver-for-NUC8i3CYSM-NUC8i3CYSN?product=126145
The one provided by Intel is fairly old, so if that doesn’t work, try to install those directly from AMD:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/radeon-500-series/radeon-500-series/radeon-540
Once you’ve tried both AMD drivers and it still doesn’t work, you could try setting the AMD GPU as primary in the BIOS. If there is no option in the BIOS, you can try to set the GPU for Plex in the Windows settings:
The lack of AMD trans-coding really is inexcusable in 2020.
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Huh so I get a 4K capable Roku and find out there is still no AMD GPU support? Not even a pay option.
Emby is looking better…sigh
I have read so many articles of people saying AMD would not work, or at least do so much worse than would Intel, and that AMD GPUs simply wouldn’t work with out issues, that I changed my entire build to Intel and Nvidia. Its good to see posts such as this, showing that not only will AMD hardware work, but even " …transcode 4k 50gb+ 10bit hevc mkv file to 1080p h264 natively…". Kinda makes me wish I stuck with my AMD plan or to have tried with my Xeon based HP Z800. Thanks for the information @mcgrog
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Just chiming in to say my Ryzen 3600 with Rx570 DOES allow hardware transcoding on win 10.
Why is plex dragging their feet on official support?
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I really have no idea, it doesn’t make much sense since ffmpeg can already use VCE. Whoever decides these things at Plex HQ makes some weird decisions sometimes. HW transcoding is the only feature of Plex Pass that I would use and I’m not adding a GPU or switching my otherwise fine hardware to Intel for it.
I suspect that Plex doesn’t know what they are talking about. If you have Mesa 20.1 or higher installed on your Linux box or inside the docker container and you have amdgpu-pro drivers installed on the host OS then you should be able to use VAAPI to do transcoding with any AMD GPU that at least a RX550 or newer. If you don’t have Mesa 20.1 or higher installed you can do transcoding but not HEVC transcoding, same for using the open source drivers instead of the amdgpu-pro drivers. Without the pro drivers you don’t get HEVC support.
AMD AMF hardware acceleration should be possible too since ffmpeg supports that as well in Linux but I suspect they didn’t put any code in to support AMF hardware transcoding in Windows or Linux. That’s just poor planning on their part since AMD makes great GPUs that are much cheaper than Nvidia and aren’t artificially limited to 3 streams at once like Nvidia.
MY windows based plex box is build around Ryzen 5 3400G with Vega 11 graphics build in
it runs but its a bummer that i need to go to windows instead of linux, otherwise i could have gone Xpenology, of unraid
Otherwise i will have to find a alternative for Plex media server with same capabilities that can run bare metal with linux kernel.
Keep the topic alive…
Building an 2950X with 4x Vega64s, running Xen and GPU pass-through (since the XenGT project seems dead/for Intel only) loaded up with 148TB. It’s a rebuild of a previous server that worked fine for homelab for infosec/security investigations; however, it wasn’t a “media”-serving server, just data.
If Plex doesn’t work with 4k 10-bit hardware decoding with this setup (a single Vega64), it’s why I plan on also installing and using the alternatives:
- Kodi (direct play only, I believe)
- Emby (word is in this thread that it does work with this setup)
- Jellyfin
Point is, Plex is not the only one in the game. And the longer that time goes on without Plex supporting HDR transcoding of 4k on AMD, the more market-share the competitors will gain to the point of finally the mass-move.
I have paid for a lifetime Plex pass, and my family and friends have gained 100s if not 1000s of hours of enjoyment from it. So I consider my investment worthwhile. However, seeing how Plex has treated AMD over the last several years, I won’t ever give them another dime.
Especially when competitors are really making headway - and I think that’s why the competitors came up, because of Plex’ closed source and nature.
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Keep the topic alive too.
Changed my unRAID server to an Ryzen 3700X without never mind that Plex isn’t able to do hardware encoding with an AMD CPU or GPU.
Now it seems I’m forced by Plex to switch to the competitors 
I’ll definitely not buying an Intel CPU.
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With the new 5000 series GPU and CPU in the lineup around the corner, it would seem very weird not having plex supporting the faster and better CPU+GPU combo. I do understand 2 years ago, Intel and Nvidia were the besting (or comparable to) to AMD side of things, but now even the third party GPU manufacturers are paying more attention to AMD. If performance isn’t clearly favouring AMD look at how badly its beating the green and blue on pricing. It’s almost criminal for me to think of buying an green and blue machine only for plex transcoding. It isn’t fair.
While I don’t expect the solution overnight, a word from the devs about (maybe) the support for team red “a work in progress” will make a lot of us plex users very happy.
Personally I’m also planning to build a server mostly for media serving from my old Intel xeon FreeNAS box because of the limitations the server has developed with the X265 and 4K coming to the market. I probably would have bought another Intel and P2200 about a year or 2 back, but now I could only justify Intel because I use plex, and that honestly I can’t. It’s too much of a cost.
I hope the devs are reading through this. I only hope to resonate what the community thinks or is going to in the very near future.
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Is this still true today?
Was considering buying a plex pass for HW Enconding but no AMD support would change that.
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Same! I already have an AMD CPU. No point in getting Plex Pass if it just won’t add anything in terms of hardware transcoding. No point in replacing a perfectly fine CPU.
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