Another QuickSync Issue

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.21.4.4079 (Running as a service with the PlexService app)
Player Version#: any player

So I have a new Windows 2019 server and was looking forward to using Quick Sync for transcodes with a 10700, but it doesn’t work. I can use QSV just fine in Handbrake however, so it’s something with Plex. It’s not a headless display, there is a monitor connected through the HDMI slot.

I have updated to the latest Intel video drivers as well, and the behavior varies from Plex crashing to just not using the hardware to encode or decode.

I had a really old server previous so it’s kind of heartbreaking not to be able to use the new one properly! On the bright side the CPU alone can do a 4k transcode when necessary but it gets pegged, something I’d like to avoid.

It’s not detecting it apparently:
Feb 28, 2021 09:33:17.173 [1516] DEBUG - [Transcode] Streaming Resource: Determining preferred transcode encoders through transcode only decision.
Feb 28, 2021 09:33:17.173 [1516] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing h264_qsv (encoder)
Feb 28, 2021 09:33:17.174 [1516] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API qsv
Feb 28, 2021 09:33:17.175 [1516] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Failed to create Direct3D device

Thanks for any help on this topic.

2

System services don’t get access to the hardware drivers. Which are necessary for hardware encoding. This is a Windows limitation.

3

Yeah I figured that out after posting this and doing more research. Really stinks to be honest, because the whole point of a server is to have it being a service and forgetting about it. HW acceleration isn’t optional with 4k streams though, so I guess I’ll look into the task scheduler method and hope for the best. Thanks for the reply!