Technically, you could just rename the “Plex Transcoder” executable and then symlink it to a fully working FFMPEG copy you provided. It’s possible it would require a bit more to it, but that’s what plex runs when it transcodes. If you execute it yourself, you can see it’s just a very specifically compiled version of ffmpeg with tons of options selected. The problems would likely crop up when it tries to access whatever link libraries it’s connected to. As long as those are all accessible and pathed in such a way that plex could see them, it should work?
I dunno what the legalities would be, but on your own personal server I dunno if anyone would care. Maybe it would violate the TOS of plex, I have no idea.
You would have no feedback in the Activity or Dashboard
Plex has added functions to base FFMPEG which ARE REQUIRED for transcoding to work.
There is nothing to be gained by “What if” here.
Continuing to discuss ways to modify PMS / Plex Transcoder will be marked as OFF-TOPIC and summarily removed.
thank you for pointing out the wayback machine, I accidentally pulled a new contsiner and had lost the test version that was working great with my b580. I’m now back to HW transcoding with this version until the true beta is released!
Interesting, I didn’t know you guys added functions to it. I’ve never tried to mess with it, other than running it manually to make sure it worked in certain debugging steps, which is why I know it’s some weirdly compiled version of ffmpeg. Anyway, I won’t mention it again here.
Just an FYI I use docker container image lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest I wasn’t able to use the command “./plex_service.sh -d“ to stop the service. I had to use “s6-svc -d /var/run/service/svc-plex“ then do the rest of the commands. Then use “s6-svc -u /var/run/service/svc-plex“ to restart.
I was also unable to update the version in the text file as it doesn’t exist. If I restart the container and it reverts I’ll just use the steps with the wayback link again.
I don’t mean to sound antagonistic, I’m genuinely curious. Were Jellyfin and Emby able to ship it faster because they’re FOSS and don’t have the same licensing constraints that Plex does?
Thank all of you for all the had work you do! i genuinely love Plex.
I was frustrated due to the links no being available anymore, as I use the linux server docker image on Unraid and the easiest way to fix a version is to use the env vars `PLEX_DOWNLOAD` and `VERSION`. Someone a couple of messages ago suggested the Wayback machine and it worked! All you have to do is set:
Emby is a licensed product with its own licensing agreements. I’m not privy to those details. They remove certain things pursuant to their licensing.
Emby is using FFMPEG 5 with their own proprietary add-ons.
JellyFin is a FOSS collection of software with no corporate entity . It’s a strictly volunteer effort to make all the pieces come together.
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