# Can't get hw transcoding to work with my Sandy Bridge processor

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435>\
**Category:** General Discussions\
**Created:** [March 1, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435 "2018-03-01T14:34:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![fly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fly/32/82069_2.png) [@fly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fly)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 2:34pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/1 "2018-03-01T14:34:05Z")

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- I’ve enabled the flag in the PMS
- Running the latest version
- No virtualization
- Read this support article - [https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/115002178853-using-hardware-accelerated-streaming/)

No matter what I do, I can’t get it to work. What am I missing?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/2 "2018-03-01T17:20:24Z")

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Same problem here with an i5 2520M Sandy Bridge:

I have tried multiple Plex versions including final as well beta builds 1.11.3.4803, 1.9.3.4290, 1.9.1.4272, 1.8.1.4140, 1.6.0.3720 and 1.4.0.3224 and Intel driver versions 19.17.10.4229(15.28.24), 19.17.10.4101(15.28.23) and 9.17.10.3347 without any luck. Handbrake is encoding fine with qsv enabled and Plex software works but hardware transcode fails.

I was hoping things would just work in the public release and this was pretty much the only reason why I purchased a Plex Pass ☹

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fly/32/82069_2.png) [@fly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fly)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/3 "2018-03-02T14:43:04Z")

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Thank you for mentioning Handbrake. It seems that you and I have different problems, as I installed Handbrake and it shows ‘QuickSync hardware not detected or enabled!’

This is the processor that I have:

> **[Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz) Product...](https://ark.intel.com/products/52210/Intel-Core-i5-2500K-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_70-GHz)**
>
> Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.70 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

I’ve looked in the BIOS and everything related to graphics is enabled. I am running Windows Server 2016 though. Could it not have the needed bits?

**edit: The answer is sorta. Since it’s a server, I overlooked installing the graphics driver. I’ve since done that, and now Handbrake detects it. However, Plex still refuses to use it.**

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/4 "2018-03-02T15:36:26Z")

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Great. I would have happily changed my OS if you were able to made it work 🙂

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**Author:** ![AmazingRando24](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/amazingrando24/32/351517_2.png) [@AmazingRando24](https://forums.plex.tv/u/AmazingRando24)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:39pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/5 "2018-03-02T15:39:09Z")

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Some graphics drivers/cards require a monitor to be attached to work properly. Any chance you’re running headless? If so, you can get a dummy plug.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fly/32/82069_2.png) [@fly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fly)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/6 "2018-03-02T15:43:11Z")

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When I installed the graphics driver, I had a head on it. Although IIRC, everything I’ve read says that running headless only effects Win8 and below.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 4:58pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/7 "2018-03-02T16:58:02Z")

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Yes, I think something to do with the security model not allowing access to GPU frame-buffer when the system is locked or headless.

i hope someone with Sandy Bridge can help us with OS/driver version specific details. I’m sure the preview folks had it running flawlessly on Sandy Bridge for it to make Plex’s minimum recommendation.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/8 "2018-03-02T17:02:22Z")

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Running as Windows service, perhaps?  
This only allows for hardware **en** coding, but not **de** coding.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fly/32/82069_2.png) [@fly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fly)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/9 "2018-03-02T21:07:51Z")

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Oh crap. Seriously? Yep, its running as a service. Is there any workaround, other than running interactively?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 9:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/10 "2018-03-02T21:14:01Z")

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> @fly said:  
> Oh crap. Seriously? Yep, its running as a service. Is there any workaround, other than running interactively?

None that I know of, unfortunately.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fly](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fly/32/82069_2.png) [@fly](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fly)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/11 "2018-03-02T21:35:44Z")

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[https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-media-sdk/topic/386001](https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/intel-media-sdk/topic/386001)

Okay, so this seems to indicate that there is something _Plex_ can do at some point. Apparently if it’s used with DX11, services can use QuickSync. It seems that excludes Windows 7, but with mainstream support of 7 ending years ago, does that even matter?

I’m sure all this has been discussed in another thread though…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 2, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/12 "2018-03-02T23:13:20Z")

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Hmmm… but then shouldn’t it at least work as an interactive process? It’s not working like that either.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 12:43am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/13 "2018-03-03T00:43:19Z")

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> @rbks80 said:  
> Hmmm… but then shouldn’t it at least work as an interactive process? It’s not working like that either.

AFAIK you need to install the Intel graphics driver software. Don’t rely on the stuff that comes with Windows.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/14 "2018-03-03T02:24:48Z")

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Yep I tried the latest Intel drivers:

> **[Download Intel® HD Graphics Driver for Windows\* 7/8-64-bit](https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24971/Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-64-bit?product=81500)**
>
> Intel® HD Graphics Driver for Windows\* 7/8-64-bit

  
As well as the previous version (in case Intel had broken Media SDK 2.0 support):  

> **[Download Intel® HD Graphics Driver for Windows\* 7/8-64-bit](https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24696/Intel-HD-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-7-8-64-bit)**
>
> Intel® HD Graphics Driver for Windows\* 7/8-64-bit

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/15 "2018-03-03T02:28:18Z")

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And yopu have a monitor connected?

What type of file are you playing? ( [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") would help)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 2:29am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/16 "2018-03-03T02:29:23Z")

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> @fly said:  
> Oh crap. Seriously? Yep, its running as a service. Is there any workaround, other than running interactively?

Fly are you saying you can get it to work interactively? Or have you not tried because you only want to run it as a service?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 5:28pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/17 "2018-03-03T17:28:25Z")

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> @OttoKerner said:  
> And yopu have a monitor connected?
> 
> What type of file are you playing? ( [Plex XML info](https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/201998867-Investigate-Media-Information-and-Formats "Plex XML info") would help)

Oh I am trying to play this on a T420 with display. Example media info for an x265 file is given below but i have tried it on x264 files as well with no success.

Video Resolution 1080p  
Duration 53:20  
Bitrate 1699 kbps  
Width 1920  
Height 1080  
Aspect Ratio 1.78  
Container MKV  
Video Frame Rate 24p  
Audio Profile he-aac  
Video Profile main 10  
Part  
Duration 53:51  
File Earth 1.mkv  
Size 648.37 MB  
Audio Profile he-aac  
Container MKV  
Video Profile main 10  
Codec HEVC  
Bitrate 1699 kbps  
Bit Depth 10  
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0  
Color Range tv  
Frame Rate 23.976 fps  
Height 1080  
Level 4.0  
Profile main 10  
Ref Frames 1  
Width 1920  
Codec AAC  
Channels 5.1  
Bitrate 197 kbps  
Language English  
Audio Channel Layout 5.1  
Profile he-aac  
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz  
Codec ASS  
Language English  
View XML

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2018, 9:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/18 "2018-03-03T21:30:32Z")

</div>

H.265 is out of the question. That old cpu doesn’t have a hardware decoder for it.

For the H.264 file it is also important to know which ‘Level’ it uses and if it was encoded with 10 bit color accuracy (‘Hi10’).

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 4:34am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/19 "2018-03-04T04:34:47Z")

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True, I wasn’t expecting decoding but it should still be able to do sw x265 decode + hw x264 encode.

Here is an x264 example which also does not transcode:

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.

```auto
<MediaContainer size="1" allowSync="1" identifier="com.plexapp.plugins.library" librarySectionID="3" librarySectionTitle="Other Videos" librarySectionUUID="0938ccde-9de9-4b72-ab69-6327dd190fea" mediaTagPrefix="/system/bundle/media/flags/" mediaTagVersion="1518701078">
<Video ratingKey="71" key="/library/metadata/71" guid="com.plexapp.agents.none://c009ec2e2f16fc48ec3e99c6abf64fa0b6c6a5f0?lang=xn" librarySectionTitle="Other Videos" librarySectionID="3" librarySectionKey="/library/sections/3" type="movie" title="Tigre" summary="" viewOffset="536043" lastViewedAt="1520137796" year="2018" thumb="/library/metadata/71/thumb/1520137535" art="/library/metadata/71/art/1520137535" duration="9592480" originallyAvailableAt="2018-02-27" addedAt="1519689861" updatedAt="1520137535" createdAtAccuracy="epoch,local" createdAtTZOffset="0">
<Media videoResolution="1080" id="57" duration="9592480" bitrate="8553" width="1920" height="816" aspectRatio="2.35" audioChannels="6" audioCodec="dca" videoCodec="h264" container="mkv" videoFrameRate="24p" audioProfile="dts" videoProfile="high">
<Part accessible="1" exists="1" id="57" key="/library/parts/57/1519689861/file.mkv" duration="9592480" file="F:\Media\Hindi\Tigre.mkv" size="10255615090" audioProfile="dts" container="mkv" videoProfile="high">
<Stream id="136" streamType="1" default="1" codec="h264" index="0" bitrate="7017" bitDepth="8" chromaLocation="left" chromaSubsampling="4:2:0" colorPrimaries="bt709" colorRange="tv" colorSpace="bt709" colorTrc="bt709" frameRate="24.000" hasScalingMatrix="0" height="816" level="41" profile="high" refFrames="3" scanType="progressive" title="DDR" width="1920"/>
<Stream id="137" streamType="2" selected="1" default="1" codec="dca" index="1" channels="6" bitrate="1536" language="हिन्दी, हिंदी" languageCode="hin" audioChannelLayout="5.1(side)" profile="dts" samplingRate="48000" title="DDR"/>
<Stream id="138" streamType="3" selected="1" default="1" codec="srt" index="2" bitrate="0" language="English" languageCode="eng"/>
<Stream id="139" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="3" bitrate="0" language="العربية" languageCode="ara"/>
<Stream id="140" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="4" bitrate="0" language="bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو‎" languageCode="may"/>
<Stream id="141" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="5" bitrate="0" language="Bahasa Indonesia" languageCode="ind"/>
<Stream id="142" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="6" bitrate="0" language="ไทย" languageCode="tha"/>
<Stream id="143" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="7" bitrate="0" language="Español" languageCode="spa"/>
<Stream id="144" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="8" bitrate="0" language="Français" languageCode="fre"/>
<Stream id="145" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="9" bitrate="0" language="Nederlands" languageCode="dut"/>
<Stream id="146" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="10" bitrate="0" language="Português" languageCode="por"/>
<Stream id="147" streamType="3" codec="srt" index="11" bitrate="0" language="Italiano" languageCode="ita"/>
</Part>
</Media>
<Extras size="0"></Extras>
</Video>
</MediaContainer>

```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rbks80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@rbks80](https://forums.plex.tv/u/rbks80)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 4:37am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/cant-get-hw-transcoding-to-work-with-my-sandy-bridge-processor/227435/20 "2018-03-04T04:37:29Z")

</div>

F:\Media\Hindi\Tigre.mkv  
Media  
Video Resolution 1080p  
Duration 2:39:52  
Bitrate 8553 kbps  
Width 1920  
Height 816  
Aspect Ratio 2.35  
Container MKV  
Video Frame Rate 24p  
Audio Profile dts  
Video Profile high  
Part  
Duration 2:39:52  
File Tigre.mkv  
Size 9.55 GB  
Audio Profile dts  
Container MKV  
Video Profile high  
Codec H264  
Bitrate 7017 kbps  
Bit Depth 8  
Chroma Location left  
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0  
Color Primaries bt709  
Color Range tv  
Color Space bt709  
Color Trc bt709  
Frame Rate 24 fps  
Height 816  
Level 4.1  
Profile high  
Ref Frames 3  
Scan Type progressive  
Title DDR  
Width 1920  
Codec DCA  
Channels 5.1  
Bitrate 1536 kbps  
Language हिन्दी, हिंदी  
Audio Channel Layout 5.1(side)  
Profile dts  
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz  
Title DDR  
Codec SRT  
Language English  
Codec SRT  
Language العربية  
Codec SRT  
Language bahasa Melayu, بهاس ملايو‎  
Codec SRT  
Language Bahasa Indonesia  
Codec SRT  
Language ไทย  
Codec SRT  
Language Español  
Codec SRT  
Language Français  
Codec SRT  
Language Nederlands  
Codec SRT  
Language Português  
Codec SRT  
Language Italiano  
View XML

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