Server Version#: 1.28.1.6104
Player Version#: 1.53.1.3225-c0bc6cc4
It used to be that if I tried to say direct play 4K content to my Mac Book after a little while it would start to stutter due to heat from the CPU/GPU. And I have seen plenty of posts that talk about this issue for 4K and higher FPS 1080p rips. However lately even most of my 1080p content is causing this same issue and it will barely run for even 5 minutes. I even tried to force the video stream down to 720p to move the transcoding to the server and still high use of the CPU/GPU causing high heat and stuttering in the same 5 min time frame. I did look at the server dashboard and it said it was transcoding it and the CPU was pegged on the server.
So I am assume it was being transcoded on the server side and if so why would the Mac Book still have high CPU/GPU like it was doing the transcoding itself? Thoughts on where to start troubleshooting this?
I have used this Mac Book as my primary display for Plex (10’s of hours a week) for a couple years and it’s definitely something recent (happening in the release that came out tonight and the one before it for sure).
I did recently build a new linux VM for my Plex install and migrated the settings and DB. I can’t imagine something with that move would have caused this. But who knows. I can use the web client but I would rather not. The controls and interface are just not as nice as the fat client. Plus I am having playing restart issues after it’s been paused for awhile.
Sounds like your cpu is throttling down when it gets too hot. If you are having heat issues, that means your cooling system is not adequate. Your cooling need to be able to keep your cpu within the proper temps at 100% load.
That doesn’t explain why it’s doing it even after the server down converts it down to 720p. There shouldn’t be really any heavy CPU/GPU in this case. As I said I have been using this Mac Book daily and watched hundreds of hours of video streamed to it. Something I watched last two weeks ago with no problem is causing the problem too. I opened up the Mac Book and verified all the fans are working properly and nothing clogging the fans exhaust exit. Also this is a 2019 model so it’s not like it’s super old, so I doubt it couldn’t handle the load. I can also play the content locally through VLC with no problems.
The player does a lot of additional filtering / quality improvement by default.
Play with the “Video Playback Quality” selector in its preferences,
as well as the “Hardware Decoding” checkbox
to find a combination of settings that works for you.
You should definitely check the quality options. The scalers (selected when you change quality options) can induce a lot of load on the GPU especially with the kinds of GPUs that Apple tends to ship in MB. So this load would exist regardless of the content’s resolution unless the content match your display’s resolution exactly. Additionally many MBs have a seriously flawed design when it comes to handling of heat. You didn’t specify the model so perhaps this applies to yours but maybe not.
I get that there is some media types that the MBR would struggle with and for those videos I use other systems. But that is only like 5% of my library. Normally I have zero problems with this system. It is only in the last couple weeks this issue has appeared.
Only things that have changed over the last couple weeks.
Two new Plex client versions
I rebuilt my Plex server and moved the settings, DB, and etc as explained by Plex docs
Also I get if I have to transcode on the MBR it will cause high CPU/GPU. But if the server is already transcoding it to 720p to my MBR, I wouldn’t expect to have to re-transcode it again. And even so I would think it would be at something the MBR could handle anyways.
Here is the MBR specs
MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 1536 MB
MacOS Monterey 12.4 (21F79)
File Specs
Media
Duration 42:09
Bitrate 4593 kbps
Width 1920
Height 1080
Aspect Ratio 1.78
Video Resolution 1080p
Container MKV
Video Frame Rate NTSC
Audio Profile lc
Video Profile high
Size 1.35 GB
Codec H264
Bitrate 4465 kbps
Language English
Language Tag en
Bit Depth 8
Chroma Location left
Chroma Subsampling 4:2:0
Coded Height 1088
Coded Width 1920
Color Primaries bt709
Color Range tv
Color Space bt709
Color Trc bt709
Frame Rate 29.97 fps
Height 1080
Level 4.0
Profile high
Ref Frames 4
Scan Type progressive
Width 1920
Display Title 1080p (H.264)
Extended Display Title 1080p (H.264)
Codec AAC
Channels 2
Bitrate 128 kbps
Language English
Language Tag en
Audio Channel Layout stereo
Profile lc
Sampling Rate 48000 Hz
Display Title English (AAC Stereo)
Extended Display Title English (AAC Stereo)
Codec SRT
Language English
Language Tag en
Display Title English (SRT)
Extended Display Title English (SRT)
But why all of a sudden does all my content not play on this device? Exact content that worked a couple months ago. Why does no one think it could be an issue with the client? What do I need to prove it could be a client issue?
I did try playing with the quality settings. I normally leave it at the “recommended” I did try different settings any they all cause the mac to over heat.
Assuming that you actually did try the lower quality settings and that you don’t have anything set in an mpv.conffile which is resulting in high GPU load, then I have to conclude that this is a hardware or driver issue in your machine. Perhaps the cooling on this machine has become less effective with time.
Where is the mpv.conf file located and what in it could be causing the issue? Is there any log info that can be pulled to validate it is a hardware issue? And if it is a driver issue it is only effecting Plex how do I determine that? Log info for that?
Working to see if I have this issue with another Mac that I have that is a year older but more powerful. I was also going to delete the client on the original Mac. Is there any client log files I should pull first and whats the best way to uninstall the client and any settings files that might still be around after deleting the app.
