# Hardware transcoding **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-docker\ **Created:** [December 30, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767 "2022-12-30T13:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 1:42pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/1 "2022-12-30T13:42:18Z")
Server Version#: 1.30.0.6486 Player Version#: Plex web 4.87.2 I’m running Debian 11 (5.10.0-18-amd64) with an Nvidia Quadro K600. I’ve installed the appropriate nvidia-driver (470.141.03), I have the nvidia-container-toolkit (1.11.0), nvidia-docker2 (2.11.0) and the nvidia-container-runtime (3.11.0) installed, too. `nvidia-smi` is installed on my system, which shows correct temp, model and memory, etc. I have `NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all` and `NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,video,utility` in my Env and my runtime is runc. When I exec into Plex (`docker exec -it plex /bin/bash`) and run `nvidia-smi`, I see the same GPU info. This, to me, suggests that the Plex container indeed has access to the GPU, which begs the question why it’s _never_ used for transcoding. I’ve had a lifetime pass for, I believe, more than a year now and transcoding is enabled in the settings. I don’t have any permissions issues either, and Plex has been running stable for as long as I’ve had it. I would be very grateful if anyone might cure what ails my Plex? ---
**Author:** ![pl\_5309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pl\_5309](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pl_5309)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2022, 5:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/2 "2022-12-30T17:41:12Z")
When playing back a file what does the dashboard show? Output of \>ls -l /dev/dri Is the id for the docker part of the video/render groups? A K600 won’t do h.265 or HDR. ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2023, 8:40am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/3 "2023-01-02T08:40:57Z")
Hi, thanks for the reply. ls -l /dev/dri: ```auto me@my_box:~$ ls -l /dev/dri total 0 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 80 Dec 22 06:49 by-path crw-rw---- 1 root video 226, 0 Dec 22 06:49 card0 crw-rw---- 1 root render 226, 128 Dec 22 06:49 renderD128 ``` The user that runs the container is part of `video` and `render`. Plex never hw-transcodes, regardless of the format. The dashboard shows either direct play or sw-transcoding. I just tried Jellyfin, and it _does_ use my GPU… ---
**Author:** ![pl\_5309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pl\_5309](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pl_5309)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2023, 4:45pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/4 "2023-01-02T16:45:04Z")
Please post the contents of your docker run/compose file. ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 8:27am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/5 "2023-01-03T08:27:48Z")
```auto version: '2' services: plex: container_name: plex image: plexinc/pms-docker restart: unless-stopped environment: - TZ=Europe/Brussels - PUID=1000 - PGID=1001 - ADVERTISE_IP=http://192.168.1.9:32400/ - VERSION=docker - PLEX_CLAIM=claim-MyToken - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all - NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,utility network_mode: host volumes: - /path/to/plexdata:/config - /path/to/transcode:/transcode - /path/to/media:/data ``` The Plex container created in Portainer, then recreated to change the runtime to nvidia. ---
**Author:** ![pl\_5309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pl\_5309](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pl_5309)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 9:48am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/6 "2023-01-03T09:48:02Z")
It is usually easier to get this going from a compose.yml file and then monitor/maintain with portainer. I would add to your compose file: ```auto --runtime=nvidia --device=/dev/dri:/dev/dri ``` You may have to switch the image to [lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest](http://lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest) ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 10:14am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/7 "2023-01-03T10:14:13Z")
> [@pl\_5309](#): > > It is usually easier to get this going from a compose.yml file and then monitor/maintain with portainer. I _kinda_ did that, by creating a stack in Portainer (which uses docker-compose anyway). I just hadn’t added the runtime and /dev/dri parts in the yaml file. I’ll give it a try, though, and spin it up with those two added, and from a terminal. Two additional questions, if I may: - Isn’t /dev/dri for Intel QuickSync and unrelated to Nvidia, Plex-configuration-wise? - Don’t I need exactly this (Plex pass) image, seeing that transcoding is a Plex pass feature? Thanks for your responses and help so far, by the way, I really appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![KingFaris10](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kingfaris10/32/278342_2.png) [@KingFaris10](https://forums.plex.tv/u/KingFaris10)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 10:46am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/8 "2023-01-03T10:46:18Z")
For your second question, the linuxserver Plex image is 99% interchangeable with Plex’s official image (only thing that changes are environment variables primarily for user/group file access) and transcoding will work on either. I personally have always used linuxserver’s image. I don’t use /dev/dri mounting for NVIDIA GPUs (I do for Intel), but I have this in my docker-compose.yml: ```auto reservations: devices: - driver: nvidia count: 1 capabilities: [compute,utility] ``` I also have `runtime: nvidia` like @pl_5309 suggested ---
**Author:** ![pl\_5309](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/2bfe46/32.png) [@pl\_5309](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pl_5309)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/9 "2023-01-03T12:48:00Z")
Plex Pass features are activated by your login not the image file, unless you like to beta test new releases complete with crash inducing bugs the Plex Pass should be avoided. /dev/dri isn’t just for Intel, it may work without it for Nvidia but Plex does change things without giving details. ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 1:30pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/10 "2023-01-03T13:30:05Z")
For me, another problem is that there are several guides / how-to’s out there that say different things - this is only the second time that I see the suggestion to add the GPU with this notation. Is this in any way different from using `runtime: nvidia` and, if so, how? I know how to add all GPUs or a specific GPU by ID in other notations, but how would you do that in this notation? ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/11 "2023-01-03T13:32:54Z")
I’ll try later (after work) with this (corrections / suggestions are welcome): ```auto version: '2' services: plex: runtime: nvidia devices: - /dev/dri:/dev/dri container_name: plex image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest restart: unless-stopped environment: - TZ=Europe/Brussels - PUID=1000 - PGID=1001 - ADVERTISE_IP=http://192.168.1.9:32400/ - VERSION=docker - PLEX_CLAIM=claim-[MyToken] - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all - NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,utility network_mode: host volumes: - /my/path/plexdata:/config - /my/path/Transcode_Temp:/transcode - /my/path/data:/data ``` ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/12 "2023-01-03T13:48:26Z")
No luck: I get an error due to `runtime: nvidia`: ```auto ERROR: The Compose file './docker-compose.yml' is invalid because: Unsupported config option for services.plex: 'runtime' ``` I can spin it up without the runtime and device, and add those later in Portainer. Doing so still results in software transcoding (it’s transcoding, but without the `(hw)` there). Now, too, running `nividia-smi` inside the container shows my GPU just fine. ---
**Author:** ![KingFaris10](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kingfaris10/32/278342_2.png) [@KingFaris10](https://forums.plex.tv/u/KingFaris10)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 3:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/14 "2023-01-03T15:01:45Z")
> [@JTMWi](#): > > `Unsupported config option` Runtime was added in v2.3: [Compose file version 2 reference | Docker Docs](https://docs.docker.com/compose/compose-file/compose-file-v2/#runtime) Maybe you have to specify “2.3” at the top of your file instead of “2”, but I’ve got no clue on this one - it works for me By the way, I might be missing something context related because I’m unaware of what Portainer is. ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/15 "2023-01-03T16:06:22Z")
Updated to version 3, no difference… 😕 ![plex no hw trnscd](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/e/3/b/e3b60a0a3a63ba10e2aac01b0675c8883eddb485.png) ---
**Author:** ![KingFaris10](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/kingfaris10/32/278342_2.png) [@KingFaris10](https://forums.plex.tv/u/KingFaris10)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2023, 5:01pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/17 "2023-01-03T17:01:52Z")
Ah, according to these docs, your GPU doesn’t support NVENC: > **[Video Encode and Decode GPU Support Matrix](https://developer.nvidia.com/video-encode-and-decode-gpu-support-matrix-new#quadro)** > > Find the related video encoding and decoding support for all NVIDIA GPU products. If this is not true, can you post a pic of your Console logs with the Error level filter when you play a video? It may show FFMpeg errors ---
**Author:** ![JTMWi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@JTMWi](https://forums.plex.tv/u/JTMWi)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2023, 7:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/18 "2023-01-04T07:49:24Z")
😕 Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2023, 7:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/hardware-transcoding/824767/19 "2023-04-04T07:49:34Z")
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