Downloading content for off-line viewing is not good as it doesn’t allow you to download your original and full quality audio and video files. It converts to a lesser quality as it downloads, which is the only reason why I won’t go for the Plex Pass. I just want to be able to download my original FLAC files and Home Videos quickly and without ANY CONVERSION! Make that happen and you’ve got me as a lifetime subscriber.
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That, I do not know. It’s been eons since I used the Pi. I don’t see why not. I mean, everything has it’s limits. Just gonna find the right for that kernel.
If you only want to disable video transcoding, because your CPU is too weak, there’s a hidden boolean setting TranscoderCanOnlyRemuxVideo.
Look at https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/ to find out where to set hidden settings on your platform.
On Linux I added TranscoderCanOnlyRemuxVideo=“1” to Preferences.xml and restarted PMS.
After adding this setting, clients no longer show the controls for selecting video quality and will always direct stream the video, but can still transcode audio tracks.
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Looks like TranscoderCanOnlyRemuxVideo is implemented on the client and the server does not actively block transcoding.
Plex Web and Plex Media Player no longer show transcoding options when it is active, but other players like Plex for Kodi or Plex for Android still allow transcoding 
It is probably implemented like this to avoid breaking older clients…
Dear Plex Team. Please add an option to your Server Program that people who don’t want to let transcoding happening on their servers have a solution. They pay more than enough for your tool. Thanks in advance.
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If this will ever be realized I like to have multiple options:
-
Enable/Disable video transcoding up to source resolution [1280x720…]
Reason: My CPU is powerfull enough to transcode DVD rips. -
Enable/Disalbe offline video transcoding up to [80%…] cpu
Reason: Because I still want to view offline in a lower quality which can be done in advance so no live transcoding is needed -
Enable/Disable audio transcoding
Reason: Some of my clients do not support DTS but my CPU is powerful enough to transcode audio.
Of course this settings should be user-based as some of my users are not allowed to transcode at all.
.
Seconded! There’s a growing number of users who choose Plex over Kodi not for its transcoding capabilities but ease of use and shiny interface. If a device’s datasheet says it can transcode container x plus codec y, there’s no need to transcode. For all I care, hide it in a super secret advanced option or make users add parameters/values in a text config file like @felixbuenemann but please, please, please make disabling of transcoding available for those who know waht they’re doing.
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2 years later… Plex Team can’t add this feature lol
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They certainly CAN add it… I’d imagine they’re CHOOSING not to…
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This does not appear to work any longer. If the permissions are insufficient it just creates a Transcode folder under the Windows TEMP folder
Making the Transcode folder under Windows TEMP Read Only results in a client end player error: “Conversion Failed. The transcoder failed to start up.”
Absolutely ridiculous that there is no ability to set ‘Original Quality’ as the default. Feeling pretty stupid for paying good money for a Lifetime sub when this makes it totally unusable in my home.
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Why is this still not an option? This is so easy to implement and does not break anything! I don’t get it.
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I sorted it out. On my MiBox S Android TV box in the Plex app:
Home Streaming was set to Maximum
Remote Streaming was set to 2Mbps
Oddly enough, changing Remote Streaming to Maximum as well prevented it from transcoding. Seems an Ethernet connected Android TV box on the same subnet as the server would be more of a Home Streaming thing but I’m just happy it works.
I wrote Plex some weeks ago about this. No answer at all. I hate you client ignoring idiots.
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This is getting ridiculous. So many years passed and this is still not a setting to disable this “feature”?
As a software engineer this is absolutely absurd. More and more I am regretting buying a lifetime subscription when simple things like this continue to be ignored.
The people responsible for this disaster should be ashamed. It’s a simple damn toggle switch for God’s sake.
This build that costed over $11,000 USD to build, with dual Xeon Gold processors is already at so much usage for transcoding a DVD.
As one can imagine, even the beefy NAS with dual older model CPUs is quite literally demolished whenever transcoding starts. I have tried renaming the EXE as well as disabling write access to the transcode-temp directory, all to no avail. These just result in the error Conversion failed. The transcoder failed to start up.
Please fix this damn problem. This is absolutely unacceptable.
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I think all Plex developers have died 5 years ago and their AI agent took over. That explains the lack of customer support and recent feature enrollments that no one cares about. Or they are working Agile now and have a PO who doesn’t know the difference between a potato and a firetruck.
It must be one of the above, otherwise they would have implemented a simple feature that has been requested more than there are stars in the universe.
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Have Plex ever addressed this request or give an explanation why it is not possible?
No. They don’t read forum posts nor their mail. I wouldn’t be surprised if the original guys/woman who initially developed this magnificent product are no longer part of the team and some CliniClowns have taken over development.
I understad where this comes from, i really do. When plex started out hardware decoding was not a standard on devices.
But honestly, you gotta get with the program devs. Hardware decoding is EVERYWHERE, pretty much every device (no older than 12 years old) can decode xvid, H264. HEVC is quickly following, any device no older than 4-6 years old can also decode HEVC.
I understand that throwing all the work put into the transcoder “out the window” might not feel good, but honestly, this is where tech is going - hardware decoding all the way.
OK at least its disable-able via the client device - still i should be able to force this server side
Yeah, we should be able to do it on the server side.
Because the fact is, most people don’t know what on Earth “transcoding” is, and won’t normally know that they need to adjust the setting. Users are stupid, and I say that not to be mean but because it’s true, and they shouldn’t have to be smart to use the darn thing. The server administrator should have full control on what is permitted on the server side, end of story IMHO.
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This basically makes plex useless for me. It just kills my rpi 4.
Are there any other alternative to plex for rpi ?
