Server Version#: latest for Linux
Player Version#:
Ubuntu 21.04
NVidia Quadro M2000 GPU
How can I tell if PMS is using the GPU for transcoding? I recently upgraded my GPU from a K2200 to a M2000.
Monitor playback in Plex Dashboard → Now Playing. You’ll see (hw) when Plex is using hardware accelerated transcoding.
A transcode consists of two parts, decoding from the current format and encoding to the desired format. In the screenshot below, 1080p (H.264) (hw) indicates the decode is using hardware acceleration. SD (H.264) - Transcode (hw) indicates the encode is also using acceleration.
You can also monitor playback via Settings → Console. Filter for TPU: It will show you which decoder / encoder is in use.
The information is also in the Plex server logs. Console lets you view the logs in real time. You can pull the logs for offline viewing in Settings → Troubleshooting.
Screenshot from my server, using vaapi for the decoder and encoder (Intel iGPU / Linux). If a Nvidia GPU were used you would see NVDEC/NVENC. See Using Hardware Accelerated Streaming → Tech Specs for a table showing the decoder/encoder engines used for supported operating systems.
If its not, how can I debug why its not using the GPU? I know the M2000 GPU can do h.264 & h.265 encoding and decoding.
You’ll need to look at the server logs.
- Make sure your system is set for debug level log files.
Settings → Server_Name → General → Enable Plex Media Server debug logging.
Do not enable verbose logging. - Play the movie/show/etc for 15 - 20 seconds.
- Stop playback and wait ~1 minute for the server to capture everything.
- Pull the log file. Settings → Troubleshooting
The place to start looking is in the Plex Media Server.log file (rolls to .1… .5).
There could be multiple reasons why h/w acceleration is not being used.
If the Nvidia drivers are out of date it will be noted in the logs.
Ex: Jun 29, 2021 11:12:10.223 [2780] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - The minimum required Nvidia driver for nvenc is 418.81 or newer
Also look for lines with MDE: and TPU:, and in their general area. MDE = Media Decision Engine and gives info about why the media is being transcoded. TPU tells you which decode/encode engines are in use.
You can also post the log files to the thread so others can examine them. Post the entire ZIP file. Just drag it into the message window and it will insert at the cursor location.
From the Using Hardware Accelerated Streaming link it appears that the Intel GPU is preferred over NVidia. I believe my CPU/GPU on the mobo have Quick Sync extensions. I should remove the NVidia GPU & enable the Intel GPU.
What CPU is in your system?
You’ll need a 7th gen or later to transcode HEVC video.
You’ll also need a “non F” processor. Intel CPUs with an F in their name, ex: i3-8100F, do not have on-board graphics and therefore cannot be used for hardware acceleration in Plex.
Also, have you checked if hardware transcoding is working at all?
Play something and force a video transcode.
What is displayed in the Plex Dashboard?
What is in the server log files?
My CPU is 10 years old, so maybe I’ll stick with the NVidia GPU, since it can handle both h.264 & h.265 video. I just need to enable 3rd party hardware drivers & install the NVidia Linux driver for the M2000. I dont think there was 1 for the K2200 if I remember correctly when I installed Ubuntu 6 months ago.
I’ll look tonight to see if any HW transcoding is going on. All my clients are Roku 4 and Roku Ultra, they have the native ability to play h.264 & h.265 video content, no transcoding required. To test this I’ll have to play to chrome on my linux pc, as that should require some transcoding.
I installed a P2000 GPU, apt install nvidia-driver-470, rebooted and now its using hardware transcoding. I kept getting an error when I tried installing the NVidia driver from the “Enable 3rd party drivers GUI”, looks to be a known issue with Kubuntu. But it worked from the command line. Thanks for your help.
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