Hello
I have recently set up a raspberry pi 3 to run PMS, but have found that it is unreliable using the DVR with most recordings failing with transcoding error (even though I have it set to save as original format).
I’m assuming the real reason it is failing is that the raspberry pi is not powerful enough to carry out this function. Therefore I would like to know what low powered hardware would be good to run PMS on, so it can handle the odd bit of transcoding and generally run smoothly (ODROID XU4 maybe)?
Many thanks for the help
Mark
You’ve described mutually exclusive goals. ‘Low power hardware’ in PMS-land means poor at transcoding by definition. Direct-Play and/or Direct-Stream are a must when using low power hardware.
The issue must be with the DVR requiring transcoding. Prior to moving to Plex Cloud & a VPS my PMS was hosted on a 4TB Seagate Personal Cloud which must be the lowest powered NAS capable of running PMS (It uses a 2.2GHz Marvell ARMADA 370 88F6707 A1). I never had any issues with playback. My Plex client of choice is the Odroid C2 (2-10x faster than a Pi) running OpenPHT which can Direct Play everything especially as it’s hooked up to a capable Onkyo AV receiver so exotic HD audio streams don’t need to be transcoded.
Depends on how low power you want to get. if you still want good transcoding in something somewhat “low power” check out the I3-8100. Since it uses hardware transcoding for most cases you’ll get 4k HDR transcoding in 65w. There may be other lower power non-Core processors with the same transcoding, I’m not sure.
If you’re trying to get much under 50w, I’m not sure what solutions exist. I think you’d need some sort of off CPU hardware transcoder.
I can’t understand why the DVR would require transcoding if your using the original format. I have had successful recordings, but I have also had quite a few failings due to the transcoding error. All these are coming from the same tuner, so should all be received in the same format.
My initial thoughts are just that the hardware is struggling to keep up when other processes start.
That’s why I’m looking for more suitable hardware.
If I’m honest I don’t really like the VPS idea.
Intel Pentium G4600 might be a good choice, $100, same latest-gen hardware transcoding, 51w
Yeah it’s really surprising it’s failing with a transcoding error considering you’re trying to save in the original format. Someone with more knowledge of the DVR internals of Plex might be able to offer more info.
IMO, Plex’s biggest feature is it’s really great auto-transcoding support. Keep a file one place, watch it anywhere on anything.
If that doesn’t sound like a use case you’re interested in and you’re committed to very low power there may be better solutions for your DVR.
I have a better machine running PMS that I have ripped all my dvd/blu-rays to, but don’t really want that running all the time.
The main reason I would like something low powered is so that I can set up recordings and leave it to do its thing.
