I am using an old 2012 Mac Mini as my Plex Server with an HD Homerun Extend.
Many of my recordings have stutters and glitches. This is a problem with live TV as well. The problem is not related to playback device (computer, AppleTV, Xbox 1).
The antenna gets good reception, so that isn’t it. I just installed ethernet, as I thought the home network was the problem.
So, is the Mini not powerful enough to handle the job? I thought the HD Homerun Extend handled the transcoding/conversion?
Are you on the latest firmware for that Extend model?
I have model HDTC-2US on Firmware: 20190715beta1. I have the old enclosed model with a fan and it works just fine with everything updated on a Mac 2012 Mojave. I would suggest that you max out your ram with the 16gb. What settings do you have on the DVR section on Plex?
I just updated the Extend FW now.
HDHomeRun EXTEND 1056D80E
Version 20190621
Through the HDHomerun interface, default transcode profile is “none”
I have the Extend set to “highest quality” transcode through the Plex interface.
DVR is set to remove commercials.
What other settings are there? I’ve used Plex for a while but haven’t gotten deep into the settings.
I’ve opted to not use the commercial cutting but when I did I noticed a tiny bit of artifacts during the cuts. I left my recording with the commercials and they are just fine. I have my transcoder set to high quality (30 FPS) due to hard drive space. I wish I knew more about this part about transcoding because I’ve noticed when I added a directory to the Transcoder temporary directory section under Transcoder on the left menu, my rewinding and fast forwarding of the live tv viewing and the recording was faster, not significantly fast but enough. I think it’s because Plex does handle some transcoding and the collection of the video in a temporary folder if you set it. I would like to know more about how to get the most out of the dvr settings as well. But I’ve left well alone with what I’ve got set and I can’t complain about where they are. Always room for improvement.
My primary Plex server, and the one on which I run my DVR, is a Late 2012 Mac Mini (quad core i7-3615QM) running macOS 10.15 (Catalina). I’ve upgraded it to 16 GB RAM and installed a 500 GB SSD onto which the OS is installed. I use an HDHomeRun Connect (HDHR4-2US) running the 7/15 beta firmware. My experience is that this system is more than capable of handling DVR responsibilities, even if asked to transcode on-the-fly. I’ve recorded two shows simultaneously with transcoding enabled and it works fine. I will say, however, that I have some marginal channels in my area and recording from those can be problematic and there are sometimes stutters due to that.
I run my server on an early 2008 iMac and don’t have any issues with recording…so I’d be surprised if your Mini (being 4 years newer) is the problem. I guess it’s possible there is something to do with hard drive speed…but again, I’m recording to an old, external FireWire 400 disk and don’t have any issues.
A couple things come to mind that you could at least try…
Trying setting the HDHR to transcode to a lower quality setting so that the video stream coming into the Mac is smaller in size.
And 2. If you’re using the booster thing that came with the HDHR…try disconnecting that and just run the antenna straight into the box. I upgraded from an older HD Homerun to my current model Extend and for whatever reason, the Extend didn’t do well when I had that booster thing attached (even though the older model did fine).
Actually…now that I think about it. I’m pretty sure that the booster I was using was actually something that came with my antenna (not the HDHR). But regardless, if you’re using one of those, try disconnecting it.
I moved the temp transcoding directory to an internal SSD. That should solve any disc speed/write issues. I’ll leave it that way for a while and judge. The problem is inconsistent, so it is hard to diagnose.
So far, I think the SSD temp directory is the solution. Streaming live TV is significantly smoother than before. There was usually a stutter when starting a new channel, which is still present but way less than before.
I’ve had about 45 minutes of the baseball game on without a single hiccup.
I expect that recordings will also be improved.
