Plex hardware transcoding failure . Conversion failed . The transcoder exited due to an error

Plex Media Server
, , ,
1

Server Version#: 1.43.3.10828
Player Version#: 2026.13.0

I have been running Plex Media server for Linux in an lxc container on Proxmox successfully, with GPU acceleration from my AMD 5700G APU.

Last week, I added an nVidia GPU to the host system for use with local LLMs. Some device node names changed, and I had to make configuration changes to my container.

Since this change, I have been experiencing hardware transcoding errors in some cases. Basically, the hardware transcoder works when I use Plex web. It fails when I use Plex for Android.

  1. Plex for Android on Galaxy S24 Ultra, playing OTA MPEG-2
    If I enable Directplay on the client, it works, but the subtitles don’t appear.
    If I disable Directplay on the client, I get “Conversion failed . The transcoder exited due to an error”
    If I disable hardware transcoding on the server, it works.
  2. Plex for Fire Stick 4K Max . Same behavior as on Galaxy S24 Ultra
  3. Plex web : plays fine, with subtitles, and the Plex dashboard actually shows that hardware transcoding is in use and working. Radeontop confirms this.

root@plex:/home/madbrain# ls -l /dev/dri
total 0
crw-rw-rw- 1 root render 226, 2 Jul 22 01:25 card2
crw-rw-rw- 1 root render 226, 129 Jul 22 01:25 renderD129
root@plex:/home/madbrain# id plex
uid=999(plex) gid=990(plex) groups=990(plex),44(video),65534(nogroup),993(render),1000(madbrain)
root@plex:/home/madbrain# vainfo --display drm --device /dev/dri/renderD129
libva info: VA-API version 1.20.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_20
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.20 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Mesa Gallium driver 25.2.8-0ubuntu0.24.04.2 for AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, renoir, ACO, DRM 3.64, 7.0.14-5-pve)
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileJPEGBaseline : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile0 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile2 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc
root@plex:/home/madbrain# sudo -u plex vainfo --display drm --device /dev/dri/renderD129
libva info: VA-API version 1.20.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_20
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.20 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Mesa Gallium driver 25.2.8-0ubuntu0.24.04.2 for AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi, renoir, ACO, DRM 3.64, 7.0.14-5-pve)
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileJPEGBaseline : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile0 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile2 : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc
root@plex:/home/madbrain# stat -c '%n owner=%U:%G uid=%u gid=%g mode=%a' /dev/dri/card* /dev/dri/renderD*
/dev/dri/card2 owner=root:render uid=0 gid=993 mode=666
/dev/dri/renderD129 owner=root:render uid=0 gid=993 mode=666
root@plex:/home/madbrain# sudo -u plex test -r /dev/dri/renderD129 && echo "Plex can read renderD129" || echo "Plex cannot read renderD129"
sudo -u plex test -w /dev/dri/renderD129 && echo "Plex can write renderD129" || echo "Plex cannot write renderD129"
Plex can read renderD129
Plex can write renderD129
root@plex:/home/madbrain#

root@plex:/home/madbrain# sudo -u plex env 
LD_LIBRARY_PATH="/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/lib" 
LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64" 
vainfo --display drm --device /dev/dri/renderD129
libva info: VA-API version 1.22.0
libva info: Trying to open /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_22
/home/runner/_work/plex-conan/plex-conan/.conan/data/libdrm/2.4.120-6/plex/main/build/678777ee2ca8706ca90cf805e0dd88235f6d7f05/meson-install/share/libdrm/amdgpu.ids: No such file or directory
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.22 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Mesa Gallium driver 23.0.2 for AMD Radeon Graphics (renoir, LLVM 16.0.1, DRM 3.64, 7.0.14-5-pve)
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple            : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main              : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple              : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main                : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced            : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main               : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main               : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High               : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High               : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain               : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain               : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileHEVCMain10             : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileHEVCMain10             : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileJPEGBaseline           : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile0            : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVP9Profile2            : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone                   : VAEntrypointVideoProc
root@plex:/home/madbrain#

Here is the transcoding failure case with Android client playback :

root@plex:/home/madbrain# grep -E 'Reached Decision|TPU:|Codecs: hardware transcoding|Job running:|Device creation failed|Failed to set value|Error parsing global options|Started session successfully|exit code' /tmp/plex-test.log
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.864 [137159328041784] DEBUG - [Req#75e6/Transcode] Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=2033 codes=(General=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK.) media=(id=2526 part=(id=2526 decision=transcode container=mkv protocol=hls streams=(Video=(id=10672 decision=transcode bitrate=17939 encoder=h264_vaapi width=1920 height=1080) Audio=(id=10674 decision=copy channels=6 rate=48000) Subtitle=(id=10673 decision=burn languageCode= location=embedded))))
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.927 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.927 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.927 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] TPU: hardware transcoding: using zero-copy transcoding
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.927 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi for device '/dev/dri/renderD129' (AMD Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series])
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.950 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.950 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/JobRunner] Job running: FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/4987be2-8e3461d4c82193c06183af3f-linux-x86_64/' LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64" XDG_CACHE_HOME="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache" XDG_DATA_HOME=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources X_PLEX_TOKEN=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder" "-codec:#0x100" mpeg2video "-hwaccel:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_output_format:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_device:#0x100" vaapi -analyzeduration 20000000 -probesize 20000000 -i "/videos/OTA TV/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014)/Season 13/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014) - S13E117 - Marcello Hernandez; Minka Kelly.ts" -start_at_zero -copyts -fps_mode cfr -init_hw_device vaapi=vaapi:/dev/dri/renderD129 -filter_hw_device vaapi -y -nostats -loglevel quiet -loglevel_plex error -progressurl ``http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731/progress`` -filter_complex '[0:#0x100]hwupload[0];[0]deinterlace_vaapi[1];[1]scale_vaapi=w=1920:h=1080:format=nv12[2];[2]hwdownload,format=nv12[3];[3]inlineass=font_scale=1.000000:font_path=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Fonts/NotoSans-Medium.otf:fontconfig_file=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/fonts.conf:atsc_cc=1:overrides=ScaledBorderAndShadow\=yes\,FontName\=Noto\\ Sans\\ Medium\,Bold\=500\,PrimaryColour\=&H00FFFFFF\,OutlineColour\=&H00020713\,BackColour\=&HCC000000:outline=2.6:shadow=1.7:font_size=54[4];[4]hwupload[5]' -map "[5]" -codec:0 h264_vaapi -b:0 17939k -maxrate:0 17939k -bufsize:0 35878k -bsf:0 extract_extradata -r:0 29.969999999999999 -sei:0 -a53_cc -force_key_frames:0 "expr:gte(t,n_forced1)" -map "0:#0x101" -metadata:s:1 language=eng -metadata:s:1 languageISO639=eng -codec:1 copy -copypriorss:1 0 -segment_format matroska -f ssegment -individual_header_trailer 0 -flags +global_header -segment_header_filename header -segment_time 1 -segment_start_number 0 -segment_time_delta 0.0625 -segment_list "``http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731/manifest?X-Plex-Http-Pipeline=infinite``" -segment_list_type csv -segment_list_size 5 -segment_list_separate_stream_times 1 -segment_list_unfinished 1 -segment_format_options output_ts_offset=10 -max_delay 5000000 -avoid_negative_ts disabled -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 "media-%05d.ts"
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:50.997 [137159334447928] DEBUG - [Req#75f7/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938] Started session successfully: bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.066 [137159470193464] DEBUG - Jobs: '/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder' exit code for process 3141 is -11 (signal: Segmentation fault)
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.070 [137159349406520] DEBUG - Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=2033 codes=(General=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK.) media=(id=2526 part=(id=2526 decision=transcode container=mkv protocol=hls streams=(Video=(id=10672 decision=transcode bitrate=17939 encoder=libx264 width=1920 height=1080) Audio=(id=10674 decision=copy channels=6 rate=48000) Subtitle=(id=10673 decision=burn languageCode= location=embedded))))
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.070 [137159349406520] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: enabled, but no hardware decode accelerator found
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.070 [137159349406520] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi for device '' ()
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.070 [137159349406520] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Generic error in an external library
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.070 [137159349406520] DEBUG - TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: , final encoder:
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.071 [137159349406520] DEBUG - [JobRunner] Job running: FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/4987be2-8e3461d4c82193c06183af3f-linux-x86_64/' LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64" XDG_CACHE_HOME="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache" XDG_DATA_HOME=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources X_PLEX_TOKEN=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder" "-codec:#0x100" mpeg2video -analyzeduration 20000000 -probesize 20000000 -i "/videos/OTA TV/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014)/Season 13/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014) - S13E117 - Marcello Hernandez; Minka Kelly.ts" -start_at_zero -copyts -fps_mode cfr -init_hw_device vaapi=vaapi: -filter_hw_device vaapi -y -nostats -loglevel quiet -loglevel_plex error -progressurl ``http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731/progress`` -filter_complex '[0:#0x100]yadif[0];[0]scale=w=1920:h=1080:force_divisible_by=4[1];[1]format=pix_fmts=yuv420p|nv12[2];[2]inlineass=font_scale=1.000000:font_path=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Fonts/NotoSans-Medium.otf:fontconfig_file=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/fonts.conf:atsc_cc=1:overrides=ScaledBorderAndShadow\=yes\,FontName\=Noto\\ Sans\\ Medium\,Bold\=500\,PrimaryColour\=&H00FFFFFF\,OutlineColour\=&H00020713\,BackColour\=&HCC000000:outline=2.6:shadow=1.7:font_size=54[3]' -map "[3]" -codec:0 libx264 -crf:0 17 -maxrate:0 17939k -bufsize:0 35878k -r:0 29.969999999999999 -preset:0 veryfast -x264opts:0 subme=0:me_range=4:rc_lookahead=10:me=dia:no_chroma_me:8x8dct=0:partitions=none -force_key_frames:0 "expr:gte(t,n_forced1)" -map "0:#0x101" -metadata:s:1 language=eng -metadata:s:1 languageISO639=eng -codec:1 copy -copypriorss:1 0 -segment_format matroska -f ssegment -individual_header_trailer 0 -flags +global_header -segment_header_filename header -segment_time 1 -segment_start_number 0 -segment_time_delta 0.0625 -segment_list "``http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731/manifest?X-Plex-Http-Pipeline=infinite``" -segment_list_type csv -segment_list_size 5 -segment_list_separate_stream_times 1 -segment_list_unfinished 1 -segment_format_options output_ts_offset=10 -max_delay 5000000 -avoid_negative_ts disabled -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 "media-%05d.ts"
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.071 [137159349406520] DEBUG - Started session successfully: bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.075 [137159332260664] ERROR - [Req#75f9/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731] Device creation failed: -542398533.
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.075 [137159345187640] ERROR - [Req#760d/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731] Failed to set value 'vaapi=vaapi:' for option 'init_hw_device': Generic error in an external library
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.075 [137159334447928] ERROR - [Req#760e/Transcode/bb716592-ef44-4d7a-96b6-9d9ad5383938/e51b6d14-796a-46d7-bdee-1c0abccf9731] Error parsing global options: Generic error in an external library
Jul 22, 2026 03:05:51.076 [137159470193464] DEBUG - Jobs: '/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder' exit code for process 3185 is 187 (failure)
root@plex:/home/madbrain#

Now, playing in Plex web, the transcoding works :

root@plex:/home/madbrain# grep -E 
'Reached Decision|TPU:|Codecs: hardware transcoding|JobRunner|Started session successfully|Device creation failed|Failed to set value|Error parsing global options|exit code' 
/tmp/firefox.log
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.274 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7710/Transcode] Streaming Resource: Reached Decision id=2033 codes=(General=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK. Direct Play=3000,App cannot direct play this item. Direct play is disabled. Transcode=1001,Direct play not available; Conversion OK.) media=(id=2526 part=(id=2526 decision=transcode container=mp4 protocol=dash streams=(Video=(id=10672 decision=transcode bitrate=20000 encoder=h264_vaapi width=1920 height=1080) Audio=(id=10674 decision=transcode bitrate=256 encoder=aac channels=2 rate=48000) Subtitle=(id=10673 decision=burn languageCode= location=embedded))))
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.323 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.323 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.323 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] TPU: hardware transcoding: using zero-copy transcoding
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.323 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi for device '/dev/dri/renderD129' (AMD Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series])
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.334 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.334 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode/JobRunner] Job running: FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/4987be2-8e3461d4c82193c06183af3f-linux-x86_64/' LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64" XDG_CACHE_HOME="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache" XDG_DATA_HOME=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources X_PLEX_TOKEN=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder" "-codec:#0x100" mpeg2video "-hwaccel:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_output_format:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_device:#0x100" vaapi "-codec:#0x101" ac3 -analyzeduration 20000000 -probesize 20000000 -i "/videos/OTA TV/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014)/Season 13/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014) - S13E117 - Marcello Hernandez; Minka Kelly.ts" -start_at_zero -copyts -fps_mode cfr -init_hw_device vaapi=vaapi:/dev/dri/renderD129 -filter_hw_device vaapi -y -nostats -loglevel quiet -loglevel_plex error -progressurl http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/3b6b7242-2984-4db5-8f53-58b70a926e91/progress -filter_complex '[0:#0x100]hwupload[0];[0]deinterlace_vaapi[1];[1]scale_vaapi=w=1920:h=1080:format=nv12[2];[2]hwdownload,format=nv12[3];[3]inlineass=font_scale=1.000000:font_path=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Fonts/NotoSans-Medium.otf:fontconfig_file=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/fonts.conf:atsc_cc=1:overrides=ScaledBorderAndShadow\=yes\,FontName\=Noto\\ Sans\\ Medium\,Bold\=500\,PrimaryColour\=&H00FFFFFF\,OutlineColour\=&H00020713\,BackColour\=&HCC000000:outline=2.6:shadow=1.7:font_size=54[4];[4]hwupload[5]' -map "[5]" -codec:0 h264_vaapi -b:0 20000k -maxrate:0 20000k -bufsize:0 40000k -bsf:0 extract_extradata -r:0 29.969999999999999 -sei:0 -a53_cc -force_key_frames:0 "expr:gte(t,n_forced1)" -filter_complex "[0:#0x101] aresample=async=1:ochl='stereo':rematrix_maxval=0.000000dB:osr=48000[6]" -map "[6]" -metadata:s:1 language=eng -codec:1 aac -b:1 256k -f dash -seg_duration 1 -dash_segment_type mp4 -init_seg_name 'init-stream$RepresentationID$.m4s' -media_seg_name 'chunk-stream$RepresentationID$-$Number%05d$.m4s' -window_size 5 -delete_removed false -skip_to_segment 1 -manifest_name "http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/3b6b7242-2984-4db5-8f53-58b70a926e91/manifest?X-Plex-Http-Pipeline=infinite" -avoid_negative_ts disabled -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 dash
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.334 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode/JobRunner] In directory: "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb-3b6b7242-2984-4db5-8f53-58b70a926e91"
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.335 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode/JobRunner] Jobs: Starting child process with pid 3323
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.380 [137159357823800] DEBUG - [Req#7713/Transcode] Started session successfully: 74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.851 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] TPU: hardware transcoding: using hardware decode accelerator vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.851 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] TPU: hardware transcoding: zero-copy support present
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.851 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] TPU: hardware transcoding: using zero-copy transcoding
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.851 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi for device '/dev/dri/renderD129' (AMD Cezanne [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series])
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.859 [137159470193464] DEBUG - Jobs: '/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder' exit code for process 3323 is -9 (signal: Killed)
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.868 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] TPU: hardware transcoding: final decoder: vaapi, final encoder: vaapi
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.868 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/JobRunner] Job running: FFMPEG_EXTERNAL_LIBS='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Codecs/4987be2-8e3461d4c82193c06183af3f-linux-x86_64/' LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/va-dri-linux-x86_64" XDG_CACHE_HOME="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache" XDG_DATA_HOME=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources X_PLEX_TOKEN=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Transcoder" "-codec:#0x100" mpeg2video "-hwaccel:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_output_format:#0x100" vaapi "-hwaccel_device:#0x100" vaapi "-codec:#0x101" ac3 -ss 2663 -analyzeduration 20000000 -probesize 20000000 -i "/videos/OTA TV/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014)/Season 13/Late Night With Seth Meyers (2014) - S13E117 - Marcello Hernandez; Minka Kelly.ts" -start_at_zero -copyts -init_hw_device vaapi=vaapi:/dev/dri/renderD129 -filter_hw_device vaapi -y -nostats -loglevel quiet -loglevel_plex error -progressurl http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/af6036d4-ca60-4a7f-ba65-61a4f9deaafc/progress -filter_complex '[0:#0x100]hwupload[0];[0]deinterlace_vaapi[1];[1]scale_vaapi=w=1920:h=1080:format=nv12[2];[2]hwdownload,format=nv12[3];[3]inlineass=font_scale=1.000000:font_path=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Fonts/NotoSans-Medium.otf:fontconfig_file=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/fonts.conf:atsc_cc=1:overrides=ScaledBorderAndShadow\=yes\,FontName\=Noto\\ Sans\\ Medium\,Bold\=500\,PrimaryColour\=&H00FFFFFF\,OutlineColour\=&H00020713\,BackColour\=&HCC000000:outline=2.6:shadow=1.7:font_size=54[4];[4]hwupload[5]' -map "[5]" -codec:0 h264_vaapi -b:0 20000k -maxrate:0 20000k -bufsize:0 40000k -bsf:0 extract_extradata -r:0 29.969999999999999 -sei:0 -a53_cc -force_key_frames:0 "expr:gte(t,n_forced1)" -filter_complex "[0:#0x101] aresample=async=1:ochl='stereo':rematrix_maxval=0.000000dB:osr=48000[6]" -map "[6]" -metadata:s:1 language=eng -codec:1 aac -b:1 256k -f dash -seg_duration 1 -dash_segment_type mp4 -init_seg_name 'init-stream$RepresentationID$.m4s' -media_seg_name 'chunk-stream$RepresentationID$-$Number%05d$.m4s' -window_size 5 -delete_removed false -skip_to_segment 2664 -manifest_name "http://127.0.0.1:32400/video/:/transcode/session/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/af6036d4-ca60-4a7f-ba65-61a4f9deaafc/manifest?X-Plex-Http-Pipeline=infinite" -avoid_negative_ts disabled -map_metadata -1 -map_chapters -1 dash
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.868 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/JobRunner] In directory: "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sessions/plex-transcode-74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb-af6036d4-ca60-4a7f-ba65-61a4f9deaafc"
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.868 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb/JobRunner] Jobs: Starting child process with pid 3368
Jul 22, 2026 03:08:37.868 [137159347297080] DEBUG - [Req#7726/Transcode/74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb] Started session successfully: 74wfkrmvq5d5iu57p6oo89qb
root@plex:/home/madbrain#
root@plex:/home/madbrain#
2

It’s been 3 days, and there has been no response. I’m still facing this problem, with no end in sight. It seems to be related to having 2 GPUs available - one 5700G APU, and one GTX 1660S GPU.

I have done the following test. I have two Proxmox hosts with the same AMD 5700G APU.

Proxmox host #1 with AMD 5700G APU + nVidia GTX 1660s : failures seen when using AMD 5700G in lxc container

Proxmox host #2 with only AMD 5700G APU : no problem when using AMD 5700G on bare metal

Proxmox host #2 with only AMD 5700G APU : no problem when using AMD 5700G in lxc container

I have yet to try this case :

Proxmox host #1 with AMD 5700G APU + nVidia GTX 1660s - bare metal (not lxc)

The host is currently running heavy benchmark computations on the nVidia GPU that fill its VRAM, and will be doing that for at least the next 24 hours, possibly longer, so I can’t do any Plex test in the meantime as it might allocate some VRAM on the nVidia GPU and make my tests fail

Anyway, I think there is a bug in Plex here. It should not fail if hardware fails to transcode. It should fall back to software transcode.

In the “working” configuration, where only the APU 5700G is available, it appears to be what happens.

1a. Plex.tv playback of the MPEG2 OTA stream uses hardware transcode.

1b. Plex for Android playback of the MPEG2 OTA stream uses software transcode.

In the failed case where both GPUs are available :

2a. works the same as 1a

2b. gets transcoder error instead of falling back to software transcode

Which brings another question - why is it even falling back to transcode in case 1b ?

Which is a separate issue from case 2b.

3

I have confirmed that this issue happens on bare metal Linux also.

The problem occurs when there is both an AMD 5700G APU, and nVidia GTX 1660 super.

It is not specific to Proxmox or lxc.

The transcoding just does not work when selecting the APU.

When physically removing the nVidia GPU, the APU transcoding works fine.

This is definitely a bug in Plex Media Server.

4

I’m pretty confident I am having this issue aswell.

At first I thought my Windows PC was the culprit, so I’ve replaced it with a new one with its own independent graphics card. Live tv is completely hit or miss. 1 channel plays, then I select another 1, back to the original and bang Live TV is broken.

2 GPU’s are listed. Nvidia independent GPU and the Intel integrated. I can pull logs tomorrow but I feel like I might have been having issues ever since the new transcoder was rolled out.

I’m using a vBox tuner

5

That’s possible, but note that I am using PMS on Linux and the APU is AMD.

The tuner I use is a HD Homerun Flex 4K.