Thanks ChuckPA. I tried PMS 1.17.0 and could see CPU going to 95%, so I think the hard transcoding isn’t working on my NAS.
Here’s the ZIP.Plex Media Server Logs_2019-09-18_12-58-54.zip (4.5 MB)
You’re trying to transcode HEVC in hardware on a CPU which doesn’t support HEVC in hardware.
AMD CPUs do not have hardware QSV support ( I suspect you know this) and it appears your NVIDIA_GPU_DRV package from QNAP isn’t up to required revision.
(Please see the release notes. The upstream FFMPEG requirement is listed in that release note).
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.588 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - We're going to try to auto-select an audio stream for account 1.
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.588 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Selecting best audio stream for part ID 73053 (autoselect: 1 language: en)
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.588 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Audio Stream: 146637, Subtitle Stream: -1
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.592 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264_vaapi (encoder)
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.592 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Failed to initialise VAAPI connection: -1 (unknown libva error).
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Input/output error
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: testing h264_nvenc (encoder)
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvenc
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Cannot load libcuda.so.1
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Failed to initialise VAAPI connection: -1 (unknown libva error).
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Input/output error
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.593 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvdec
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Cannot load libcuda.so.1
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] ERROR - [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Scaled up video bitrate to 266539Kbps based on 4.500000x fudge factor.
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - Scaled maximum bitrate for resolution reduction to 66634Kbps.
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - MDE: Selected protocol hls; container: mpegts
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - MDE: analyzing media item 73034
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - MDE: Inception (2010): Direct Play is disabled
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - MDE: Inception (2010): media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
Sep 18, 2019 12:09:53.594 [0x7f8a5511f700] DEBUG - MDE: Inception (2010): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc
I guess we will have to wait for QNAP to update the Nvidia drivers…
To update all who read here
I wrote QNAP product managers about the nVidia GPU DRV package.
He thanked me for the feedback and immediately dispatched a request to their Engineering for an update.
Thanks ChuckPA. I bought the TVS-673 back in Jan 2018 because it says it supports hardware transcoding - please see the publicity for the device here where it says it supports “real-time 4K and 1080p video transcoding”.
There is an ** against that “real-time 4K and 1080p video transcoding” reference which states that at least 1GB of shared graphics memory is required. I checked my settings and it was set to only 512MB, so I immediately changed it to 2GB, rebooted, and tried playing another 4K mkv on an HD Samsung TV. The CPU went right up to 95% usage again, so I don’t think it’s doing hardware transcoding, but maybe we’re one step closer to making it work! I’ve attached log files again, in case something different is now being reported.
in PMS the transcoder settings are as follows:
Quality: Automatic
Temporary directory: [empty]
Default throttle buffer: 60
Background transcoding x264 preset: Very fast
Use hardware acceleration when available: Yes (ticked)
Maximum simultaneous video trasncode: Unlimited
Should I change any of those settings?
I’m confused about the NVIDIA driver package references, as this device is using an AMD Embedded R-Series RX-421BD Radeon R7 (4 cores). Do Nvidia do drivers for Radeon’s on Linux based devices?Plex Media Server Logs_2019-09-19_11-44-24.zip (5.8 MB)
QNAP’s advertisement about HW transcoding isn’t Plex’s.
If the CPU spun right to 95%, you can be certain it’s not using hardware.
Plex currently does not support any AMD hardware acceleration.
Plex does support Intel QSV (on CPU) and external nVidia GPU cards.
If you look here, you will see the NAS compatibility guide. (I am the maintainer)
I added the nVidia GPU card support for QNAP products to Plex at QNAP’s request.
I did that development on a TS-877 with the nVidia GT1060 installed.
Thank you again. I didn’t do my research properly when I bought this NAS, so I’m anoyed with myself. I thought that because the TVS-673 has an x86 compatible processor it would just work.
What are the reasons Plex doesn’t support AMD hardware acceleration? Would Plex consider doing it if it was requested by users and/or QNAP?
The initial offering (Intel) was decided because of market share disparity Intel (QSv-capable) versus AMD (MESA-capable) CPUs.
Intel QSV-capable CPUs have been around since the Sandy Bridge (-2xxx series in 2011) through today’s -9xxx series processors.
AMD has only now been able to really match this with select Ryzen family CPUs .
I think the decision comes down to one of most benefit for customers but that isn’t a decision I’m involved in.
Just an FYI, the HW transcoding support in your TVS-673 is referring to Native QNAP applications such as VideoStation, etc. using Qnap’s CodexPack.
Using Qnap apps though cause other issues due to their apps only supporting video with 2 channel audio (due to DD/DTS licensing fee issues).
Also the embedded GPU doesn’t support HW accel. for h.265, only h.264 from what I recall.
1 Like
Thanks MwC_Trexx. very useful information.
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
