Plex Media Server on Windows with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Will Not Play Some HEVC Media

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

I’m running Plex Server version 1.30.2.6563 on Windows 10. Opening a Plex window (in a browser) and then going to Plex Web tells me the Plex Web version is 4.87.2.

Ever since recently installing a GeForce GTX 1650 video card, the Plex Server has been unable to play many HEVC files in the Plex window running in a browser. The issue is not with the HEVC files. Some were created using this very same GeForce card with ffmpeg, others were previously created using Handbrake (i.e. a software HEVC encoder), some are HD, some are 4K.

Windows Device Manager reports the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 driver is version 31.0.15.2824, which I believe is the very latest (as of this writing).

There is no issue playing any of these HEVC files on a network (or Internet) attached device. The problem is only in the window Plex Server opens on the Windows 10 machine.

This is what the window looks like when it won’t play an HEVC file:

2023-01-30
2023-01-30763×655 71 KB

Even in the case where Plex Server will play the HEVC file, there is a spike in the GPU decoder load, followed by several seconds of just a spinning icon in the window, followed by normal GPU decoder load and normal play within the Plex window:

2023-01-30 (1)
2023-01-30 (1)747×670 64.7 KB

Server Log:

Plex Media Server Logs_2023-01-30_12-04-47.zip (2.6 MB)

2

We are looking into similar reports. It appears to be something with specific NVidia cards. No update yet.

3

I actually made two changes to my system. The first was installing the GeForce GTX 1650. This card appeared to work as expected. Shortly after installing the card, I updated the driver to version 31.0.15.2824. After this, the machine would not boot; not even into the BIOS. A small amount of research on Nvidia’s site quickly lead to my removing the card, putting the old video card back in (an old AMD card), then booting into BIOS (which I was now able to do) and then changing the configuration of the PCIe slot in which the video card goes from BIOS to UEFI, removing the old AMD card and finally, re-installing the GeForce GTX 1650. Now the machine boots just fine with the GeForce card. But then I noticed I could not play HEVC media in Plex Server’s browser window. I cannot state for sure that Plex was able to play HEVC media after installing the GeForce, but before upgrading the driver and then immediately updating the PCIe’s configuration in the BIOS. Is it possible Plex is not happy now that the GeForce is in a slot configured for UEFI?

5

There is a similar discussion going on here nvidia-hardware-acceleration-inconsistently-working-with-web-streaming.

6

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.