Plex Pass with QNAP TS-253A Buffering issue

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Plex Media Server Logs_2022-04-04_17-39-14.zip (5.0 MB)

Server Version#: 1.25.8.5663
Player Version#:

sorry I’m not sure where to get the player version but On my Philips TV Client Version is 5.34.1 Plex for Smart TV
I have been having buffering issues from the beginning with my QNAP then I purchased a lifetime Plex Pass & the issue was resolved overnight however I have started getting buffering again recently & I cant figure out why?
I suspect its my upload speed which is 6-10mb/s & download is 45-55 mb/s
What I expect from Plex to at least play the files locally if I’m at home to avoid buffering but I expect Im watching my movies through the internet rather than the local network even though I have mentioned somewhere to connect to QNAP direct or trust local network etc.
I’m really disappointed in Plex but really like the interface can you please advise, I will try to attach the log files . many thanks

2

You are attempting to play HEVC content on a CPU which only has H264 capability.

The N3150 CPU is not very powerful so it cannot perform the task to any satisfaction in software.

Your only recourse is to limit yourself to H.264 material.

Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.452 [0x7f91d17c1b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - libva: /share/CACHEDEV1_DATA/.qpkg/PlexMediaServer/lib/dri/iHD_drv_video.so init failed
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32315659 -> yuv420p.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30323449 -> yuv420p.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x3231564e -> nv12.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x32595559 -> yuyv422.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x59565955 -> uyvy422.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x48323234 -> yuv422p.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58424752 -> rgb0.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x58524742 -> bgr0.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format 0x30313050 -> p010le.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: Testing with profile 'Main 10'
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - nal_unit_type: 32(VPS), nuh_layer_id: 0, temporal_id: 0
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - nal_unit_type: 33(SPS), nuh_layer_id: 0, temporal_id: 0
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - nal_unit_type: 34(PPS), nuh_layer_id: 0, temporal_id: 0
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - nal_unit_type: 20(IDR_N_LP), nuh_layer_id: 0, temporal_id: 0
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Decoding VPS
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Main 10 profile bitstream
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Decoding SPS
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Main 10 profile bitstream
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Decoding VUI
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.529 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Decoding PPS
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.530 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format vaapi_vld chosen by get_format().
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.530 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format vaapi_vld requires hwaccel initialisation.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.530 [0x7f91d17c1b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Failed setup for format vaapi_vld: hwaccel initialisation returned error.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.530 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format vaapi_vld not usable, retrying get_format() without it.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.530 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Format yuv420p10le chosen by get_format().
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.531 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Decoded frame with POC 0.
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.531 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: 10-bit HEVC test returned software frame
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.531 [0x7f91d17c1b38] WARN - [Transcode] Codecs: packet decode testing returned -95 for decoder 'hevc'
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.532 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc (decoder) with hwdevice nvdec
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.532 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API nvdec
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.557 [0x7f91d17c1b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Cannot load libcuda.so.1
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.557 [0x7f91d17c1b38] ERROR - [Transcode] [FFMPEG] - Could not dynamically load CUDA
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.557 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: opening hw device failed - probably not supported by this system, error: Unknown error occurred
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.557 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Could not create hardware context for hevc
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.566 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Selected protocol dash; container: mp4
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.566 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: analyzing media item 2922
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): Direct Play is disabled
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): media must be transcoded in order to use the dash protocol
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc/eac3
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): Direct Streaming is disabled, so video stream will be transcoded
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: testing hevc (decoder) with hwdevice vaapi
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] Codecs: hardware transcoding: testing API vaapi

Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): media must be transcoded in order to use the dash protocol
Apr 04, 2022 01:24:14.567 [0x7f91d17c1b38] DEBUG - [Transcode] MDE: The White Tiger (2021): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/hevc

3

Thank you for that insight…so if my CPU cant handle it then how come I can play it back using VLC player or even my TV network player no problem? (as the file is still stored on QNAP & its using the same CPU)
I will take your advice & thank you again however the reason I paid for Plex lifetime pass was coz I liked the interface but if I have to resort to playback my High Definition media using other players then it defeats the object - so you think this is nothing to do with my upload speed?
Can you please confirm if the way Plex works is through the internet (i.e. my movies get uploaded to Plex servers in cloud & then back to my TV) & not on my local network which is much faster?

4

When you play with VLC, it’s decoding and putting on the display directly.

Plex is a Server-Client. The problem here is the server’s CPU can’t process it fast enough.

If your computer had the same CPU as the QNAP, after it finally starts up (would take a while), it would fail miserably trying to play the file.

The problem you’re having is not your speeds… The problem is entirely with the media you have collected. No HEVC in Plex on this NAS. The CPU cannot transcode HEVC.

If you had a newer/better NAS, you’d be fine.

5

Thank you, appreciate taking the time to explain

6

sorry I just checked the file properties & its
H.264 (x264), 30 FPS PFR
AAC (CoreAudio), Stereo
Foreign Audio Search, Burned
Resolution Limit 1080p HD
The White Tiger (2021), 1920x1080, 24 FPS, 1 audio track, 34 subtitles tracks
This is not a H.265 nor 4K content, how did you tell its a HEVC please?

7

you are right I just checked with MediaInfoOnline - MediaInfo in your browser & it confirms its a HEVC but I didnt know even H.264 can be HEVC encoded can it?

8

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