Server Version#: 1.16.5.1552
Player Version#: 6.4.9.6153
Hi, I noticed recently if I play bigger files from my Plex server hosted on my DS918+ then Syno’s CPU goes up to 90%+ and the movies start to lag. Bigger files are 720P 5-6Gbyte files which I watch in original quality.
Any idea how to troubleshoot?
Thanks!
Sounds like your Plex Media Server isn’t actually playing the videos in original quality… instead it’s transcoding them.
Can you check out the now playing / dashboard section in Plex Web while you’re playing one of those videos?
Thanks for the help.
I did check the activity tab and it’s showing its playing 720p and transcoding and also the CPU is 95% as you can see it on the screenshots
However, here’s a screenshot of my settings while playing the movie that its set to ‘Original quality’. Any idea why it is transcoding still?
I can only guess…
Could it be those movies have subtitles that won’t play directly on your Roku? This could cause Plex to burn those subtitles into the video (and therefore explain the transcoding).
Other than that a 8.1 Mbps 720p video shouldn’t give the Plex client on your Roku the hiccups…
Figured it out. Because of the non-supported audio it’s transcoding it. When I hit force ‘Direct Play’ it gives me a warning that no audio detected during forced direct playback do I still want to play it?
When I hit yes, it plays the video with no audio and the CPU remains below 10%… I’ll have to dig into this audio thing what is not supported what is it to avoid transcoding. Or maybe just easier to purchase Plex Pass so it can do transcoding from hardware?
FYI, Audio isn’t transcoded in hardware . Your screen capture shows video being transcoded.
If you attach the logs ZIP, we can look and see exactly what happened (if still in the buffer)
Thanks You are right it shows video. I can reproduce the issue anytime let me upload the logs tomorrow.
Thanks. Before you recreate, Please verify DEBUG is ON, and VERBOSE is OFF.
These are the defaults.
Here are the log files when watching on Roku
Plex Media Server Logs_2020-01-03_12-25-14.zip (2.0 MB)
Another thing I found is when I watch the same movie from iPad (not Roku) it doesn’t transcode it and CPU stays stable
EDIT: I ran the same movie on my Samsung TV using the embedded Plex App also streamed to ChromeCast from my iPad and it doesnt transcode there either - it plays it in original quality. Seems only when I play on Roku it’s transcoding it
Here’s the reason of the transcode probably. Fetched this from Plex Webapp console:
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.876 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Selected protocol hls; container: mpegts
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.876 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: analyzing media item 280
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): Direct Play is disabled
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): media must be transcoded in order to use the hls protocol
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264/ac3
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): no direct play video profile exists for http/mkv/h264/ac3
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): no remuxable profile found, so video stream will be transcoded
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.879 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Cannot direct stream video stream due to profile or setting limitations
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.880 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Cannot direct stream audio stream due to codec ac3 when profile only allows aac
Jan 03, 2020 20:10:15.880 [0x7f05e6b7d700] Debug — MDE: Second Act (2018): selected media 0 / 280
Any idea what does this mean?
Found the solution in another thread.
https://forums.plex.tv/t/roku-transcoding-on-files-that-otherwise-shouldnt-require-it/474769/2
The Roku xml file on the Plex server had to be edited to support bigger Ref frames. I modified to 12, restarted Plex and its now playing video Direct.
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