Tinkerboard Plex

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1

Hello,

I installed plex server from the dev2day sourceon an asus tinkerboard.
The installation armf went well but I have some problem during the native transcoding (with ARM was heating the proc and planted during the construction of the db).
I explain the problem: The playback of videos hangs natively in wifi or lan about 30 sec of reading, however the same video on the pi3 starts without any problem.
I tried several parameters in the plex configuration interface (and also the same ones as the pi3).
But when I change the playback quality during the video on a transcoding in less than 1 mbits, the video reads

Could you help me?

PS: As a reminder, the tinker board is 2GB of ram, the network card is gigabyte and wifi and the processor is an ARM Cortex-A17 Quad @ 1.8 GHz SoC Rockchip RK3288 that decodes native H264 and H265.
It’s a basic 32 bit but I noticed that it runs better on 64 bit

Tank you all

2

@chrissas2106 said:
I explain the problem: The playback of videos hangs natively in wifi or lan about 30 sec of reading, however the same video on the pi3 starts without any problem.

Even the RPi3 is not powerful enough to “just start” a transcoding session. You should also see a significant waiting period with the RPi3 when it is transcoding. So, I believe we have to figure out why your client, whatever it is, uses Direct Play with your RPi3 while it forces your Tinkerboard to transcode the video.

Please tell me more about your client. And please take a look at the Web App → Status → Now Playing to check if the video is transcoded on your RPi3.

with ARM was heating the proc and planted during the construction of the db)

I suppose your Tinkerboard is heavily throttling the CPU because of excessive heat issues. If it even overheats while only scanning your media files, I will overheat during any transcoding session.

But when I change the playback quality during the video on a transcoding in less than 1 mbits, the video reads

What do you mean with “the video reads”, exactly? The client shows the “spinning wheel”? However, using anything other than “original quality” is not recommend (see my next paragraph).

PS: As a reminder, the tinker board is 2GB of ram, the network card is gigabyte and wifi and the processor is an ARM Cortex-A17 Quad @ 1.8 GHz SoC Rockchip RK3288 that decodes native H264 and H265.

Video transcoding is a HUGE problem for the ARM cores. Hardware support on ARM is not utilized at the moment by Plex, so the CPU has to do all the work. It’s the same on your RPi3 and your Tinkerboard. That’s why you should avoid on-demand video transcoding at all costs. I recommend to use the Plex Media Optimizer [1] to create versions of your videos that do not require transcoding.

It’s a basic 32 bit but I noticed that it runs better on 64 bit

The SoC on the Tinkerboard is ARMv7, it does not support 64 bit mode.

[1] https://support.plex.tv/articles/214079318-media-optimizer-overview/

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c5l6lvo5zpex.png931×400 53.4 KB

1 pictures are better than a long speech.

I read directly from google chrome, I do not have a dedicated PLEX client.

But what is weird but very weird what for the same video “the chronicles of Shanara” in this example.
(and I’m just doing the play button)
The video loads without problem on the rpi3 and not on the tinkerboard. On the tinker, I have the wheel and it blocks at 30 sec of reading on the tinkerboard.
(I still specify that the plex configuration is identical on the 2)

And for the install, I actually installed the ARMF so 64 bit and I have a lot less problem than with the ARM but I overclock too high the tinkerboard processor and now I have the same power the rpi3 and then more worries. (In part of my fault But I confirm that it heats more since I use ARMF)

4

Hello Again,
I may have found a beginning of answer to my concerns.
is it possible that this is certain codec that plex would have trouble managing?
because I transcode an episode for a test and it works without any problem

tanks again

5

@chrissas2106 said:
I read directly from google chrome, I do not have a dedicated PLEX client.

That’s the worst possible client. It often requires transcoding, “conversion”. If you really want to use the Tinkerboard or RPi as Plex Server, you really cannot use the Web Client and Auto-Play. Always use “original” quality and a real plex client. Otherwise, you will have to use a x86 server with more processing power.

But what is weird but very weird what for the same video “the chronicles of Shanara” in this example.
(and I’m just doing the play button)
The video loads without problem on the rpi3 and not on the tinkerboard. On the tinker, I have the wheel and it blocks at 30 sec of reading on the tinkerboard.

Then most likely, you have different versions of this video on both devices. The file on the RPi3 is directly playable in Chrome while the version on your Tinkerboard not. Or you have different “quality” settings for both files in the web frontend.

And for the install, I actually installed the ARMF so 64 bit and I have a lot less problem than with the ARM but I overclock too high the tinkerboard processor and now I have the same power the rpi3 and then more worries. (In part of my fault But I confirm that it heats more since I use ARMF)

Now I see where your confusion originates from :slight_smile: “armhf” is the Debian architecture name for ARMv7, 32 bit. “arm64” would be 64 bit. I am quite sure you are confused by my 64 bit installation instructions. If you HAD an arm64 / ARMv8 SoC, they tell you how to install the Plex armhf / ARMv7 / 32 bit binaries on it. The Plex binaries are only available for armhf and your Tinkerboard is only armhf (32 bit). So if you had experienced any performance improvements, it was just because of a Plex update and not because of 32 to 64 bit switch, that’s not even available right now :smiley:

The RPi3 is ARMv8 / 64 bit, but I am quite sure you are still running an armhf / 32 bit Linux on it (Raspbian).

is it possible that this is certain codec that plex would have trouble managing?

Of course. The difficulty to transcode a video depends on the codec, resolution, bitrate, … There are many factors.

6

@uglymagoo tanks
I know that chrome is the worst of client. lol :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: lol
but when I put something up I want it to work everywhere

for the test, I put the same 3 video on both devices and made play. In chrome when reading read on the rpi3 without problem while the tinkerboard blocks videos above 1MBPS.
I transcode the video with another codec and I have a lot less problem.

But I promise that plex arm (on tinker board works less well) while with armf without worries
And I know that the tinker board is 32 bit, that’s what I found weird.
Weird ! Weird!

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@chrissas2106 said:
@uglymagoo tanks
I know that chrome is the worst of client. lol :smiley: :smiley: :smiley: lol
but when I put something up I want it to work everywhere

for the test, I put the same 3 video on both devices and made play. In chrome when reading read on the rpi3 without problem while the tinkerboard blocks videos above 1MBPS.
I transcode the video with another codec and I have a lot less problem.

Can you please provide a test sample of this file? Put it on dropbox or somewhere else and send me the link via PM :smile: