Plex - Hardware

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TG09

234 posts

Master Geek

#294008 28-Feb-2022 08:21

Hi all

I currently have a NAS- QNAP TS-231 and recently want to share my Plex with a friend, but it they get "device can not decode the show". Some lower resolution shows work, but some 720p or 1080p keeps getting the errors.

Assumption is that the NAS is not powerful enough to decode on the fly, would a bigger NAS help with this? Plex runs on the NAS that has the shows on it.

Tried changing some settings like restricting the bandwidth, no difference.

Anyone with experience on this that is willing to help me please.

Cheers

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127 posts

Master Geek

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#2875962 28-Feb-2022 08:25

Check whether Direct Play/Stream is enable on both ends

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250387-streaming-media-direct-play-and-direct-stream/

Andib

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#2875965 28-Feb-2022 08:31

The issue will be the CPU on the NAS not being fast enough for transcoding, Most NAS's will struggle transcoding any more than a single stream.
For much better performance (if you have PlexPass) look at a system that has a new enough CPU for Intel QuickSync or a nvida GPU to do transcoding.

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Lias

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#2876041 28-Feb-2022 08:37

Reddit post from 4 years ago saying that hardware is insufficient for transcoding.

https://www.reddit.com/r/qnap/comments/7jqv94/qnap_t231_apparently_not_fast_enough_for_a_plex/

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#2876042 28-Feb-2022 08:39

Andib:
The issue will be the CPU on the NAS not being fast enough for transcoding, Most NAS's will struggle transcoding any more than a single stream.
For much better performance (if you have PlexPass) look at a system that has a new enough CPU for Intel QuickSync or a nvida GPU to do transcoding.

Pretty much this. A core i3 with quick sync is a great Plex server if you have Plex pass for HW transcoding. My 10100 can transcode half a dozen 1080p streams easily.

TG09

234 posts

Master Geek

#2876045 28-Feb-2022 08:44

Lias:

Reddit post from 4 years ago saying that hardware is insufficient for transcoding.

https://www.reddit.com/r/qnap/comments/7jqv94/qnap_t231_apparently_not_fast_enough_for_a_plex/

Ah awesome, ok i will need to look at something else.

Might get a small pc to do the job and keep the NAS for storage and let the PC do the grunt work.

freitasm

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#2876047 28-Feb-2022 08:46

Or ask your friend to configure his Plex client to play at the original rate. It will use more bandwidth but the onus on transcoding is on him.

K8Toledo

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#2876065 28-Feb-2022 09:03

Plex's website advises against using NAS for Plex server. An old PC with maybe a GPU for HW decoding would be better.

My Plex server is a machine cobbled together from spare parts. A Q6600, NVidia GT640 and 2007 motherboard w/16GB of RAM. With 6TB of HDD's pulled from upgraded rigs.....works like a charm.

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TG09

234 posts

Master Geek

#2876067 28-Feb-2022 09:04

K8Toledo:

Plex's website advises against using NAS for Plex server. An old PC with maybe a GPU for HW decoding would be better.

My Plex server is a machine cobbled together from spare parts. A Q6600, NVidia GT640 and 2007 motherboard w/16GB of RAM. With 6TB of HDD's pulled from upgraded rigs.....works like a charm.

Might do this, i did have an old pc Lenovo i think but sold it.

Will check on TradeMe or something around Wellington area for old pc's with gfx cards.

TG09

234 posts

Master Geek

#2876074 28-Feb-2022 09:09

freitasm:

Or ask your friend to configure his Plex client to play at the original rate. It will use more bandwidth but the onus on transcoding is on him.

I will check in with them on this too, cheers.

I turned on my data on my phone so not to run of home wifi and got it on my phone as well. Wifi works fine

freitasm

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#2876077 28-Feb-2022 09:12

TG09:

freitasm:

Or ask your friend to configure his Plex client to play at the original rate. It will use more bandwidth but the onus on transcoding is on him.

I will check in with them on this too, cheers.

I turned on my data on my phone so not to run of home wifi and got it on my phone as well. Wifi works fine

What would that achieve? Mobile data is a lot more expensive than the WiFi at home.

xpd

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#2876082 28-Feb-2022 09:16

I'm using an old Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3470S with 16GB as a home server, have Plex and Emby running on it happily, streams externally quite happily. No video card installed, just using IGP.

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demeter23

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#2876085 28-Feb-2022 09:22

freitasm:

Or ask your friend to configure his Plex client to play at the original rate. It will use more bandwidth but the onus on transcoding is on him.

Is that entirely correct? Yes, client devices should be set to max for remote video streaming but if the file isn't compatible, transcoding will happen server side. The client side never transcodes, as it requests the alternative file format from the server. To stop transcoding entirely, you need to set that within the plex server settings.

michaelmurfy

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#2876086 28-Feb-2022 09:23

As somebody who runs Plex on limited hardware myself what you need to do is tell your friend to set the remote streaming quality to either Original or Maximum depending on the client - this is in the Plex settings and a note also this needs to be changed on all clients your friend uses:

My record is 19 streams running at once during the 2020 Lockdown but the important factor to this is most of my clients play media at original quality, not transcoded. I furthermore have a script that runs across the majority of users to terminate their stream to go to a help URL to show them how to configure their remote streaming quality to Maximum or Original. Repeat offenders I also remind.

Your NAS, while not ideal, will run it fine once this setting is changed. You seriously don't need anything too powerful if transcoding isn't used. I run Plex on LXC (Linux Containers) on an i5 Lenovo Tiny with 4gb of ram and a NFS mount to my NAS.

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TG09

234 posts

Master Geek

#2876095 28-Feb-2022 09:30

I currently have this set

michaelmurfy

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#2876098 28-Feb-2022 09:34

@TG09 Please re-read my message above. The configuration is on the client side, not the server side.

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