9700K Intel Quick Sync on Linux

[WhoaPotato]

I have been trying to get my iGPU working on the 9700K when running in Ubuntu 16.04 but apparently there aren't many linux kernels that support the newer chipset?

https://forums.plex.tv/t/hw-trancoding-not-work-on-i5-9600k/331081/23

Has anyone managed to get it working on Ubuntu? I would love any tips or advice or is it just a waiting game until someone supplies it?

Thanks!

 

[WhoaPotato]

I havent used that CPU, but I have a 4000 series intel using the integrated gpu running on Ubuntu 18, have you tried that?

Which CPU do you have?

I can get iGPU working on other older CPUs just not this new one.

 

[WhoaPotato]

It’s a known intel driver issue (as referenced on the Plex thread you link to in the op). HW transcoding not working on a CPU with a 17k+ CPU mark doesn’t seem like a deal breaker, that’s still an 8+ concurrent transcoded chip.

It's a deal breaker as 8 isn't nearly enough and I could have a much cheaper CPU with a working iGPU that can handle more.

 

[WhoaPotato]

If you need/want to stick with Ubuntu, move to the mainline kernel, OP. They're currently at v4.20.3, which does support your CPU. This is one of the downfalls of regular freeze-and-release distros; until a new release comes out you miss support for most newer stuff. Upgrading to the mainline kernel is easy and painless.

Thanks for the advice, I had already tried 4.20.3-042003-generic but Plex still crashes when using the iGPU.

 

[WhoaPotato]

As someone who is familiar with larger Plex servers, if you have 8 users transcoding and it's causing you issues, you're doing something wrong. Lazy option: P4000. Less efficient and more work, but cheaper: Modified Nvidia drivers + suitable GPU. Actually know what you're doing and don't want to spend: Choose the right media for your client's capabilities so they don't need to transcode.

It's not causing any issues with 8 transcodes, I just need to be able to support more during peak times.

Not sure what this CPU can handle at once as i've not benched it, but of course HW transcoding would be more.

It's a waste of money paying for this server when I can't utilise it's full potential, i'll be downgrading to an 8th gen CPU that can be used properly as it'll not only handle more than this can but it'll also be lighter on the old wallet.

 

[WhoaPotato]

Why are you running such an old distro?

I've been playing around with Ubuntu 18.10 myself recently and from my experience it's unstable.

Using an even newer kernel with it I can only imagine make it more unstable.

Try and find a distro that works nice with your igpu and Plex.

Can you explain more what the scenario is here? Your transcoding videos locally for remote hosts?

I see here Ubuntu 16.04 is the recommended OS for Plex but that is at the time of writing.

Perhaps try 18.04 and see if that works.

No particular reason, just something I set my servers up with - I'll be updating to 18.04 or 18.10 in the coming days/weeks.

The server is very stable, it's just there isn't any support with the latest CPUs iGPU yet as it's pretty new and waiting on Intel according to Plex forums.

I transcode videos for remote viewing yes, not all of my users can or will direct play, which isn't an issue as it's not very demanding to transcode video with a proper setup.

I'm unable to test with another Ubuntu version as it's a live server sadly.

 

[WhoaPotato]

I missed the fact you were on 16.04 originally. Even more reason to upgrade then. While backports will cover most situations I wouldn't personally want to run brand new hardware on a three year old OS. The Coffee Lake S (9 series) chips use UHD630 graphics as with the 8th gen Coffee Lake, and the same drivers. You'll be fine on a newer distro with updated drivers, I should think. Intel have very good open source drivers as a rule and up to date support for all chipsets.

I had someone test ubuntu 18 although I don't think they went up to kernel 20, will have to look into that thanks!

That's my point, you'll generally see 25% or less of your remote users online (more on holidays/weekends/live events), of those if you have a properly set-up library (hint: this may require you to re-encode content to an appropriate format), few if any should need to transcode anything. That excludes the 4G/mobile device users for obvious reasons and things like sub titles potentially if you don't burn them. Also strongly suggest a secondary remote server so that work can be carried out on the first without upsetting your 'friends' - if done properly, both can access the same back end data and you split the load in general and avoid much of the agro you are experiencing now.

I think you misunderstood my original post, I don't currently have issues handling all of the transcodes - I just wanted to unlock the full potential of the CPU I have, for when I do have enough users (which will be soon).

I'm not a fan of re-encoding media to allow most devices to direct play, if people want direct play they will make adjustments. CPUs these days are plenty powerful enough to transcode on the fly as well. Another reason is I have some users that have <5mbps internet speeds, so would require transcoding unless I kept multiple copies of each file which would be a lot of data!

I appreciate everyone's replies.

 

[WhoaPotato]

If storage space is still a consideration, then you're doing it wrong.

I'm way beyond the point of no return in terms of transcoding my library - Even at 10x speed it would take years to do and for zero benefit - But anyway this has gotten way off topic!