Transcoder finished on hardware transcoding OTA only

Channels DVR Server
#1

I recently began trying to use hardware transcoding on web browser (any) and it just says transcoder finished and sits there when trying to watch an OTA recording. When I change it to software it seems to work but has never been reliable. I just started using Premium TV and hardware seems to work fine on those shows. Here is the log file when this happens. Any clues?

2018/11/04 18:41:22 [HLS] Starting transcoder for file3891-752e529f1bea at 34s from XX.XX.XXX.XX (encoder=h264_vaapi, resolution=720, deinterlacer=blend, bitrate=3000)
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 0)
Last message repeated 6 times
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 0)
Last message repeated 1 times
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 2)
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 0)
Last message repeated 6 times
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 1)
[mpegts @ 0x3e27080] Dropped corrupted packet (stream = 0)
[Parsed_scale_vaapi_3 @ 0x3f015c0] Failed to create processing pipeline config: 12 (the requested VAProfile is not supported).
[Parsed_scale_vaapi_3 @ 0x3f015c0] Failed to configure output pad on Parsed_scale_vaapi_3
Error reinitializing filters!
Failed to inject frame into filter network: Input/output error
Error while processing the decoded data for stream #0:0
2018/11/04 18:41:25 [HLS] Stopping transcoder session file3891-752e529f1bea @ 0s

#2

Can you copy/paste the OS/CPU section of the DVR web Ui

#3

OS

Linux Ubuntu
16.04 (kernel: 4.4.0-87-generic)

CPU

2 cores / Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5300 @ 2.60GHz

load averages: 0.43 0.37 0.34

RAM

3.76 GB
89.5% free

#4

Your CPU does not support QuickSync so Hardware transcoding will not work.

#5

Why does it work great on Premium TV?

#6

Premium TV uses H264 already so there is no transcoding used, only remuxing.

#7

Ah! Gotcha!

#8

If I was using an Extend would that work like Premium TV?

#9

You're better off with software transcoding in the DVR. It will produce better quality than the extend.

The heavy setting on the extend does not deinterlace, so it won't help for the web player. The mobile setting reduces quality a lot.

#10

I'm assuming if I get a LGA775 socket Intel CPU that supports quick sync that would be the best solution, correct?

#11

Yes any Quick Sync enabled cpu will let you do hardware transcoding.

#12

Are you seeing (saying) that the hardware transcoding from the Extends has been surpassed now by the native software transcoding in the DVR?

Just curious, I still have all my extends set to heavy, since there is nothing other than "none" and "mobile" available through the Channels DVR UI. (I know there are a number of internet540, internet480, etc...). Don't really know how they stack vs "mobile".

That I have about 6 of my AppleTVs running wireless....

#13

EXTEND heavy does not deinterlace. So if you want to watch via web player, it has to be decoded, deinterlaced, and re-encoded.

EXTEND mobile is pretty bad quality, and drops every other frame so you only get 30fps.

So if the goal is to rely on EXTEND for web playback, neither option is that great. If the goal is to reduce filesize on disk, then EXTEND heavy works well.

#14

Perfect.. Thanks. Don't use web player,.. Travel with AppleTV and VPN into my network when I travel. :slight_smile:

#15

So I just want to make sure I'm using the best possible option. I put together another motherboard/intel processor/ram I had laying around and moved my Ubuntu 16 server hard drives over to it. It now supports hardware transcoding and works fine. However, when I switch over to software transcoding the actual transcoding speed is faster (averages 3.5x compared to 1.9x using hardware transcoding). In a perfect world, which transcoder should I use? Software (blend) or hardware (hardware). I have cellular streaming set to 480p and internet streaming set to 720p 2Mbps.

OS

Gigabyte Technology B150M-DS3H
Linux Ubuntu
16.04 (kernel: 4.4.0-138-generic)

CPU

2 cores / Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G4400 @ 3.30GHz

load averages: 0.02 0.09 0.08

RAM

3.75 GB
91.1% free

#16

It depends on your preference. Software transcoding is usually higher quality. On newer chips the quality and speed has gotten a lot better too. If software is faster, that's probably better unless you're trying to conserve cpu cycles.

#17

OK. I think I will probably just keep it at software. I don't use it much out of home anyway. This system is channels dvr only so I'm not concerned about conserving CPU cycles.

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