Web Player buffering - Server Quality and Client Buffer

Channels DVR Server
#21

If that's the case, maybe try using the full path: /sbin/modprobe i915

Please remember that since you're accessing the kernel, you need root privileges, so you'll likely need to pass the command through sudo, so you're looking at something more like:

# /sbin/modprobe i915

or

$ sudo /sbin/modprobe i915

(Note: the leading # or $ is to denote the shell prompt, with # implying a root shell, and $ representing the shell prompt of a non-root user.)

#22

Thanks guys. I've run it. This should help with transcoding load?

#23

Only if:

  1. The device running Channels DVR has an Intel processor with integrated graphics that supports Intel's QuickSync feature; and,
  2. You have set the Transcoder to "Hardware" in the Settings page of th Channels DVR's web interface.

Also, please note that modprobe does not ensure that the kernel module is loaded. To verify that the module has indeed been loaded and enabled, check the output of lsmod | grep i915. If that command produces no output, then the module did not get loaded and you cannot access hardware-assisted transcoding. If that command does give you output, but Channels does not offer a "Hardware" Transcoder on its Settings page, then perhaps you need to restart the Channels DVR server.

#24

another dumb question. how do I restart channels dvr?
I just rebooted the NAS but the modprobe i915 does not come back after a reboot.
After running 'modprobe i915' and running lsmod | i915, I do get some output so that part is good.

#25

The process of restarting Channels (and other services on your NAS) varies based upon your model, its OS, and which process management/supervision/init system it uses. (Similarly, the way in which you can set modprobe i915 to run after reboot varies across the same differences.)

#26

On Debian based systems, you'll want to do something like (as root):

echo i915 > /etc/modutils/quicksync
update-modules

and then it should autoload at boot.

#27

Another option for getting the module loaded at startup would be something like:

# echo "install i915" > /etc/modprobe.d/quicksync.conf

This will then ensure that the proper module is loaded at startup.

(OpenMediaVault really has poor documentation. I believe you can probably restart the Channels DVR with:

# service channels-dvr restart

or try:

# /etc/init.d/channels-dvr restart

Either of those commands ought to work.)

#28

Thanks again. I was able to run:
echo "install i915" > /etc/modprobe.d/quicksync.conf
Then restart the dvr with:
service channels-dvr restart

The transcoder section of channels dvr still only has "software" as an option.
What am I doing wrong?

edit
I've been streaming using the web player to watch television with just the i915 turned on and not changing the transcoding to hardware, it seems to be working better.
I did reboot the NAS to see if the i915 would persist after a reboot, and it does not.
Will keep watching and see if the buffering is better or worse.

#29

This is what "lsmod | grep i915" gives for output:
i915

restarting channels does not give me the hardware transcoding option

#30

Does your processor actually support QuickSync?

#31

That's a good question that I have no answer to. :slight_smile:

#32

What does ls -alh /dev/dri show

#33

capture2

#34

I wonder ... does Channels have access to the node for the card? Which user does the channels process run as? What is the output of:

$ ps aux | grep channels | grep -v grep

If Channels is not running as root, then you would want to run:

# usermod -aG video <USER>

Where <USER> is the user account that Channels runs under.

#35

image
This is the output. I ran the next command:
usermod -aG video eric

I then restarted channels dvr, and still no option for hardware transcoding.

#36

In that case, I would recommend checking with the OMV forums and see how they might offer VA-API/QuickSync for other applications. Plex would an example of an application often installed on OMV that can make use of hardware acceleration that probably has more users, and therefore more people who have encountered this situation.

Otherwise, I'm out of options for giving guidance. (Just one more thing ... you have actually physically restarted the machine after making all of these modifications to ensure that state is clean, right?)

#37

card0 is not enough. A render node is required in /dev/dri for quick sync, usually /dev/dri/renderD128

If you can find a Plex guide for h/w transcoding the instructions will translate directly.

#38

Thanks guys. I will see what I can dig up.
Gonig to restat the NAS now and see what happens.

#39

Here's the output when I tried to 'sudo modprobe i915'.
Could this be the issue?
Capture4
The only line in 'quicksync.conf' is "install i915".
I'm assuming that this just isn't going to work.

#40

Oh and here is my server settings from the Channels DVR settings screen:
OS

Linux Debian
9.8 (kernel: 4.19.0-0.bpo.2-amd64)

CPU

4 cores / Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4130T CPU @ 2.90GHz

load averages: 2.12 1.86 1.18

RAM

7.75 GB
86.3% free