ReadyNAS 214 "Server not powerful enough" streaming HD 1080p

Question

I have both the RN204 and RN214. I bought the 214 because it supposedly would transcode and play HD 1080p. I have tried many times to get the server to play HD content that I created and it won't. I've uploaded HD quality files (not 4k) from my drone. I've made copies of movies from BD discs and still I get the annoying message, "server is not powerful enough..." I have some downloaded content that says it's 1080p and it does play...mostly, but none of my files do. What's the secret. Do I need to change my bit rate, audio type, what???&nbsp;

StephenB · Answer

&nbsp;JBDragon1, thx for sharing the pictures&nbsp;:smileyhappy:
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JBDragon1&nbsp;wrote:
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On the fly Transcoding requires horsepower.&nbsp; ARM really doesn't have that power.&nbsp;

The RN21x series does support 1080p transcoding of a single stream; the RN20x does not.&nbsp; https://kb.netgear.com/25705/ReadyNAS-OS-6-Plex-Installation-Setup.&nbsp; As I mentioned above, if you installed the wrong plex version on the RN212 you would see the warning about not having a powerful enough NAS.
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If you want to do all the stuff in parallel that&nbsp;JBDragon1&nbsp;does, then you'd need to do a CPU upgrade on a stock ReadyNAS. That voids the warranty.
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My own approach is different - I use a windows desktop PC as an application server, and only use the NAS for storage.&nbsp; That does require two servers (PC and NAS), but it's a lot more flexible.&nbsp;
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JBDragon1&nbsp;wrote:
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I'm looking on PLEX on the Apple TV, and I don't see a Direct Play option.&nbsp;

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I'm not finding it on the current Android app either.&nbsp; There is a "Home streaming" setting that plays at maximum quality.&nbsp;

JBDragon1 · Answer

Are you using&nbsp;PLEX?&nbsp; &nbsp; What are you streaming to?&nbsp; Remember,&nbsp; things like Subtitles or audio may also need to be transcoded even if your Video is 1080P and going to a 1080P TV.&nbsp; If you&nbsp;have 5.1 Audio and it needs to be converted to Stereo, that's transcoding.&nbsp; If you're using PLEX, have you tried DirectPlay?&nbsp; There are also options to direct play from your NAS, without having to use a server/client option like PLEX and EMBY are.
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In general, an ARM processor NAS is not a good device to run a server on.&nbsp; It's not normally fast enough.&nbsp; Some NAS units may have the hardware to handle transcoding, but in general, you have to use their software, unless 3rd party software will take advantage of it.&nbsp;
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Many use their computer to handle the job, running PLEX server on that, and streaming the movies from the NAS.&nbsp; So you have the speed of your Intel CPU, but you can also take advantage of the GPU to stream even more.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Otherwise, you really need a NAS with an Intel CPU to do on the fly transcoding using server software like PLEX.&nbsp; You can find Plex server requirements&nbsp;here.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200375666-plex-media-server-requirements/
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Now the other&nbsp;way to do things is to not do the whole Server/Client thing like with PLEX.&nbsp; Some software I really like for this option runs only on the AppleTV 4 and newer.&nbsp; It's called "Infuse 5" which is the newest version.&nbsp; &nbsp; So it has a nice Interface, kind of like PLEX, but it doesn't need server software running.&nbsp; It's running on the Apple TV only.&nbsp; &nbsp;You may have better luck going this route.
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https://firecore.com/infuse
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If you don't have an Apple TV, but using a ROKU or something else, you'll have to find something similar&nbsp;for whatever platform you may be using.&nbsp; All I can do is guess at this point.
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MadTrucker902 · Answer

I guess I should have provided a few more bits of info. YES, I am using Plex on both servers. YES, they are both ARM processing. While I'm away I stream my movies to my S8 Note or whichever phone I have at the time. Lower quality playback such as 480p is just fine. At home, and this is the main reason I wanted something to play HD, I have a TOL Sony. So, in my mind, I wanted to be able to stream locally all my HD movies to that TV which is hardwired to the network. I own over 1800 titles, so looking for a disc isn't always something I want to do. I can also copy 4K movies, but don't think the server will do that either. As for audio, I was hoping to get the most out of it. I have an 9.2.2 system, so the audio from the recorded movie should contain the full HD audio, else, I might as well use the disc. I'm probably wishing for something that will require a $10K transcoder in a cheaper unit such as this Netgear. I haven't looked into Direct Play. What is it exactly, and how do I use it.
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Thanks for all your feedback

StephenB · Answer

When you downloaded plex for your NAS, did you get the package for "ARM 6.x RN2xx"?&nbsp; It sounds like you might have installed the ARM 6.x package instead.&nbsp; So perhaps start by checking that (or just reinstalling plex on the RN214 if you aren't sure).
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Also, are your files encoded using H.264?&nbsp; I haven't tested H.265/HEVC transcoding, but I suspect that will fail.
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MadTrucker902&nbsp;wrote:
I haven't looked into Direct Play.

It's a plex setting.&nbsp; https://support.plex.tv/articles/200250387-streaming-media-direct-play-and-direct-stream/
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MadTrucker902&nbsp;wrote:
I can also copy 4K movies, but don't think the server will do that either.

It can stream 4K, but it can't transcode it.

JBDragon1 · Answer

I have tons of movies myself from over the years.&nbsp; From DVD's to HD DVD's and Blu-Ray's.
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I haven't&nbsp;gotten into much 4K yet as I just don't have a 4k TV or really care about 4K too much.&nbsp; Really going 4K means an even larger TV.&nbsp; &nbsp;I love my Panasonic Plasmas.&nbsp; To me, 4K is pointless without at least a 100" screen.&nbsp; To see that better resolution you're paying more.&nbsp; The biggest thing most people notice is HDR.&nbsp; (High Dynamic Range).&nbsp; 4K is what you're watching on a huge screen in a movie theater.&nbsp; It's really a way to get people to buy a new TV.&nbsp; So many people didn't get a larger enough HDTV for the distance they sit, and with&nbsp;4K it needs to be even larger.
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Having all your movies in a central location is clearly the way to go.&nbsp; It won't be as good as on a disc, and 4K even more so, but it's good enough for most.&nbsp; The program I use to rip my discs and it'll rip pretty much any type of Disc and movie is called MakeMKV.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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http://www.makemkv.com
Then there's Handbrake&nbsp;which will shrink the file down even more.&nbsp; Tons of options on that program.&nbsp; It's in a good format for use with PLEX.
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On the fly Transcoding requires horsepower.&nbsp; ARM really doesn't have that power.&nbsp; You need a NAS with an Intel&nbsp;processor.&nbsp; I use a ReadyNAS 516.&nbsp; Which works fine for a few 1080P transcoding jobs.&nbsp; I upgraded it, turning it basically&nbsp;into a 716, by upgrading the processor to that of the 716 and jumping the ram from 4 to 16 gig's.&nbsp; That's enough to handle 1 4K transcoding job in my testing.&nbsp; My 1080P TV has ZERO clue about 4K, and so PLEX has to transcode from 4K to 1080P on the fly.&nbsp; On the other hand, a 4K TV would know what 1080P content was and convert on its&nbsp;own to be displayed on its 4K screen.&nbsp; So PLEX shouldn't have to transcode the Video for a 4K TV.&nbsp; Or 4K content onto a 4K TV.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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I'm looking on PLEX on the Apple TV, and I don't see a Direct Play option.&nbsp; They may have done away with that.&nbsp; There is a Video Quality option you can set like Auto which will auto adjust.&nbsp; You may want to try Orignal Quality.&nbsp; I think that would basically be Direct Play.&nbsp; If you're doing Orginal Quality, then it shouldn't be doing any transcoding.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;You can start a stream, then use your computer and log into your PLEX server, click on activity as there should be activity now with&nbsp;something streaming, and you can look and see is it shows Transcoding for either the Video or Audio or Both and get a better idea what's happening.
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One thing your NAS should be able to handle is Transcoding movies down a good format for your Smartphone or Tablet, and copy it onto your device.&nbsp; Which is nice when you don't have a good Internet connection or NO internet connection.&nbsp; You can still run the Plex app and run a movie you have copied onto your device.&nbsp; I do this all the time on my iPad.&nbsp; I sync the content I want right onto my iPad when I'm home.&nbsp; &nbsp;So you're just converting the content and copying to your device.&nbsp; No need for On the Fly Transcoding.&nbsp; &nbsp; I do have 1 person who can watch my content, and so my Online streaming is reduced to 3Mbps (720p) which she is perfectly happy with.&nbsp; Still looks good and doesn't hog a bunch of my Upload bandwidth.&nbsp; 3Mbps out of about 12 Mbps I get from Comcast.&nbsp; Really, I could have a couple people streaming from me if I wanted at the same time.&nbsp; My NAS would have no problem transcoding 2 1080P movies down to 720P while streaming a couple more for me here at my house.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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That's one of the differences from a cheap Home NAS, and a much more expensive Buisness Class NAS, which is what I have.&nbsp; I got mine used at the time for about half what a new one would have cost.&nbsp; I had a cheapo ARM ReadyNAS in the past and used my Windows Desktop for the PLEX server to run on.&nbsp; At the time I was also using Windows Media Center to Record all my TV content from the Antenna, and Xbox 360's as Media Extenders.&nbsp; With Windows 10, Media Center went away.&nbsp; I switched to a Tivo Roamio and a few Tivo Mini's.&nbsp; &nbsp;I offloaded my Weather station software to a Mini NAS, and how the Desktop is not running 24/7 as it is power hungry.
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The NAS is in Sleep mode a lot of the time, and late night, it powers down.&nbsp; I also a couple weeks ago Upgraded my Home wired Network.&nbsp; From what I did 5 years ago when I got my house, to what it is now, which looks professional.&nbsp; &nbsp;Something I had been planning to do for the last 6 months.&nbsp; I had a few wiring issues and decided to fix and upgrade the whole thing.&nbsp; I also ran another 9 Ethernet cables under my house.&nbsp; 2 to the Garage for my future IP POE Security Camera's I have planned.&nbsp; All the work I did myself with ZERO help.&nbsp; What you can't see if the Hole I had to cut out in the door header where there's a dual fan setup that is temp controlled.&nbsp; The fans are attached to this wood grill that's painted to match the hallway.&nbsp; So blends in,&nbsp; It's also pretty quiet.&nbsp; If it gets to warm in that small closet, the fans come on, on their own blowing air out.&nbsp; There's about a 1" or so gap under the door for the cooler fresh air to go in.&nbsp; Heat rises after all.&nbsp; &nbsp; The fan setup has worked well for my needs for the last 5 years.
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Running new cables also allows me to toss a couple small switches that I now no longer need.&nbsp; My used Fluke Networks MS2-100 Cable Tester allowed me to test everything from point A to point B.&nbsp; Which I did do a couple booboo's and then corrected.&nbsp;&nbsp;
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This is my before Home Network.  You can see my ReadyNAS 516 up top in the middle.   There's also a ASUS Router I want to upgrade soon, a cable modem, a HD Homerun, a APC UPS, and a Zyxel 24 port  Managed Switch, and next to the switch on the right you can't see a Tivo Stream.This is what it looks now NOW.  My ReadyNAS 516 on the top left.  My ASUS Wifi Router next to it.  Under that my cable modem, HD Homerun and the Tivo Stream.  Then there are a couple Cat6 Patch panels.  A new Zyxel 48 port Managed Switch.  I like these because they work great.  The price is reasonable and best of all, they are not DEEP.  It's a little less deep that that Cyber Power UPS pm the bottom, which the NAS is plugged into by USB. If the power goes out, the NAS will auto power down on it's own safely.  I'm using a 8U Wall Rack that has 1 side hinged on the front, and the sides are adjustable.  I have them all the way out to the max of 13.5" in depth.
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ReadyNAS 214 "Server not powerful enough" streaming HD 1080p

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