https://homelab.nbkelley.com/tags/transcoding/ Recent content in Transcoding on homelab Hugo en Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://homelab.nbkelley.com/docs/services/jellyfin-gpu-passthrough/ Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000 https://homelab.nbkelley.com/docs/services/jellyfin-gpu-passthrough/ <h1 id="jellyfin-lxc-gpu-passthrough--hardware-acceleration">Jellyfin LXC GPU Passthrough &amp; Hardware Acceleration<a class="anchor" href="#jellyfin-lxc-gpu-passthrough--hardware-acceleration">#</a></h1> <h2 id="what-was-established">What Was Established<a class="anchor" href="#what-was-established">#</a></h2> <p>Successfully configured Intel UHD Graphics 630 GPU passthrough to a Jellyfin LXC container on Proxmox for hardware-accelerated transcoding via Intel QuickSync (QSV).</p> <h2 id="key-decisions">Key Decisions<a class="anchor" href="#key-decisions">#</a></h2> <ul> <li><strong>GPU Passthrough Method</strong>: LXC container-level GPU device mapping (not full VM passthrough)</li> <li><strong>Hardware Acceleration</strong>: Intel QuickSync (QSV) selected over VAAPI for Jellyfin&rsquo;s native support</li> <li><strong>Monitoring Constraints</strong>: Accepted that LXC container restrictions prevent full GPU monitoring tools (dmesg, intel_gpu_top) from functioning; validated functionality through actual transcoding tests instead</li> </ul> <h2 id="current-configuration">Current Configuration<a class="anchor" href="#current-configuration">#</a></h2> <h3 id="host-gpu-details">Host GPU Details<a class="anchor" href="#host-gpu-details">#</a></h3> <ul> <li><strong>GPU</strong>: Intel Corporation CoffeeLake-S GT2 [UHD Graphics 630]</li> <li><strong>PCI Address</strong>: 00:02.0</li> <li><strong>Driver</strong>: i915 (loaded)</li> <li><strong>Related Modules</strong>: drm_buddy, ttm, drm_display_helper, cec, i2c_algo_bit, video</li> </ul> <h3 id="lxc-container-gpu-devices">LXC Container GPU Devices<a class="anchor" href="#lxc-container-gpu-devices">#</a></h3> <ul> <li><code>/dev/dri/card0</code> — character special (major 226, minor 0)</li> <li><code>/dev/dri/renderD128</code> — character special (major 226, minor 128)</li> <li><strong>Permissions</strong>: <code>crw-rw---- root:video</code> (226/0 and 226/128)</li> </ul> <h3 id="jellyfin-configuration">Jellyfin Configuration<a class="anchor" href="#jellyfin-configuration">#</a></h3> <ol> <li><strong>User Group Assignment</strong>: <code>jellyfin</code> user added to <code>video</code> group (<code>usermod -a -G video jellyfin</code>)</li> <li><strong>Dashboard → Playback Settings</strong>: <ul> <li>Hardware Acceleration: <code>Intel QuickSync (QSV)</code></li> <li>Enable hardware encoding: <code>Yes</code></li> <li>Enable hardware decoding: <code>Yes</code></li> <li>Enable tone mapping: <code>Yes</code></li> <li>Allow encoding in HEVC: <code>Yes</code></li> <li>Allow encoding in AV1: <code>Yes</code> (if supported)</li> </ul> </li> </ol> <h3 id="validation-commands">Validation Commands<a class="anchor" href="#validation-commands">#</a></h3> <div class="highlight"><pre tabindex="0" style="color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4;"><code class="language-bash" data-lang="bash"><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Verify GPU device accessibility</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>ls -la /dev/dri/ </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Check if processes are using GPU during playback</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>lsof /dev/dri/renderD128 </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Monitor Jellyfin logs for hardware acceleration</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span>sudo journalctl -u jellyfin -f | grep -i <span style="color:#e6db74">&#34;hardware\|qsv\|quicksync\|vaapi&#34;</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Check active transcoding sessions in Jellyfin UI</span> </span></span><span style="display:flex;"><span><span style="color:#75715e"># Dashboard → Active Devices → look for (HW) indicator</span></span></span></code></pre></div><h2 id="historical-notes">Historical Notes<a class="anchor" href="#historical-notes">#</a></h2> <ul> <li><strong>dmesg restriction</strong>: <code>dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted</code> — expected in LXC containers without full device access</li> <li><strong>intel_gpu_top limitation</strong>: GPU monitoring tools that require kernel debugfs access will not work inside the LXC; validated via actual transcoding performance and log inspection instead</li> <li><strong>i915 driver loaded</strong>: Confirmed via <code>lsmod | grep i915</code> showing 3,928,064 bytes loaded</li> <li><strong>No GPU debug info</strong>: <code>/sys/kernel/debug/dri</code> not available in container — accepted limitation</li> </ul> <h2 id="open-questions">Open Questions<a class="anchor" href="#open-questions">#</a></h2> <ul> <li>Does AV1 hardware encoding actually work on Coffee Lake-S (Gen 9.5) — typically limited to H.264/H.265</li> <li>Performance baseline: what CPU load reduction is observed with QSV vs software transcoding?</li> <li>Can GPU passthrough be extended to other LXC containers (e.g., Plex, if migrated)</li> </ul> <h2 id="related-pages">Related Pages<a class="anchor" href="#related-pages">#</a></h2> <ul> <li>Plex Transcoding LXC — similar GPU passthrough patterns for Plex</li> <li>Proxmox LXC Configuration — LXC container setup patterns</li> <li><a href="https://homelab.nbkelley.com/docs/services/servarr/">Servarr - Media Automation Stack</a> — media server ecosystem</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://homelab.nbkelley.com/docs/services/gluetun-vpn/">Gluetun VPN Service</a></p>