TechTalk

Thanks, Zach!

— TechMike

Hey folks,

TrueNAS has gone through some MAJOR changes since we wrote the steps covered in this tutorial. In the newer versions some of the steps are no longer recommended, or have changed enough to require a new tutorial. As noted in the author’s edit 06/2024, this information will be updated in a follow-up post to better reflect Electric Eel and future versions.

— TechMike

Hey Aaron,

To get your GPU recognized for transcoding, you’ll need to select the GPU in TrueNAS and turn on hardware transcoding in Plex. To do that:

1. Select Plex from your list of TrueNAS apps and edit its config. This will look different in different versions of TrueNAS.
1A. If you’re using “Cobia”, clicking the “Apps” button on the left side will pull up a list. Find Plex on the list, look in the box labeled “Application Info”, and select “Edit”.
1B. If you’re on “Bluefin”, the “Apps” button will take you to a screen of apps. Once you find Plex, click the 3 dots in the top right corner its little box, and select “Edit”.    

2. Scroll down until you see “GPU Configuration”.
3. If the section doesn’t have the “Select GPU” dropdowns, you’ll need to click “Add”.
4. Click the drop down to select the type of GPU you’re using. Select “Allocate 1 xxxxxxx/xxx GPU”. (xxxxxxx/xxx being your brand of GPU.)
5. Once you’ve selected your GPU, click “Save”, and wait for Plex to deploy.
6. After Plex has deployed, hop into Plex settings in the WebUI and select “Transcoder”.
7. From the Transcoder settings, find the checkbox that says “Use hardware acceleration when available”. Check that box to turn on hardware transcoding. (The checkbox will be the setting directly below the “Transcoder quality” dropdown.) 8. Remember to hit “Save” to apply the change.

And you should be all set. Once you configure your GPU in TrueNAS and turn on hardware transcoding in Plex, you’ll see “(hw)” written at the end of the stream data.

If you’re using a Nvidia GPU for transcoding, you can see if it’s being utilized by Plex when you have a stream playing that’s being transcoded. To do that, you can use the “nvidia-smi” command in the TrueNAS shell. (More on that here: https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-system-management-interface.)

Hope that helps!

— TechMike

Thanks for sharing! Yes, the fix in that Reddit thread will work; as we mentioned in Step 11, you’ll need to make sure that the top fields are correctly filled out when you go to disable host path safety checks in “Advanced Settings”, aka “Kubernetes Settings”. (This also includes selecting “0.0.0.0” from the “Node IP” dropdown.) Otherwise, if your port forwarding isn’t set up properly, Plex will not be able to see the server remotely.

— TechMike

Hey Logan, 

Thanks for your question. Start by making sure that “Plex Data Volume” and “Plex Config Volume” settings for Plex are pointing to the correct datasets (see step 13). If that’s all set properly, you may be running into one of a few things. 

We found that in order for Plex to recognize our media, we had to create subfolders for each individual piece of media and give the subfolders whatever name we wanted the media to appear as in Plex. 

If it’s a folder structure issue, here’s what you can do: Let’s say you want to add Jaws to Plex, for example. Your structure would need to be Media > Movies > Jaws > Jaws.mkv. If you want it to show up as, say, “Scary Shark Movie”, your structure could be Media > Movies > Scary Shark Movie > Jaws.mkv. (Note that changing the folder name will also change what Plex searches for to populate the movie info/poster.) 

Now, if that doesn’t solve the problem, then it may have to do with the permissions for your Media dataset. To check what your permissions are set to, go into the “Datasets” menu on the left, select your Media dataset, and click “Edit” on the permissions box. First, double check that Owner is set to “apps” for both User and Group. Then, make sure that the “Read”, “Write”, and “Execute” permission boxes are checked for both User and Group. 

Let us know if you need help with anything else!

— TechMike

Hey Logan, 

Thanks for your question. Start by making sure that “Plex Data Volume” and “Plex Config Volume” settings for Plex are pointing to the correct datasets (see step 13). If that’s all set properly, you may be running into one of a few things. 

We found that in order for Plex to recognize our media, we had to create subfolders for each individual piece of media and give the subfolders whatever name we wanted the media to appear as in Plex. 

If it’s a folder structure issue, here’s what you can do: Let’s say you want to add Jaws to Plex, for example. Your structure would need to be Media > Movies > Jaws > Jaws.mkv. If you want it to show up as, say, “Scary Shark Movie”, your structure could be Media > Movies > Scary Shark Movie > Jaws.mkv. (Note that changing the folder name will also change what Plex searches for to populate the movie info/poster.) 

Now, if that doesn’t solve the problem, then it may have to do with the permissions for your Media dataset. To check what your permissions are set to, go into the “Datasets” menu on the left, select your Media dataset, and click “Edit” on the permissions box. First, double check that Owner is set to “apps” for both User and Group. Then, make sure that the “Read”, “Write”, and “Execute” permission boxes are checked for both User and Group. 

Let us know if you need help with anything else!

— TechMike

Hey Trey,

Thanks for your question. In the final step of adding a Library to Plex, selecting “/data” during the last step is not actually adding data to Plex; it is directing Plex to look for media within the location, “/data”.

Backtracking to Step 8, we set up 2 datasets; 1. “Plex Config”, for Plex’s configuration files, and 2.“Media”, to store your videos, pictures, and any other content that you want Plex to access.

How does content end up in “Media”? That’s where the SMB share comes into play. The purpose of the SMB share is to be able to easily transfer your media files from your computer and into the “Media” dataset. This dataset is what Plex will access through the designated folder called “data.”

During Step 13, when configuring Plex’s “Storage” settings, you need to check the “Enable host path for Plex Data Volume” and set the host path to the “Media” dataset. By doing this, you’re essentially telling TrueNAS to link the “Media” dataset to the “/data” folder.


Then, when you go to add a Library and hit “Browse Media Dataset”, you’ll need to select the “/data” folder. You’ve set everything up so that whatever is in “Media” ends up in “/data”.


Hope that helps!

— TechMike

Hey Trey,

Thanks for your question. In the final step of adding a Library to Plex, selecting “/data” during the last step is not actually adding data to Plex; it is directing Plex to look for media within the location, “/data”.

Backtracking to Step 8, we set up 2 datasets; 1. “Plex Config”, for Plex’s configuration files, and 2.“Media”, to store your videos, pictures, and any other content that you want Plex to access.

How does content end up in “Media”? That’s where the SMB share comes into play. The purpose of the SMB share is to be able to easily transfer your media files from your computer and into the “Media” dataset. This dataset is what Plex will access through the designated folder called “data.”

During Step 13, when configuring Plex’s “Storage” settings, you need to check the “Enable host path for Plex Data Volume” and set the host path to the “Media” dataset. By doing this, you’re essentially telling TrueNAS to link the “Media” dataset to the “/data” folder.


Then, when you go to add a Library and hit “Browse Media Dataset”, you’ll need to select the “/data” folder. You’ve set everything up so that whatever is in “Media” ends up in “/data”.


Hope that helps!

— TechMike

Hi Danillo,

Thanks for your question. If the server does not boot into Windows after installation, you’ll want to check the boot type in BIOS – it should be set to UEFI. You may also need to enable PCI bifurcation in the BIOS as well.

— TechMike

Hi Danillo,

Thanks for your question. If the server does not boot into Windows after installation, you’ll want to check the boot type in BIOS – it should be set to UEFI. You may also need to enable PCI bifurcation in the BIOS as well.

— TechMike

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your question. The R640 does in fact support both PCIe SSDs and PCIe Bifurcation. However, it is dependent on the operating system containing the correct drivers for the PCI card or PCI SSD adapter. 

We cannot guarantee any part which we cannot test for compatibility, and we haven’t tested these servers with the 3rd party PCI NVME cards or 2.5" NVME adapters. Installing one of these cards may cause the server to run in safemode, spinning the fans up to 100%. Usually, the 2.5" NVME adapters are not compatible with the SAS/RAID controllers used in these model servers.

— TechMike

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your question. The R640 does in fact support both PCIe SSDs and PCIe Bifurcation. However, it is dependent on the operating system containing the correct drivers for the PCI card or PCI SSD adapter. 

We cannot guarantee any part which we cannot test for compatibility, and we haven’t tested these servers with the 3rd party PCI NVME cards or 2.5" NVME adapters. Installing one of these cards may cause the server to run in safemode, spinning the fans up to 100%. Usually, the 2.5" NVME adapters are not compatible with the SAS/RAID controllers used in these model servers.

— TechMike

Thanks for the question, Dean. It’s important for NIC’s to support more than just the fastest speed to ensure compatibility with older connections and cabling; network environments are diverse, and different devices or network segments may have varying speed capabilities or requirements.

As for choosing the right NIC, your best bet is really just thoroughly researching your system’s requirements. The connection should match with your existing network hardware; however, the components on the servers are easily upgradeable, so remember, you’re not stuck with one type of connection forever. You can add a PCI NIC with a different type and speed of connection and you can change your network switch to match the new connections, be it 10GB Copper/RJ-45 Connections or 10/25/40GB Fiber SFP connections.

— TechMike

Thanks for the question, Dean. It’s important for NIC’s to support more than just the fastest speed to ensure compatibility with older connections and cabling; network environments are diverse, and different devices or network segments may have varying speed capabilities or requirements.

As for choosing the right NIC, your best bet is really just thoroughly researching your system’s requirements. The connection should match with your existing network hardware; however, the components on the servers are easily upgradeable, so remember, you’re not stuck with one type of connection forever. You can add a PCI NIC with a different type and speed of connection and you can change your network switch to match the new connections, be it 10GB Copper/RJ-45 Connections or 10/25/40GB Fiber SFP connections.

— TechMike

Hey Mike,

Great question, thanks for asking! Dell doesn’t have a central directory with that information, but we compiled a table together for Dell’s NDC’s compatible with 12th and 13th/14th gen servers.

Here’s the link to copy and paste if you’d like to check it out:

https://techmikeny.com/blogs/techtalk/you-asked-we-answered-dell-ndc-parts-chart

— TechMike

Hey Mike,

Great question, thanks for asking! Dell doesn’t have a central directory with that information, but we compiled a table together for Dell’s NDC’s compatible with 12th and 13th/14th gen servers.

Here’s the link to copy and paste if you’d like to check it out:

https://techmikeny.com/blogs/techtalk/you-asked-we-answered-dell-ndc-parts-chart

— TechMike

Hey Zach,

Good catch! Just fixed it, thank you for letting us know.

— TechMike

Hey Zach,

Good catch! Just fixed it, thank you for letting us know.

— TechMike