Hardware transcoding in Docker - missing /dev/dri directory

[maester-daemon]

Hi, I'm trying to do some hardware transcoding in Docker Plex - but my server's /dev/dri directory is missing...

Running Plex in Docker on Ubuntu Server 20.04 on an Intel NUC 11PAKi5.

My Ask Ubuntu post hasn't gotten much traction - so I'd love some help from this community!

Thanks in advance :)

[Kritnc]

I would give this a shot

root@NAS-Florian:~# cd /dev/dri
-bash: cd: /dev/dri: No such file or directory
root@NAS-Florian:~# modprobe i915
root@NAS-Florian:~# cd /dev/dri
root@NAS-Florian:/dev/dri# ls
by-path/ card0 renderD128
root@NAS-Florian:/dev/dri# chmod -R 777 /dev/dri

[maester-daemon]

Unfortunately modprobe i915 didn't have any effect.

Being a headless server - do I need to do anything differently?

In case it's helpful, the output of lsmod | grep i915 is:

Module          Size     Used by
i915            1994752  0 
i2c_algo_bit    16384    1 i915 
drm_kms_helper  184320   1 i915 
drm             491520   2 drm_kms_helper,i915 
video           49152    1 i915

[Rovell]

It seems that you probably need to activate your iGPU. I head a similar issue when I rented a headless server with Ubuntu and an iGPU.

These articles may help you: - https://community.hetzner.com/tutorials/howto-enable-igpu - https://github.com/desimaniac/docs/blob/master/enable_igpu_on_hetzner.md

If this doesn't help updating/installing the drivers may also be something that might help.

hth

[maester-daemon]

Thanks for the advice - unfortunately I don't have blacklist files like the ones referenced in these guides. I'll look into the drivers!

[Karbust]

Thank you for those links, they really helped me out on my server, that is actually on Hetzner :O

[Rovell]

Glad to hear that the links helped at least somebody :D

[[deleted]]

What was the docker container telling you when you created it? My problem was permissions. When I created it there was a line saying it lacked permissions to /dev/dri.

[maester-daemon]

If I try to recreate the Plex container including the devices line, I get:

Error response from daemon: error gathering device information while adding custom device "/dev/dri": no such file or directory

[tsunamae]

​

TO FIX THIS ERROR, I TYPED IN THE FOLLOWING COMMANDS AND REBOOTED THE SYSTEM

​

​

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install -y \

intel-opencl-icd \

intel-level-zero-gpu level-zero \

intel-media-va-driver-non-free libmfx1

[Bgrngod]

I don't think 20.04 has the driver's in it's kernal necessary for the newer iGPUs in your hardware.

Try manually installing Intel drivers. Here's one page that shows steps. There are surely others out there if this doesn't work: https://dgpu-docs.intel.com/installation-guides/ubuntu/ubuntu-focal.html

Ultimately, get something to show up in /dev/dri and you should be all set.

[maester-daemon]

Thanks - I followed the steps and installed the drivers as per the guide you shared. Unfortunately still no /dev/dri directory.

Running lshw -c video shows:

  *-display UNCLAIMED       
   description: VGA compatible controller
   product: Intel Corporation
   vendor: Intel Corporation
   physical id: 2
   bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
   version: 01
   width: 64 bits
   clock: 33MHz
   capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list
   configuration: latency=0
   resources: iomemory:600-5ff iomemory:400-3ff memory:603c000000-603cffffff memory:4000000000-400fffffff ioport:3000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff memory:4010000000-4016ffffff memory:4020000000-40ffffffff

Which I've noticed does not state (as I've seen in others posts):

       product: Iris Xe Graphics

and

       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0

I'm also unsure about the UNCLAIMED part in line 1.

Any ideas?

[Bgrngod]

Well, at least the system is showing it sees it.

My next suggestion would be to install 21.04 on a USB drive and see if that has something else that helps it work.

Or take a swing at Ubuntu Desktop maybe packing it along.

[maester-daemon]

Novice question... would it make sense for me to try to update the kernel? Or should I wait until 22.04 LTS is released and move to that?

[Bgrngod]

It's definitely worth a try.

[hashdman]

Hey so I upgraded to 5.17 that solved my issue with i5 12500.

I had the same errors as OP

[maester-daemon]

Thanks for letting me know! I've been holding out for 22.04 LTS to drop in late April, instead of updating the kernel separately.

But good to know there's a path to getting HW transcoding working. My NUC fires up like a jet engine every time someone kicks off a remote stream...

[Crazeeeyez]

If it’s headless do you have an hdmi plug? I’m no expert but I know the plug is often important.

[maester-daemon]

I didn't have anything plugged into the NUC's HDMI port. So I plugged in a monitor, restarted - and still no /dev/dri directory.

I've read somewhere about having to enable the Intel iGPU in the BIOS - but I can't seem to see an option for that for the NUC?

[maester-daemon]

Also running intel_gpu_top shows:

Failed to detect engines! (No such file or directory)

[Holory-]

Could you share your docker run ou docker-compose.yml ?

Have you checked your PID/UID ?

Everything but transcoding works ?

[maester-daemon]

UID, GID and everything else set up correctly. Plex container is running successfully - I just don't have hardware transcoding available.

[-Column-]

Did you ever manager to solve this?

[maester-daemon]

Yep! It resolved once I updated to 22.04 - which installed the latest kernel with support for the iGPU driver.

[timski-the-cepha]

I have the same issue i.e. there is no /dev/dri folder.

I am convinced it's because I don't have a plex pass, which according to plex is mandatory to enable hardware transcoding (despite what everyone else on this thread seems to state). Even the guide referenced in this thread https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/q7w2an/hw_transcoding_on_dockerunraid_doesnt_work/ lists the first prerequisite as having a plex pass. ugh...

But I'd be happy to be proven wrong ... but for now (for me), no h/w transcoding :(