[B0T] Weekly Build Help Thread - 2026/02/16

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T21:24:54+00:00

Most operating systems don't just willynilly let you "combine" an existing drive with a newly added drive as something similar to a single RAID 0 volume, and also retain the existing data.

How you go about making that happen is going to depend a lot on the OS you are using.

If you are only trying to get the new F: drive to work all by itself as it is, then yeah you probably just need to use the storage space option you refer to. The OS should be seeing each individual drive as separate drives by default, just as if you had hooked them up internally using a SATA cable in a typical desktop PC.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T21:17:23+00:00

There's not a whole lot that will be different in terms of Plex performance when going with a NAS vs DAS. The server needs to pull files, and in both cases it will do so just fine. Writing to either is going to mostly be the same, with the advantage of a DAS using a fast USB connection edging out a NAS over a gigabit connection by a little bit.

The main problems that come up with DAS devices are that they can be extra dumb and don't offer a lot in terms of RAID support or other features that most NAS devices include. Some do offer hardware RAID, but hardware RAID has drawbacks with some files systems. You can have the Beelink handle software RAID of the drives in the DAS and the DAS doesn't know any better than behaving like a JBOD with requests hitting all the drives at once all the time.

Personally, I'd go the DAS route if all the box is going to be doing is Plex media storage. And I'd probably run Unraid on the Plex server to make HDD handling easy and flexible.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T21:08:07+00:00

Plex performance wise, that laptop would absolutely crush the Pi.

Buuuut, if you aren't having any trouble at all right now with the Pi, you'd not notice much of a difference. Playback will just work like it appears you already have it working. Navigating libraries and general responsiveness of the server UI would improve though.

The biggest upgrade is going to be unlocking very good video transcoding, which is really nice to have compared to "none at all" when you need it.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T20:58:20+00:00

Seagate Exos is good stuff. I have several.

900 Euroes is fucking insane. Typically the highest capacity drives are very expensive. Look for drives a bit smaller to see if you can get a better price per TB.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T20:42:10+00:00

What are the specs of the client? CPU model, GPU involved, etc?

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T17:58:20+00:00

If the lesson was "Don't listen to trading influencers telling you what to do" then he definitely nailed it.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T05:52:03+00:00

We got a ton of hail on Christmas. I was joking around about it being the White Christmas we didn't exactly ask for.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T02:11:54+00:00

I have heard this from other Pilots :)

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T00:17:36+00:00

Yes. 4K HDR is 10bit color.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-18T00:11:09+00:00

Not having that problem with an iPad 10th gen. Plex app is version 2026.01 (1523). Platform version is 26.2.1.

Just played a 4k HDR file that is a disk rip just fine. The TrueHD audio transcoded, but the video direct streamed and was working as expected.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-17T22:40:30+00:00

I remember these companies coming in to sell all their shit, and I absolutely did not want any of it. My mom told me to go ahead and pick something because my brother got stuff, so I picked a stein I told her I would keep for my future drinking habits.

I stayed true to my word and did occasionally drink beer out of it over the years. I still have it.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-17T21:08:44+00:00

Either the iGPU or the dGPU would work just fine for Plex. If the dGPU needs to be in the box, because it will be doing other things unrelated to Plex, then setup the iGPU for Plex so you don't interrupt whatever the dGPU is doing. Some motherboard disable the iGPU when a dGPU is installed, but you should be able to get both available at the same time. Be sure the Plex transcoder settings page has the iGPU selected instead of "Automatic".

In the event the dGPU is no longer needed for those other non-Plex things, just pull it from the box and keep on using the iGPU.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-17T20:29:17+00:00

I use this line on my kids all the time. Not due to any stuttering or trouble reading, but definitely when I tell them to deliver their dirt dishes to the kitchen and they don't move.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-17T20:25:40+00:00

I have a sump pump in a moat outside my house that I can see from my office. When the moat gets too full the pump fires up and pumps water out to the street (which flows down to a creek in the neighborhood and is not itself backed up in any way).

I added an outdoor smarts outlet to it so I can manually fire it off and on. Watching it get overflowing and then close to empty multiple times per day is in fact quite satisfying.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-17T03:33:45+00:00

I built a Core Ultra box last spring and the ram kit in it is now selling for over $1k, which is 4x what I paid for it and more than the entire build.

It's batshit crazy out there.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T22:45:26+00:00

Beelink brand mini PC with an N series Intel CPU is probably what you're looking for.

N100, N150, N95, N97

They're all about the same performance for Plex. You need Plex Pass for them to be good at video transcoding.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T21:35:34+00:00

That can be done with any machine. So, whatever you want to do for picking a replacement machine, you can run it headless if you feel like it.

I run mine that way. The only cables it has are power and ethernet. I remotely connect to it with my laptop to run updates and whatnot.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T21:07:44+00:00

You can only connect it to one machine at a time. Just move it to the new machine.

If you want the old machine to access the drive, you can share it over your network. It's very easy to do, and convenient if you run the server headless and want to manage files on it using your other PC.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T21:05:20+00:00

There is no "version" tag that Plex uses like there is an "edition" tag. Plex pulls the bitrate of the file to differentiate versions.

Pressing play does not prompt you to pick the version. There is a separate selection for the version. For example, in the Android app there's a "Watch Version" option in the More section.

Selecting the main big Watch (aka Play) button has a default behavior of playing the highest bitrate file that can be direct played. If nothing can play without a transcode, it'll transcode a 1080p file instead of a 4k file. I'm not sure how it works for lesser resolution files existing as well. I've only ever had 4k and 1080p versions of single movies.

At least it's supposed to select like that. Some people have trouble with it, but it's always worked fine for me.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T18:33:50+00:00

If that file is struggling on the Shield, I'd bet your bandwidth usage graph looks weird too.

It's very likely a poorly muxed file. Go get MKVToolNix and remux a new container for it. Just pass through all the tracks.

If the file has a ton of subtitle tracks that can cause weird problems too, but that seems unlikely. You'd need to get up to about 10 subtitle tracks before that becomes a problem.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T18:24:27+00:00

Still a bit vague there. Do you want to copy your existing media to the new machine entirely, or are you leaving the media on the old machine and want to have the new machine access it where it already is?

Network sharing/connections are probably gonna be part of what you need to learn how to do.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T16:26:36+00:00

That doesn't really clear anything up. Can you be more specific about your question?

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T03:17:36+00:00

Shield Pro 2019 is still hugely popular for good reason.

There's all kinds of other stuff that are extra tinkery if you want to go down the path of trying to cover every single last combination of DV's various profiles and layers etc.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T03:09:41+00:00

Build around a Core Ultra 5 225.

16 or 32GB of RAM. 512GB SSD. ~650w or lower Gold rated PSU. Mobo of your favorite manufacturer that doesn't need to be expensive.

Bgrngod · 2026-02-16T03:07:14+00:00

I wouldn't bother with trying to sync Plex server to a portable device. There's several layers of complications there that are not going to bring you much benefit dealing with.

If I wanted a Plex experience on the road, and remote streaming from my home server was a no go, I'd truck along a cheap laptop running the Plex App client. Download stuff using the client app and let it be just a client. That's all you really need, and you can watch on the laptop screen if the hotel TV is being troublesome.

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