Intel QuickSync Decoder - HW accelerated FFDShow decoder with video processing

[odditory]

Hey Eric thanks for the response. As I stated in my previous post the question wasn't about how to do headless, I already followed the instructions to a tee, spending many hours over several nights fights with it. The issue is Quicksync enabled apps will not engage the iGPU unless the iGPU-connected display is set as "Make this my main display". If the discrete GPU is set to handle the main display, apps cannot reach QS.

As a temporary workaround for some QS enabled apps I installed LucidVirtuMVP again, which was finally updated a few weeks ago and now works with a few apps - I got PotPlayer to work with QS as well as MediaEspresso, but MediaCoder and a few others are still unusable even if I manually specify them within LucidVirtu.

[odditory]

One more thought, after reading the Intel Media SDK Developer Guide (http://software.intel.com/sites/products/vcsource/files/43685/Intel_Media_Developers_Guide.pdf), section 4.18.1 Multiple-Monitor Configurations. Its basically describing my problem. It mentions that if an app simply queries the default adapter for QS, it will fail with a discrete GPU set as primary (obviously). And so instead developers should use the MFX_IMPL_AUTO_ANY "to allow all the capabilities of all the available graphics adapters to be examined, not just the ‘default’ adapter."

So it sounds like most developers of QS enabled apps aren't doing this, they're not using the MFX_IMPL_AUTO_ANY call? If so wouldn't it be better to change the Intel Media SDK such that any supported API call to scans adapter capability is interpreted by the SDK as a scan of ALL adapters? Any downside to this? Because short of that, we're relying on app devs to change their API call to the correct one, which may never happen.

[nevcairiel]

The API description is clear on what to do, if software is buggy its not Intels responsibility to fix it. For the record, the QuickSync decoder here works just fine with such a fake multi-screen setup, and thats really all this thread is about, egurs implementation of a QS decoder, not the Media SDK in general.

[egur]

One more thought, after reading the Intel Media SDK Developer Guide (http://software.intel.com/sites/products/vcsource/files/43685/Intel_Media_Developers_Guide.pdf), section 4.18.1 Multiple-Monitor Configurations. Its basically describing my problem. It mentions that if an app simply queries the default adapter for QS, it will fail with a discrete GPU set as primary (obviously). And so instead developers should use the MFX_IMPL_AUTO_ANY "to allow all the capabilities of all the available graphics adapters to be examined, not just the ‘default’ adapter."

So it sounds like most developers of QS enabled apps aren't doing this, they're not using the MFX_IMPL_AUTO_ANY call? If so wouldn't it be better to change the Intel Media SDK such that any supported API call to scans adapter capability is interpreted by the SDK as a scan of ALL adapters? Any downside to this? Because short of that, we're relying on app devs to change their API call to the correct one, which may never happen.

The documentation on how to initialize an MSDK session properly wasn't clear in the past, but it's better now. The MSDK sample code used MFX_IMPL_AUTO not MFX_IMPL_AUTO_ANY and that confused a lot of people, myself included as the name mislead developers to believe that it should work in all cases.
Some developers obviously didn't validate a multi-head setup and probably didn't read the manual in a while.
New versions of the MSDK start support for DX11 which lifts the limit of headless iGPUs (DX9 limitation).
I'll probably manage to support it sometime but I believe it will only work in Win8 + IvyBridge (or Haswell), a combination I don't have ATM. SandyBridge doesn't support DX11.

[XinHong]

Eric,
I have a lot of problems with D3D Fullscreen Exclusive mode. The last working drivers for this mode were 9.17.10.2817, I tried with the lastest official ones (9.17.10.2875) and 9.17.10.2897 but i have a black screen.

My config : Intel Sandy Bridge (Core i7, HD3000, 2nd Generation) with optimus (nVidia GT525M), MPC-HC 6373 x86, ffdshow tryouts rev4490 x86 with QuickSync, LAV 0.54.1 (lastest nightly) and Win 7 x64
Sample file : http://www.demo-world.eu/trailers/redirect-high-definition.php?file=hd_dts_living_world_of_audio_short_v2.rar&pic=hd_dts_living_world_of_audio_short_v2.jpg

Thanks

[egur]

Eric,
I have a lot of problems with D3D Fullscreen Exclusive mode. The last working drivers for this mode were 9.17.10.2817, I tried with the lastest official ones (9.17.10.2875) and 9.17.10.2897 but i have a black screen.

My config : Intel Sandy Bridge (Core i7, HD3000, 2nd Generation) with optimus (nVidia GT525M), MPC-HC 6373 x86, ffdshow tryouts rev4490 x86 with QuickSync, LAV 0.54.1 (lastest nightly) and Win 7 x64
Sample file : http://www.demo-world.eu/trailers/redirect-high-definition.php?file=hd_dts_living_world_of_audio_short_v2.rar&pic=hd_dts_living_world_of_audio_short_v2.jpg

Thanks

Sorry, can't reproduce. Tried playing this clip with Windows Media Center in full screen (exclusive) and it works fine.
I used ffdshow x64 (4490).
Also tried MPC-HC in EVR-CP+D3D fullscreen which should be identical to your setup.
I also tried connecting hte display to either iGPU and my AMD dGPU. Both worked.
Does playback in window mode works?

[TEB]

hi. I was wondering how Quicksync handles multiple paralell videofeeds concurrently? We have this CCTV video management app at work that scales bad with many streams. Example with 4x4 H264 streams concurrently on a ivybridge works bad...

Does quicksync scale up over multiple feeds? or just one ?

PS! I tried to get quicksync to work to no avail. Is :
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M Processor supported? (it says quicksync supported: yes)

br TEB

[egur]

hi. I was wondering how Quicksync handles multiple paralell videofeeds concurrently? We have this CCTV video management app at work that scales bad with many streams. Example with 4x4 H264 streams concurrently on a ivybridge works bad...

Does quicksync scale up over multiple feeds? or just one ?

PS! I tried to get quicksync to work to no avail. Is :
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M Processor supported? (it says quicksync supported: yes)

br TEB

I've managed to play 4 concurrent 1080p streams on SandyBridge i7 2600 but more streams are possible when optimizing the platform:
* Fast memory
* 64 bit OS and code to have a larger address space. an alternative is to run multiple 32 bit processes (64 bit OS).
* Low overhead renderer (EVR). don't use EVR-CP, MadVR, Haali, etc.

If you say QS is supported, what makes you think it's not working? I need more details.

[CiNcH]

EVR-CP
Depends on the implementation. MPC-HC uses lots of D3D resources to do stuff like scaling. Mine triggers the EVR mixer to take advantage of the DXVA scaler, just like standard EVR does. But since most EVR-CP have just been copied from MPC-HC, you may be right ;) .

[Superb]

Depends on the implementation. MPC-HC uses lots of D3D resources to do stuff like scaling. Mine triggers the EVR mixer to take advantage of the DXVA scaler, just like standard EVR does. But since most EVR-CP have just been copied from MPC-HC, you may be right ;) .What's "yours"? Is it available? Comes as part of a player? A standalone DirectShow renderer?

[XinHong]

Sorry, can't reproduce. Tried playing this clip with Windows Media Center in full screen (exclusive) and it works fine.
I used ffdshow x64 (4490).
Also tried MPC-HC in EVR-CP+D3D fullscreen which should be identical to your setup.
I also tried connecting hte display to either iGPU and my AMD dGPU. Both worked.
Does playback in window mode works?

I tried your config with full x64 softwares and it's playing now in Full Screen Exclusive. (I also set EVR Buffers to 5 instead of 20).
I tried again in x86 and the file played correctly with MPC-HC & LAV Filter so i don't know what i did to correct the problem.

Thanks for your support

Edit : I upgrade the LAV Filters with the lastest nightlies too

[egur]

I tried your config with full x64 softwares and it's playing now in Full Screen Exclusive. (I also set EVR Buffers to 5 instead of 20).
I tried again in x86 and the file played correctly with MPC-HC & LAV Filter so i don't know what i did to correct the problem.

Thanks for your support

Edit : I upgrade the LAV Filters with the lastest nightlies too

It's like taking your car to a garage, there it works great :)
FYI, nightly builds failures of any software should be reported to it's respected owner.

[CiNcH]

What's "yours"? Is it available? Comes as part of a player? A standalone DirectShow renderer?
It is basically a Delphi port of the MS EVR Custom code, with lots of enhancements though, like D3D OSD blending (which can be animated/transformed), VSync synchronization a.s.o. It is not in a product yet.

[TEB]

I've managed to play 4 concurrent 1080p streams on SandyBridge i7 2600 but more streams are possible when optimizing the platform:
* Fast memory
* 64 bit OS and code to have a larger address space. an alternative is to run multiple 32 bit processes (64 bit OS).
* Low overhead renderer (EVR). don't use EVR-CP, MadVR, Haali, etc.

If you say QS is supported, what makes you think it's not working? I need more details.

Hi. I was thinking around 16 concurrent 720p h264 HP streams. Is this possible ton a ivy bridge 4 core 3,6ghz cpu? (windows 7 x64) or do one need to use the video decoder asic on the gfx card to help out?

im investigating the ffdshow issues

br TE

[egur]

Hi. I was thinking around 16 concurrent 720p h264 HP streams. Is this possible ton a ivy bridge 4 core 3,6ghz cpu? (windows 7 x64) or do one need to use the video decoder asic on the gfx card to help out?

im investigating the ffdshow issues

br TE

My decoder uses the ASIC decoder via the Media SDK which in turn uses it via DXVA2.
You can use DXVA2 API yourself and eliminate some overhead. It's not an easy task.
My decoder can output video memory instead of system memory which can save a few frame copies. I may invest time in supporting DXVA output, but it's not very high on my list. My decoder can play any clip today with very good performance.

16 720p streams is ambitious but maybe possible. If the bitrate is low enough and the platform is strong (IvyBridge i7-3770k or a close relative of it), you also have fast ram (>1600MHz) and a 64 bit application/code, then you might be OK. I'd give it a 50-50 chance. Overclocking might be a good option.

Do you need this setup for a product?

[hajj_3]

When do you think we will get hardware decoding for HEVC in an intel chip? The final spec is due to be ratified next month i believe.

[TEB]

Well, todays main workstation we use for CCTV surveliance is the Dell Precision T5600 with 2x E5-2667.

The decoder www.milestonesystem.com is using aint using any HW offload abilities.. so i was hoping them could be persuaded to support a directshow filter path etc...
I can do 16x 720p30 @mp3.0 4mbit cbr streams today, tho its a bit choppy 12-18fps i would guess...I guess its just as much to do with the renderer /video blitting in addition to all the scaling and actual decode..

Our goal is to deliver a much closer "broadcast" experience for CCTV than the industry is used to today ;)

br TE

My decoder uses the ASIC decoder via the Media SDK which in turn uses it via DXVA2.
You can use DXVA2 API yourself and eliminate some overhead. It's not an easy task.
My decoder can output video memory instead of system memory which can save a few frame copies. I may invest time in supporting DXVA output, but it's not very high on my list. My decoder can play any clip today with very good performance.

16 720p streams is ambitious but maybe possible. If the bitrate is low enough and the platform is strong (IvyBridge i7-3770k or a close relative of it), you also have fast ram (>1600MHz) and a 64 bit application/code, then you might be OK. I'd give it a 50-50 chance. Overclocking might be a good option.

Do you need this setup for a product?

[egur]

When do you think we will get hardware decoding for HEVC in an intel chip? The final spec is due to be ratified next month i believe.
Sorry, can't comment on future features. I'm happy to discuss revealed/public features.

Well, todays main workstation we use for CCTV surveliance is the Dell Precision T5600 with 2x E5-2667.

The decoder www.milestonesystem.com is using aint using any HW offload abilities.. so i was hoping them could be persuaded to support a directshow filter path etc...
I can do 16x 720p30 @mp3.0 4mbit cbr streams today, tho its a bit choppy 12-18fps i would guess...I guess its just as much to do with the renderer /video blitting in addition to all the scaling and actual decode..

Our goal is to deliver a much closer "broadcast" experience for CCTV than the industry is used to today ;)

br TE

The Xeon E5/E7 don't have HW video acceleration since they don't a GPU. Same goes for the desktop Extreme Edition parts which are very similar to the E5 in terms of architecture.

I don't have an i7-3770K at hand, my only IvyBridge at the moment is a humble dual core laptop.

I managed to decode more than a 1000fps of 720p at 3-4mbps on my SandyBridge i7-2600k, but this is without a renderer (NULL Renderer used in GraphStudioNext benchmark).
The decoder has the horse power but with scaling, I'm not sure it can work.

I can run a test on my laptop on Monday tell you how it performs.

Haswell has even better video performance but I can't share details on that. Sorry. Even if I could, the drivers are not production yet (e.g. beta) so actual performance at launch may be (significantly?) better.

Update
Setup:
* IvyBridge Mobile, 2.3GHz (35W).
* Windows 7 64 bit. Latest Intel drivers.
* No dGPU.
* 1600MHz RAM (2x4GB).
* GraphStudioNext 64.

Graph:
* Single LAV splitter source
* Infinite tee splitter (16 outputs)
* 16 Microsoft DTV-DVD decoders (DXVA2)
* 16 EVRs

Results:
* Use Windows's "Show windows stacked" to to show all 16 renderer windows (4x4 grid).
* Playback didn't look 100% smooth.
* EVR statistics were perfect.

I tested a 720p H264 clip via GraphStudioNext 64 bit. The 32 bit version chokes very quickly.
The clip is ~1mbps.

[TEB]

hi!

"Playback didn't look 100% smooth.
* EVR statistics were perfect."

Same as ive seen on other decoders. The player shows 30fps in the debug info, but i can clearly see that its jerking and jumping alot. If i reduce from 4x4 to eg. 2x2 its alot better, and down to 2x1 = fine.

So obviously something is limiting alot of concurrent windows at the same time.. And im not convinced its the decode part of the pipeline alone..

br TEB

[egur]

TEB,
I've seen the same behavior with 8 windows. A custom renderer is needed for this to work fine.
The good news is that it seems that the decoder is functional. EVR can mix 16 streams (via code - not in GraphEdit) so it may work better if a single EVR is used to do the mixing. Not sure if EVR can handle multiple DXVA2 connections though... I'm not an expert on this.

I think that if the decoder is holding playback back, EVR will show this in its stats.

Anyway, it looks possible.
I'll try a higher bitrate clip later on.

[nevcairiel]

EVR is rather limited on what types it accepts for secondary video streams, i don't think NV12 is among them (or any other 4:2:0 type for that matter)

[egur]

Then I guess TEB will build his own renderer then...
Actually he needs a mixer, not a renderer which is a little simpler (but not so simple when DXVA is involved ;)).

Tested 2mbps clip - same performance as 1mbps.
Also tested on 6bmps clip (720p, 60fps). This caused the decoder to choke a little. EVR reported 24-30fps.

[corporalgator]

Any word on when the newest drivers will be released by intel?

[egur]

I'm out of the loop here, I work for a different division.
Currently the latest released drivers are: 15.28.10.64.2897 (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldId=22182)

There are slightly newer drivers which are used for OEM testing/validation but the differences are very small as far as I've seen.

[corporalgator]

Thanks for the link. I couldn't get to them through intel's main site. going from 2875 to 2897 fixes the issues with vc-1 encoded blu-rays.

[Superb]

Yeah, Intel's download center feels like a mess.

[ralle_h]

Hey Eric,

as you suggested in the other thread I'm going to explain my problems (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1608470&postcount=13654) and analysis in here.

I tested Quicksync on 4 different computers today, all with similar player version + settings.

Intel iGPU drivers were mostly 9.17.10.2875 + 2897 (also I tried the older ones, if available, before I updated them). Furthermore I tried different Intel MEI drivers, OpenCL and even Virtu (MVP) drivers. Direct X9 June 2010 is installed properly as well.

Software:

The player I used was MPC-BE v1.0.3.1 (and v1.1.3.0 ), Lav Splitter + Decoder 0.54.1 + madVR 0.85.7 (and 0.85.1, also EVR Renderer).

Hardware:

#1 Desktop:
3570k @ 4,5 Ghz, Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H, 8 GB Ram, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 -> Not available

#2 Home Server:
i3-2120, ASRock H77M-ITX, 8GB Ram, Windows Server 2008/R2 x64 SP1 -> Not available

#3 HTPC:
Celeron G530, ASUS P8H67-I DELUXE, 8GB Ram, Windows Server 2008/R2 x64 SP1 -> Not available

#4 Ultrabook (Dell XPS 12)
i5-3317U, 4GB Ram, Windows 8 Pro x64 -> Available

I tried around for hours and I'm really running out of ideas there and would appreciate any idea or suggestion.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,

[paradoxical]

The Celeron G530 (http://ark.intel.com/products/53414/Intel-Celeron-Processor-G530-2M-Cache-2_40-GHz) doesn't have QuickSync.

Graphics Specifications
Processor Graphics Intel® HD Graphics
Graphics Base Frequency 850 MHz
Graphics Max Dynamic Frequency 1 GHz
Intel® Quick Sync Video No
Intel® InTru™ 3D Technology No
Intel® Insider™ No
Intel® Wireless Display No
Intel® Flexible Display Interface (Intel® FDI) Yes
Intel® Clear Video HD Technology No
Dual Display Capable Yes
# of Displays Supported 2

[corporalgator]

Hey Eric,

as you suggested in the other thread I'm going to explain my problems (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1608470&postcount=13654) and analysis in here.

I tested Quicksync on 4 different computers today, all with similar player version + settings.

Intel iGPU drivers were mostly 9.17.10.2875 + 2897 (also I tried the older ones, if available, before I updated them). Furthermore I tried different Intel MEI drivers, OpenCL and even Virtu (MVP) drivers. Direct X9 June 2010 is installed properly as well.

Software:

The player I used was MPC-BE v1.0.3.1 (and v1.1.3.0 ), Lav Splitter + Decoder 0.54.1 + madVR 0.85.7 (and 0.85.1, also EVR Renderer).

Hardware:

#1 Desktop:
3570k @ 4,5 Ghz, Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H, 8 GB Ram, Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1 -> Not available

#2 Home Server:
i3-2120, ASRock H77M-ITX, 8GB Ram, Windows Server 2008/R2 x64 SP1 -> Not available

#3 HTPC:
Celeron G530, ASUS P8H67-I DELUXE, 8GB Ram, Windows Server 2008/R2 x64 SP1 -> Not available

#4 Ultrabook (Dell XPS 12)
i5-3317U, 4GB Ram, Windows 8 Pro x64 -> Available

I tried around for hours and I'm really running out of ideas there and would appreciate any idea or suggestion.

Thanks in advance!

Best regards,

Do you have video cards in the other three systems? If you do, then you need to create a virtual monitor and extend your desktop onto it before you can use quicksync. Otherwise, the on board graphics are never activated.

[wanezhiling]

The Celeron G530 (http://ark.intel.com/products/53414/Intel-Celeron-Processor-G530-2M-Cache-2_40-GHz) doesn't have QuickSync.

Thats about encoding, the decoding is just fine.

[Mixer73]

Given 3 desktops not working and Ultrabook working, you have to ask a) if the monitor is connected to the iGPU and also the driver revision installed on each...

[egur]

ralle_h
The screen should be connected to the iGPU (motherboard).
All the listed driver versions are fine. I personally used them.

Drivers should be downloaded only from an OEM website (e.g. Gigabyte if you have a Gigabyte board) or from Intel. Drivers from Windows Update are very problematic.

No need for Lucid Virtu for single GPU systems (it will do nothing). If you have multiple GPUs and use Virtu, let me know.

All SandyBridge/IvyBridge models that have an active iGPU can use the decoder. Low end models like Pentium and Celeron do not have HW encoding enabled. Extreme edition and some server models (Xeon E5/E7) do not have an iGPU.

The driver install may have been interfered by an anti-virus product (never happened yet).

Make sure the Intel Media SDK DLL is installed in:
"c:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Media SDK\libmfxhw32.dll"

look in the registry for the location of this DLL:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Intel\MediaSDK\Dispatch\0126
The Path value should match the above DLL path. This is for 32 bit, a similar operation can be done for 64 bit.

Let me know what you find.

[ralle_h]

Thanks for all your replies!

Do you have video cards in the other three systems? If you do, then you need to create a virtual monitor and extend your desktop onto it before you can use quicksync. Otherwise, the on board graphics are never activated.

ralle_h
The screen should be connected to the iGPU (motherboard).
All the listed driver versions are fine. I personally used them

The only system that is using a dedicated video card is my "desktop" system, it has a GTX 670 in it and I'm using CUDA there anyway, I just tried it there as well for the sake of being complete.

The other systems (HTPC + Server) solely have an iGPU so the HDMI cable is plugged into the iGPU of course.


Drivers should be downloaded only from an OEM website (e.g. Gigabyte if you have a Gigabyte board) or from Intel. Drivers from Windows Update are very problematic.

Yeah, I don't use drivers from the windows update, made some bad experiences with them in the past.

However, I used the latest ones from Intel and not from the OEM/manufacturer's website (mostly because they only get updated once or twice per year).

I'm could try those drivers later tonight, when I'm back at home.


No need for Lucid Virtu for single GPU systems (it will do nothing). If you have multiple GPUs and use Virtu, let me know.

Good to know, so it's not that, thank you!


All SandyBridge/IvyBridge models that have an active iGPU can use the decoder. Low end models like Pentium and Celeron do not have HW encoding enabled. Extreme edition and some server models (Xeon E5/E7) do not have an iGPU.

So decoding does always work, that's also good to know.


The driver install may have been interfered by an anti-virus product (never happened yet).

Hm, I don't use any AV, but I think the Windows Server machines still have the Microsoft Security Essentials enabled. Going to disable it and try again


Make sure the Intel Media SDK DLL is installed in:
"c:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Media SDK\libmfxhw32.dll"

On my Desktop yes, on the HTPC/Server not, even though I installed the same driver! That's weird.

What can I do? Simply copying them over? Is this download correct? http://software.intel.com/en-us/vcsource/tools/media-sdk

I need to install the x64 Version, right?


look in the registry for the location of this DLL:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Intel\MediaSDK\Dispatch\0126
The Path value should match the above DLL path. This is for 32 bit, a similar operation can be done for 64 bit.

Same issue. Desktop: Yes. HTPC/Server: Missing Registry Entries (Dir MediaSDK does not exist).

[nevcairiel]

The Media SDK runtime comes with the driver, you dont need to install any separate package for it - it would only contain development tools.

[ralle_h]

Okay, so it basically looks like this:

- On my Desktop Computer it doesn't work because I use a dedicated GPU and haven't plugged the cable into the iGPU.
- On my HTPC and Server the libmfxhw32.dll and the needed registry entries are missing

Is this a problem related to Windows Server 2008/R2? Because I used the same installers/drivers on all computers and the files are there on my desktop and ultra book - but not on the server and HTPC

[egur]

If the mfx DLLs are missing you will not have QuickSync working. The driver must support Windows Server 2008 R2.
During installation the driver outputs a log to the screen, see if there's any issues.

The driver I linked to doesn't report supporting Windows Server. Only Win7/8. I'll get back to you on that.
Does your HTPC have Windows server installed?

You can use QuickSync on your desktop via a hybrid GPU setup (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1532786#post1532786).

[ralle_h]

So I tried the OEM/manufacturers driver

-> No improvement

Funny to notice is:

Media SDK isn't installed, even though it's in the .zip file in a dir.


During installation the driver outputs a log to the screen, see if there's any issues.

There is no error, but it tells me "C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\Media SDK\

etc. (about 10-15 entries) were uninstalled :(


The driver I linked to doesn't report supporting Windows Server. Only Win7/8. I'll get back to you on that.
Does your HTPC have Windows server installed?


Yes it does have Windows server installed

[andyvt]

Yes it does have Windows server installed

You will need to install the desktop experience and DirectShow if you're running Windows Server for the MSDK dlls to install/register properly.

[ralle_h]

You will need to install the desktop experience and DirectShow if you're running Windows Server for the MSDK dlls to install/register properly.

I do have the desktop mode/experience installed on Window Server.

However, I can't find any DirectShow Option in the same list.

Where/how did you install it?

[andyvt]

I do have the desktop mode/experience installed on Window Server.

However, I can't find any DirectShow Option in the same list.

Where/how did you install it?

What version of Windows Server are you running?

[ralle_h]

W2008r2

[andyvt]

W2008r2

IIRC, Desktop Experience includes DS on 2008. On 2012 it's a separate feature.

You may need to turn on specific parts of DE to make it work though.

[nevcairiel]

It wouldnt surprise me if Intel doesnt support MediaSDK on windows server. Its hardly a multimedia OS.

[andyvt]

It wouldnt surprise me if Intel doesnt support MediaSDK on windows server. Its hardly a multimedia OS.

Oh, very much not supported. Doesn't mean you can't shoehorn it in though :).

[egur]

Official answer is that Windows Server is not supported nor validated.

You can make it install by changing the installer script Setup.if2:
MSDK=IsGroupSel(GFX) AND NOT IsWinN AND NOT IsOS(WIN2008,WIN2008_MAXSP) AND NOT IsOS(WIN2008_R2,WIN2008_R2_MAXSP)


To
MSDK=IsGroupSel(GFX)

If this still doesn't install the Media SDK DLLs, search for MSDK in the same script and change the conditions.

You should understand that this is a hack without warranties...
I don't have such a server, so I can't test this.

[corporalgator]

I'm out of the loop here, I work for a different division.
Currently the latest released drivers are: 15.28.10.64.2897 (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldId=22182)

There are slightly newer drivers which are used for OEM testing/validation but the differences are very small as far as I've seen.

Argh, I couldn't get to installing those right away and now the link is broken. Why do they put out a new driver but not give you any way to get to it?

[nevcairiel]

Here is the latest version: 15.28.12.64.2932 (http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=22375)
Its the official version you find when you go to Intels download center and ask it for Graphics drivers.

Edit:
It seems the download is broken right now, oh well.

[egur]

These are the latest drivers. There seems to be a malfunction with the site, should be up soon.

Here's a simple tip on how to search for drivers. Production drivers (Windows) have 5 numbers:
15.28.12.64.2932
The first 2 (15.28) define a driver family. A new driver family adds features (OS, new iGPUs, codecs, etc).
The 3rd is the update number. 12 means that it's the 12th update to the original production driver from this family. If this number is zero, this is a beta driver.
Following that you have 64 for 64 bit OSes. 32 bit OSes only have 4 numbers not 5.
The last one is the build number. Drivers from different families will have different build numbers.

So Googling for intel 15.28.XX.64 will find the driver. Just replace XX with the update you want.

[NikosD]

@ralle_h

Download and run this program http://bluesky23.yu-nagi.com/dxvac/DXVAChecker32_2.9.1.zip

Take a screenshot by pressing Ctrl+s and post the screenshot here.

It is obvious that the combination of Windows edition (server) and Intel installer is your problem.

If you have already installed and configured the add-ons to make Server edition to "look like" a Desktop edition (find a quide from google how to "convert" a server edition to Desktop like) then you can't do anything else from your side.

Follow Eric's guidelines (egur) to "force" Intel installer to install the whole package in order to use QuickSync.

If it doesn't work try the following:

Right click the executable of installer and select properties.
Then go to compatibility mode and check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
Select a previous version of Windows, like Windows 7.

It should work, at least that is what I was doing with ATI drivers.

Intel should allow Windows Server editions to use QuickSync acceleration.
If not, what's the purpose of selling Xeons with QuickSync ?
To use QS in Server CPUs with Windows Desktop editions only ?

[egur]

He didn't have a server CPU, he had a desktop CPU with a server OS.
It all boils down to resources at the end, whether to allocate personnel to validate a rarely used OS (rare on desktop HW). Most server/workstation HW doesn't have an iGPU BTW.