NETINT VPU Transcoder Installation

17 min

Overview

NETINT VPU (Video Processing Unit) integration in Broadcaster v19 enables ASIC-based hardware acceleration for high-density transcoding. These VPUs deliver ultra-efficient encoding for HEVC, H.264, supporting up to dozens of HD streams per card at a fraction of the power and cost of GPU or CPU-based solutions. Broadcaster v19 supports NETINT VPUs natively, allowing seamless deployment on-prem or in cloud environments. Broadcaster v19 with NETINT integration reduces CAPEX and OPEX significantly, lowering hardware footprint and energy consumption while scaling transcoding capacity for live workflows

This guide covers the steps required to install and configure a NETINT Quadra VPU (T1U/T1A/T2A) for use with Zixi Broadcaster's hardware-accelerated transcoding.

Note: for cloud implementations, NETINT can also be set up on a Linode instance: The Akamai/Linode setup is basically, spin up a Linode Instance with the desired NETINT "Accelerator Card" and the instance has all the drivers/firmware match/sdk all ready to go.

Prerequisites

Hardware: NETINT Quadra T1U (U.2) or T1A/T2A card installed in a PCIe Gen 4 x4 slot

OS: Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 LTS or CentOS/Rocky Linux 9

CPU: x64 Intel/AMD, 6+ cores recommended

RAM: 16 GB minimum

Broadcaster: v19.0 or later with NETINT VPU support

Step 1: Verify Hardware Detection

After physically installing the card, confirm the system recognizes it:

lspci | grep -i netint

Expected output:

01:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller: NETINT Technologies Inc. Quadra Video Processing Unit (VPU)

If no output appears, check that the card is properly seated in a PCIe Gen 4 slot and reboot.

Step 2: Download the NETINT Release Package

Obtain the Quadra release package from NETINT (e.g., Quadra_V5.1.1.zip). Extract it:

sudo apt install unzip # if not already installed unzip Quadra_V5.1.1.zip cd Quadra_V5.1.1/

Step 3: Run the Quick Installer

The NETINT release includes an interactive installer that handles all software and firmware setup:

sudo ./quadra_quick_installer.sh

This presents a numbered menu. Run the following steps in order:

Configures system paths and permissions:

Adds /usr/local/lib to the linker search path (/etc/ld.so.conf)

Adds /usr/local/bin to the sudo secure_path

Adds the current user to the disk group (required for non-root VPU access)

Sets PKG_CONFIG_PATH and runs ldconfig

Important: You must log out and log back in after this step for the disk group membership to take effect. Without it, Broadcaster cannot access the VPU device.

Installs required build dependencies. On Ubuntu:

pkg-config, git, gcc, ninja-build, python3, python3-pip, flex, bison, libpng-dev, zlib1g-dev, gnutls-bin, uuid-runtime, uuid-dev, libglib2.0-dev, libxml2, libxml2-dev, meson, yasm

Builds and installs nvme-cli v1.16 from source. Required for firmware management and device identification.

Verify after installation:

sudo nvme list

Expected: the Quadra card appears as a device (e.g., /dev/nvme1n1 with model QuadraT1U or QuadraT2A).

Builds and installs the NETINT codec library that Broadcaster links against:

Library: /usr/local/lib/libxcoder.so

Headers: /usr/local/include/ni_*.h

Tools: ni_rsrc_mon, ni_rsrc_list, ni_rsrc_update in /usr/local/bin/

This is the core requirement — Broadcaster uses libxcoder to communicate with the VPU hardware.

Updates the VPU firmware to match the software version. The installer runs the firmware upgrade and reinitializes the device.

Important: A reboot is required after firmware update.

After reboot, verify firmware/software compatibility:

sudo ni_rsrc_list | grep compatibility # Expected: F/W & S/W compatibility: yes

Option 2 (Unlock CPU Governor) — Optional. Sets CPU to performance mode. Recommended for production but not required.

Option 6 (Install FFmpeg) — Not required for Broadcaster. This is only needed for standalone VPU testing with FFmpeg. Broadcaster has its own integration with libxcoder.

Step 4: Verify Installation

After completing the installer and rebooting, verify everything is working:

# 1. Confirm VPU is detected sudo nvme list | grep Quadra # 2. Check firmware/software match sudo ni_rsrc_list # 3. Verify libxcoder is installed pkg-config --modversion xcoder # 4. Monitor VPU (should show 0 load, 0 instances) sudo ni_rsrc_mon # 5. Confirm user has VPU access without sudo ni_rsrc_list # If "Permission denied" → user is not in the disk group (re-run Step 3, Option 1)

Expected ni_rsrc_list Output

Device #0: Serial number: Q2A325A11DC085-0271A Model number: QuadraT1U F/W & S/W compatibility: yes DeviceID: /dev/nvme1n1 decoder #0 — H.264 (up to 8K), HEVC (up to 8K), VP9 (up to 8K), JPEG encoder #0 — H.264 (up to 8K), HEVC (up to 8K), AV1 (up to 4K), JPEG scaler #0 — Crop, Scale, Pad, Overlay, Rotate AI #0 — ROI, Background Replace

Step 5: Configure Broadcaster

Once the VPU is verified, Broadcaster will automatically detect it when hardware transcoding is enabled. Configure transcoding profiles in ZEN Master or the Broadcaster UI to use NETINT VPU encoding/decoding.

Summary of Required Steps

#	Action	Required?
1	Physical card installation + verify with lspci	Yes
2	Download and extract NETINT release package	Yes
3	Installer → Setup Environment Variables	Yes
4	Installer → Install OS Prerequisites	Yes
5	Installer → Install NVMe CLI	Yes
6	Installer → Install Libxcoder	Yes
7	Installer → Firmware Update + reboot	Yes
8	Verify with ni_rsrc_list and ni_rsrc_mon	Yes
-	Installer → Unlock CPU Governor	Recommended
-	Installer → Install FFmpeg	Not needed

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
lspci shows no NETINT device	Card not seated properly or slot is not PCIe Gen 4. Reseat and reboot
Permission denied on ni_rsrc_list	User not in disk group. Run sudo usermod -a -G disk <user> and log out/in
F/W & S/W compatibility: no	Firmware and libxcoder versions are mismatched. Run firmware update from the installer and reboot
VPU not visible in nvme list	Check NVMe driver is loaded: lsmod \| grep nvme. If missing: sudo modprobe nvme
Broadcaster doesn't see VPU	Verify libxcoder is installed (pkg-config --modversion xcoder) and /usr/local/lib is in the linker path (ldconfig -p \| grep xcoder)
Multiple libxcoder versions present	Check symlink: ls -la /usr/local/lib/libxcoder.so — ensure it points to the version matching your firmware

References

NETINT Quadra Installation Guide

Quadra QuickStart Guide V5.1.1 (PDF)

Quadra Installation Guide V5.3 (PDF)

NETINT VPU Transcoder Installation

Overview

Prerequisites

Step 1: Verify Hardware Detection

Step 2: Download the NETINT Release Package

Step 3: Run the Quick Installer

Menu Option 1 — Setup Environment Variables

Menu Option 3 — Install OS Prerequisite Packages

Menu Option 4 — Install NVMe CLI

Menu Option 5 — Install Libxcoder

Menu Option 7 — Firmware Update

Menu Options to Skip