[mythtv-users] Problems with VAAPI playback

[Geoff B]

On Fri, May 18, 2012 at 12:08 PM, Michael T. Dean wrote:

> On 05/18/2012 10:12 AM, Geoff B wrote:
>
>> On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 8:56 PM, Geoff B wrote:
>>
>>> Hi all,
>>> I'm running 0.25-fixes on Mythbuntu 12.04 x64, and am using an Ivy Bridge
>>> (3750K) CPU in an attempt to get VAAPI playback.
>>>
>>> Right now, when I play back a recording with VAAPI (no deinterlacing set)
>>> the frontend gives me the usual black screen with "Please wait...", but
>>> instead of the recording starting I get about a half-second of audio; the
>>> screen goes black, then back to the 'Please wait' screen - and this
>>> repeats
>>> 4-5 times. After that, the machine freezes completely, and I have to
>>> hard-boot it.  If I'm lucky, I can press escape during the "Please wait"
>>> cycle and get back to the Myth menus.
>>>
>>> vainfo returns:
>>>
>>> libva: VA-API version 0.32.0
>>> libva: va_getDriverName() returns 0
>>> libva: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/**i965_drv_video.so
>>> libva: va_openDriver() returns 0
>>> vainfo: VA-API version: 0.32 (libva 1.0.15)
>>> vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver - 1.0.15
>>> vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
>>>       VAProfileMPEG2Simple            :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileMPEG2Main              :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileH264Baseline           :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileH264Baseline           :    VAEntrypointEncSlice
>>>       VAProfileH264Main               :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileH264Main               :    VAEntrypointEncSlice
>>>       VAProfileH264High               :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileH264High               :    VAEntrypointEncSlice
>>>       VAProfileVC1Simple              :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileVC1Main                :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>       VAProfileVC1Advanced            :    VAEntrypointVLD
>>>
>>> I've seen references to environment variables like LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH but
>>> I don't have these set; do I need these?
>>>
>>> I assume the next request is to ask for a backtrace, but from my reading
>>> this requires something to actually crash, right?  From what I can tell,
>>> I'm not getting a crash, I'm getting a freeze (or a recovery back into
>>> the
>>> frontend menus).  I'm more than happy to be wrong, and to put whatever
>>> effort needed into debugging.  I ran mythfrontend-real>  mythdebug.log,
>>> contents of which are here:
>>> http://pastebin.com/T44DhReU
>>>
>>> (thiis is from one of the times I managed to recover with the escape key)
>>>
>>> In case it helps, there were several lines which 'escaped' into the
>>> terminal window:
>>>
>>> QFont::setPixelSize: Pixel size<= 0 (0)
>>> QFont::setPixelSize: Pixel size<= 0 (0)
>>> QFont::setPixelSize: Pixel size<= 0 (0)
>>> QFont::setPixelSize: Pixel size<= 0 (0)
>>> libva: VA-API version 0.32.0
>>> libva: va_getDriverName() returns 0
>>> libva: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/**i965_drv_video.so
>>>  libva: va_openDriver() returns 0
>>> libva: VA-API version 0.32.0
>>> libva: va_getDriverName() returns 0
>>> libva: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/**i965_drv_video.so
>>> libva: va_openDriver() returns 0
>>>
>>> Note that OpenGL works fine, albeit with 50%-70% CPU usage.  Videos work
>>> fine too - it's just recordings that fail.
>>> Any help greatly appreciated!
>>>
>> Based on the silence on this one, there's not a simple solution to this;
>> is
>> this better suited to the developers mailing list?
>>
>
> No, actually, this (or some Mythbuntu/Ubuntu forum) is likely the best
> location to talk about it.  Developers wouldn't have any more information
> on how the Ubuntu packages are compiled and how the system is configured
> for VAAPI, so you're far more likely to find help from a user who's also
> trying to go down the same road.
>
> Thanks Mike - the reason I posted here instead of on a more generic Ubuntu
forum is that it does appear to run correctly in VLC, and although I
haven't tested in MPlayer yet I suspect it will work fine there too (could
of course be wrong about this).  What you're saying about the devs makes
sense, although I was hoping to find out how I could help provide
sufficient debugging info to help.  I'll maybe also try the Mythbuntu
angle, though (I'm new to Mythbuntu after running Fedora for years).


>    Or is VAAPI just not
>> really working yet?
>>
>
> It's, er, temperamental--meaning you/your packager/your system
> configuration has to do everything exactly right (from installing the right
> VAAPI libs, to installing the right graphics drivers, to configuring
> everything properly, to ...).  (And then, FWIW, once you get it working,
> you're left with something significantly less useful than VDPAU.)
>
> That's what I was afraid of!  Nirvana (for me) is to have a small box that
contains just the CPU and a small SSD.  I've successfully managed to
migrate my storage out to a NAS, and I use a HD Homerun Prime for my
tuners, so the graphics processing is next.

Cheers,
Geoff
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