SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

ozooha · 2019-05-13 20:25:21

I have an AMD APU for which I use the opensource xf86-video-ati and would like to install the xf86-video-nouveas as I will be using the GT 1030 video card.
Do I need to uninstall the xf86-video-ati first before using installing the xf86-video-nouveas?
or can they both be on the same OS?

Also is xf86-video-nouveas good for just viewing 4K @60fps movies as i wont be using it for any gaming at all?

Many thanks for your inputs.

OZooHA

Last edited by ozooha (2019-06-12 20:42:14)

Lone_Wolf · 2019-05-14 12:42:53

They'll coexist peacefully fine.

just viewing 4K @60fps movies

You probably won't be able to use HW acceleration.
How well it works will depend on many things, including pcie speed, device the input is on etc.

Some media players (VLC is one of them) can skip frames and/or audio without loosing much quality, try multiple players.

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2019-05-14 12:43:18)

seth · 2019-05-14 14:20:08

The nvidia blob does HW accelerated video playback… (w/ mplayer,mpv,vlc,… NOT in browsers, atm. no browser does HW accelerated video on no GPU available *sigh*)

ozooha · 2019-05-14 14:51:51

@Lone_Wolf
For HW acceleration you recommend using the NVIDIA proprietary driver then?

@seth
You imply that NVIDIA proprietary is the way to go then?

I have used the open-source version and it gave me 4K @30fps and I want 4K @60fps.
So I assume your suggested use of the proprietary version should give me that 60fps as it provides HW acceleration?

Thanks.
OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-14 15:06:29

Depends on the video codec and its profile.
Just to be real, we're talking about video decoding, not whether you can drive a certain output ("monitor") at that size and rate? Because that depends more on the connection type (which HDMI/DP version and esp. for HDMI: "cable")

ozooha · 2019-05-14 15:22:03

@seth

Yes I get that.
Its a 4K TV monitor 65" and I use the HDMI 2.0 cord (- provides 4K @60fps using the NVIDIA shield).

I mean if the proprietary driver does not give me @60fps then I guess what the spec stated were incorrect?
https://www.geforce.com/hardware/deskto … ifications

Let me know your thoughts.
Thanks.

OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-14 16:03:14

My thoughts are that you've not ultimately specified your problem and whether its only expected or at hand.

If you know that the cable does 4k@60 there should be no problem w/ that mode.
If your concern is video decoding: you can decode pretty much any video of any resolution and rate in software - depending on how fast your CPU is.
HW decoding is more limited, but for a regular h264 video w/ a non-exotic profile GPU and driver should be able to decode in HW.

ozooha · 2019-05-14 16:27:07

GOAL: I wanted to use the GT 1030 purely for watching movies at 4K 60fps (as per the specs from the manufacture) using kodi as my multi-media-player.

My first attempt at using the xf86-video-nouveas driver failed since I got 4K @30fps on kodi's system information . The 4k movie was stuttering.

Before I return the card I wanted to see if anyone out here could help me understand whether using the proprietary driver would help acheive my goal.

So my question is whether i should go the proprietary driver route to achieve the 60 fps or not as given that I have the appropriate cable?

Appreciate your patience and please do help if possible.

Thanks.

OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-14 16:34:08

Idk, what "kodi's system does", we'll please not rely on indirect data.
The stutter is because the thing was decoded in SW (and your CPU is not up to the job)

=> install the blob (it vastly outperforms nouveau in any regard) and dump the output of "xrandr -q", then try to play a movie w/ mpv, in doubt "mpv --hwdec=vdpau /file/to/video.mp4"

ozooha · 2019-05-14 17:08:09

My apologies if I offended you as I was just trying to be clear and specific.

Yes the stutter, as you mentioned, was because the CPU was not up to the mark since kodi was set to use HW decoding.

The xrandr -q for the xf86-video-nouveas driver provided the best resolution and the refresh rate to be "3840 x 2160" and 30 respectively.

I assume (correct me if I am wrong) given the the proprietary driver's superior performance the xrandr -q output might be "3840 x 2160" and 59-60 ish respectively?

I shall install the proprietary driver and provide you with the requested feedback by tomorrow.

Thanks again.

OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-14 17:12:06

I don't feel offended at all.

We'll see what the blob says and then try to figure "why" - this isn't a performance thing, there're lots of reasons why the output modes could be capped.

ozooha · 2019-05-15 02:22:47

So the proprietary driver gave the option of a 3840x2160 resolution with a 59.94 refresh rate.
I set it to this configuration and played the 4k on kodi as well as on mpv.
However in both these instances video frames were not smooth and the audio and video would out of sync apart from kodi buffering.
I thought it was the buffer rate as the file was on a network drive so I increased the cache for kodi using the advancesettings xml route but that did not help either.

Any idea why this could be the case?
Any suggestions to correct this lack of video smoothness via tweaks on nvidia-settings utility?

Thanks again.

OZooHA

Last edited by ozooha (2019-05-15 02:26:00)

seth · 2019-05-15 05:41:08

Doesn't sound like HW acceleration.

Output of

mpv -v /path/to/video.mp4

?

ozooha · 2019-05-15 11:34:45

How do I capture the verbose output to a file while playing the 4K video file?
Any CLI tricks?

seth · 2019-05-15 15:07:26

mpv -v /path/to/video.mp4 > /tmp/mpv.log 2>&1

Sidenote: You're registered for 10 years. You should know the shell basics. If you don't, learn them.
You're likely wasting a lot of energy on doing stuff the system can easily do for you.
I haven't read it, but it can't be worse than where you are: https://linuxconfig.org/bash-scripting- … -beginners

(inb4: Yes, "&>" works as well, but I don't post that in forums because some genius will inject blanks … ;-)

ozooha · 2019-05-16 00:51:41

Here the log file as requested for mpv -v /path/to/video.mp4 > /tmp/mpv.log 2>&1

https://pastebin.com/s0B5BSCB

Here is the one with mpv -v --hwdec=vdpau /path/to/video.mp4 > /tmp/mpv.log 2>&1
https://pastebin.com/R9nP673W

So another observation on kodi was:
It was doing a SW rendering for this 4K movie (hence the lack of smoothness and CPU was maxing out of course)...why should it be the case when i had selected the vdpau settings in kodi.
For a regular 1920x1080 it was using the HW to render the video file.
Why was this happening?

Thanks for your patience.
If you could help me understand the diagnosis just for my edification.

OZooHA

Last edited by ozooha (2019-05-16 01:31:42)

seth · 2019-05-16 08:07:53

It's hevc (not h264), 3840x2160, 10bit.
Your CPU can't decode that video.

While GPU and driver should be able do that, apparently ffmpeg/llibav *had* disabled support in the past (https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= … es-HEVC-NV) - I'm not sure about the state of the version in the repos.

Please redact or delete the pastebins.

ozooha · 2019-05-16 11:16:57

So installing ffmeg should do the trick assuming they are supported? Would I require to configure it?
Would kodi pick that up or does it have its own codecs to handle that?
I assume mpv would pick it up.
Let me know your thoughts on them and if possible suggestions.
Also where in the log file did you pick up the HEVC part...i guess i have to do a grep.

Thanks for the help.

Last edited by ozooha (2019-05-16 12:59:34)

seth · 2019-05-16 13:25:49

ffmpeg is a dependency for mpv and most other stuff (including kodi), they provide the libraries for a/v decoding.
You can either wait whether future versions start using the HW decoder (again) or try https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/ffmpeg-git/
Please ensure to read https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ar … Repository (assuming you're not familiar w/ AUR)

ozooha · 2019-05-16 14:19:26

Thanks for the info.
I wasn't aware that it had to be installed since I assumed during the kodi install it got installed as a dependency ( the non-AUR one).
I will try installing the AUR version and confirm the same.

Also from what I see from the wiki https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ha … AU_drivers nvidia driver (via nvidia-utils) for my Pascal card has the capability to decode using NVDECODE the H.265/HEVC 10bit video.
I presume I must have not configured the hardware acceleration part as in setting in the environment variable otherwise kodi (in that link) which supports it would have picked it up in its system's settings.
Can you confirm my suspicion?

Also is there an order i should go with - i.e. check for the environment variable and then the ffmpeg-git installation or vice versa or it doesn't really matter in case things don't work out.
Just asking since you are adept at this.

Thanks again.

OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-16 14:28:57

This is not a config issue, the video should™ be decoded in HW, but we don't live in a shouldland and for some reason it's not.
My best guess atm. is that it's still disabled in the current ffmpeg version.
You can try whether the direct "mpv --hwdec=nvdec /path/to/very_stupid_movie.mkv" works better.

ozooha · 2019-05-17 16:04:24

mpv --hwdec=nvdec /path/to/very_stupid_movie.mkv works!!!
But kodi does not have this nvdec available despite their reliance on ffmpeg which clearly supports the nvdec option.

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=325329&page=3

Is there a complied version of kodi with its ffmpeg version allowing nvdec option?

OZooHA

seth · 2019-05-17 19:25:02

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ha … on_support actually says that kodi supports nvdecode, I've no idea whether there's a way to select what decoder kod uses, sorry.

Arch Linux

#1 2019-05-13 20:25:21

SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#2 2019-05-14 12:42:53

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#3 2019-05-14 14:20:08

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#4 2019-05-14 14:51:51

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#5 2019-05-14 15:06:29

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#6 2019-05-14 15:22:03

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#7 2019-05-14 16:03:14

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#8 2019-05-14 16:27:07

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#9 2019-05-14 16:34:08

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#10 2019-05-14 17:08:09

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#11 2019-05-14 17:12:06

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#12 2019-05-15 02:22:47

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#13 2019-05-15 05:41:08

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#14 2019-05-15 11:34:45

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#15 2019-05-15 15:07:26

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#16 2019-05-16 00:51:41

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#17 2019-05-16 08:07:53

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#18 2019-05-16 11:16:57

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#19 2019-05-16 13:25:49

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#20 2019-05-16 14:19:26

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#21 2019-05-16 14:28:57

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#22 2019-05-17 16:04:24

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

#23 2019-05-17 19:25:02

Re: SOLVED Co-existence of open source video drivers on the same OS

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