Arch Linux

rbrinson

Member

Registered: 2019-07-12

Posts: 16

Fix NVIDIA Hardware Video Acceleration and Integrate NVIDIA Optimus

Hi, I would like to switch which hardware video acceleration drivers are used when I switch which video graphics card I am using. However, I need to first figure out why setting LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME and VDPAU_DRIVER to the recommended values for NVIDIA causes a floating point exception. I'm hoping that someone can provide some guidance on these matters.

The hardware is a Dell XPS 15 7590 (2019) with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5.

I was able to successfully setup NVIDIA Optimus with bumblebee using information found on the Dell XPS 15 9570 wiki article and the final solution posted in this forum post. So, when I turn on my laptop and X gets started, the NVIDIA card is not enabled and the nvidia drivers are not loaded. The system is using the integrated Intel graphics. I can then run an enableGpu.sh script, which enables the NVIDIA card and loads the nvidia drivers. A disableGpu.sh then reverses the situation. powertop shows that there is definitely a difference in power consumption between the two scenarios.

I was also able to setup hardware video acceleration following the guidance in the Arch Wiki article. I have the intel-media-driver, nvidia-utils, libvdpau-va-gl, libva-vdpau-driver, and vdpauinfo packages installed. In order for it to work though, I have to set the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME and VDPAU_DRIVER variables. I am currently setting those in favor of the Intel graphics in my /etc/environment file:

LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD
VDPAU_DRIVER=va_gl

When I run vainfo, I get the following output:

$ vainfo
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.5 (libva 2.5.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel iHD driver - 1.0.0
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
      VAProfileNone                   :	VAEntrypointVideoProc
      VAProfileNone                   :	VAEntrypointStats
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointFEI
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointEncSliceLP
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointFEI
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointEncSliceLP
      VAProfileVC1Simple              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Main                :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Advanced            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileJPEGBaseline           :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileJPEGBaseline           :	VAEntrypointEncPicture
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointFEI
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointEncSliceLP
      VAProfileVP8Version0_3          :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP8Version0_3          :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointFEI
      VAProfileHEVCMain10             :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain10             :	VAEntrypointEncSlice
      VAProfileVP9Profile0            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP9Profile2            :	VAEntrypointVLD

I then tested it out by playing back a video using mpv with the following results:

$ mpv --hwdec=auto Videos/GX010323.MP4 
Playing: Videos/GX010323.MP4
[ffmpeg/demuxer] mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2: Using non-standard frame rate 59/1
 (+) Video --vid=1 (*) (hevc 3840x2160 59.940fps)
 (+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=eng (*) (aac 2ch 48000Hz)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/vaapi-egl] vaAcquireSurfaceHandle() failed (invalid VASurfaceID)
[vo/gpu/cuda-nvdec] cu->cuInit(0) failed -> CUDA_ERROR_NO_DEVICE: no CUDA-capable device is detected
[vo/gpu/cuda-nvdec] cu->cuCtxPopCurrent(&dummy) failed -> CUDA_ERROR_NOT_INITIALIZED: initialization error
Using hardware decoding (vaapi).
VO: [gpu] 3840x2160 vaapi[nv12]
AO: [pulse] 48000Hz stereo 2ch float
AV: 00:00:25 / 00:00:25 (99%) A-V:  0.000

Exiting... (End of file)

It does seem to be using hardware video acceleration, but there are also some errors mentioned.

When I switch to NVIDIA graphics, I change the /etc/environment file to one with the following variables:

LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=vdpau
VDPAU_DRIVER=nvidia

I can confirm that the nvidia drivers are loaded with

$ lsmod | grep nvidia
nvidia_uvm            978944  0
nvidia_drm             57344  0
nvidia_modeset       1118208  1 nvidia_drm
nvidia              18878464  2 nvidia_uvm,nvidia_modeset
ipmi_msghandler        69632  1 nvidia
drm_kms_helper        225280  2 nvidia_drm,i915
drm                   499712  9 drm_kms_helper,nvidia_drm,i915

I then source the new environment file. When I then run vainfo, I get the following exception:

$ vainfo
Floating point exception (core dumped)

Running vdpauinfo also produces an error:

$ vdpauinfo
display: :1   screen: 0
Error creating VDPAU device: 1

Obviously, when I tried to playback a video with mpv, I also got an error and the video did not even start.

$ mpv --hwdec=auto Videos/GX010323.MP4 
Playing: Videos/GX010323.MP4
[ffmpeg/demuxer] mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2: Using non-standard frame rate 59/1
 (+) Video --vid=1 (*) (hevc 3840x2160 59.940fps)
 (+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=eng (*) (aac 2ch 48000Hz)
Xlib:  extension "NV-GLX" missing on display ":1".
Xlib:  extension "NV-GLX" missing on display ":1".
Floating point exception (core dumped)

However, if I manually set the hwdec value to nvdec-copy, the video plays back flawlessly without any errors:

$ mpv --hwdec=nvdec-copy Videos/GX010323.MP4 
Playing: Videos/GX010323.MP4
[ffmpeg/demuxer] mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2: Using non-standard frame rate 59/1
 (+) Video --vid=1 (*) (hevc 3840x2160 59.940fps)
 (+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=eng (*) (aac 2ch 48000Hz)
Using hardware decoding (nvdec-copy).
VO: [gpu] 3840x2160 nv12
AO: [pulse] 48000Hz stereo 2ch float
AV: 00:00:25 / 00:00:25 (99%) A-V:  0.000 Dropped: 1

Exiting... (End of file)

My first question is does anyone know why the NVIDIA configuration causes libva to fail? Second, is there a better place to set the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME and VDPAU_DRIVER, rather than in /etc/environment? The system doesn't seem to be aware that these values get updated. When in the terminal, I have to source /etc/environment just to get the new values, and if I go to another terminal, it has the original initial values. I would like for the system to immediately be aware of changes to those variables if possible.

Thank you for any help!