Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

Histole · 2026-03-24 03:32:56

Hello all, I have an RTX 3090 in my system.

Running

nvidia-smi dmon -s u

in my terminal shows 0% usage for decode while running a YouTube video. Additionally, going to

about:support

and looking for

HARDWARE_VIDEO_DECODING

shows this:

Saw a thread request that command to be ran, not sure if that helps at all. I'm on the regular kernel and have

nvidia-open-dkms 590.48.01-4

installed.

Thank you.

Last edited by Histole (Yesterday 05:14:15)

seth · 2026-03-24 07:32:35

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefo … celeration

Histole · 2026-03-24 15:23:04

seth wrote:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefo … celeration

I went ahead and changed some of the configs in about:config, now hardware video decoding shows as forced enabled by user. Though the "env" section still shows as blocked "Blocklisted by gfxInfo Blocklisted; failure code FEATURE_HARDWARE_VIDEO_DECODING_NO_LINUX_NVIDIA". Even though it shows force enabled, I don't see any decoding usage when I play a YouTube video.

seth · 2026-03-24 15:36:19

What VAAPI shim did you install, what's the output of

vainfo

?

Histole · 2026-03-24 15:48:57

seth wrote:

What VAAPI shim did you install,

libva-nvidia-driver 0.0.16-1

what's the output of
vainfo

Trying display: wayland
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.23 (libva 2.22.0)
vainfo: Driver version: VA-API NVDEC driver [direct backend]
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
      VAProfileMPEG2Simple            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileMPEG2Main              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Simple              :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Main                :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVC1Advanced            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264Main               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264High               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline:	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain               :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP8Version0_3          :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP9Profile0            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileAV1Profile0            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain10             :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain12             :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileVP9Profile2            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain444            :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain444_10         :	VAEntrypointVLD
      VAProfileHEVCMain444_12         :	VAEntrypointVLD

seth · 2026-03-24 16:01:08

"Blocklisted by gfxInfo Blocklisted; failure code FEATURE_HARDWARE_VIDEO_DECODING_NO_LINUX_NVIDIA"

Trying display: wayland

glxinfo -B

Do you https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Firefox#Xwayland

Please post the about:support contents

Histole · 2026-03-24 18:54:07

seth wrote:

glxinfo -B

Last edited by Histole (Yesterday 05:14:50)

seth · 2026-03-24 20:15:16

There seems a problem w/ the xwayland implementation of your compositor…
Please post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General and test whether FF HW video acceleration works on an actual X11 session (eg. openbox or icewm will do)

But I misread gfxinfo as glxinfo and it's also not relevant since you effectively overrode it, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 3#p2078733

I don't see any decoding usage when I play a YouTube video.

Do you see a difference in CPU use when using the override and when not?
I'm not sure in how far this would show up in nvidia-smi due to the CUDA implementaiton.
You can test

mpv --hwdec=vaapi /path/to/video.mp4

to see how VAAPI is reflected in nvidia-smi (and whether mpv allows you to use vaapi)

GerBra · 2026-03-24 21:05:00

Histole wrote:

Even though it shows force enabled, I don't see any decoding usage when I play a YouTube video.

I could confirm this, even when forced/overwrite.
Myself don't use video and browser often, so i don't care...
System(current): Plasma/Wayland

mpv:

seth wrote:

I'm not sure in how far this would show up in nvidia-smi due to the CUDA implementaiton.
You can test ...

Using --hwdec with mpv on local video shows a increase in nvidia-smi dec%
A better tool may be nvtop (package nvtop). When using GPU for decoding it shows in utilization meter and in an extra DEC-meter when hw decoding is used.

I've tested mpv with:
mpv --hwdec=vaapi
mpv --hwdec=auto (//edit which uses vulkan then)
mpv --hwdec=nvdec
All settings increase/shows gpu hw decoding both in nvidia-smi and nvtop.

So it seams that it is a firefox setting.

I also don't get any indication with nvidia-smi and nvtop when playing my local video in firefox directly.

Last edited by GerBra (2026-03-24 21:09:46)

Histole · 2026-03-24 21:12:18

seth wrote:

There seems a problem w/ the xwayland implementation of your compositor…
Please post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General and test whether FF HW video acceleration works on an actual X11 session (eg. openbox or icewm will do)

Last edited by Histole (Yesterday 05:15:16)

Histole · 2026-03-24 21:13:52

GerBra wrote:

Histole wrote:
Even though it shows force enabled, I don't see any decoding usage when I play a YouTube video.
I could confirm this, even when forced/overwrite.
Myself don't use video and browser often, so i don't care...
System(current): Plasma/Wayland
mpv:
seth wrote:
I'm not sure in how far this would show up in nvidia-smi due to the CUDA implementaiton.
You can test ...
Using --hwdec with mpv on local video shows a increase in nvidia-smi dec%
A better tool may be nvtop (package nvtop). When using GPU for decoding it shows in utilization meter and in an extra DEC-meter when hw decoding is used.
I've tested mpv with:
mpv --hwdec=vaapi
mpv --hwdec=auto (//edit which uses vulkan then)
mpv --hwdec=nvdec
All settings increase/shows gpu hw decoding both in nvidia-smi and nvtop.
So it seams that it is a firefox setting.
I also don't get any indication with nvidia-smi and nvtop when playing my local video in firefox directly.

I'm consistent with what you're seeing.

Last edited by Histole (Yesterday 05:15:41)

seth · 2026-03-24 21:25:56

Tbc, you absolutely don't want to use VAAPI when you can use VDPAU, try --hwdec=vdpau

Do you get better results w/ chromium or vivaldi / https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … eg-codecs/ ?

GerBra · 2026-03-24 21:55:00

--hwdec=vdpau

vdpau gives me no gpu acceleration on plasma/wayland (nvidia-smi and nvtop), also mpv (I)nformation don't show HW decoding on vdpau.
vdpauinfo shows correct output on my nvidia (nvidia-open-dkms 590.48.01-4)
Isn't vdpau no only useful on XOrg?

On my local video the gpu decoding % shows:
|hwdec| gpu overall utilization | dec% |
| vaapi | 4% | 3% |
| vulkan | 24% | 10%
| nvdec | 5% | 3-4% | nvdec gives me IMHO a lower quality...
So vaapi seems to be the "best" hw accel on my side...(?)

CPU usage on each setting doesn't differ widely.
Decoding with mpv only on CPU (without any HW accel) also shows only a slightly increase of cpu usage...

//Edit: next day i could test a different browser, but as stated: i don't care realy on video and brosers myself...

Last edited by GerBra (2026-03-24 21:56:12)

seth · 2026-03-24 22:04:56

There're no technical reason for vdpau not to work on wayland and nvidia suggested to focus on that ~1yr ago, might indeed still require xwayland, though.
As long as vaapi doesn't just mostly charge the CPU (you might want to look at the overall power draw)

Decoding with mpv only on CPU (without any HW accel) also shows only a slightly increase of cpu usage...

Tried vp9/h265 2k or 4k?

Histole · 2026-03-24 22:06:31

seth wrote:

Tbc, you absolutely don't want to use VAAPI when you can use VDPAU, try --hwdec=vdpau
Do you get better results w/ chromium or vivaldi / https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … eg-codecs/ ?

I tried Chromium, I couldn't get decoding working on there either. Exhibits the same behavior as Firefox.

Last edited by Histole (Yesterday 05:15:56)

GerBra · 2026-03-24 22:12:54

Tried vp9/h265 2k or 4k?

Nooo.... My eyes are old, don't need/have these (or any output that benefit from this resolutions)

Myself (old school) record german sat tv (only free) with vdr, so max a FullHD(1080?) resolution...
//Edit: my test video file is: (h264 1280x586 50 fps)

What i normally watch (broswers or video play prog), i never must really care if it's CPU or GPU accelerated <g>

Last edited by GerBra (2026-03-24 22:35:17)

GerBra · 2026-03-24 22:48:33

Histole wrote:

I tried Chromium, I couldn't get decoding working on there either.

This indicates IMHO that with nvidia on wayland no browser(firefox,chromium) use hw accel "out of the box". Or with some "tricks" from the wiki...

//Edit:
I have tested myself now chromium and vivaldi. Both gave me gpu hw accelerated decoding with my local test video "out of the box".
Verified both in nvidia-smi and nvtop.
So it seems only firefox. I have tested with a new profile, no hw decoding accel...

//old
Maybe related to (current?) nvidia-open proprietary drivers? vs. nvidia(-NOTopen) ?
Myself have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Turing) and:

$ pacman -Qs nvidia
local/egl-gbm 1.1.3-1
    The GBM EGL external platform library
local/egl-wayland 4:1.1.21-1
    EGLStream-based Wayland external platform
local/egl-wayland2 1.0.1-1
    EGLStream-based Wayland external platform (2)
local/egl-x11 1.0.5-1
    NVIDIA XLib and XCB EGL Platform Library
local/lib32-nvidia-utils 590.48.01-1
    NVIDIA drivers utilities (32-bit)
local/libva-nvidia-driver 0.0.16-1
    VA-API implementation that uses NVDEC as a backend
local/libvdpau 1.5-4
    Nvidia VDPAU library
local/libxnvctrl 590.48.01-1
    NVIDIA NV-CONTROL X extension
local/nvidia-open-dkms 590.48.01-4
    NVIDIA open kernel modules - module sources
local/nvidia-settings 590.48.01-1
    Tool for configuring the NVIDIA graphics driver
local/nvidia-utils 590.48.01-4
    NVIDIA drivers utilities
local/nvtop 3.3.2-1
    GPUs process monitoring for AMD, Intel and NVIDIA

Last edited by GerBra (2026-03-25 00:21:26)

Histole · 2026-03-25 01:14:19

GerBra wrote:

Histole wrote:
I tried Chromium, I couldn't get decoding working on there either.
This indicates IMHO that with nvidia on wayland no browser(firefox,chromium) use hw accel "out of the box". Or with some "tricks" from the wiki...
//Edit:
I have tested myself now chromium and vivaldi. Both gave me gpu hw accelerated decoding with my local test video "out of the box".
Verified both in nvidia-smi and nvtop.
So it seems only firefox. I have tested with a new profile, no hw decoding accel...
//old
Maybe related to (current?) nvidia-open proprietary drivers? vs. nvidia(-NOTopen) ?

Not sure because I also have the nvidia open dkms driver.

GerBra · 2026-03-25 01:41:28

Not sure ...

Me too! <g>
Never watched so many videos in web browsers like today ;-)

As mentioned, i have accel both with chromium and vivaldi ootb.
Tested with a local h264 video.

With youtube, both browsers show different things according the video you watch, which resolution.
On an LinkinPark video which is named as 4k i get hw accel first when i user higher resolutions/quality. 1440p and upper. Then chromium and vivaldi use hw accel (nvidia-smi,nvtop->DEC meter).
Lower resolutions use no accel.
So it matters WHAT you test with different browsers, what codec is supplied and what resolution.
I don't know if there is a real test video url which could be used to test (never searched). I would strongly recommend to also test BASIC GPU ACCEL in a browser with a local video you have (h.264/265).

And as mentioned, only in firefox myself get never any gpu accel... (local video or youtibe)

I could test something if you (both) need a "third meaning", but i have no further ideas or ambitions to go deeper in browsers+videos...

Arch Linux

#1 2026-03-24 03:32:56

Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#2 2026-03-24 07:32:35

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#3 2026-03-24 15:23:04

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#4 2026-03-24 15:36:19

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#5 2026-03-24 15:48:57

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#6 2026-03-24 16:01:08

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#7 2026-03-24 18:54:07

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#8 2026-03-24 20:15:16

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#9 2026-03-24 21:05:00

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#10 2026-03-24 21:12:18

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#11 2026-03-24 21:13:52

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#12 2026-03-24 21:25:56

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#13 2026-03-24 21:55:00

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#14 2026-03-24 22:04:56

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#15 2026-03-24 22:06:31

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#16 2026-03-24 22:12:54

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#17 2026-03-24 22:48:33

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#18 2026-03-25 01:14:19

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

#19 2026-03-25 01:41:28

Re: Firefox not able to use hardware video decoding on NVIDIA GPU

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