Solved Video decoding on ThinkPad x250 (Intel HD Graphics 5500) CPU ~50%

mro · Oct 1, 2023

is that a normal CPU load for e.g. watching https://media.ccc.de/v/33c3-8089-lightning_talks_day_4#t=4663 on ungoogled-chromium?
vlc uses even 150%, what to diagnose/tweak here?
is there specific setup documentation?
I found pkg install libva-intel-media-driver - should I activate that? How?
what about iic?

any hints appreciated, I'll update https://mro.name/FreeBSD-XFCE

yuripv79 · Oct 1, 2023

What X driver are you using?

cracauer@ · Oct 1, 2023

What does x11/xvinfo say?

mro · Oct 1, 2023

cracauer@ said:
What does x11/xvinfo say?

$ xvinfo
X-Video Extension version 2.2
screen #0
 no adaptors present

mro · Oct 1, 2023

yuripv79 said:
What X driver are you using?

whatever is the default. How would I tell?

cracauer@ · Oct 1, 2023

Your problem is that you have a X11 server with no video acceleration.

mro · Oct 1, 2023

cracauer@ said:
Your problem is that you have a X11 server with no video acceleration.

I followed https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/x11/#x-configuration-intel and "

Video cards, monitors, and input devices are automatically detected and do not require any manual configuration." made me believe that's about it.

So I guess 3. of my initial question list is most important. What can I do?

mro · Oct 3, 2023

finally got there with help from grahamperrin@FreeBSD.org via irc #freebsd-desktop.

$ doas pkg install -f gpu-firmware-kmod played a part.

P.S.: and vlc needed the extra hug explicitly setting tools -> settings -> video -> output = X11 (XCB) and is at <<50% cpu now.

mro · Oct 14, 2023

connected an external 4k monitor via minidisplayport yesterday - and it refused to connect.

Both with "intel" and "modesetting" in /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d.

However, worked fine after removing all files in there. And glxinfo still reports acceleration.

See https://codeberg.org/mro/x250-freebsd/src/branch/ma/usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d

mro · Oct 15, 2023

finally https://wiki.videolan.org/VLC_GPU_Decoding/#X11_.28GNU.2FLinux.2C_FreeBSD.2C_etc..29 drew my attention to setting tools -> settings -> video -> output = VDPAU.

Now I am down to 5% CPU. Nice.