Unable to play some video with VLC (hardware accelerator failed to decode picture)

[i-rinat]

Unable to play some video with VLC (hardware accelerator failed to decode picture)

[i-rinat]

Current versions of VLC don't have the issue. "Fixing" commit was videolan/vlc@c61b433#diff-4e89dea6d2b66dcaac6f076da940fba2L400. Note, they started to compare surfaces geometry with coded width and height from AVCodecContext structure.

Newer VLC versions started to use another bit of VDPAU, so I've added required mockup code in e10ef7a. It doesn't work they way it should work, but should be fine anyway.

[i-rinat]

Hi.
There is noticeable artifacts in video at about 00:00:01, perhaps video stream is broken. I've tried to play it though vaapi path in mpv and also through vdpau path with help of libvdpau-va-gl on both mplayer and mpv. And all those were fine, without lockups or error messages. It could be hardware dependent. I tested on Intel HD 4000 (embedded graphics in i7-3632qm processor).

Could you check on your hardware how

mpv --hwdec=vaapi --vo=gl  big_buck_bunny_480p_H264_AAC_25fps_1800K_short.MP4

works, please?

[vincentbernat]

Your command works fine for me:

mpv --hwdec=vaapi --vo=gl  big_buck_bunny_480p_H264_AAC_25fps_1800K_short.MP4
Driver 'gl' has been replaced with 'opengl'!
Playing: big_buck_bunny_480p_H264_AAC_25fps_1800K_short.MP4
 (+) Video --vid=1 (*) (h264)
 (+) Audio --aid=1 --alang=und (*) (aac)
File tags:
 Artist: created with SUPER(C).v2011.bld.49
 Comment: 14:06:42
 Title: big_buck_bunny_480p_surround-fix.avi_041.AVI.MP4
libva info: VA-API version 0.38.1
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_0_38
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
AO: [pulse] 44100Hz stereo 2ch float
Using hardware decoding (vaapi).
VO: [opengl] 854x480 vaapi
AV: 00:00:01 / 00:00:04 (27%) A-V:  0.000

[i-rinat]

Then it's a bug in libvdpau-va-gl indeed. I'll try to dig further.

[i-rinat]

Oh, I've tried VLC (2.2.2-3+b1, Debian testing), and now can see the same bug. Now there are higher chances to find out what's happening.

[i-rinat]

Just to be sure. Does

mpv --hwdec=vdpau --vo=vdpau  big_buck_bunny_480p_H264_AAC_25fps_1800K_short.MP4

show video?

[vincentbernat]

Yes, it works too. So, this may be a bug in VLC?

[i-rinat]

Looks like there is an issue in VLC code.
Here is trace output from vlc big_buck_bunny_480p_H264_AAC_25fps_1800K_short.MP4:

VLC media player 2.2.2 Weatherwax (revision 2.2.2-0-g6259d80)
[000000000198bdf8] pulse audio output error: PulseAudio server connection failure: Connection refused
[00000000018b3388] core libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[VS] Software VDPAU backend library initialized
[VS] {full} vdp_imp_device_create_x11 display=0x7f59b404aee0, screen=0
libva info: VA-API version 0.38.1
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_0_38
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
[VS] libva (version 0.38) library initialized
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceQueryCapabilities device=1, surface_chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420
[VS] {part} VdpDecoderQueryCapabilities device=1, profile=VDP_DECODER_PROFILE_H264_MAIN
[VS] {full} VdpGetInformationString
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=854, height=480
[VS] {full} VdpDecoderCreate device=1, profile=VDP_DECODER_PROFILE_H264_MAIN, width=854, height=480, max_references=16
[00007f59d4c08d88] avcodec decoder: Using OpenGL/VAAPI/libswscale backend for VDPAU for hardware decoding.
[VS] {full} VdpDecoderDestroy decoder=23
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=2
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=3
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=4
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=5
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=6
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=7
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=8
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=9
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=10
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=11
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=12
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=13
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=14
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=15
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=16
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=17
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=18
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=19
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=20
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=21
[VS] {full} VdpVideoSurfaceDestroy surface=22
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {part} VdpVideoSurfaceCreate, device=1, chroma_type=VDP_CHROMA_TYPE_420, width=864, height=480
[VS] {full} VdpDecoderCreate device=1, profile=VDP_DECODER_PROFILE_H264_MAIN, width=864, height=480, max_references=16
[VS] {part} VdpDecoderRender decoder=23, target=24, picture_info=0x7f59b4f7a8c0, bitstream_buffer_count=2
[h264 @ 0x7f59d4c2a0e0] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
[VS] {part} VdpDecoderRender decoder=23, target=25, picture_info=0x7f59b0045e80, bitstream_buffer_count=2
[h264 @ 0x7f59d4cb6740] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
[VS] {part} VdpDecoderRender decoder=23, target=26, picture_info=0x7f59a8047920, bitstream_buffer_count=2
[h264 @ 0x7f59d4cfdea0] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
[VS] {part} VdpDecoderRender decoder=23, target=27, picture_info=0x7f59ac048bc0, bitstream_buffer_count=2
[h264 @ 0x7f59d4d456c0] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture

So, VLC creates video surfaces, then creates decoder, then destroys decoder (id=23), then creates a new set of video surfaces and a new decoder. And then tries to use recently deleted decoder with id 23.

Here is what happens. In VLC 2.2.2 code, in the file /modules/hw/vdpau/avcodec.c there is a function Setup(), which is called at least twice. Once at initial setup, and next time for a frame decoded. First time it gets video size 854x480. Second time it gets actual frame size 864x480 (decoded frame is later cropped to get 854x480). Function detect size change, destroys decoder and creates new. But changing value of sys->context->decoder is not enough, libavcodec could save decoder resource identifier and use it later. Which, probably, the case.

It could be that previous versions of libavcodec allowed such change, but current version doesn't.

[vincentbernat]

Great that you found the source. Would you like me to report the bugs to VLC devs?

[i-rinat]

I don't see similar code in VLC's master branch. Most probably they've fixed it already. But on the other hand that version tries to use VDPAU part which is not implemented in libvdpau-va-gl, so I can't be sure.

[vincentbernat]

I have asked one of VLC dev to have a look.

[i-rinat]

Also found that mpv tries Constrained Baseline profile, and falls back to software decoding if profile is not available. 8c26e71 fixes that.

[vincentbernat]

Thanks! A release in the next weeks would be welcome (otherwise, I will use a git snapshot).

[i-rinat]

Here it is: https://github.com/i-rinat/libvdpau-va-gl/releases/tag/v0.3.6

[vincentbernat]

Thanks, I did upload this new version in Debian. Let's hope they do a VLC release soon. I close this issue.