This is an update on the troubleshooting progress, specifically regarding hardware video acceleration (VA-API) and media player issues on my system (Ubuntu 24.04, NVIDIA RTX 3060, Driver 550.120).
1. VA-API Initialization Failure: Symptom: Attempts to initialize VA-API failed system-wide, confirmed by the vainfo command returning errors like libva error: vaGetDriverNames() failed with unknown libva error and vaInitialize failed with error code -1. Action Taken: Installed the required VA-API backend driver package: sudo apt install nvidia-vaapi-driver. Set the environment variable LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia system-wide (by adding it to /etc/environment and rebooting) because automatic detection was failing even with the driver installed. Outcome: vainfo now runs successfully, confirms initialization of the "VA-API NVDEC driver", and lists supported hardware decoding profiles (H264, HEVC, VP9, AV1 etc.). VA-API appears functional system-wide when the driver name is explicitly provided via the environment variable. 2. mpv Playback Failure: Symptom: After fixing vainfo, the mpv media player failed to play videos (showed a black screen) when attempting to use the default VA-API hardware decoding (hwdec=vaapi), despite vainfo reporting success. Verbose logs indicated mpv hung during VA-API surface initialization. Action Taken: Configured mpv to use NVIDIA's native NVDEC interface instead of the VA-API bridge. This was done by adding the line hwdec=nvdec-copy to the ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf file. Outcome: mpv now successfully plays videos using hardware acceleration via NVDEC, confirmed by checking playback statistics (Shift+i shows HW Dec: nvdec (nvdec-copy)). Summary: The issues preventing VA-API initialization and causing mpv playback failures with hardware acceleration appear to be resolved through the installation of the nvidia-vaapi-driver package combined with setting the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=nvidia environment variable, and configuring mpv to use nvdec-copy. Note: I am still monitoring a separate issue where opening the Network Manager applet causes temporary system lag, which might be related to the rtl8821au WiFi driver. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to gnome-shell in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2107235 Title: pc freeze for a seconds, vlc lag, terminal lag, chrome lag Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu: Incomplete Bug description: Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS. Gnome 46.0 Issue Summary: This report outlines recurring performance problems encountered while using the Ubuntu operating system. The primary issue is frequent system freezes or lags, where the entire system becomes unresponsive for short periods. Detailed Description of the Problem: My Ubuntu system frequently experiences brief periods of unresponsiveness, manifesting as freezes or lags. These interruptions typically last between 1 to 3 seconds, although occasionally they can extend for up to 10 seconds. During these moments, mouse movement may stutter or stop, keyboard input is ignored, and application interfaces become temporarily unresponsive. Conditions Under Which the Issue Occurs: These performance issues are most noticeable and consistently occur when I am performing the following tasks simultaneously: Running Google Chrome web browser. Watching videos using VLC media player. It is important to note that my usage of Google Chrome often involves running multiple profiles concurrently (typically 3 to 4 profiles). Comparative Experience: I have observed that running a similar workload on a Windows operating system does not produce the same lagging or freezing behavior. Even with 3-4 Chrome profiles open and a media player running, the Windows system maintains responsiveness without these noticeable pauses. This suggests the issue might be specific to the Ubuntu environment, its configuration, or its interaction with my hardware under this specific workload. Conclusion: The frequent freezing and lagging significantly impact the usability and productivity of my Ubuntu system, particularly when multitasking with Google Chrome (using multiple profiles) and VLC. This contrasts with the smoother performance experienced under similar conditions on Windows. Further investigation or troubleshooting may be required to identify the root cause and potential solutions. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 24.04 Package: gnome-shell 46.0-0ubuntu6~24.04.8 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.11.0-21.21~24.04.1-generic 6.11.11 Uname: Linux 6.11.0-21-generic x86_64 NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia_modeset nvidia ApportVersion: 2.28.1-0ubuntu3.5 Architecture: amd64 CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME Date: Sat Apr 12 16:23:15 2025 DisplayManager: gdm3 ProcEnviron: LANG=en_US.UTF-8 PATH=(custom, no user) SHELL=/bin/bash TERM=xterm-256color XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set> RelatedPackageVersions: mutter-common 46.2-1ubuntu0.24.04.7 SourcePackage: gnome-shell UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-shell/+bug/2107235/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
