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Hardware acceleration on Linux blocklisted

  • 4 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 15 views
  • Last reply by hokicon418

hokicon418
hokicon418
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Hi there,

I am running Firefox (104) on Linux (Arch Linux) in the Sway WM on a laptop with a modern (2021) AMD CPU and integrated GPU. I have installed (and verified that it is working properly) all the necessary drivers (mesa, vaapi, etc.) and updates, yet under about:support, HARDWARE_VIDEO_DECODING is blocklisted by env: Blocklisted by gfxInfo. How can I find out what exactly is blocking it? Might there be an environment variable missing or something like that?

I know that I can force-enable it through a settings flag, but this is not what I am looking for, I want to know how I can find out why it is blocklisted. (Setting hardware acceleration manually works without issues)

I have looked at https://fossies.org/linux/firefox/widget/gtk/GfxInfo.cpp and starting from line 860, my setup should only be blocklisted if I do not use Mesa (but I do).

Additional information: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is set to "sway".

I would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction on how to find out why my setup is "blocklisted by env".

Hi there, I am running Firefox (104) on Linux (Arch Linux) in the Sway WM on a laptop with a modern (2021) AMD CPU and integrated GPU. I have installed (and verified that it is working properly) all the necessary drivers (mesa, vaapi, etc.) and updates, yet under about:support, ''HARDWARE_VIDEO_DECODING'' is ''blocklisted by env: Blocklisted by gfxInfo''. How can I find out what exactly is blocking it? Might there be an environment variable missing or something like that? I know that I can force-enable it through a settings flag, but this is not what I am looking for, I want to know how I can find out why it is blocklisted. (Setting hardware acceleration manually works without issues) I have looked at https://fossies.org/linux/firefox/widget/gtk/GfxInfo.cpp and starting from line 860, my setup should only be blocklisted if I do not use Mesa (but I do). Additional information: XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is set to "sway". I would really appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction on how to find out why my setup is "blocklisted by env".

All Replies (4)

jonzn4SUSE
jonzn4SUSE
  • Top 25 Contributor
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I found this from googling your question. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/o8brga/unable_to_utilize_hardware_acceleration_in/

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can possibly check the source code.

hokicon418
hokicon418 Question owner
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jonzn4SUSE said
I found this from googling your question. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/o8brga/unable_to_utilize_hardware_acceleration_in/

First of all, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, this does not answer my question in any way. In fact, it is not even the same question. The user there is asking HOW to enable hardware acceleration. That is not what I am asking for. I do not need to know HOW to enable hardware acceleration. I already now how to do that manually. I am interested in WHY it is not enabled by default. I want to find out / figure out what is blocking it.

Modified by hokicon418

hokicon418
hokicon418 Question owner
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jonzn4SUSE said
I found this from googling your question. https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/o8brga/unable_to_utilize_hardware_acceleration_in/

First of all, thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, this does not answer my question in any way. In fact, it is not even the same question. The user there is asking HOW to enable hardware acceleration. That is not what I am asking for. I do not need to know HOW to enable hardware acceleration. I already now how to do that manually. I am interested in WHY it is not enabled by default. I want to find out / figure out what is blocking it.