Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

egils · 2021-01-23 17:56:22

$ lspci |grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (primary) (rev 0c)

$ vainfo
libva error: /usr/lib/dri/i965_drv_video.so init failed

$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
rndis_host 20480 0
cdc_ether 20480 1 rndis_host
usbnet 45056 2 rndis_host,cdc_ether
mii 16384 1 usbnet
fuse 106496 2
iwl4965 151552 0
iwlegacy 114688 1 iwl4965
i915 1761280 6
mac80211 786432 2 iwl4965,iwlegacy
mousedev 20480 0
snd_hda_codec_analog 16384 1
snd_hda_codec_generic 73728 1 snd_hda_codec_analog
iTCO_wdt 16384 0
iTCO_vendor_support 16384 1 iTCO_wdt
8021q 28672 0
garp 16384 1 8021q
mrp 20480 1 8021q
stp 16384 1 garp
llc 16384 2 garp,stp
pcmcia 57344 0
snd_hda_intel 40960 3
drm_kms_helper 200704 1 i915
snd_intel_dspcfg 24576 1 snd_hda_intel
snd_hda_codec 126976 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_analog,snd_hda_codec_generic
cfg80211 688128 3 mac80211,iwl4965,iwlegacy
coretemp 20480 0
snd_hda_core 81920 4 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_analog,snd_hda_codec_generic
psmouse 151552 0
yenta_socket 36864 0
cec 57344 2 i915,drm_kms_helper
input_leds 16384 0
thinkpad_acpi 90112 0
snd_hwdep 16384 1 snd_hda_codec
i2c_i801 32768 0
pcmcia_rsrc 24576 1 yenta_socket
pcspkr 16384 0
rc_core 53248 1 cec
snd_pcm 114688 3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_core
i2c_smbus 20480 1 i2c_i801
pcmcia_core 28672 3 yenta_socket,pcmcia,pcmcia_rsrc
nvram 16384 1 thinkpad_acpi
syscopyarea 16384 1 drm_kms_helper
lpc_ich 24576 0
libarc4 16384 1 mac80211
cdc_acm 32768 0
sysfillrect 16384 1 drm_kms_helper
sysimgblt 16384 1 drm_kms_helper
ledtrig_audio 16384 2 thinkpad_acpi,snd_hda_codec_generic
tpm_tis 16384 0
snd_timer 36864 1 snd_pcm
intel_agp 16384 0
fb_sys_fops 16384 1 drm_kms_helper
rfkill 24576 4 thinkpad_acpi,cfg80211
tpm_tis_core 24576 1 tpm_tis
e1000e 237568 0
i2c_algo_bit 16384 1 i915
snd 77824 14 snd_hda_intel,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_codec_analog,snd_timer,thinkpad_acpi,snd_hda_codec_generic,snd_pcm
intel_gtt 20480 2 intel_agp,i915
tpm 57344 2 tpm_tis,tpm_tis_core
evdev 20480 11
battery 20480 1 thinkpad_acpi
soundcore 16384 1 snd
ac 16384 0
rng_core 16384 1 tpm
acpi_cpufreq 24576 1
mac_hid 16384 0
drm 466944 7 i915,drm_kms_helper
agpgart 40960 3 intel_agp,intel_gtt,drm
ip_tables 24576 0
x_tables 36864 1 ip_tables
ext4 626688 2
crc32c_generic 16384 4
crc16 16384 1 ext4
mbcache 16384 1 ext4
jbd2 110592 1 ext4
ata_generic 16384 0
pata_acpi 16384 0
serio_raw 20480 0
atkbd 28672 0
libps2 20480 2 atkbd,psmouse
uhci_hcd 45056 0
ata_piix 32768 0
ehci_pci 20480 0
ehci_hcd 73728 1 ehci_pci
i8042 28672 0
serio 24576 6 serio_raw,atkbd,psmouse,i8042

$ find /lib/modules/$(uname -r) -type f -name '*.ko.xz'|grep 965
/lib/modules/5.9.14-arch1-1.0/kernel/sound/pci/rme9652/snd-hdsp.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.9.14-arch1-1.0/kernel/sound/pci/rme9652/snd-hdspm.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.9.14-arch1-1.0/kernel/sound/pci/rme9652/snd-rme9652.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.9.14-arch1-1.0/kernel/drivers/media/i2c/ov9650.ko.xz
/lib/modules/5.9.14-arch1-1.0/kernel/drivers/net/wireless/intel/iwlegacy/iwl4965.ko.xz

No modules called something like gpu965 it seems.

Any ideas how to fix this?

Last edited by egils (2021-01-23 19:22:49)

levi · 2021-01-23 20:29:15

Just to check, you do have xf86-video-intel installed I assume? That claims to be video drivers for 945G chipsets.

But it doesn't contain the complained about file that vainfo reports so I guess it won't fix that. My vainfo fails with:

vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit

So it doesn't look like a load error to me but it doesn't get much further before it falls over. I can still play oolite here and watch videos using vlc so I'm happy with performance.

egils · 2021-01-27 14:31:39

levi wrote:

Just to check, you do have xf86-video-intel installed I assume? That claims to be video drivers for 945G chipsets.

Yes

$ pacman -Qs video-intel
local/xf86-video-intel 1:2.99.917+914+ga511f22c-1.0 (xorg-drivers)
X.org Intel i810/i830/i915/945G/G965+ video drivers

egils · 2021-01-27 14:32:47

The reason why I want this working is that obs-studio fails to start with an opengl error.

$ obs
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/locale/en-US.ini
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/locale/en-US.ini
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/locale.ini
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/locale.ini
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark.qss
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark.qss
info: CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz
info: CPU Speed: 1196.985MHz
info: Physical Cores: 2, Logical Cores: 2
info: Physical Memory: 1986MB Total, 194MB Free
info: Kernel Version: Linux 5.9.14-arch1-1.0
info: Distribution: "Arch Linux 32" Unknown
info: Window System: X11.0, Vendor: The X.Org Foundation, Version: 1.20.10
info: Portable mode: false
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Close.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Close.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Popout.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Popout.svg', because: No such file or directory
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/no_sources.svg
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/no_sources.svg
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_advAudioProps_clicked()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_advAudioProps_destroyed()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_actionGridMode_triggered()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_program_customContextMenuRequested(QPoint)
info: OBS 25.0.8-1.0 (linux)
info: ---------------------------------
info: ---------------------------------
info: audio settings reset:
samples per sec: 44100
speakers: 2
info: ---------------------------------
info: Initializing OpenGL...
error: X Error: GLXBadFBConfig, Major opcode: 153, Minor opcode: 34, Serial: 29
error: Failed to create OpenGL context.
error: Failed to create context!
error: device_create (GL) failed
error: Failed to initialize video. Your GPU may not be supported, or your graphics drivers may need to be updated.
info: Freeing OBS context data
info: == Profiler Results =============================
info: run_program_init: 3830.17 ms
info: ┣OBSApp::AppInit: 13.912 ms
info: ┃ ┗OBSApp::InitLocale: 6.585 ms
info: ┗OBSApp::OBSInit: 573.632 ms
info: ┣obs_startup: 26.477 ms
info: ┗OBSBasic::OBSInit: 164.167 ms
info: ┣OBSBasic::InitBasicConfig: 1.855 ms
info: ┣OBSBasic::ResetAudio: 0.653 ms
info: ┗OBSBasic::ResetVideo: 158.553 ms
info: obs_hotkey_thread(25 ms): min=0.349 ms, median=0.558 ms, max=32.702 ms, 99th percentile=23.466 ms, 99.1525% below 25 ms
info: audio_thread(Audio): min=0.061 ms, median=0.093 ms, max=5.938 ms, 99th percentile=0.308 ms
info: =================================================
info: == Profiler Time Between Calls ==================
info: obs_hotkey_thread(25 ms): min=25.461 ms, median=25.754 ms, max=61.712 ms, 2.5641% within ±2% of 25 ms (0% lower, 97.4359% higher)
info: =================================================
info: Number of memory leaks: 178

mistersmee · 2021-01-27 17:05:43

No. The oldest Intel graphics chipset for hardware video decoding or encoding supported in Arch Linux or the whole of Linux, for that matter, is the GMA 4500. That chipset was used in the 1st gen core i3/i5/i7s, i.e. Nehalem. Your chipset is a generation older than GMA 4500.
And it is a chore to get H264 video decoding even on GMA 4500. Check out the comments section on the AUR package of the driver needed to get video decoding available. https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/libv … -g45-h264/.

And OBS is not starting because that chipset probably supports OpenGL v1.1 or v1.0, or something like that, while OBS requires v3.0 or higher or something. Idk the exact version numbers supported on either GPU or OBS.
But the same thing happens to me on my T60 with AMD RV515 GPU, when I try to run any application that requires a newer OpenGL version supported , i.e Alacritty, Kitty, and SuperTuxKart.
And no, there is nothing we can do, it is hardware-based. No software trickery can wiggle it's way around this.

Last edited by mistersmee (2021-01-27 17:57:34)

mistersmee · 2021-01-27 17:11:45

levi wrote:

Just to check, you do have xf86-video-intel installed I assume? That claims to be video drivers for 945G chipsets.
But it doesn't contain the complained about file that vainfo reports so I guess it won't fix that. My vainfo fails with:
vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit
So it doesn't look like a load error to me but it doesn't get much further before it falls over. I can still play oolite here and watch videos using vlc so I'm happy with performance.

xf86-video-intel only provides 2D acceleration for Xorg to all Intel iGPUs. I assume that means that it makes Xorg run on these GPUs, I don't know what 2D acceleration is.

VA-API provides video acceleration for Intel GPUs, for which there are different drivers, for GMA 4500, i.e Nehalem, there is libva-intel-driver-g45-h264, for Sandy Bridge to Broadwell, there is intel-media-driver, for Broadwell and above, there is libva-intel-driver.

Check out https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ha … celeration.

mistersmee · 2021-01-27 17:47:16

levi wrote:

Just to check, you do have xf86-video-intel installed I assume? That claims to be video drivers for 945G chipsets.
But it doesn't contain the complained about file that vainfo reports so I guess it won't fix that. My vainfo fails with:
vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit
So it doesn't look like a load error to me but it doesn't get much further before it falls over. I can still play oolite here and watch videos using vlc so I'm happy with performance.

My GPU is not supported for hardware video acceleration either. Being an AMD chip, it uses VDPAU to provide hardware video acceleration, but even the proprietary AMD Catalyst legacy drivers do not support my GPU.
However, the Core Duo in my T60 is powerful enough to software decode and play H264 files without any issue. It can even play H265 files depending on the file, my luck and the phase of the moon.
So, OP, you should be fine with video playback, as long as you remember the limits of your hardware.

mistersmee · 2021-01-27 17:53:50

levi wrote:

Just to check, you do have xf86-video-intel installed I assume? That claims to be video drivers for 945G chipsets.
But it doesn't contain the complained about file that vainfo reports so I guess it won't fix that. My vainfo fails with:
vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit
So it doesn't look like a load error to me but it doesn't get much further before it falls over. I can still play oolite here and watch videos using vlc so I'm happy with performance.

That error usually means your GPU does not support VAAPI, i.e it is not an Intel chip, or it is an Intel chip, but does not support VAAPI, or it is not among the newer (as in 4-5 years old now, in which case you have a system modern enough that you shouldn't be running 32-bit Arch) AMD GPUs that support both VDPAU and VAAPI.
NVIDIA GPUs used to use VDPAU before, though now they have their proprietary NVENC/NVDEC system to provide hardware video acceleration, they have never supported VAAPI.

Last edited by mistersmee (2021-01-27 18:01:19)

mistersmee · 2021-01-27 17:55:09

egils wrote:

The reason why I want this working is that obs-studio fails to start with an opengl error.
$ obs
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/locale/en-US.ini
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/locale/en-US.ini
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/locale.ini
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/locale.ini
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark.qss
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark.qss
info: CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz
info: CPU Speed: 1196.985MHz
info: Physical Cores: 2, Logical Cores: 2
info: Physical Memory: 1986MB Total, 194MB Free
info: Kernel Version: Linux 5.9.14-arch1-1.0
info: Distribution: "Arch Linux 32" Unknown
info: Window System: X11.0, Vendor: The X.Org Foundation, Version: 1.20.10
info: Portable mode: false
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Close.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Close.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Popout.svg', because: No such file or directory
qt.svg: Cannot open file '/usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/Popout.svg', because: No such file or directory
Attempted path: share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/no_sources.svg
Attempted path: /usr/share/obs/obs-studio/themes/Dark/no_sources.svg
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_advAudioProps_clicked()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_advAudioProps_destroyed()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_actionGridMode_triggered()
QMetaObject::connectSlotsByName: No matching signal for on_program_customContextMenuRequested(QPoint)
info: OBS 25.0.8-1.0 (linux)
info: ---------------------------------
info: ---------------------------------
info: audio settings reset:
samples per sec: 44100
speakers: 2
info: ---------------------------------
info: Initializing OpenGL...
error: X Error: GLXBadFBConfig, Major opcode: 153, Minor opcode: 34, Serial: 29
error: Failed to create OpenGL context.
error: Failed to create context!
error: device_create (GL) failed
error: Failed to initialize video. Your GPU may not be supported, or your graphics drivers may need to be updated.
info: Freeing OBS context data
info: == Profiler Results =============================
info: run_program_init: 3830.17 ms
info: ┣OBSApp::AppInit: 13.912 ms
info: ┃ ┗OBSApp::InitLocale: 6.585 ms
info: ┗OBSApp::OBSInit: 573.632 ms
info: ┣obs_startup: 26.477 ms
info: ┗OBSBasic::OBSInit: 164.167 ms
info: ┣OBSBasic::InitBasicConfig: 1.855 ms
info: ┣OBSBasic::ResetAudio: 0.653 ms
info: ┗OBSBasic::ResetVideo: 158.553 ms
info: obs_hotkey_thread(25 ms): min=0.349 ms, median=0.558 ms, max=32.702 ms, 99th percentile=23.466 ms, 99.1525% below 25 ms
info: audio_thread(Audio): min=0.061 ms, median=0.093 ms, max=5.938 ms, 99th percentile=0.308 ms
info: =================================================
info: == Profiler Time Between Calls ==================
info: obs_hotkey_thread(25 ms): min=25.461 ms, median=25.754 ms, max=61.712 ms, 2.5641% within ±2% of 25 ms (0% lower, 97.4359% higher)
info: =================================================
info: Number of memory leaks: 178

BTW, OP, this has absolutely nothing to do with video acceleration. Hardware video acceleration and OpenGL are two very different things.

levi · 2021-01-27 20:02:06

mistersmee wrote:

it is not among the newer (as in 4-5 years old now, in which case you have a system modern enough that you shouldn't be running 32-bit Arch)

I assume this is a mistype. My machine is at least 12 years old now from memory, yet still runs the most advanced arch32 variant, that of pentium4. The i686 repos are for pentium pro or later (mainy p2 and p3s), and the 486 repos are for the 80486 and original pentium chips, at least if your sticking with official mainstream intel chips. Sometimes chips from other manufacturers don't implement all of the opcodes so you need to run code designed for 80486 chips despite being a significantly newer chip.

My video server is about the same age as my laptop, and that's running the full 64-bit arch. Most 5 year old chips and more are perfectly capable of running arch 64. Arch 32 is for those of us maintaining older hardware.

mistersmee · 2021-01-28 07:11:28

levi wrote:

mistersmee wrote:
it is not among the newer (as in 4-5 years old now, in which case you have a system modern enough that you shouldn't be running 32-bit Arch)
I assume this is a mistype. My machine is at least 12 years old now from memory, yet still runs the most advanced arch32 variant, that of pentium4. The i686 repos are for pentium pro or later (mainy p2 and p3s), and the 486 repos are for the 80486 and original pentium chips, at least if your sticking with official mainstream intel chips. Sometimes chips from other manufacturers don't implement all of the opcodes so you need to run code designed for 80486 chips despite being a significantly newer chip.
My video server is about the same age as my laptop, and that's running the full 64-bit arch. Most 5 year old chips and more are perfectly capable of running arch 64. Arch 32 is for those of us maintaining older hardware.

Yeah, sorry. Tried to say something else, and it came out differently in the written form.
What I meant was, that error only occurs if your GPU does not support VAAPI. Now, that only occurs in certain situations, such as
1) your GPU is not an integrated Intel graphics chip.
Or 2) it is an Intel chip, but it does not support VAAPI.
Or, 3) it is a NVIDIA GPU, in which case, it does not support VAAPI at all, instead, it uses their proprietary standard, NVENC/NVDEC. The earlier NVIDIA chips, until the GTX 1000 series, I believe, used the VDPAU system to provide hardware video acceleration, which also leads to that error.
Or, 4) it is an AMD chip.
But, AMD is nowadays supporting both VAAPI and VDPAU on their GPUs, but only on their newer models from about 5 years ago. (I say 5 as a vague number, I don't know the specific year when they started supporting both standards. But they did start supporting it fairly recently.)

I meant to say that if you are running that set of AMD GPUs that support both VAAPI and VDPAU, (which you are not, seeing that you are getting that error) you have a system new enough that you really don't need to run Arch 32.

abaumann · 2021-01-28 07:14:01

Fully agreeing with levi here. :-)

/proc/cpuinfo says:

Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en … z-fsb.html

Check out instruction set: 64-bit

Fun fact, I own a X61s which runs Vanilla Archlinux just fine, I wouldn't think of running Archlinux32 on it. :-)

That said, it could be that there are 32-bit machines out there with the named Intel GPU, but is it worth investigating?

mistersmee · 2021-01-28 07:47:36

Right.
My /proc/cpuinfo says

model name      : Genuine Intel(R) CPU           T2400  @ 1.83GHz
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual

Which means I have a fully 32-bit cpu.
But yes, it too runs pentium4 packages.

mistersmee · 2021-01-28 07:49:50

abaumann wrote:

Fully agreeing with levi here. :-)
/proc/cpuinfo says:
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU L7500 @ 1.60GHz
https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en … z-fsb.html
Check out instruction set: 64-bit
Fun fact, I own a X61s which runs Vanilla Archlinux just fine, I wouldn't think of running Archlinux32 on it. :-)
That said, it could be that there are 32-bit machines out there with the named Intel GPU, but is it worth investigating?

Not really. As I said, there is nothing to be done for OP's problem with that GPU. We cannot make an older GPU support newer OpenGL versions, nor can we provide VAAPI support to said older GPUs.

mistersmee · 2021-01-28 07:52:19

mistersmee wrote:

Right.
My /proc/cpuinfo says
model name      : Genuine Intel(R) CPU           T2400  @ 1.83GHz
address sizes   : 32 bits physical, 32 bits virtual
Which means I have a fully 32-bit cpu.
But yes, it too runs pentium4 packages.

Some of the Core Duos/Core 2 Duos support 64-bit, some do not.
My T60 was apparently one of the lower-specced models, hence it comes with a Core Duo that does not have 64-bit support.
Me, the ISO for Vanilla arch does not even boot.

Last edited by mistersmee (2021-01-28 07:54:54)

abaumann · 2021-01-28 16:05:47

Ah, that's where you can swap the CPU for a 64-bit one, IIRC.

mistersmee · 2021-01-28 16:24:55

abaumann wrote:

Ah, that's where you can swap the CPU for a 64-bit one, IIRC.

Yeah, one of the advantages of using the older machines we use, is being able to easily upgrade the components, due to not having them soldered onto the motherboard.
I've been meaning to get the CPU upgrade, maybe some RAM, and an SSD as well, but life comes in the way.

Arch Linux

#1 2021-01-23 17:56:22

Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#2 2021-01-23 20:29:15

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#3 2021-01-27 14:31:39

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#4 2021-01-27 14:32:47

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#5 2021-01-27 17:05:43

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#6 2021-01-27 17:11:45

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#7 2021-01-27 17:47:16

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#8 2021-01-27 17:53:50

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#9 2021-01-27 17:55:09

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#10 2021-01-27 20:02:06

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#11 2021-01-28 07:11:28

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#12 2021-01-28 07:14:01

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#13 2021-01-28 07:47:36

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#14 2021-01-28 07:49:50

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#15 2021-01-28 07:52:19

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#16 2021-01-28 16:05:47

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

#17 2021-01-28 16:24:55

Re: Video acceleration not working on old Thinkpad X61s

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