MediaSDK sample_decode not working

[EtienneCo]

I followed MediaSDK's getting-started guide (https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/guides/mediasdk_getting_started_guide.pdf), specifically the "first time user" variant where I compiled yocto sato and installed MediaSDK manually on the target.
After doing this, I tried "sample_decode" from MediaSDK, but the h264 hardware acceleration is not working (see error below) while sample_decode with software decoding and the same test h264 file is rendering the video correctly.

I am using an Intel Atom E3940 with hdmi output without X server (directly in the linux console).
I also tried to use sample_decode with wayland support by starting, and there sample_decode is rendering a video which is entirely green.

Does someone know what the issue could be?

Thanks,
Etienne

[EtienneCo]

Some extra debug information:
- lsmod shows that the i915 module is loaded correctly.
- lspci's output seems correct:
...
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Device [8086:5a85] (rev 0d)
...

- vainfo output seems correct

[EtienneCo]

Note: I am using the version MR5-B-03 of https://github.com/intel/iotg-yocto-bsp-public

I found out that the yocto build includes a compiled version of the mediasdk samples in /usr/lib64/mfx/samples. This version is working fine, also with the "-hw" option. I only had to revert /usr/lib64/dri/iHD_drv_video.so to the version provided by the yocto build:

[EtienneCo]

What is the difference between the mediaSdk provided by yocto and the mediaSdk installed manually? Is it OK to use the one provided with yocto directly? I am attaching a diff of the logs of "sample_decode" using both versions.

[RaeesaM_Intel]

Hi Etienne ,

Thank you posting in Intel forum.

Could you please clarify the following:

        I.           Did you try manually installing opensource media sdk from media SDK github repository or from the media sdk welcome page?

We have different versions of SDK – refer https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/tools/media-sdk/choose-download.html

Opensource Media SDK doesn’t have sw codec. It would be better if you could stick with Media SDK for embedded linux and we suggest you to download the same from the below link and follow the installation steps.

https://software.intel.com/content/www/us/en/develop/tools/media-sdk/choose-download/embedded-iot.html

      II.           Can you share from where you downloaded the sample_decode ?

Regarding “What is the difference between the mediaSdk provided by yocto and the mediaSdk installed manually?”:

https://github.com/Intel-Media-SDK/MediaSDK/wiki/Media-SDK-in-Linux-Distributions

As you can see in the above document, Yocto is not supported for open source version of media sdk. It won’t work in your machine. Yocto is for embedded linux. The open source is of 2020 release and has only software implementation , Embedded Linux* Version: 2017 R4. Hence, you could observe some differences.

Please let us know whether this answers your query.

Regards,

Raeesa

[EtienneCo]

Hello Raeesa,

I. I had installed MediaSDK from "IntelMediaSDK2017forEmbeddedLinux-PV-MR4-B-02.tar.gz" (which is the link you sent, so I had the correct version)

II. sample_decode is from intel-linux-mediasdk-devel-16.7-773.yocto.x86_64.rpm, which is then compiled following the instructions in chapter 5 of the getting-started pdf (cd /opt/intel/mediasdk/samples/, perl build.pl --cmake=intel64.make.release -build, /opt/intel/mediasdk/samples/_bin/x64/sample_decode h264 -hw -vaapi -i /path/to/h.264 -rgb4 -rdrm )

I think maybe the instructions in the pdf were tested until the MR3 release and are not working out of the box with the MR5 release?

You are correct that with the version provided with yocto (in /usr/lib64/mfx/samples/sample_decode), software decoding is not working (it throws MFX_ERR_UNSUPPORTED).

[RaeesaM_Intel]

Hi Etienne,

Thank you for replying.

We are forwarding this case to subject matter experts for much faster and accurate answers regarding your queries.

Raeesa

[Mark_L_Intel1 · Accepted solution]

Hi Etienne,

You might have a installation failure. The MSDK embedded Linux is supported by the other business and I think you should check the system requirement in the release if it support MR5.

From the release number, I guess they only support MR4.

Could you also run "vainfo" and send your output?

Please find the getting started guide, release notes in the following website for the installation process:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/products-and-solutions/processors-and-chipsets/apollo-lake/technical-library.html

Let me know if these document doesn't solve your problem.

Mark

[EtienneCo]

Hi Mark, thank you for the link and the information that probably only MR4 is supported. This solves my issue.