VLC problem on specific hardware with AHS (SOLVED with workaround)

[chrispop99]

Newly built machine:

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System:
  Host: <filter> Kernel: 5.6.0-2-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc 
  v: 8.3.0 
  parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.6.0-2-amd64 
  root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.14.5 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM 
  Distro: MX-19.2_KDE_x64 patito feo August 16  2020 
  base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: B450 Gaming-ITX/ac serial: <filter> 
  UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: P3.70 date: 11/18/2019 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 3400G with Radeon Vega Graphics 
  bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ family: 17 (23) model-id: 18 (24) 
  stepping: 1 microcode: 8108109 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 59089 
  Speed: 3282 MHz min/max: 1400/3700 MHz boost: enabled 
  Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3282 2: 3127 3: 3745 4: 2064 5: 2589 6: 3113 
  7: 3418 8: 3210 
  Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
  Type: mds status: Not affected 
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
  Type: spec_store_bypass 
  mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
  Type: spectre_v1 
  mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, 
  STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
  Type: srbds status: Not affected 
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Picasso driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 0a:00.0 
  chip ID: 1002:15d8 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: amdgpu FAILED: ati 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa compositor: kwin_x11 
  resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.36.0 5.6.0-2-amd64 LLVM 10.0.0) 
  v: 4.6 Mesa 20.1.5 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 0a:00.1 chip ID: 1002:15de 
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 0a:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.6.0-2-amd64 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] 
  driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus ID: 07:00.0 chip ID: 8086:24fb 
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASRock driver: igb 
  v: 5.6.0-k port: f000 bus ID: 08:00.0 chip ID: 8086:1539 
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 232.89 GiB used: 7.53 GiB (3.2%) 
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS250G2B0C-00PXH0 
  size: 232.89 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
  speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> rev: 211070WD scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw size: 230.85 GiB size: 226.23 GiB (98.00%) 
  used: 7.53 GiB (3.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 
  ID-2: swap-1 size: 2.00 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap 
  swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache pressure: 100 (default) 
  dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 35.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 35 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
  1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
  1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
  2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
  1: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
  2: deb http://mxlinux.mirrors.uk2.net/packages/mx/repo/ buster ahs
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:
  Processes: 245 Uptime: 8m Memory: 5.73 GiB used: 957.1 MiB (16.3%) 
  Init: SysVinit v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 
  alt: 8 Shell: quick-system-in running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

This problem happens on this hardware only, and not on other machines tested. It happens with both MX-19.2 KDE and MX-19.2 AHS. It does not happen with MX-19.2 (non-AHS).

Launching a video from a file browser runs it in VLC. Closing VLC, then attempting to launch either that video or another, fails. In KDE, the Launch Feedback icon appears for the standard 4 seconds, but VLC doesn't start. The same problem happens when running VLC from the menu. It opens the first time, permits browsing and running a video, but after closing it won't re-open. Logging out/in permits a one-time operation again.

SMPlayer permits normal operation; the same (or another) video will run multiple times.

Launching a video from the terminal does permit multiple operation, but produces this output:

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chris@mxITX-KDE:~/Videos
$ vlc Saturday\ Sessions\ Nikki\ Lane\ and\ Loretta\ Lynn\ perform.mp4 
VLC media player 3.0.11.1 Vetinari (revision 3.0.11.1-0-g52483f3ca2)
[0000558c927dd570] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
libva info: VA-API version 1.8.0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_7
mesa: for the --simplifycfg-sink-common option: may only occur zero or one times!
mesa: for the --global-isel-abort option: may only occur zero or one times!
mesa: for the --amdgpu-atomic-optimizations option: may only occur zero or one times!
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
[00007f72bc0026f0] glconv_vaapi_x11 gl error: vaDeriveImage: operation failed
[00007f72c0046460] main video output error: video output creation failed
[00007f72d4c50550] main decoder error: failed to create video output
mesa: for the --simplifycfg-sink-common option: may only occur zero or one times!
mesa: for the --global-isel-abort option: may only occur zero or one times!
mesa: for the --amdgpu-atomic-optimizations option: may only occur zero or one times!
[00007f72d4c50550] avcodec decoder: Using G3DVL VDPAU Driver Shared Library version 1.0 for hardware decoding

Thoughts?

Chris

[JayM]

How are you closing the video, from Media/Quit in the dropdown menus or from the X in the upper-right corner? If the latter, is there a VLC icon remaining in your Notification Area plugin in the panel? If there is you'll have to kill the VLC process before you can play another video.

[chrispop99]

Thanks Jay.

Yes, Media/Quit permits VLC to be used again. Closing with the X does put an entry in the System Tray. (On KDE at the moment.)

That's pretty inconvenient, and puzzling why it only does it on this hardware.

Chris

[JayM]

It does it for me too, and not only in AHS but in regular MX 19.2 with the 4.19-X kernel. That's why I usually use SMplayer.

Current system's QSI:

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Snaphot created on: 20200705_1051
System:    Host: <filter> Kernel: 5.7.0-3-amd64 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 8.3.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.7.0-3-amd64 
           root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.2 tk: Gtk 3.24.5 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.26.0 
           Distro: MX-19.2_ahs_x64 patito feo May 31  2020 base: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster) 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 81D2 v: Lenovo ideapad 330-15ARR 
           serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 v: Lenovo ideapad 330-15ARR serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0K13455 WIN serial: <filter> UEFI: LENOVO 
           v: 7VCN48WW date: 09/26/2019 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 27.2 Wh condition: 28.2/30.0 Wh (94%) volts: 8.5/7.6 
           model: SMP L17M2PF1 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> status: Unknown 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx bits: 64 
           type: MT MCP arch: Zen family: 17 (23) model-id: 11 (17) stepping: N/A 
           microcode: 810100B L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 31943 
           Speed: 1749 MHz min/max: 1600/2000 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1505 
           2: 1522 3: 1612 4: 1580 5: 1373 6: 1472 7: 1582 8: 1517 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected 
           Type: l1tf status: Not affected 
           Type: mds status: Not affected 
           Type: meltdown status: Not affected 
           Type: spec_store_bypass 
           mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 
           mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds status: Not affected 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Lexa PRO [Radeon RX 550/550X] vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel 
           bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 1002:699f 
           Device-2: AMD Raven Ridge [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] 
           vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus ID: 04:00.0 chip ID: 1002:15dd 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.4 driver: amdgpu,ati unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD RAVEN (DRM 3.37.0 5.7.0-3-amd64 LLVM 10.0.0) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.1.5 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Raven/Raven2/Fenghuang HDMI/DP Audio vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 04:00.1 chip ID: 1002:15de 
           Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 04:00.6 chip ID: 1022:15e3 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.7.0-3-amd64 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8821CE 802.11ac PCIe Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: rtl8821ce v: v5.5.2.1_35598.20191029 port: 3000 bus ID: 02:00.0 
           chip ID: 10ec:c821 
           IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Lenovo 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 168.79 GiB (9.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 QVO 2TB size: 1.82 TiB block size: 
           physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 235.96 GiB size: 231.26 GiB (98.01%) used: 168.54 GiB (72.9%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-0 
           ID-2: /boot raw size: 2.00 GiB size: 1.91 GiB (95.30%) used: 226.5 MiB (11.6%) 
           fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 3.98 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) fs: swap swappiness: 15 (default 60) 
           cache pressure: 100 (default) dev: /dev/dm-1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 58.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
           GPU: device: amdgpu temp: 58 C device: amdgpu temp: 47 C 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list 
           1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian buster main contrib non-free
           2: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates main contrib non-free
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list 
           1: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ buster main non-free
           2: deb http://mxrepo.com/mx/repo/ buster ahs
           No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/various.list 
Info:      Processes: 305 Uptime: 10h 33m Memory: 11.32 GiB used: 2.10 GiB (18.5%) 
           Init: SysVinit v: 2.93 runlevel: 5 default: 5 Compilers: gcc: 8.3.0 alt: 8 
           Shell: quick-system-in running in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.0.36 

It was also happening on my desktop PC (currently unavailable but being worked on) with an AMD Bulldozer/Vishera FX-8320E CPU and an Asus M5A78L-M LX PLUS motherboard which had the standard MX 19.2 on it..

[dolphin_oracle]

I set my vlc to not close to the systray. There is an option for that in the vlc prefences. Although I do not have this problem at all.

[chrispop99]

I set my vlc to not close to the systray. There is an option for that in the vlc prefences. Although I do not have this problem at all.

Thanks D_O; I had tried that, but still have the problem. I have also tried setting 'Use only one instance when starting from file manager' without success.

Chris

[tony37]

Thoughts?

If you really want to know my thoughts, which may not be very constructive, well: I think the only reason people are still using VLC and not SMPlayer is old habit. SMPlayer remembers the position in a movie where I closed it, allows me to store favourites, allows subtitles in two languages at the same time (may sound superfluous but I have a use case for it), doesn't need to be sigkilled when you close it the wrong way (which also happens to be the normal way to close a program), doesn't give me an error message on a specific slightly corrupted video of mine, and so on, and so forth (for example I've seen something about SMPlayer supporting stopping a movie at a specific frame, and there's also the option of 5.1 Surround in 'channels', integration with youtube when you have smtube,...).

[chrispop99]

Thoughts?

If you really want to know my thoughts, which may not be very constructive, well: I think the only reason people are still using VLC and not SMPlayer is old habit. SMPlayer remembers the position in a movie where I closed it, allows me to store favourites, allows subtitles in two languages at the same time (may sound superfluous but I have a use case for it), doesn't need to be sigkilled when you close it the wrong way, doesn't give me an error message on a specific slightly corrupted video of mine, and so on, and so forth (for example I've seen something about SMPlayer supporting stopping a movie at a specific frame, and there's also the option of 5.1 Surround in 'channels', integration with youtube when you have smtube,...).

Thanks; I actually use both players, as I find some videos that will only play in only one or the other. I also hate the appearance of the default SMPlayer interface - it looks like it was designed for children! My report was aimed at trying to fix something that we ship with as default, but isn't fully working.

If this is unfixable, perhaps SMPlayer should replace VLC in future releases?

Chris

[JayM]

@tony37: also because VLC has many codecs included so it will play things that SMplayer won't, plus IIRC it's the default pre-installed media player in MX.

[JayM]

I also hate the appearance of the default SMPlayer interface - it looks like it was designed for children!

I agree. I installed the smplayer-skins package from the stable repo and am using Skinnable GUI with the Modern skin and cleanlooks style in Preferences/Interface and find that it looks much better. (Yes, I'm attempting to learn to play the ukulele. )