Files
marfrit-packages/arch/mesa-panvk-bifrost-video/README.md
T
marfrit b81e2251c2 mesa-panvk-bifrost-video: re-trigger Actions for PR #79
The merge commit for PR #79 (e7cc22e42) did not auto-fire the
Gitea Actions workflow despite touching paths matched by the
build.yml filter (arch/** + .gitea/workflows/**). No run row
exists between #160 (PR #78 merge) and now. This README touch
is a no-op content change to force a fresh workflow_dispatch
through the standard push trigger.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-22 07:51:01 +02:00

41 lines
2.5 KiB
Markdown
Raw Blame History

This file contains ambiguous Unicode characters
This file contains Unicode characters that might be confused with other characters. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.
# mesa-panvk-bifrost-video
Patched Mesa `libvulkan_panfrost.so` that **adds `VK_KHR_video_decode_h264`** on Mali Bifrost SBCs (PAN_ARCH 6/7, RK3566/RK3568 class hardware), backed by the SoC's V4L2-stateless **hantro** VPU.
This is a **sibling** of [mesa-panvk-bifrost](../mesa-panvk-bifrost/) (the r4 package that exposes Bifrost to Chromium's Vulkan compositor). Pick this one when the consumer wants Vulkan **video decode** in addition; pick r4 for compositor-only.
## Status
Phase 4 byte-exact validated 2026-05-21: 48/48 unique BBB display frames decoded by this package are byte-identical to `ffmpeg+libva-v4l2-request-fourier` running on the same hantro hardware. Phase 5 second-model review completed; all load-bearing findings addressed. First publish via marfrit-packages CI 2026-05-22 (PR #79 merge did not auto-fire Actions; this re-trigger restores the standard build/sign/publish path).
## How to use
```sh
# Co-installs alongside r4 and stock mesa.
sudo pacman -S mesa-panvk-bifrost-video
# Opt in (not on the default loader search path).
export VK_ICD_FILENAMES=/usr/lib/panvk-bifrost-video/icd.json
export PAN_I_WANT_A_BROKEN_VULKAN_DRIVER=1 # mesa-upstream gate
# Run a Vulkan video consumer.
vulkan-video-dec-simple-test -i your.h264 --codec h264 --noPresent --maxFrameCount 50
# or
ffmpeg -hwaccel vulkan -i your.mp4 ...
```
## Phase 1 limitations
Documented in source comments and worth knowing before relying on this in production:
- **Single video session per device.** Concurrent `VkVideoSessionKHR` on the same device clobber each other (`active_video` singleton). Sufficient for current single-stream consumers.
- **Synchronous decode at record time.** The full V4L2 ioctl dance runs to completion inside `vkCmdDecodeVideoKHR`. No pipelining. Throughput is bounded by hantro's ~1.16× realtime on 1080p H.264.
- **Hardcoded `/dev/video1` + `/dev/media0`.** Matches RK3566/68 but won't work on other SoCs without a topology-walk port (see `libva-v4l2-request-fourier` for the full version).
- **Bitstream source buffer assumed HOST_VISIBLE.** True on panvk-bifrost (no DEVICE_LOCAL-only memory types exist), but the code silently skips decode if the app bound the buffer to non-host-visible memory.
## Co-existence
- Installs to `/usr/lib/panvk-bifrost-video/` — parallel to r4's `/usr/lib/panvk-bifrost/` and stock `/usr/lib/`.
- Opt-in via `VK_ICD_FILENAMES`; does NOT register itself in `/usr/share/vulkan/icd.d/`.
- Three drivers coexist without conflict; the user picks at runtime which to use.