Files
daedalus-v4l2/daemon
marfrit 3e4e6e8eae daemon: filter tiny pause-time bitstreams (closes #17)
libva-v4l2-request-fourier flushes a stub packet into the V4L2
OUTPUT_MPLANE queue at playback-pause boundaries.  The payload is
shorter than any parseable H.264 NAL (3-byte start code + 1-byte
NAL header = 4 bytes minimum); avcodec_send_packet returns
AVERROR_INVALIDDATA (-1094995529), which propagated to the kernel
as a decode failure.  Firefox then marked H.264-via-VAAPI as
broken for the session and routed every subsequent frame to
libmozavcodec SW — pause never recovered to HW.

At the REQ_DECODE entry in chardev_client.c::handle_req_decode,
short-circuit any bitstream below the minimum-parseable threshold:
log INFO, skip daedalus_decoder_run_request, and reply RESP_FRAME
with status=DAEDALUS_DECODE_NO_FRAME so libva's V4L2 surface pool
stays healthy and Firefox doesn't see a failure.

Repro: Pi CM5 trixie, daedalus-v4l2 0.1.0+r41 + ffmpeg-v4l2-
request-fourier 2:8.1+rfourier+gb57fbbe-9, Firefox YouTube avc1.
Play → daemon decodes at ~46 fps.  Pause ≥ 1s.  Resume → daemon
silent; sudo journalctl -u daedalus-v4l2 --since '10s' | grep -c
'decoder: OK' = 0.  Last entry before silence:

    REQ_DECODE cookie=N codec=3 bitstream=3 bytes ...
    [h264 @ ...] no frame!
    [ERR] decoder: avcodec_send_packet failed: -1094995529

After this fix the 3-byte sentinel logs as 'tiny bitstream 3
bytes — dropping as no-op' and the libavcodec context is
untouched; the next real REQ_DECODE proceeds normally.

Scope NOT covered (intentionally deferred):
- A more general "tolerate AVERROR_INVALIDDATA mid-stream" path.
  Worth doing later but masks unrelated bugs.
- Investigating WHY libva sends the 3-byte sentinel on pause.
  Likely an upstream libva-v4l2-request-fourier issue; tracked
  separately if this filter is not enough.

Wire protocol unchanged.  No DAEDALUS_PROTO_VERSION bump.
2026-05-22 17:26:25 +02:00
..

daemon/ — daedalus-v4l2 userspace decoder daemon

Userspace daemon that:

  1. Connects to the kernel module's chardev
  2. Receives bitstream + V4L2 control blobs
  3. Parses bitstream via dlopen'd FFmpeg
  4. Dispatches per-block work via daedalus_dispatch_* from sibling daedalus-fourier
  5. Returns decoded frames to kernel

Status

Scaffold only. Phase 8.3 not yet started.

Build dependencies (planned)

  • libdaedalus_core.a from sibling daedalus-fourier (static link)
  • FFmpeg dev headers (for AVPacket/AVCodec interface types) + runtime FFmpeg .so (loaded via dlopen)
  • libv4l2 (for V4L2 control struct definitions)
  • pthread

Build (when implemented)

mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DDAEDALUS_FOURIER_DIR=/path/to/daedalus-fourier
make

Layout (planned)

  • CMakeLists.txt
  • src/main.c — event loop, chardev connection
  • src/parser.c — FFmpeg dlopen wrapper + per-codec dispatch
  • src/decode_vp9.c, src/decode_av1.c, src/decode_h264.c — per-codec block walkers
  • src/frame_io.c — frame allocation, return to kernel

License

BSD-2-Clause (matches daedalus-fourier sibling).

Phase 8.3 starting point

A standalone program that:

  1. Opens a .ivf or .mp4
  2. Pulls codec packets via dlopen'd avformat
  3. Calls dlopen'd avcodec to parse (without decoding)
  4. Walks the block-level metadata
  5. Validates output structure

No kernel involvement yet — just confirm the parse path works.