[Feature Request]: Add option to select gpu used

[FossLover0]

I have:

• Searched if this feature hasn't been requested yet.
• Verified that I am using the latest version (run grep '"Version"' {~/.local,/usr}/share/plasma/wallpapers/luisbocanegra.smart.video.wallpaper.reborn/metadata.json or from Wallpaper settings > top right corner for version 1.0.0 and later), should be the same as https://github.com/luisbocanegra/plasma-smart-video-wallpaper-reborn/releases/latest

Install method used:

• Using Plasma's "Add new widget" (KDE Store)
• AUR
• Manually from the latest source code

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I have an igpu and a dgpu, by default the dgpu is used for the hardware acceleration and I would like that the igpu is instead used for the wallpapers.

Describe the solution you'd like
If possible, an option in the settings where the user would be able to select the desired gpu.

Describe alternatives you've considered
For the moment, an alternative is to set the igpu as default gpu for KDE by connecting the monitor to the motherboard.

[Anzar-M]

+1 on this feature

I’m currently running a hybrid setup on an arch-based distro, and it would be great if the iGPU could handle video decoding tasks, while the dGPU is reserved for heavier workloads.

[luisbocanegra]

Setting QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES environment variable should be able to tell Qt-ffmpeg which gpu driver to use for video decoding, please try it out:

in /etc/environment OR plasmashell user unit override OR $HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/qt_ffmpeg_hwdec.sh put the following

QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=vaapi

source: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/advanced-ffmpeg-configuration.html#configure-hardware-acceleration-in-backends

About environment variables:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Environment_variables
or plasma specific: https://userbase.kde.org/Session_Environment_Variables
systemd unit: https://serverfault.com/questions/413397/how-to-set-environment-variable-in-systemd-service

[Anzar-M]

Setting QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES environment variable should be able to tell Qt-ffmpeg which gpu to use for video decoding, please try it out:

in /etc/environment OR plasmashell user unit override OR $HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/qt_ffmpeg_hwdec.sh put the following

QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=vaapi

source: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/advanced-ffmpeg-configuration.html#configure-hardware-acceleration-in-backends

About environment variables: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Environment_variables or plasma specific: https://userbase.kde.org/Session_Environment_Variables systemd unit: https://serverfault.com/questions/413397/how-to-set-environment-variable-in-systemd-service

I did set it, but it still didn’t work.

echo $QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES
vaapi

$ nvidia-smi

 0   N/A  N/A            1522      C   /usr/bin/plasmashell                     52MiB 

[Anzar-M]

Setting QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES environment variable should be able to tell Qt-ffmpeg which gpu to use for video decoding, please try it out:
in /etc/environment OR plasmashell user unit override OR $HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/qt_ffmpeg_hwdec.sh put the following
QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=vaapi
source: https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/advanced-ffmpeg-configuration.html#configure-hardware-acceleration-in-backends
About environment variables: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Environment_variables or plasma specific: https://userbase.kde.org/Session_Environment_Variables systemd unit: https://serverfault.com/questions/413397/how-to-set-environment-variable-in-systemd-service

I did set it, but it still didn’t work.

echo $QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES
vaapi

$ nvidia-smi

0 N/A N/A 1522 C /usr/bin/plasmashell 52MiB

@luisbocanegra
I managed to make it work by setting it in:
$HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/qt_ffmpeg_hwdec.sh
instead of /etc/environment

But using vaapi with Wayland caused visual artifacts (green lines, other color lines from wallpaper etc).

I switched it to none export QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=none for software decoding it worked.

I’d rather not run it on the CPU, so I reverted it back to the discrete GPU and decided to not deal with the issues for now.

Thanks for the comment though really appreciate that.

[luisbocanegra]

But using vaapi with Wayland caused visual artifacts (green lines, other color lines from wallpaper etc).

Do you have a AMD iGPU? If you do then that's a bug in Qt: #104, see this comment for workarounds: #104 (comment)

[Anzar-M]

But using vaapi with Wayland caused visual artifacts (green lines, other color lines from wallpaper etc).

Do you have a AMD iGPU? If you do then that's a bug in Qt: #104, see this comment for workarounds: #104 (comment)

Yes I do and the workaround did work for me.

export QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=vaapi
export QT_DISABLE_HW_TEXTURES_CONVERSION=1

[luisbocanegra]

Great! Maybe can try adding an option in the settings page that sets the $HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/ for the user

[Anzar-M]

Great! Maybe can try adding an option in the settings page that sets the $HOME/.config/plasma-workspace/env/ for the user

Yeah that would would be great.

BTW Thanks a lot for the support and for building such an awesome plugin.

[luisbocanegra]

Please test #231

Pull that branch then run kpackagetool6 -t Plasma/Wallpaper -u package && systemctl --user restart plasma-plasmashell.service inside the project directory

If you installed the plugin from a distribution package don't forget to remove this test version after you're done, otherwise it will override the system-wide one even if it's a newer version

[luisbocanegra]

Also note that QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES will not work if both cards use the same acceleration back-end. But will do for example if vaapi is used for the integrated GPU and cuda for the dedicated one.

Tested with Intel HD 620 + Nvidia 1650 laptop switching between QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=vaapi and QT_FFMPEG_DECODING_HW_DEVICE_TYPES=cuda

[0IOS]

+1 I also have a hybrid setup and I want to use iGPU so my laptop doesnt scream all the time and idk how but when i installed it used iGPU but for some time it started using dGPU idk why idk how.Pausing it makes dGPU utilization 0% from 40% so it has to be it.

[luisbocanegra]

I need testers to verify it's working, then I will merge it.