Enabling Intel VAAPI/QSV Hardware Acceleration in Frigate (iHD Driver) Intel i7-7600U (Intel HD Graphics 620)

[codecrunchers]

Enabling Intel VAAPI/QSV Hardware Acceleration in Frigate (iHD Driver) Intel i7-7600U (Intel HD Graphics 620)

I had trouble with preset-intel-qsv-h264 on this machine, CPU usage for two streams was high. This setup enabled the GPU and dropped CPU significantly with 4 1080p+ streams.

Tested on:

• Intel i7-7600U (Intel HD Graphics 620)
• Arch
• Frigate 0.15-1
• Docker-based deployment with iHD driver

---

1️⃣ Step 1: Verify VAAPI Support on Host

Before configuring Frigate, confirm that your host supports VAAPI hardware acceleration.

Run:

vainfo

👉 Expected output (example):

libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
vainfo: VA-API version: 1.14 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel iHD driver for Intel(R) Gen Graphics - 22.3.1
...

If vainfo fails:

• Ensure intel-media-va-driver-non-free is installed:

  sudo apt-get install intel-media-va-driver-non-free
  

---

2️⃣ Step 2: Verify Hardware Decoding with FFmpeg

Test VAAPI decoding inside a Docker container:

docker run --rm -it \
  --device /dev/dri/renderD128:/dev/dri/renderD128 \
  ubuntu:22.04 \
  bash -c "apt update && apt install -y ffmpeg vainfo && \
  ffmpeg -hwaccel vaapi -hwaccel_device /dev/dri/renderD128 -hwaccel_output_format vaapi \
  -i 'rtsp://YOUR_CAMERA_URL' -f null -"

👉 Expected result:

• Frames should process without errors.

---

3️⃣ Step 3: Configure Frigate to Use VAAPI

Update your frigate.yml:

detectors:
  ov_0:
    type: openvino
    device: GPU

model:
  width: 300
  height: 300
  input_tensor: nhwc
  input_pixel_format: bgr
  path: /openvino-model/ssdlite_mobilenet_v2.xml
  labelmap_path: /openvino-model/coco_91cl_bkgr.txt
  ...

logger:
  default: info
  logs:
    frigate.video: debug  # Enable FFmpeg debug logs
  
ffmpeg:
  input_args:
    - -hwaccel
    - vaapi        
    - -rtsp_transport
    - tcp

dopcker-compose

    environment:
      - FFREPORT=file=/config/ffmpeg.log:level=32:format=text

the logs will dump ffmpeg command line so you can debug your setup

Docker Compose includes:

devices:
  - /dev/dri/renderD128:/dev/dri/renderD128

Restart Frigate:

docker restart frigate

---

4️⃣ Step 4: Confirm Frigate is Using VAAPI

Run:

docker logs frigate 2>&1 | grep -i hwaccel

👉 Expected output:

something about

vaapi hwaccel 

in logs

and in UI

---

• 4 cameras with sub-streams
• VAAPI enabled
• CPU usage reduced from 74% → <40%
• Frigate logs confirm VAAPI acceleration is active

---

[mozillalives]

Thank you! I was struggling to figure out how to get this configured.

[codecrunchers]

@mozillalives I just updated the ffmeg/hwaccel as I found silent error - vaapi was not kicking in

ffmpeg:
  input_args:
    - -hwaccel
    - vaapi        
    - -rtsp_transport
    - tcp
  output_args:
    record: -vf "format=nv12,hwupload" -c:v h264_vaapi -b:v 2M -f segment -segment_time
      60 -segment_format mp4 -strftime 1 -profile:v high -level:v "4.1"

These output args to handle a slow network I have

With that I get this in logs:

2025-03-11 22:52:49.139473892  [2025-03-11 22:52:49] frigate.util.services          INFO    : Automatically detected vaapi hwaccel for video decoding

in logs.

Also, a lifesaver was getting a ffmpeg log created, it landed in config dir.

logger:
  default: info
  logs:
    frigate.video: debug  # Enable FFmpeg debug logs

Docker-compose

    environment:
      - FFREPORT=file=/config/ffmpeg.log:level=32:format=text

ffmpeg started on 2025-03-11 at 23:12:00
Report written to "/config/ffmpeg.log"
Log level: 32
Command line:
/usr/lib/ffmpeg/7.0/bin/ffmpeg -hide_banner -y -i /tmp/cache/side_passage@20250311231055+0000.mp4 -c copy -movflags +faststart /media/frigate/recordings/2025-03-11/23/side_passage/10.55.mp4

[HopsPopsAl]

Hi there.
Sorry, noob here. I run the test (step 2) and get the below results. Last line just repeats itself over and over with numbers at end increasing. Any hint on where I can dig for a solution?
Thanks
A

`Output #0, null, to 'pipe:':
  Metadata:
    title           : Session streamed by "preview"
    comment         : reolink rtsp stream
    encoder         : Lavf58.76.100
  Stream #0:0: Video: wrapped_avframe, vaapi_vld(progressive), 640x480, q=2-31, 200 kb/s, 7 fps, 7 tbn
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc58.134.100 wrapped_avframe
  Stream #0:1: Audio: pcm_s16le, 16000 Hz, mono, s16, 256 kb/s
    Metadata:
      encoder         : Lavc58.134.100 pcm_s16le
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 6 >= 3
    Last message repeated 2 times
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 6 >= 4
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 6 >= 5
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 6 >= 6
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 16 >= 16
[null @ 0x5ead02090ac0] Application provided invalid, non monotonically increasing dts to muxer in stream 0: 31 >= 31

`