Flash hardware acceleration in openSUSE 12.1

**inp3dance** · 19-Nov-2011, 17:43

Hi guys,

I just found out that Adobe disabled linux hardware acceleration in flash-player 11 because of security concerns ... ( Adobe Forums: FP11 Linux Hardware Acceleration? ).
Well, I use flash almost only to watch Youtube videos and I don't care at all about Adobe's security concerns, so here is a quick way to have accelerated flash playback:

1. Install flash-player-10.3.183 from OBS

2. Edit/create /etc/adobe/mms.cfg and add the following lines:

Code:

EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode = 1
OverrideGPUValidation = 1

Note: the last option is a bit dangerous, forces the HW video acceleration even if you card does not support it. Right now only vdpau acceleration is supported by flash. which requires binary NVidia drivers. Use this last option with care, if you are not sure, don't put it in your mms.cfg file.

**DenverD** · 20-Nov-2011, 02:11

> I just found out that Adobe disabled linux hardware acceleration in
> flash-player 11 because of security concerns ... so here is a quick way to have
> accelerated flash playback:
>
> 1. Install 'flash-player-10.3.183 from OBS'

i do not understand! you say Adobe crippled Flash 11--so why do you
install Flash *10* and then tinker with it?

did you intend to install Flash 11 and then . . . ??

by the way, using <http://demos.hacks.mozilla.org/openweb/HWACCEL/> i
got exactly the same results both with and without the mms.cfg, and with
both entries or only the first entry and then only the second
entry....so i have to wonder if it this hint is worth the trouble ???

and, one of your hints i got a while back from
http://forums.opensuse.org/english/g...ml#post2382089
which referenced
http://blogs.adobe.com/penguinswf/20...fg_file_1.html,
but that hint had a slightly different format..

so, i also tested these format variations, with no apparent performance
change:

EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode = 1
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode = true
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=true

--
DD
dump Flash: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15797399

**inp3dance** · 20-Nov-2011, 07:28

Sorry if I was not 100% clear, english is not my native language.

So, what I tried to explain is that Adobe disabled video acceleration in flash 11 because of security concerns, no matter if your driver supports it. But you can get video acceleration with flash-player-10.3. ( My information can be wrong here, but I could not get accelerated playback with flash 11, but with 10.3 I do, with same settings ).

About mms.cfg:
I have an NVidia 9500M GS card, I got full hw accelerated playback ( Accelerated video rendering and Accelerated video decoding ) if I put both lines in mms.cfg. If I put only the first line, I got only accelerated video decoding. But these settings can vary, depending on video card, driver, the weather, a random variable in flash, etc ...

OverrideGPUValidation = 1 option is dangerous a bit, because it forces hw video rendering even if your card does not support it -> can lead to crashes. I know my card and my driver supports it, and because flash autodetect does not see my card to support vdpau, I need to use.

Originally Posted by DenverD

> I just found out that Adobe disabled linux hardware acceleration in
> flash-player 11 because of security concerns ... so here is a quick way to have
> accelerated flash playback:
>
> 1. Install 'flash-player-10.3.183 from OBS'

i do not understand! you say Adobe crippled Flash 11--so why do you
install Flash *10* and then tinker with it?

did you intend to install Flash 11 and then . . . ??

by the way, using <http://demos.hacks.mozilla.org/openweb/HWACCEL/> i
got exactly the same results both with and without the mms.cfg, and with
both entries or only the first entry and then only the second
entry....so i have to wonder if it this hint is worth the trouble ???

and, one of your hints i got a while back from
youtube flash hangs on full screen, opensuse 11.3, KDE - Page 4
which referenced
Secrets Of The mms.cfg File ,
but that hint had a slightly different format..

so, i also tested these format variations, with no apparent performance
change:

EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode = 1
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode = true
EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=true

--
DD
dump Flash: BBC News - 'Occupy Flash' manifesto calls for end to Adobe plug-in

**DenverD** · 20-Nov-2011, 09:48

On 11/20/2011 03:36 PM, inp3dance wrote:
> So, what I tried to explain is that Adobe disabled video acceleration
> in flash 11 because of security concerns, no matter if your driver
> supports it. But you can get video acceleration with flash-player-10.3.

OH! i misunderstood....i was (wrongly) thinking your changes would
override their disable in 11..

i miss-read...and, since i am using 11 there is no wonder none of those
settings result in a speedup!!

i back leveled to a v10 Flash and got a modest (20%) FPS boost in
firefox and about a 40% boost in Opera..

thanks for the tip!

--
DD
dump Flash: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-15797399

**inp3dance** · 22-Nov-2011, 01:20

No problem, you're welcome!

**gzenum** · 23-Nov-2011, 10:41

This actually didn't worked for me.
I'm using 12.1 Gnome.

First I installed update for the flash player with Software Update.
When I play a video from youtube in full screen , well .. it's a disaster.

Then I tried the method from the first post here (had to uninstall first latest version of flash player) , installed 10.03.183 version , created mms.cfg ...
Same thing happens, can't watch it in full screen.

What's going on with all this flash player problems , I mean seriously ... is there a way to watch a video from youtube in opensuse 12.1 ?
I can't believe this.....

**inp3dance** · 24-Nov-2011, 05:45

Flash video acceleration in linux works only with NVidia boards and proprietary driver. You need to have the binary NVidia driver installed and also vdpau libraries. Do you have those installed?
I don't know how flash is working with open source drivers, but with nouveau probably the performance is not the best.

**gzenum** · 24-Nov-2011, 18:13

I have ATI card , opensource driver.

In the meantime I tried various plugins (extensions) for firefox which were advertised as a "problem solver" , but they did nothing.

Until something comes up, the best method for me at least, is to download the youtube video and watch it with video player.

**inp3dance** · 26-Nov-2011, 17:41

I can't help you with an ATI card, I never used one with linux. But you should be able to watch flash video without hw acceleration too, only that it will consume you CPU. Did you tried it out in other desktops too? Maybe gnome3's compositing window management plays there too.Try openbox for a quick test.

**davidmfl** · 13-Feb-2012, 16:41

This thread is a few months old but I find it very upsetting that adobe has appeared to completely abandon hardware acceleration on Linux in Flash. Many of us with older hardware relied on the acceleration to be able to enjoy HD videos on older hardware in a normal way. This would seem yet another good example for why we need to get away from proprietary binaries and support open source alternatives. <Looking into Gnash>