Are you using the rpm version of vlc? HW acceleration won’t work with the flatpak version provided by fedora. An alternative is the flatpak version provided by flathub.
run vlc, open messages (CTRL + m) and open a video file and check the output. You should see something like this: (nvidia)
avcodec info: Using NVIDIA VDPAU Driver Shared Library 590.48.01 Mon Dec 8 12:48:48 UTC 2025 for hardware decoding
can u give the steps i need to do this and get the messages
After installling the vlc-cli this is what I get.
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[0000564111a48c70] main interface error: no suitable interface module
[0000564111974520] main libvlc error: interface "globalhotkeys,none" initialization failed
[0000564111974520] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00005641119e76a0] main playlist: playlist is empty
[0000564111a48c70] [cli] lua interface: Listening on host "*console".
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari
Command Line Interface initialized. Type `help' for help.
$ vlc
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[000055b73f781620] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[000055b73f81bcd0] main playlist: playlist is empty
you need to install vlc and it will pull in all required packages.
I get h264 error when the cli is running and videos dont play but when I close cli and use GUI videos play
Command Line Interface initialized. Type `help' for help.
> [00007ff804c0ee50] main decoder error: Codec `h264' (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) is not supported.
[00007ff804c0ee50] main decoder error: Codec not supported
[00007ff804c0ee50] main decoder error: VLC could not decode the format "h264" (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10))
[00007ff804c0b8f0] main decoder error: Codec `h264' (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) is not supported.
[00007ff804c0b8f0] main decoder error: Codec not supported
[00007ff804c0b8f0] main decoder error: VLC could not decode the format "h264" (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10))
[00007ff804c14630] main decoder error: Codec `h264' (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10)) is not supported.
[00007ff804c14630] main decoder error: Codec not supported
[00007ff804c14630] main decoder error: VLC could not decode the format "h264" (H264 - MPEG-4 AVC (part 10))
^C[00005623fb3a32f0] [cli] lua interface error: Error loading script /usr/lib64/vlc/lua/intf/cli.luac: lua/intf/modules/host.lua:286: Interrupted.
I have h264 installed using RPM fusion and enabled
for the flatpak version you probably need some additional dependencies for intel hw decoding. Don’t know. I do not use flatpaks if there is a rpm version available.
flatpaks do not have access to any libraries installed as rpm.
The messages output is empty although I do not have Nvidia
I installed the RPM version using sudo dnf install vlc
vlc
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[00005650d9cbe520] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
[00005650d9d58230] main playlist: playlist is empty
Install the rpm version of vlc with all dependencies. compare the rpm -qa output with the list from previous message.
then run the rpm version /usr/bin/vlc.
the flatpak version will also have a messages window. Tools / Messages or CTRL + m.
No lines in messages when you start playing a video file?
Have you checked preferences ( Input / Codecs) that HW decoding is enabled or set to Automatic? check with vainfo from the same terminal that va-api detects the driver
this was a test with an old skylake nuc ( Intel Corporation Iris Graphics 540 (rev 0a) )
$ LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/vlc Videos/sample-2.mkv
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[0000557d75d08590] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use 'cvlc' to use vlc without interface.
libva info: VA-API version 1.22.0
libva info: User environment variable requested driver 'iHD'
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib64/dri-nonfree/iHD_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_1_22
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
[00007fceecc04ed0] avcodec decoder: Using Intel iHD driver for Intel(R) Gen Graphics - 25.3.4 () for hardware decoding
the same with mpv (make sure you’ve installed mpv with dnf )
$ LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/mpv --hwdec=vaapi Videos/sample-2.mkv
● Video --vid=1 (h264 1920x1080 25 fps) [default]
MESA-INTEL: warning: ../src/intel/vulkan/anv_formats.c:981: FINISHME: support more multi-planar formats with DRM modifiers
Using hardware decoding (vaapi).
VO: [gpu] 1920x1080 vaapi[nv12]
V: 00:00:30 / 00:00:30 (100%)
Exiting... (End of file)
try the same on your system with vlc AND mpv and post the complete output not just a few lines.
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/vlc Downloads/sample-1.mkv
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[000055e215d18520] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use ‘cvlc’ to use vlc without interface.
[00007f0be0002b00] main filter error: Failed to create video converter
[00007f0be0002b00] main filter error: Failed to create video converter
Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
but still software decoded. You did not read my previous post.
vlc: you’ve configured vlc to use VDPAU! Why? VDPAU is nvidia, You want auto or va-api. Start vlc and change hw-decoding back to auto, then quit vlc and retry from command line.
mpv : you did not provide the option to enable hw-decoding. Take a look at the command line in my previous post and retry.
I prefer smplayer + mpv over vlc. use dnf to install smplayer.
If you use gnome software then pay attention what version you want to install flatpak or rpm version.
VLC still has the VDPAU issue.
I used dnf install MPV
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/vlc Downloads/videos/'Next.js Authentication Master Class - No Libraries (Email⧸Password, OAuth2, etc.).mp4'
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/vlc Downloads/videos/‘Next.js Authentication Master Class - No Libraries (Email⧸Password, OAuth2, etc.).mp4’
VLC media player 3.0.22 Vetinari (revision 3.0.22-0-gf9020c4df0)
[000055b700c79520] main libvlc: Running vlc with the default interface. Use ‘cvlc’ to use vlc without interface.
Failed to open VDPAU backend libvdpau_nvidia.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/mpv --hwdec=vaapi Downloads/videos/'Next.js Authentication Master Class - No Libraries (Email⧸Password, OAuth2, etc.).mp4'
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/mpv --hwdec=vaapi Downloads/videos/‘Next.js Authentication Master Class - No Libraries (Email⧸Password, OAuth2, etc.).mp4’
● Video --vid=1 (h264 1920x1080 30 fps) [default]
● Audio --aid=1 --alang=eng (aac 2ch 44100 Hz 128 kbps) [default]
MESA-INTEL: warning: ../src/intel/vulkan/anv_formats.c:834: FINISHME: support more multi-planar formats with DRM modifiers
Using hardware decoding (vaapi).
AO: [pipewire] 44100Hz stereo 2ch floatp
VO: [gpu] 1920x1080 vaapi[nv12]
AV: 00:01:50 / 01:59:39 (2%) A-V: 0.000 Dropped: 7
Exiting… (Quit)
LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=iHD /usr/bin/mpv --hwdec=auto Downloads/videos/'Next.js Authentication Master Class - No Libraries (Email⧸Password, OAuth2, etc.).mp4'
● Video --vid=1 (h264 1920x1080 30 fps) [default]
