Missing H265 Hardware Acceleration in Big Sur

[zzmadd]

Hi all,

I'm trying to fix an issue with H265 Hardware Acceleration in Big Sur with one of my builds:
- ASUS Prime H310I-PLUS R2.0
- Intel Core i3 8100
- iGPU Intel UHD 630
- SSD NVME 1TB
- 16GB DDR4

The exact same configuration boot in Catalina with a perfectly working H265 Hardware Acceleration, while in Big Sur such doesn't work.
H264 Hardware Acceleration works fine both in Catalina and Big Sur.

Can anyone help unlock it?
I add to this thread my DSDT dump, OpenCore Configuration, IOReg File and VideoProc showing the missing acceleration (Handbrake fails too in encoding using "VideotoolboxH265").

Thanks a lot.

 

[shuhung]

Hi all,

I'm trying to fix an issue with H265 Hardware Acceleration in Big Sur with one of my builds:
- ASUS Prime H310I-PLUS R2.0
- Intel Core i3 8100
- iGPU Intel UHD 630
- SSD NVME 1TB
- 16GB DDR4

The exact same configuration boot in Catalina with a perfectly working H265 Hardware Acceleration, while in Big Sur such doesn't work.
H264 Hardware Acceleration works fine both in Catalina and Big Sur.

Can anyone help unlock it?
I add to this thread my DSDT dump, OpenCore Configuration, IOReg File and VideoProc showing the missing acceleration (Handbrake fails too in encoding using "VideotoolboxH265").

Thanks a lot.

Forget about HW H265 encode acceleration on IGPU although it is hardware supported by Intel graphics kexts, because AppleGVAHEVCEncoder bundle only support SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 and MacPro7,1.

If you switching SMBIOS as above and IGPU is linked to device GFX0, HW GVAHEVC encoder will work but result is unacceptable, also HW H264 encoding may not work properly, due to both SMBIOS only support hwe420 (for AMD GPU) on H264 encoding.

 

[zzmadd]

Forget about HW H265 encode acceleration on IGPU although it is hardware supported by Intel graphics kexts, because AppleGVAHEVCEncoder bundle only support SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 and MacPro7,1.

If you switching SMBIOS as above and IGPU is linked to device GFX0, HW GVAHEVC encoder will work but result is unacceptable, also HW H264 encoding may not work properly, due to both SMBIOS only support hwe420 (for AMD GPU) on H264 encoding.

View attachment 507958

Wait a second...are you saying an Original Mac Mini i3 that uses iGPU doesn't have H265 hardware acceleration working? It does.

 

[shuhung]

Wait a second...are you saying an Original Mac Mini i3 that uses iGPU doesn't have H265 hardware acceleration working? It does.

For Hackintosh not supported, H265 HW encoding is controlled by GVAHEVCEncoder bundle for DGPU, for real Mac HW HEVC encoding should provided by T2 not by IGPU.

 

[zzmadd]

For Hackintosh not supported, H265 HW encoding is controlled by GVAHEVCEncoder bundle for DGPU, for real Mac HW HEVC encoding should provided by T2 not by IGPU.

And why does it work in Catalina?
And why other users in Big Sur, that have the same Coffee Lake CPU and just iGPU, have it enabled?

 

[shuhung]

And why does it work in Catalina?
And why other users in Big Sur, that have the same Coffee Lake CPU and just iGPU, have it enabled?

No, some versions of VideoProc may show supported on Catalina but it never really work on Catalina.

Not on IGPU, GVAHEVCEncoder only suppurt SMBIOS iMacPro1,1 and MacPro7,1, no other options.

 

[deeveedee]

@shuhung - I'm new to H.265/HEVC, so forgive a remedial question: I performed HEVC encoding of a 1-minute H264 video using VideoProc on my HackMini8,1. During the encoding, CPU use remained relatively low and encoding "felt" fast, so I assumed that the encoding used Intel's built-in acceleration (but apparently it did not). I don't know how to benchmark HEVC encoding or confirm that it is actually working or not working, but the resulting video quality of the "encoded" (what I thought was encoded) video was excellent.

Clearly, this test was incorrect as you have stated above. How can I test HEVC encoding on my HackMini8,1 so that I can see the "unaccepable" HEVC encoding for myself? This isn't urgent and I don't need HEVC encoding - I'm just curious.

Note that my "encoded" video size is 4.2MB and my original H.264 video was 11.3MB. The resulting encoded video, even though much smaller, preserved the quality of the original. Also note that VideoProc detects HEVC as "available" on my HackMini8,1 (using SMBIOS MacMini8,1).

 

[deeveedee]

@zzmadd - Thanks for posting your ACPI and EFI. As I suspected, your SSDT-PLUG is incorrect for your ACPI. Your SSDT-PLUG is using Scope (_SB_) for your CPU, but your original ACPI shows that your CPU Scope is (_PR_). Change your SSDT-PLUG as follows:

• Change: External (_SB_.PR00, ProcessorObj) -> External (_PR_.PR00, ProcessorObj)
• Change: Scope (\_SB.PR00) -> Scope (\_PR.PR00)

You'll see the difference in your IORegistryExplorer dump and you should get better power management.

@zzmadd - While I was looking at your ACPI, I noticed that your DSDT includes _DSM methods that may not be compatible with macOS. You may want to include an ACPI patch that renames DSM->XDSM (similar to your current ACPI patch that renames SAT0 -> SATA). I have this DSM rename patch in my OC config.plist if you want an example.

 

[shuhung]

How can I test HEVC encoding on my HackMini8,1 so that I can see the "unaccepable" HEVC encoding for myself? This isn't urgent and I don't need HEVC encoding - I'm just curious.

Some 3rd Apps like HandBrake.app, may able to block AppleGVAHEVCEncoder check, HW HEVC encoding seems to be partially work.

Try HandBrake and compare the different between H.265(x265) and H.265 (VideoToolbox).

 

[zzmadd]

For Hackintosh not supported, H265 HW encoding is controlled by GVAHEVCEncoder bundle for DGPU, for real Mac HW HEVC encoding should provided by T2 not by IGPU.

@shuhung
How about iMac 19,1 that doesn't have a T2 chip. Does it use the dGPU or iGPU for H265 encoding?
Thanks