AMD 3200G with hardware H.264 encoding

[sammyrc]

I'm trying to get my 3200G functioning reliably with hardware H.264 encoding. I can only encode for a little while (up to 30 minutes) before the encode stalls and errors start filling the logs. With both 4.19 and 5.2 kernels, the error I'm getting is along the lines of, repeating every 10 seconds or so:

Aug 10 19:26:25 debian kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* ring vcn_enc0 timeout, signaled seq=155474, emitted seq=155476
Aug 10 19:26:25 debian kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* Process information: process ffmpeg pid 1586 thread ffmpeg:cs0 pid 1588
Aug 10 19:26:15 debian kernel: [drm] GPU recovery disabled.

Short of going down the route of debugging and filing a bug report myself, does anyone know of other amdgpu options, kernels or drivers that might work more reliably for encoding on my 3200G?

[sammyrc]

I've been testing further since to try and understand how to reproduce the issue reliably. Performing encodes or decodes only has not yet reproduced the error. Only decoding and encoding at the same time appears to cause the error. The work by the GPU also appears to correlate to time-to-failure. A H.265 -> H.265 decode & encode fails more rapidly than a H.264 -> H.264.

[sammyrc]

Just wanted to share an update.

With the newest 19.30 firmware blobs from here kernel 5.2, mesa 19.1.6 and ffmpeg 4.1.4, the issue appears unresolved, although less frequent. After several transcodes, I get the following:

Sep 27 20:41:57 xxx kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* ring vcn_enc0 timeout, signaled seq=544129, emitted seq=544131
Sep 27 20:41:57 xxx kernel: [drm:amdgpu_job_timedout [amdgpu]] *ERROR* Process information: process ffmpeg pid 4656 thread ffmpeg:cs0 pid 4657
Sep 27 20:41:57 xxx kernel: [drm] GPU recovery disabled.

[average_Joe]

Hello sammyrc,

sorry for not helping with your issue with H.264 encoding. I would like to ask about general experience with using your 3200G.

What's the stability of the system in daily usage, except of the encoding problem you mentioned. Could you please also tell me, what is the chipset type on the MB in your and what memory modules (RAM sticks) in your PC?

And last but not least. Could you please also tell, how's the video playback in the browser (e. g. YouTube in Firefox)? Does the APU have enough performance (or is the current graphic driver already good enough) to watch 720 or 1080p video in a web browser?

Watching the videos in web browser, that's what users do most in these days. I can eventually live without this, but not the remaining 99%. That's why am I asking about the performance of the video playback in browser on Ryzen-based APUs.

Thanks in advance.

[sammyrc]

What's the stability of the system in daily usage, except of the encoding problem you mentioned. Could you please also tell me, what is the chipset type on the MB in your and what memory modules (RAM sticks) in your PC?

Stability is perfect with the exception of video de/en/transcoding. I've not had a single hang or crash. It's not a good idea to ask about memory, as you should always consult your motherboard manual for qualified (tested) RAM. In my case, I'm running cheap Corsair Vengence 3000C15 sticks that were in the QVL, running on a MSI B450.

And last but not least. Could you please also tell, how's the video playback in the browser (e. g. YouTube in Firefox)? Does the APU have enough performance (or is the current graphic driver already good enough) to watch 720 or 1080p video in a web browser?

I cannot comment, as this system is headless, operating as a media server currently. While the GPU can decode 4K, it lacks HDR support. If this is added later, I might utilise it for more. For now, it's headless.

[average_Joe]

Thank you so much for your reply. It is really useful for me. I already gave you the like for the reply few days ago. 👍

... you should always consult your motherboard manual for qualified (tested) RAM...

100% agree with this, that's what am I always doing.

... It's not a good idea to ask about memory,...

I would politely disagree here. It is always good to see a tip or recommendation for a good reliable piece of hardware. 😉

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I recently checked a QVL for one suitable B450 motherboard from Gigabyte. There are different lists for the Picasso (list updated Aug 2019) and for the Raven Ridge (list updated Jan 2019), i.e. the board paired with Ryzen 3200G supports much more types of DIMMs, than the very same board paired with Ryzen 2200G. This somewhat surprised me. What do you think? Does the CPU make the difference or they simply didn't bother to test the additional DIMMs?

[sammyrc]

I recently checked a QVL for one suitable B450 motherboard from Gigabyte. There are different lists for the Picasso (list updated Aug 2019) and for the Raven Ridge (list updated Jan 2019), i.e. the board paired with Ryzen 3200G supports much more types of DIMMs, than the very same board paired with Ryzen 2200G. This somewhat surprised me. What do you think? Does the CPU make the difference or they simply didn't bother to test the additional DIMMs?

If I had to guess, it's probably due to the IMC. AMD have been making steady improvements to it, resulting in more tolerant function with higher clockspeeds. It's been improving steadily going from Zen to Zen+ and Zen2. The older 1600 CPUs for example were highly picky about their memory. The 2600s were far more flexible, although people still ran into errors with memory not on the QVL. Now with Zen2, people seem to be more willing to run RAM not officially supported. Having said this, the 3200G and 3400G are Zen+, not Zen2, and they use a monolithic die, unlike other Zen2 CPUs. This being the case, I'd recommend caution, ensuring that you choose something on the QVL.

[average_Joe]

Useful answer again. Thanks. Therefore I better will carefully select the components form the QVL.

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In the meantime I was able to find some DIMMs and NVMe SSD in the QVLs for the mentioned motherboard. The best part is these components are also available in my country, reasonably priced & having good reviews.


There is only the last uncertainty. There were lot of discussion threads on the internet forums about having the problems with Ryzen APU (except the Athlons 2x0GE) graphics driver for Linux. However, these threads are now somewhat dated and I do not know if those problems have already been sorted out. Perhaps the people are writing only if they're having a problem & not writing that everything is OK. Or my Google-fu (well, more like DuckDuckGo-fu) is not good enough (in combination with my English skills). That's why I wrote all my posts here on Phoronix forums, I am trying to ensure before buying... I need to buy few PCs for not-very-advanced users and the seamless operation of the PCs is in demand here.