gstreamer1.0-vaapi issues with Intel HD 4400

[phulshof]

Hello all,

I've so far tried Kubuntu 14.04, 15.04, and 15.10 on my Zotac ID68 with Intel HD 4400 graphics, but I cannot get gstreamer VAAPI to work properly.

As far as I can tell, I've installed the proper drivers, and they're loaded properly as well, but if I play back video I seem to have two options:
1. Not use gstreamer1.0-vaapi, and let the CPU handle it (which is just a tad too slow to handle what I throw at it).
2. Use gstreamer1.0-vaapi, and see video playback slow down to a crawl (but the CPU is enjoying a nice quiet evening).

vainfo doesn't help me much either:
error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in the environment.
libva info: VA-API version 0.38.0
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns -1
libva error: va_getDriverName() failed with unknown libva error,driver_name=(null)
vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit

I've been Googling for a few days now, but no luck so far. Does anyone have suggestions as to how this problem can be solved/debugged?

[Smurphy]

I had managed to get the vaapi to work, using the dummi "vaapi" wrapper package up to KUbuntu 15.04. On 15.10 - it stopped working.
Some mp4 movies stopped playing back with VLC - vaapi problem here. Need to remember which video, however the error message is this:

000000000257ec78] core playlist: stopping playback
libva info: VA-API version 0.38.0
libva info: va_getDriverName() returns 0
libva info: Trying to open /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri/i965_drv_video.so
libva info: Found init function __vaDriverInit_0_38
libva info: va_openDriver() returns 0
[00007fa2d4f0c978] avcodec decoder: Using OpenGL/VAAPI/libswscale backend for VDPAU for hardware decoding.
[h264 @ 0x7fa2d4f2ed80] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture
...
[00007fa278001268] vdpau_display vout display error: video mixer surface width capabilities query failure: VDP_STATUS_NO_IMPLEMENTATION
[h264 @ 0x7fa2d5002ec0] hardware accelerator failed to decode picture

Note that I do have a Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3720QM CPU @ 2.60GHz with a HD 4000 unit.

[Smurphy]

Just changed the Title.
I think this should be moved into a Bugs Section or so...