I can assist with setting up Steam streaming on Ubuntu 18.04. Let me know what specific issues you're facing!
I can assist with setting up Steam streaming on Ubuntu 18.04. Let me know what specific issues you're facing!
Here’s a revised version of your message:
Hi everyone, I’m sharing my current configuration. (Skip to "THE PROBLEM" if you prefer not to read about it)
My setup includes:
- Hardware: i7-7700k, 16GB DDR4 RAM, Intel GPU turned off in BIOS, PCI-E slot 1 for GeForce GTX 660TI, PCI-E slot 2 for GeForce GTX 980TI
- Main OS: Kubuntu 18.04 (custom ACS Override Kernel, version 4.15.15)
- Guest OS: Windows 10 Enterprise running inside a KVM virtual machine, with the 980TI connected directly
The VM runs 4 cores, 6GB RAM, and a 120GB SSD. I usually let Windows operate quietly—only stepping in when installing software or streaming games via Steam and RemoteApp. The 980TI stays fully connected to the VM, allowing me to run MSI Afterburner and perform overclocking.
I’m not sure if Windows 10 is the issue; everything seems to function perfectly in the virtual environment. I’m getting roughly 95% of the performance I’d expect on a physical machine, and Steam indicates it’s using hardware encoding during streaming.
The challenge is that I can’t enable hardware acceleration in Steam for the Linux client. I’ve tried the GTX 660TI and even a GTX 1050, but with the current NVIDIA driver version (396.18), it still reports “Software decoding using 4 threads.” I’m hoping someone can explain why this isn’t working despite having the drivers installed properly.
Thanks for your help!
It could be that the system is mixing signals from the same CPU for coding and decoding, causing slight confusion. Would it help if we avoid linking Windows 10 Installation to a monitor or HDMI and simply switch between them as needed?
Pass through is a tricky situation. You can't assign four cores to the guest when you only have four, because each operating system might think it has full access and the threads will clash. KVM allows setting core and thread limits, but... the best way to keep the host OS separate from the guest's CPU is via cgroups. For your issue, Linux might not support it (depending on the driver/card), even though it's available in Steam. Consider using h264.
The encoding is fully managed by the 980Ti, which isn't particularly exciting or interesting to me. Still, I plan to explore this further since it wasn't something I encountered before. Performance-wise, I've never experienced any problems. Perhaps I should have mentioned threads instead of cores. I could also consider reverting to the GTX 1050, but Valve requires specific drivers and a card that supports VDPAU. Both cards I mentioned meet those requirements. Regarding "h264," could you clarify what you mean?
I started the stream from a terminal to check the output as it began. I spotted some lines that caught my eye. Perhaps they’ll be useful. ffmpeg verbose: Launched VA display through X11 display :0. ffmpeg error: Could not initialize VAAPI connection (-1) due to unknown libva issue. CVAAPIAccel: av_hwdevice_ctx_create() failed software decoding with 4 threads
A bit late to join the gathering, yet I understand the root cause: Ubuntu 18.04 removed libva in favor of libva2, while Steam continues to rely on libva. Because libva is essential for hardware acceleration, you won’t be able to stream with Steam Home using hardware support on Ubuntu 18.04. Your choices are: Upgrade to an older Ubuntu release; Switch to another program that supports libva2 (Parsec Gaming is one option); Wait for Steam to incorporate libva2 (which seems unlikely soon). Experiencing the same issue, I’ve opted for Parsec and discovered it performs better than Steam Home Streaming in several areas.