[HW Accel Support]: VAAPI detected but not used - GPU stays at 0% on Home Assistant OS with Intel HD Graphics 4600

[Pilou44]

Describe the problem you are having

VAAPI detected but not used - GPU stays at 0% on Home Assistant OS with Intel HD Graphics 4600

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to enable hardware acceleration with VAAPI on Frigate, but despite VAAPI being detected, my GPU remains at 0% usage while CPU does all the decoding work.

Setup

• Home Assistant OS (latest)
• Frigate 0.16.3 (as Home Assistant Add-on)
• Hardware: Intel Core i5 with Intel HD Graphics 4600
• Cameras: 2 Tapo cameras (C220 & C510W) streaming at 640x360, 5fps
• /dev/dri/renderD128 exists and has proper permissions

Current behavior

• ✅ Frigate logs show: Automatically detected vaapi hwaccel for video decoding
• ✅ Cameras work perfectly
• ❌ CPU usage: ~25%
• ❌ GPU usage: 0%

Configuration tested

Set LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME: i965 in environment variables, with no hwaccel_args to let Frigate auto-detect.

What I've tried

1. preset-vaapi (with and without auto-detection)
2. Manual VAAPI configuration with -hwaccel vaapi -hwaccel_device /dev/dri/renderD128
3. QSV with preset-intel-qsv-h264 → fails with driver errors
4. Forcing i965 driver explicitly with -init_hw_device vaapi=va:/dev/dri/renderD128,driver=i965

Relevant logs

The detection works:
[2025-12-16 16:04:12] frigate.util.services INFO : Automatically detected vaapi hwaccel for video decoding

But no ffmpeg errors, everything runs smoothly, just GPU is never engaged.

Question

Is there a specific configuration needed for VAAPI to actually be used (not just detected) in Home Assistant OS environment? The Intel HD Graphics 4600 requires the legacy i965 driver.

Any help would be appreciated!

Version

0.16.3-9034454

Frigate config file

# Variable d'environnement pour Intel HD Graphics 4600
environment_vars:
  LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME: i965

# Configuration MQTT
mqtt:
  enabled: true
  host: 192.168.85.51
  user: ***
  password: ***
  port: 1883

# Configuration de la base de données
database:
  path: /config/frigate.db

# Logs
logger:
  default: info
  logs:
    frigate.comms.mqtt: debug
    frigate.video: debug

# Configuration FFmpeg avec accélération matérielle Intel
ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi

# Détecteur CPU (pas de Coral)
detectors:
  cpu1:
    type: cpu

# Configuration globale des objets
objects:
  track:
    - person
    - car
    - dog
    - cat
  filters:
    person:
      min_area: 2500
      threshold: 0.72

# Configuration globale des enregistrements
record:
  enabled: true
  retain:
    days: 1
    mode: motion
  alerts:           # ← Remplace "events"
    retain:
      days: 30
      mode: motion
  detections:       # ← Nouveau dans 0.15
    retain:
      days: 30
      mode: motion

# Configuration des caméras
cameras:
  Salon:  # Tapo C220
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://***:***@192.168.85.10:554/stream1
          #input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://***:***@192.168.85.10:554/stream2
          #input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
    detect:
      enabled: false  # Contrôlé par MQTT/HA
      width: 640
      height: 360
      fps: 5
    motion:
      threshold: 25
      contour_area: 10
    snapshots:
      enabled: false  # Contrôlé par MQTT/HA
      retain:
        default: 7

  Entree:  # Tapo C510W
    ffmpeg:
      inputs:
        - path: rtsp://***:***@192.168.85.11:554/stream1
          #input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - record
        - path: rtsp://***:***@192.168.85.11:554/stream2
          #input_args: preset-rtsp-restream
          roles:
            - detect
    detect:
      enabled: true  # Contrôlé par MQTT/HA
      width: 640
      height: 360
      fps: 5
    motion:
      threshold: 25
      contour_area: 10
    snapshots:
      enabled: false  # Contrôlé par MQTT/HA
      retain:
        default: 7
detect:
  enabled: true
version: 0.16-0

docker-compose file or Docker CLI command

N/A - Using Frigate as Home Assistant Add-on

I'm running Frigate 0.16.3 as a Home Assistant OS add-on, not as a standalone Docker container. 
The add-on is installed through the Home Assistant Supervisor.

Add-on configuration (if relevant):
- No special device mapping configured in the add-on settings
- /dev/dri/renderD128 is accessible on the host system

Relevant Frigate log output

2025-12-16 15:57:43.588817606  [INFO] Starting NGINX...
2025-12-16 15:57:43.706146088  [INFO] No TLS certificate found. Generating a self signed certificate...
2025-12-16 15:57:43.748563467  [INFO] Preparing Frigate...
2025-12-16 15:57:44.063711152  [INFO] Preparing new go2rtc config...
2025-12-16 15:57:44.091814555  [INFO] Got IP address from supervisor: 192.168.85.51
2025-12-16 15:57:44.104598980  [INFO] Starting Frigate...
2025-12-16 15:57:44.118835414  [INFO] Got WebRTC port from supervisor: 8555
2025-12-16 15:57:44.466438267  [INFO] Starting go2rtc...
2025-12-16 15:57:44.539696164  16:57:44.539 INF go2rtc platform=linux/amd64 revision=fa580c5 version=1.9.9
2025-12-16 15:57:44.539927850  16:57:44.539 INF config path=/dev/shm/go2rtc.yaml
2025-12-16 15:57:44.540156760  16:57:44.539 INF [rtsp] listen addr=:8554
2025-12-16 15:57:44.540973155  16:57:44.540 INF [webrtc] listen addr=:8555
2025-12-16 15:57:44.540975747  16:57:44.540 INF [api] listen addr=:1984
2025-12-16 15:57:46.619219665  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.util.config            INFO    : Checking if frigate config needs migration...
2025-12-16 15:57:46.644271075  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.util.config            INFO    : frigate config does not need migration...
2025-12-16 15:57:46.663332595  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Starting Frigate (0.16.3-9034454)
2025-12-16 15:57:46.667762911  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Creating directory: /tmp/cache
2025-12-16 15:57:46.672216713  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : Starting migrations
2025-12-16 15:57:46.673165239  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] peewee_migrate.logs            INFO    : There is nothing to migrate
2025-12-16 15:57:46.679136928  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Recording process started: 204
2025-12-16 15:57:46.688598787  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Review process started: 213
2025-12-16 15:57:46.702040357  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : go2rtc process pid: 128
2025-12-16 15:57:46.703172305  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] detector.cpu1                  INFO    : Starting detection process: 229
2025-12-16 15:57:46.706055788  INFO: Created TensorFlow Lite XNNPACK delegate for CPU.
2025-12-16 15:57:46.708459682  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.detectors              WARNING : CPU detectors are not recommended and should only be used for testing or for trial purposes.
2025-12-16 15:57:46.721766427  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.comms.mqtt             DEBUG   : MQTT connected
2025-12-16 15:57:46.723593668  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Output process started: 249
2025-12-16 15:57:46.759372778  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Camera processor started for Salon: 270
2025-12-16 15:57:46.783076663  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Camera processor started for Entree: 273
2025-12-16 15:57:46.783493699  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Capture process started for Salon: 283
2025-12-16 15:57:46.789823617  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.video                  DEBUG   : Starting all ffmpeg processes for Salon
2025-12-16 15:57:46.804048218  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.app                    INFO    : Capture process started for Entree: 303
2025-12-16 15:57:46.827993380  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.video                  DEBUG   : Starting all ffmpeg processes for Entree
2025-12-16 15:57:46.958900468  [2025-12-16 16:57:46] frigate.api.fastapi_app        INFO    : Starting FastAPI app
2025-12-16 15:57:47.211071722  [2025-12-16 16:57:47] frigate.api.fastapi_app        INFO    : FastAPI started
s6-rc: info: service nginx successfully started
s6-rc: info: service certsync: starting
s6-rc: info: service certsync successfully started
s6-rc: info: service legacy-services: starting
2025-12-16 15:57:48.407988927  [INFO] Starting certsync...
s6-rc: info: service legacy-services successfully started
2025-12-16 15:57:48.820042843  127.0.0.1 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:57:48 +0100] "" 400 0 "-" "-" "-"
2025-12-16 15:57:53.583144358  [INFO] Starting go2rtc healthcheck service...
2025-12-16 15:58:05.024092502  172.30.32.2 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:58:05 +0100] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 2650 "-" "HomeAssistantSupervisor/2025.12.3 aiohttp/3.13.2 Python/3.13" "-"
2025-12-16 15:58:17.863006526  172.30.32.2 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:58:17 +0100] "GET /api/profile HTTP/1.1" 200 39 "http://homeassistant.local:8123/api/hassio_ingress/KhHxb3zgwswZL3KCDZaciHw8tB3H6Y41RqJpO62wsgo/config" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" "192.168.85.120, 172.30.32.1"
2025-12-16 15:58:17.864826416  172.30.32.2 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:58:17 +0100] "GET /api/config/raw HTTP/1.1" 200 2737 "http://homeassistant.local:8123/api/hassio_ingress/KhHxb3zgwswZL3KCDZaciHw8tB3H6Y41RqJpO62wsgo/config" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" "192.168.85.120, 172.30.32.1"
2025-12-16 15:58:18.144571865  172.30.32.2 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:58:18 +0100] "GET /api/config/schema.json HTTP/1.1" 200 49469 "http://homeassistant.local:8123/api/hassio_ingress/KhHxb3zgwswZL3KCDZaciHw8tB3H6Y41RqJpO62wsgo/assets/yaml.worker.bundle.js" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" "192.168.85.120, 172.30.32.1"
2025-12-16 15:58:19.796923922  172.30.32.2 - - [16/Dec/2025:16:58:19 +0100] "GET /ws HTTP/1.1" 101 18601 "-" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/142.0.0.0 Safari/537.36" "192.168.85.120, 172.30.32.1"

Relevant go2rtc log output

No relevant go2rtc errors. go2rtc starts normally:

15:58:00.260 INF go2rtc platform=linux/amd64 revision=fa580c5 version=1.9.9
15:58:00.260 INF config path=/dev/shm/go2rtc.yaml
15:58:00.261 INF [rtsp] listen addr=:8554
15:58:00.261 INF [api] listen addr=:1984
15:58:00.262 INF [webrtc] listen addr=:8555

Camera streams work correctly via go2rtc.

FFprobe output from your camera

ffprobe is not available on Home Assistant OS

Install method

Home Assistant Add-on

Object Detector

Other

Network connection

Wired

Camera make and model

Tapo C220 & C510

Screenshots of the Frigate UI's System metrics pages

Any other information that may be helpful

{"return_code":0,"stderr":"","stdout":"vainfo: VA-API version: 1.22 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) Haswell Desktop - 2.4.1
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264MultiviewHigh : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264MultiviewHigh : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264StereoHigh : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264StereoHigh : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc
VAProfileJPEGBaseline : VAEntrypointVLD"}

[inkeep-ai-assistant[bot]]

Based on your Intel HD Graphics 4600 (4th generation Haswell), you should use the i965 driver with the preset-vaapi configuration(1). Your hardware is correctly identified with the i965 driver in your vainfo output.

However, I notice a potential issue in your configuration. For Home Assistant Add-on users, you need to define the LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME environment variable differently than in standard Docker deployments(1).

Try this configuration:

environment_vars:
  LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME: i965

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi

(1), (2)

The preset-vaapi configuration automatically handles VAAPI setup and supports both H.264 and H.265 streams with automatic profile selection(1).

Important notes for your setup:

1. Your Intel HD Graphics 4600 is a generation 4 CPU, which should use the i965 driver with preset-vaapi (not QSV, which isn't supported on gen1-gen7)(1)

2. For Home Assistant Add-on installations, environment variables must be set in the environment_vars section of your Frigate config, not in Docker Compose(3)

3. The Home Assistant Add-on should automatically map /dev/dri devices, but you may need to verify this in your add-on configuration(3)

If GPU usage remains at 0% after applying these changes, check:

• That /dev/dri/renderD128 is accessible within the container
• Your ffmpeg logs for any VAAPI-related errors using logger.logs.frigate.video: debug(2)

Some users with 6th-8th generation Intel CPUs have reported better stability by leaving hwaccel_args empty (hwaccel_args: " ") while keeping the detector on GPU(4), though this is specific to certain hardware configurations experiencing system crashes.

📚 Sources:

1. Video Decoding
2. Full Reference Config
3. Installation
4. [Config Support]: Whole Machine Crashing - looking for some tips

---

Have another question? Just tag @inkeep.

[hawkeye217]

If you are not seeing errors in your logs, your iGPU is being used for hardware acceleration. The 0% issue is a reporting bug with Intel GPU Tools and is not an issue Frigate can work around. Some users have reported this has been fixed in the latest Linux kernel version.

I do believe the latest update to Home Assistant OS has the most up-to-date Linux kernel. What version of HAOS are you running?

[hawkeye217]

Everything seems to be normal with your installation.

I believe Home Assistant OS 17 has the latest Linux kernel version that should fix your GPU reporting issue. It's currently in release candidate status, so the full release should be coming soon.

https://github.com/home-assistant/operating-system/releases/tag/17.0.rc1

[trenchcoatjedi]

I am having the same issue running Home Assistant OS 17.0

GPU % is always 0%.

CPU use is between 60-90% usage with 3 cameras using detection.

Home Assistant OS
Core
2026.1.3
Supervisor
2026.01.1
Operating System
17.0

{"return_code":0,"stderr":"","stdout":"vainfo: VA-API version: 1.22 (libva 2.12.0)
vainfo: Driver version: Intel i965 driver for Intel(R) Bay Trail - 2.4.1
vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice
VAProfileH264StereoHigh : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD
VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc
VAProfileJPEGBaseline : VAEntrypointVLD"}

[hawkeye217]

Your issue is probably different, then. If your CPU usage is high, you likely have not applied the correct hwaccel_args.

[trenchcoatjedi]

This is what is in the config:

environment_vars:
  LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME: i965

ffmpeg:
  hwaccel_args: preset-vaapi

[hawkeye217]

You should open your own support discussion.