Files
punktfunk/docs/session-aware-host-followups.md
T
enricobuehler 9775794ba5
apple / swift (push) Successful in 53s
android / android (push) Successful in 1m48s
ci / rust (push) Failing after 55s
ci / web (push) Successful in 26s
ci / docs-site (push) Successful in 27s
ci / bench (push) Successful in 1m35s
decky / build-publish (push) Successful in 12s
docker / build-push (--build-arg FEDORA_VERSION=44, ci, ci/fedora-rpm.Dockerfile, punktfunk-fedora44-rpm) (push) Successful in 4s
docker / build-push (., web/Dockerfile, punktfunk-web) (push) Successful in 4s
docker / build-push (ci, ci/fedora-rpm.Dockerfile, punktfunk-fedora-rpm) (push) Successful in 4s
docker / build-push (ci, ci/rust-ci.Dockerfile, punktfunk-rust-ci) (push) Successful in 4s
docker / build-push (docs-site, docs-site/Dockerfile, punktfunk-docs) (push) Successful in 4s
flatpak / build-publish (push) Failing after 2s
deb / build-publish (push) Successful in 2m12s
rpm / build-publish (bazzite, punktfunk-fedora-rpm) (push) Successful in 5m19s
rpm / build-publish (fedora-44, punktfunk-fedora44-rpm) (push) Successful in 5m23s
docker / deploy-docs (push) Successful in 9s
docs: known limitations + follow-ups for the session-aware host
Capture the deliberately-parked items after live-validating the session-aware
backend selector on the Bazzite F44 box (Desktop KDE + Gaming both at the
client's resolution, warm reuse, Feature B mid-stream switch both directions).

Top follow-ups: (1) F44 gamescope teardown corrupts the GPU context (try SIGKILL
teardown, else keep the managed session warm); (2) mid-stream-switch input is
flaky until a reconnect (portal opens before the systemd/D-Bus activation env
settles — fix: import-environment on switch); (3) the KWin virtual output isn't
set primary. Plus polish: input-loss window on switch, the recovered NVENC
invalid-param log, the 4090 HEVC ~800Mbps cap, restore-guard/keep-warm
interaction, and promoting Feature B from opt-in to default.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-14 23:56:59 +00:00

5.2 KiB
Raw Blame History

Session-aware host — known limitations & follow-ups

Status: 2026-06-14. The host auto-detects the live session (Gaming / KDE / GNOME / wlroots) per connect and routes both video and input at it — managed gamescope at the client's resolution in Steam Gaming Mode, a KWin/Mutter virtual output at the client's resolution on a Desktop. A watcher (opt-in: PUNKTFUNK_SESSION_WATCH=1) follows a Gaming↔Desktop switch mid-stream and rebuilds the backend in place without a reconnect.

Live-validated on the Bazzite F44 box (bazzite-deck-nvidia:testing, RTX 4090): Desktop KDE at 5120×1440 + input; Gaming managed at 5120×1440; warm-session reuse on quick reconnect; Feature B video-switch both directions. The items below are deliberately parked — they have workarounds and/or are F44-specific.

High priority

1. F44 gamescope teardown corrupts the GPU context

Every gamescope teardown on this box (stop the autologin on connect; stop the managed session on restore) risks leaking the NVIDIA GPU context — surfaces as CUDA_ERROR_ILLEGAL_STATE (401) in cuCtxCreate / vkCreateDevice VK_ERROR_INITIALIZATION_FAILED (-3), then a black screen that needs a reboot. The 5 s debounced restore + the desktop restore-guard cut the teardown count but don't eliminate it. Options, in order of preference:

  • SIGKILL the gamescope on teardown instead of systemctl stop (SIGTERM). Hypothesis: skipping gamescope's buggy SIGTERM teardown handler (the part that SIGSEGVs, exit 139) lets the process die hard and the driver reclaim its GPU resources cleanly via normal process exit — no half-torn-down context. Change stop_autologin_sessions + stop_session (vdisplay/gamescope.rs) to systemctl --user kill --signal=SIGKILL <unit> (+ a follow-up stop/reset-failed to clear unit state). Untested — this is the first thing to try; it would preserve "managed client-res gaming AND TV-shows-gaming-when-idle".
  • Keep the managed session warm (no per-disconnect restore): spawn once, reuse forever, never tear down → ~1 teardown per host lifetime. Tradeoff: the TV is blank/idle when no client is connected (the autologin is never restored; return to gaming manually).
  • Upstream gamescope/driver fix.

2. Mid-stream-switch input (Gaming→Desktop) is flaky until a reconnect

After a mid-stream switch to a desktop, pointer/keyboard often don't land until a disconnect+reconnect. Root cause: on the switch the host opens the KDE RemoteDesktop portal immediately, but the portal is a D-Bus-activated service that reads the systemd --user activation environment, which hasn't settled to the new session yet — so the portal session is created against a half-stale env. It accepts events (no error, so the injector's reopen-on-failure never fires) but they don't reach KDE. The host log even shows libei: portal granted devices + device RESUMED, yet input is dead. Workaround: reconnect once after switching (re-opens the portal against the settled env → works). Fix: on a session switch, push the new session env into the systemd/D-Bus activation environment before reopening input — systemctl --user import-environment WAYLAND_DISPLAY XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS + dbus-update-activation-environment (exactly what a fresh KDE login does; see scripts/headless/run-headless-kde.sh:118-119) — and/or delay/retry the input reopen until the portal is settled.

3. KWin virtual output is not set as primary

The KWin virtual output isn't marked the primary display, so KDE panels / primary-screen content can stay on the (now-absent) original output instead of the streamed virtual screen. Follow-up: set the virtual output primary on create — vdisplay/kwin.rs already reads PUNKTFUNK_KWIN_VIRTUAL_PRIMARY; make it default-on (or always promote the new output to primary via the KWin/kscreen API) so the streamed screen is the primary desktop.

Lower priority / polish

4. Mid-stream-switch input loss window (~6 s)

During the libei portal setup on a switch, buffered input drops (libei: DROP — no resumed device, hundreds of events). Polish: pre-warm the portal, or hold events instead of dropping during the device-resume window.

5. NVENC InitializeEncoder failed: invalid param (recovered)

At 5120×1440@240 the first NVENC open fails with invalid param (8) and recovers via the 2-way split-encode path (the stream is live). Cosmetic but noisy — investigate the first-attempt failure / silence the log.

6. NVENC HEVC bitrate cap (~800 Mbps on the RTX 4090)

HEVC opens at the GPU's max (~800 Mbps) when a higher rate is requested (e.g. 1600). Not a bug; consider preferring AV1 when the client requests >~800 Mbps HEVC, and surface the cap in the speed-test / bitrate UI.

7. Restore-guard / keep-warm model interaction

do_restore_tv_session, when a desktop is active, still stops the idle managed gamescope (a teardown — leak risk per #1) and consumes STOPPED_AUTOLOGIN (so a later return-to-gaming won't auto-restore the TV session). Resolve together with the keep-warm decision in #1.

8. Feature B is opt-in

The mid-stream watcher is gated behind PUNKTFUNK_SESSION_WATCH=1 pending broader validation. Promote to default-on once #2 (mid-stream input) lands and it's exercised on more boxes.