Confused about mesa-nonfree.db and https://nonfree.eu/

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1

A while ago I had added the mesa-nonfree packages mainly to be able to use hardware acceleration when exporting with Shotcut (AMD Radeon RX Vega 6) following the instructions reported at https://nonfree.eu/

This essentially means I have a file /etc/pacman.d/mesa-nonfree.pre.repo.conf which looks like this:

[mesa-nonfree]
SigLevel = Optional TrustAll
Server = https://nonfree.eu/stable/$arch

and have (had see below) a line in /etc/pacman.conf as:

Include = /etc/pacman.d/mesa-nonfree.pre.repo.conf

I was getting a 404 error when trying to update and noticed on the website (https://nonfree.eu/) the indication that only unstable is now supported.

I was able (I think) to restore everything and eventually update by following the ‘uninstall’ instructions on the website which removed the repository from pacman.conf

I’m a little confused about the situation with these now. Any info would be nice to have.

2

the mesa-nonfree repo is a community project

Manjaro Linux as distribution is not involved in the mesa-nonfree repo project.

The stable and testing branch is unsupported as it broke too often.

As of 2023-12-13T23:00:00Z the full mesa package is only supported for unstable branch.

TL2 members can follow the topic https://forum.manjaro.org/t/unstable-manjaro-community-mesa-nonfree-codecs/135012/

For other members and users coming this way you have two choices

  1. Remove the repo and reinstall mesa from Manjaro repo
PKGS="$(pacman -Sl mesa-nonfree | grep 'installed' | awk '{print $2}')" && sudo sed -i '/mesa-nonfree/d' /etc/pacman.conf && sudo pacman -Sy $(echo ${PKGS//$'\n'/ })
  1. Switch to unstable branch.
sudo pacman-mirrors -aS unstable

Edit your config in /etc/pacman.d/mesa-nonfree.pre.repo.conf and change stable to unstable.

[mesa-nonfree]
SigLevel = Optional TrustAll
Server = https://nonfree.eu/unstable/$arch

Do a full system sync

sudo pacman -Syyu
3

Thanks, yes I’m aware it’s not an official Manjaro distribution project, was just asking for help :wink:

Hopefully your hints are also helpful for other users in a similar situation

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4

Is there any sort of explanation for these extraordinary actions (that very few distros are taking) that are being taken by Manjaro?

As I read it the Manjaro team is currently saying:
“If you want hardware encoding on Manjaro you must run the unstable branch, and any issues that causes are your problem. If you want hardware encoding on a stable branch you have to go to another distro. Thankfully, you have lots of choices because it’s just us and RedHat that are doing this, and despite that nobara have found a way around it, so you can still run a Fedora with full hardware CODEC and gaming support. Or Garuda if you want the Arch and the AUR. Just not us.”

Hardware encoding isn’t some edge case or niche tech. If there is no way for me to get it and stay on a stable branch I have no choice, I have to move to another distro. I can’t afford to buy a newer GPU with better AV1 support, I need HEVC hardware encoding support, and there are lots of other distros that don’t seem to have the same restriction.

Were all these distros sent legal letters by the patent owners, or is this a choice that each distro makes on their own and Manjaro are just in the tiny minority of distros that took this action?

5

You have it in all the previous topics about this.

I guess you do. I recommend Arch instead of all these derivatives.

6

Arch is not for me. I am happy to run an Arch Linode for bleeding edge testing, but in regards to Manjaro I am a computer literate desktop end user (that helps some friends and family with their IT) that can’t stand Windows/Microsoft any more.

Garuda gets me a nice installer and I get to keep the AUR. nobara gets me a nice installer and dnf-automatic to help my friends and family stay on track.

Manjaro was my first stop from Windows, I am sorry to be leaving, but it appears Manjaro just isn’t the good fit it once was.