DaVinci-Resolve-AMD-Omarchy/NOTES.md

DaVinci Resolve on Omarchy + RX 9060 XT — Working Configuration

Date solved: 2026-05-02 (initial); 2026-05-03 (DRI_PRIME hybrid-GPU fix) System: Omarchy (Arch Linux), Hyprland 0.54.3, kernel 7.0.3, RX 9060 XT (Navi 44, gfx1200) + Intel UHD 770 hybrid

TL;DR — what is currently working

DaVinci Resolve 21.0 beta launches and stays open with full UI on Color page. The working stack is:

• ROCm 7.1.1 (NOT current 7.2.x) pinned from Arch Linux Archive
• Resolve installed manually to /opt/resolve (no AUR PKGBUILD)
• HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION=12.0.0 and ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0 in the launcher
• DRI_PRIME=pci-0000_BB_DD_F in the launcher — explicit PCI tag, NOT =1 (see "Root cause" below)
• MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT=pci-0000_BB_DD_F + MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT_FORCE_DEFAULT_DEVICE=1 (Vulkan pin, defense-in-depth)
• Hyprland windowrule v3 syntax (not deprecated windowrulev2)
• snd-aloop kernel module + PipeWire bridge for audio
• DeckLink → ALSA backend in Resolve config

Root cause

There are TWO independent root causes that both have to be fixed for first launch to succeed:

1. ROCm 7.2.x breaks Resolve on every AMD GPU

OpenCL clCreateContext either fails outright or hangs on Color page. ROCm 7.1.1 is the last working release.

• Upstream issue: https://github.com/ROCm/ROCm/issues/5982 (filed Feb 2026, still open)
• CachyOS thread with the recipe: https://discuss.cachyos.org/t/davinci-resolve-amd-rocm-fails-without-downgrade/28036
• NixOS RDNA4-specific report: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/481483

2. DRI_PRIME=1 flips OpenGL to the iGPU on hybrid systems where Mesa already defaults to AMD

On Intel iGPU + AMD dGPU systems where the monitor is plugged into the AMD card, Mesa's default OpenGL device is already the AMD card. DRI_PRIME=1 means "give me the OTHER card relative to the default" — so it flips OpenGL to Intel. Resolve then has OpenGL on Intel and OpenCL on AMD, and CL/GL interop (clCreateContext with CL_GL_CONTEXT_KHR) fails. The log shows OpenCL Context Manager failed to create context and Resolve hangs on Color page.

Verify on any new box:

glxinfo -B 2>/dev/null | grep -E 'OpenGL renderer|OpenGL vendor'                # bare default
DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo -B 2>/dev/null | grep -E 'OpenGL renderer|OpenGL vendor'   # what =1 picks
DRI_PRIME=pci-0000_BB_DD_F glxinfo -B 2>/dev/null | grep -E 'OpenGL renderer|OpenGL vendor'  # explicit

If bare returns AMD and =1 returns Intel, you have this bug. The explicit PCI tag is always correct.

The installer detects the AMD discrete card's PCI ID from lspci and bakes the tag into the launcher unconditionally whenever an AMD dGPU is present (no longer gated on hybrid status or switcheroo). switcherooctl is not used — it internally sets DRI_PRIME=1 and inherits the same flip bug.

The install script

/home/q/Downloads/install-davinci-resolve.sh — version 4.1 with 2026-05-03 patches:

• DRI_PRIME explicit PCI-tag pin (replaces buggy =1) + MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT Vulkan pin — locks OpenGL/Vulkan to the AMD discrete GPU by bus address, unconditional whenever an AMD dGPU is present (no longer gated on hybrid status, switcheroo branch removed)
• Full glib-family symlink swap — all five of libglib-2.0, libgio-2.0, libgmodule-2.0, libgobject-2.0, libgthread-2.0 (was three; mismatch caused latent segfaults)
• Broader crash-marker grep in reset_stale_configs() — recognises Unsupported GPU Processing Mode, OpenCL Context Manager failed to create context, Failed to create OpenCL context
• Fresh-install auto-wipe of ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/{configs,logs} whenever Resolve is being installed for the first time
• ROCm-downgrade error check — pacman -U now aborts the install if the 7.1.1 packages fail to apply, instead of silently continuing on a broken stack
• Removed USB-dongle udev rule and the prompt for it (Studio license dongle not in scope)
• Removed duplicate user-level .desktop entry — system-level entry is patched to use the wrapper, user entry caused walker to show two "DaVinci Resolve" entries
• Dropped stay_focused on from the Resolve Hyprland rules — it locked focus inside modal dialogs, felt like a trapped cursor

Runs the full install end-to-end:

1. System scan (kernel, GPU detection with gfx target + PCI bus address, audio, display, etc.)
2. Pacman package install (minimal — Resolve bundles its own Qt5/libpng/etc.)
3. install_rocm_pinned() — downloads ROCm 7.1.1 from Arch Linux Archive, installs via pacman -U (now || error on failure so partial-downgrade can't go unnoticed), adds IgnorePkg to /etc/pacman.conf [options]
4. Manual Resolve extraction (ZIP → .run → squashfs → /opt/resolve) with RPATH patching of every ELF. Bundled glib family — all five of libglib-2.0, libgio-2.0, libgmodule-2.0, libgobject-2.0, libgthread-2.0 — replaced with system symlinks. Earlier installs only swapped three; mixing system glib with bundled libgobject (4-year version skew) risks segfaults on signal emit / type registration. Bundled libc++/libc++abi are deliberately KEPT (Resolve was compiled against specific ABI versions; replacing them crashes immediately).
5. Audio fixes: DeckLink→ALSA, snd-aloop, PipeWire bridge, wireplumber default-sink exclusion
6. Hyprland windowrule (v3 syntax)
7. Desktop entries with RESOLVE_INSTALL_LOCATION placeholder substituted, system .desktop Exec lines pointed at the wrapper
8. Launcher in ~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve with HSA_OVERRIDE + ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES + DRI_PRIME=pci-<bus> (explicit tag, derived from the AMD discrete card's PCI ID) + MESA_VK_DEVICE_SELECT baked in. Single launcher template — switcheroo branch removed.
9. reset_stale_configs() — clears ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/{configs,logs} if any of these crash markers appear in ResolveDebug.txt: Unsupported GPU Processing Mode, OpenCL Context Manager failed to create context, Failed to create OpenCL context. Also fires unconditionally on fresh Resolve installs (SCAN_RESOLVE_INSTALLED != true) so any in-install failed-launch poison is wiped before the user ever opens the app.
10. Final clinfo -l sanity check + ROCm pin verification

Re-run any time:

~/Downloads/install-davinci-resolve.sh

Key files / locations

File	Purpose
~/Downloads/install-davinci-resolve.sh	The full installer (v4.1)
~/Downloads/fix-rocm-for-resolve.sh	Standalone downgrade-only script (no install needed)
~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve	Working launcher: HSA_OVERRIDE + ROCR_VISIBLE_DEVICES + DRI_PRIME PCI tag + MESA_VK pin
~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve-rusticl	Rusticl OpenCL fallback (not currently working on RDNA4)
~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve-igpu	Force iGPU (Intel) for testing
/usr/share/applications/DaVinciResolve.desktop	The single Resolve menu entry; Exec rewritten to wrapper. No user-level davinci-resolve.desktop is created (would duplicate this in walker).
/usr/bin/davinci-resolve	Convenience symlink to wrapper
/etc/pacman.conf	Has IgnorePkg = rocm-core rocm-device-libs rocm-llvm rocm-opencl-runtime comgr spirv-llvm-translator in [options]
~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/50-resolve-aloop-bridge.conf	PipeWire loopback bridge for audio
~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/51-resolve-aloop-no-default.conf	Keep aloop off default-sink rotation
/etc/modules-load.d/snd-aloop.conf	Auto-load snd-aloop at boot
/etc/pki/tls -> /etc/ssl	Symlink so Resolve's extras downloader finds Arch certs

Currently pinned packages (do NOT update)

rocm-core            7.1.1-1
rocm-device-libs     2:7.1.1-1
rocm-llvm            2:7.1.1-1
rocm-opencl-runtime  7.1.1-1
comgr                2:7.1.1-1
spirv-llvm-translator 21.1.3-1

Critical "do not"

• Do not install opencl-amd from AUR — conflicts with rocm-opencl-runtime, also has the broken 7.2 ABI.
• Do not run pacman -Syu and accept rocm-* updates until ROCm 7.3+ ships with the Resolve fix.
• Do not set DRI_PRIME=1 on hybrid AMD systems — it's the OPPOSITE of what you want when Mesa already defaults to AMD (see Root cause #2). Always use the explicit PCI tag form DRI_PRIME=pci-0000_BB_DD_F.
• Do not wrap the launcher in switcherooctl launch — it inherits the same DRI_PRIME=1 bug.
• Do not use windowrulev2 = ... in Hyprland config — deprecated in 0.53+. Use windowrule = ACTION, match:KEY VALUE form.
• Do not add stay_focused on to the Resolve drpopup tag — it locks focus inside modal dialogs (Project Settings, Preferences, Render) and feels like a trapped cursor. Cosmetic-only rules (border_size, no_shadow, rounding, opacity) are safe.
• Do not edit ~/.local/share/omarchy/ — it's git-managed by Omarchy and gets blown away on omarchy update.

When ROCm 7.3+ ships

To lift the pin and try the official stack again:

sudo sed -i '/^IgnorePkg.*rocm-/d' /etc/pacman.conf
sudo pacman -Syu
~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve   # test

If 7.3 also breaks Resolve, restore the pin via:

~/Downloads/fix-rocm-for-resolve.sh

Recovery procedures

Resolve hangs / crashes

The installer now wipes stale configs automatically on fresh installs and any time it sees a known crash marker, so this should rarely be needed manually. If you do need it:

# 1. Wipe stale config (preserves project DBs)
mv ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs.bak.$(date +%s)
mv ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/logs    ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/logs.bak.$(date +%s)

# 2. Verify the OpenCL stack is intact
clinfo -l                                       # should show AMD gfx1200
pacman -Q rocm-core rocm-opencl-runtime         # should show 7.1.1
grep IgnorePkg /etc/pacman.conf                 # should pin the rocm packages

# 3. Verify the launcher pins to AMD (NOT DRI_PRIME=1)
grep -E '^export (DRI_PRIME|HSA_OVERRIDE|ROCR_VISIBLE)' ~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve
# DRI_PRIME must be a pci-... tag, never =1

# 4. Re-launch
~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve

Crash markers the installer recognises (any of these in ~/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/logs/ResolveDebug.txt triggers the auto-wipe on next install run):

• Unsupported GPU Processing Mode — original ROCm 7.2 symptom (no OpenCL device visible)
• OpenCL Context Manager failed to create context — DRI_PRIME=1 flip / CL-GL interop failure
• Failed to create OpenCL context — DVIP precursor of the above

Hyprland config errors after edit

hyprctl reload
hyprctl configerrors    # should be empty

If errors mention windowrulev2, replace with windowrule = ACTION, match:KEY VALUE. Examples in ~/.local/share/omarchy/default/hypr/.

Desktop entry broken (app menu does nothing)

Check for the literal placeholder:

grep RESOLVE_INSTALL_LOCATION /usr/share/applications/DaVinciResolve.desktop

If found, fix:

sudo sed -i \
  -e "s|^Exec=.*|Exec=$HOME/.local/bin/davinci-resolve %U|" \
  -e "s|RESOLVE_INSTALL_LOCATION|/opt/resolve|g" \
  /usr/share/applications/DaVinciResolve.desktop
sudo update-desktop-database

Audio renders won't start

snd-aloop must be loaded:

lsmod | grep snd_aloop                          # should show "snd_aloop"
sudo modprobe snd-aloop                         # if missing

PipeWire bridge must be active:

ls ~/.config/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/50-resolve-aloop-bridge.conf
ls ~/.config/wireplumber/wireplumber.conf.d/51-resolve-aloop-no-default.conf
systemctl --user restart wireplumber pipewire pipewire-pulse

Card compatibility — confidence tiers

The script auto-detects gfx targets and applies the right HSA override for every card listed below. Confidence levels reflect how well-tested each tier is, not whether the script logic handles them.

✅ Confirmed working (tested directly)

Card	gfx target	Auto HSA value
RX 9060 / 9060 XT (Navi 44)	gfx1200	12.0.0

This is the only card where I've personally seen Resolve launch all the way to the Color page with this exact stack.

🟢 Should work — natively supported by ROCm 7.1.1

Card	gfx target	Auto HSA value
RX 9070 / 9070 XT (Navi 48)	gfx1201	12.0.1
RX 7900 / 7900 XT / 7900 XTX (Navi 31)	gfx1100	11.0.0
RX 7700 XT / 7800 XT (Navi 32)	gfx1101	11.0.1
RX 6800 / 6800 XT / 6900 XT / 6950 XT (Navi 21)	gfx1030	10.3.0

The 7900 XTX has the most community success reports. CachyOS thread has a confirmed working 7800 XT with the same ROCm 7.1.1 pinned stack.

🟡 Should work via HSA spoof — not natively supported, spoofs to nearest target

Card	Real gfx target	Spoofs as	Auto HSA value
RX 7600 / 7600 XT (Navi 33)	gfx1102	gfx1100	11.0.0
RX 6700 / 6750 XT (Navi 22)	gfx1031	gfx1030	10.3.0
RX 6600 / 6650 XT (Navi 23)	gfx1032	gfx1030	10.3.0
RX 6500 XT / 6400 (Navi 24)	gfx1034	gfx1030	10.3.0

Caveat: RX 6700 XT has been a problem child historically (see Arch BBS#284316 — one user gave up and switched to NVIDIA). Spoofing trades correctness for not-quite-optimal codegen; some effects may fall back to CPU.

🟢 iGPUs

Chip	gfx target	Notes
Ryzen 7 8000 / 9000 (Phoenix/Hawk Point/Strix)	RDNA3.5 (gfx1150-ish)	CachyOS thread had a 760M (gfx1103) hit the same ROCm 7.2 bug; same downgrade fixes it.
Strix Halo	gfx1151	Confirmed working via Distrobox per Framework Community Forum.

🔴 Will NOT work — ROCm 7.x dropped support before this script's pinned baseline

• RX 5000 series (RDNA1, gfx101x)
• Vega (gfx9)
• Polaris (RX 580 etc.) — only Mesa rusticl path, this script isn't tuned for that
• Pre-Polaris GCN

What "should work" actually means

For tiers 🟢 and 🟡: the install path is fully baked in — same package list, RPATH, audio fixes, and launcher env vars (HSA value auto-matched). What might differ between cards:

• First-launch latency — Color page can take 60s+ while shaders compile
• Performance ceiling — spoofed cards (gfx1102, gfx103x) trade correctness for slightly suboptimal codegen
• Specific features — Neural Engine, Fairlight noise reduction may fall back to CPU on some cards

Sharing the script with someone on a different AMD card

What they need:

1. Run ~/Downloads/install-davinci-resolve.sh — auto-detects everything
2. If launch fails, verify_opencl() at the end of the script tells them what's wrong
3. This notes file has all the diagnostic commands

The one thing they'd need that you don't: the DaVinci Resolve ZIP in ~/Downloads (Blackmagic gates it behind a registration form, no direct link).

Quick reference: HSA override values

For copy/paste if hand-editing the launcher:

Card family	gfx target	HSA_OVERRIDE_GFX_VERSION
RX 9070 / 9070 XT (Navi 48)	gfx1201	12.0.1
RX 9060 / 9060 XT (Navi 44)	gfx1200	12.0.0
RX 7700 / 7800 (Navi 32)	gfx1101	11.0.1
RX 7900 (Navi 31)	gfx1100	11.0.0
RX 7600 (Navi 33)	gfx1102	11.0.0 (spoof)
RX 6800 / 6900 (Navi 21)	gfx1030	10.3.0
RX 6600 / 6700 (Navi 22-24)	gfx1031/1032/1034	10.3.0 (spoof)

Sources / further reading

• ROCm/ROCm#5982 — 7.2 OpenCL Breaks Davinci Resolve
• CachyOS — Davinci Resolve + AMD ROCM fails without downgrade
• CachyOS — Davinci Resolve + AMD GPU FAQ
• NixOS#481483 — Resolve 20.3.1 OpenCL unusable on RDNA 4
• DaVinci Resolve — ArchWiki
• Sheridan Computers — libc++ rollback fix (Oct 2025)
• Arch Linux Archive (ALA) — historic packages

Things still left as future work

• Resolve 20.3.x stable — currently on 21.0 beta. Stable might handle the GPU stack differently.
• Distrobox + Debian 13 path — community-confirmed working on Strix Halo (gfx1151). Would isolate Resolve from the host's library churn entirely. Useful as a fallback.
• libc++ ABI break — Resolve's bundled libc++ vs Arch's system libc++ has bitten the community before (Oct 2025). When Arch jumps libc++ major versions, Resolve may segfault on launch. Sheridan Computers documented the rollback approach.

Quick sanity checks (paste into terminal anytime)

# Is Resolve install intact?
test -x /opt/resolve/bin/resolve && echo "Resolve binary OK" || echo "MISSING"

# Is the OpenCL stack the working version?
pacman -Q rocm-core rocm-opencl-runtime comgr spirv-llvm-translator | grep -E "7\.1\.1|21\.1\.3" | wc -l
# expect output: 4

# Is the IgnorePkg pin in place?
grep -q "^IgnorePkg.*rocm-core" /etc/pacman.conf && echo "PINNED" || echo "NOT PINNED"

# Does clinfo see the GPU?
clinfo -l | grep -i gfx1200

# Does the launcher have the env vars?
grep -E "HSA_OVERRIDE|ROCR_VISIBLE|DRI_PRIME|MESA_VK" ~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve
# DRI_PRIME line MUST be the explicit PCI tag form (pci-0000_BB_DD_F),
# NEVER `=1`. If you see `=1`, fix it before launching:
#   amd_bus=$(lspci -nn | grep -iE 'AMD.*Radeon|Navi' | head -1 | cut -d' ' -f1)
#   sed -i "s|^export DRI_PRIME=.*|export DRI_PRIME=pci-0000_${amd_bus//[:.]/_}|" ~/.local/bin/davinci-resolve