# Debug graphics issues You can use the Snapdragon Profiler and kernel commands for performance profiling of the applications. This section describes how to collect information for profiling and debugging using the kernel commands, and how to collect logs. Caution Use these commands with caution because these commands may impact the power consumption of the device. ## Capture Weston/Wayland logs You can use the Wayland/Weston logs to verify that the display driver is loaded on the device and to find the supported OpenGL ES extensions. To capture the Weston/Wayland debug logs, run the following command before launching the Weston or any other application: export WAYLAND_DEBUG=server/client Copy to clipboard ## Debug Kernel/KGSL You can evaluate the performance of your application by adjusting the GPU to different frequency levels and setting the GPU or CPU to performance mode. Based on these evaluations, you can optimize the performance of your application. ### Set CPU to performance mode 1. Remount the file system using the following command: mount -o remount,rw / Copy to clipboard 2. To set all CPU cores, replace `cpux` with `cpu0`, `cpu1`, and `cpun`. echo 1 > /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpux]/online Copy to clipboard cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_available_governors Copy to clipboard **Sample output** ondemand userspace performance SchedUtil 3. If any CPU clock is running at a low frequency, set the CPU to performance mode and verify the issue by running the following command: echo performance > /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpux]/cpufreq/scaling_governor Copy to clipboard 4. To validate the trial settings, run the following commands: cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpux]/online (cpux : cpu0,cpu1 …) Copy to clipboard cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/[cpux]/cpufreq/scaling_governor(cpux : cpu0, cpu1 …) Copy to clipboard ### Set GPU frequency 1. Remount the file system using the following command: mount -o remount,rw / Copy to clipboard 2. To determine the power level, check the `available_frequencies` sys node. cat /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/devfreq/available_frequencies Copy to clipboard **Sample output** 812000000 700000000 608000000 550000000 450000000 315000000 From the sample output, you can interpret GPU power levels as: | **Frequency** | 812000000 | 700000000 | 608000000 | 550000000 | 450000000 | 315000000 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Power level** | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3. Increment the GPU power level by one and perform the GPU power-level test by substituting `` with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the following commands: echo > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/min_pwrlevel Copy to clipboard echo > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/max_pwrlevel Copy to clipboard Note For QCS5430: - The Adreno GPU frequency is fixed at 315 MHz. - The power levels specified here aren’t supported and the output of the `available_frequencies` command displays 315000000. ### Set GPU to performance mode - To set the GPU to performance mode, run the following commands: mount -o remount,rw / echo 0 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/min_pwrlevel echo 0 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/max_pwrlevel Copy to clipboard Note These commands force the GPU to always run at the maximum frequency. - To ensure that the GPU doesn’t enter the low-power state even if the device is idle for 10000000 ms, run the following command: mount -o remount,rw / echo 10000000 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/idle_timer Copy to clipboard - To set the GPU to performance mode while ensuring that the GPU doesn’t enter the low-power state, run the following commands: mount -o remount,rw / echo 0 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/min_pwrlevel echo 0 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/max_pwrlevel echo 10000000 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/idle_timer Copy to clipboard Note QCS5430 doesn’t support performance mode because the Adreno GPU frequency is fixed at 315 MHz. ### Check other KGSL settings - To enable the KGSL clock, run the following command: echo 1 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/force_clk_on Copy to clipboard - To enable the KGSL rail, run the following command: echo 1 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/force_rail_on Copy to clipboard - To enable the KGSL bus, run the following command: echo 1 > /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/force_bus_on Copy to clipboard ## Debug OpenGL ES-based applications You can use the Snapdragon Profiler tool to capture snapshots and real-time traces of OpenGL ES applications. For more information, see [Snapdragon Profiler](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70030-19/topic/graphics_developer_tools.html#graphics-developer-tools). ## Debug OpenCL-based applications You can use the Snapdragon Profiler tool to capture snapshots and real-time traces of OpenCL applications. - For more information, see [Snapdragon Profiler](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70030-19/topic/graphics_developer_tools.html#graphics-developer-tools). - For performance profiling, see **Performance profiling** in [Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Mobile Platform OpenCL General Programming and Optimization Guide](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-NB295-11_REV_C_Qualcomm_Snapdragon_Mobile_Platform_Opencl_General_Programming_and_Optimization.pdf). Note Some sections in the [Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ Mobile Platform OpenCL General Programming and Optimization Guide](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-NB295-11_REV_C_Qualcomm_Snapdragon_Mobile_Platform_Opencl_General_Programming_and_Optimization.pdf) apply to Android platforms but not to Qualcomm Linux devices. However, some profiling options are purely based on the OpenCL API and are therefore supported on the Qualcomm Linux devices. For example, the `clGetEventProfilingInfo` API. ## Debug Vulkan-based applications Use the Snapdragon Profiler tool to capture snapshots and real-time traces of Vulkan applications. For more information, see [Snapdragon Profiler](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70030-19/topic/graphics_developer_tools.html#graphics-developer-tools). Also, you can use validation layers to debug Vulkan applications. ### Debug Vulkan application using validation layers To debug a Vulkan application using validation layers, do the following on the Linux host computer: 1. To set the source environment, run the following command: source /environment-setup-armv8-2a-qcom-linux Copy to clipboard 2. To download the validation layers, run the following command: git clone https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-ValidationLayers Copy to clipboard 3. To build the validation layers, run the following commands: cd Vulkan-ValidationLayers cmake -S . -B build -D UPDATE_DEPS=ON -D BUILD_WSI_XLIB_SUPPORT=OFF -D BUILD_TESTS=OFF -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -D BUILD_WSI_XCB_SUPPORT=OFF -D BUILD_WSI_WAYLAND_SUPPORT=ON cmake --build build --config Debug Copy to clipboard scp -r build/layers/libVkLayer_khronos_validation.so root@[IP-address-of-device]:/tmp/local/debug/vulkan/ Copy to clipboard scp -r build/layers/VkLayer_khronos_validation.json root@[IP-address-of-device]:/tmp/local/debug/vulkan/ Copy to clipboard export VK_LAYER_PATH=/tmp/local/debug/vulkan:$VK_LAYER_PATH Copy to clipboard Note If the `/tmp/local/debug/vulkan` directory isn’t available, create a similar directory. 4. To enable the validation layers on Vulkan applications, set the `VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS` environment variable as follows: export VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation Copy to clipboard 5. To edit or append the settings in the `layers/vk_layer_settings.txt` file, run the following commands: khronos_validation.debug_action = VK_DBG_LAYER_ACTION_LOG_MSG khronos_validation.report_flags = error,warn,perf khronos_validation.file = true khronos_validation.log_filename = vk_validatedump.txt Copy to clipboard 6. To push the `layers/vk_layer_settings.txt` file to the device, run the following command: scp -r vk_layer_settings.txt root@[IP-address-of-device]:/tmp/local/debug/vulkan/ Copy to clipboard 7. To dump the log, add path of the validation layers by running the following command: export VK_LAYER_SETTINGS_PATH=/tmp/local/debug/vulkan/vk_layer_settings.txt Copy to clipboard This command generates the dumps in the same directory where the Vulkan application binary exists. Note If you are facing issues compiling the application or running it, use the following commands to check out the specific version. Later, repeat the steps from 3 to 7 and recompile the application and run. git checkout -b --track remotes/origin/vulkan-sdk-1.3.275 example: git checkout -b 13275 --track remotes/origin/vulkan-sdk-1.3.275 Copy to clipboard To avoid data flush in the `tmp` directory, save the Vulkan application binary to another location. If you change the location of the binary, ensure that you update the environment variables and verify the changes after rebooting. Last Published: Jun 23, 2026 [Previous Topic Snapdragon Profiler tool](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-70030-19/topics/graphics_developer_tools.md) [Next Topic Supported extensions](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-70030-19/topics/supported_extensions.md)