HOWTO: Jaunty Intel Graphics Performance Guide

[WhiteHorse]

Ok, I made the "mistake" of upgrading my MSI Atom computer with built in Intel graphics (945G I believe) to 10.04 beta 1. Now, it boots fine. All the server stuff works fine. But I can't get it to start Gnome or Xorg or anything. It hangs at the "Checking battery state..." thing.....

I tried installing the new kernel from the ppa mainline. I also put in the grub lines mentioned to enable the drivers (i915.modeset=1)

So.....any ideas on what to do to get some sort of Gnome or graphical interface working again?

Same problem here. I re-installed from the cd which wipes all the config files but leaves all your home directories intact. Works perfect now.

[psyke83]

Ok, I made the "mistake" of upgrading my MSI Atom computer with built in Intel graphics (945G I believe) to 10.04 beta 1. Now, it boots fine. All the server stuff works fine. But I can't get it to start Gnome or Xorg or anything. It hangs at the "Checking battery state..." thing.....

I tried installing the new kernel from the ppa mainline. I also put in the grub lines mentioned to enable the drivers (i915.modeset=1)

So.....any ideas on what to do to get some sort of Gnome or graphical interface working again?

Discussion of Lucid issues belong in the Lucid Lynx Testing and Discussion forum.

[e-San]

I have read about 1/3 posts.

Ok, guys, but how to compare our performance?
Since glxgears is useless beacose, for example, we do use other cpu's on our platforms.

I've been wondering if my performance is good enougth and i do not know how to check this.

I get ~60FPS on compiz benchmark,
I use spare drivers and my xorg.conf differs only for Tiling option (thanks!).
I use ubuntu 9.10 at the moment. On 9.04 I got ~120FPS with compiz benchmark.

My GPU: Intel GMA i915.

Regards.

BTW. I'll ask some questions.

san@eeepc:~$ cat /proc/mtrr
reg00: base=0x000000000 (    0MB), size= 1024MB, count=1: write-back
reg01: base=0x03f800000 ( 1016MB), size=    8MB, count=1: uncachable
reg02: base=0x0d0000000 ( 3328MB), size=  256MB, count=2: write-combining

As far as i know, my i915 can use at last 128MB, why there is 256MB?
I own only 2GB of RAM memory. Does not he say that those 256MB's are registered on FOURTH GB?

----

Grand edit xD

WOW!

i notice a huge improvement with the 2.9.0 version!! yeah! my old laptop is finally performing like i was used to with intrepid! in short, i think all problems are resolved!

i have the 82852/855GM and have followed the safe configuration.

with this new update:

- webpages are loading faster, nearly instantly again
- webpages are scrolling as fast as i want them to using the hyperscroll on my logitech mouse, and stopping on a dime (before there was so much lag, sometimes several seconds before the page view would catch up with me)
- scrolling in man pages (in gnome-terminal), openoffice, and evince is also working correctly again
- penguin racer now runs without turning my whole screen white! i turned up all the settings and ran it at 1280x768, and i was getting 7-15 FPS. i had to turn it down to 640x480 to get a significant improvement to 12-18 FPS

see this thread for my previous gtkperf results:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php...&postcount=616

current results using same settings (1000 rounds and maximized):

GtkPerf 0.40 - Starting testing: Sat Oct 17 19:34:56 2009

GtkEntry - time:  0.93
GtkComboBox - time: 27.75
GtkComboBoxEntry - time: 18.74
GtkSpinButton - time:  4.73
GtkProgressBar - time:  8.09
GtkToggleButton - time:  5.12
GtkCheckButton - time:  4.04
GtkRadioButton - time:  7.88
GtkTextView - Add text - time: 165.50
GtkTextView - Scroll - time: 16.29
GtkDrawingArea - Lines - time: 47.55
GtkDrawingArea - Circles - time: 54.72
GtkDrawingArea - Text - time: 14.97
GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs - time:  1.73
 --- 
Total time: 378.05

the "GtkTextView - Add text" test is still the (very) weak link. why is it so slow to add text?

It seems that i have foud answer for my question.
My benchmark at 8bit (GreyScale, propably compiz refuzed to load, 100 repeat):

GtkPerf 0.40 - Starting testing: Mon Apr 12 19:25:31 2010

GtkEntry - time:  0,37
GtkComboBox - time: 14,64
GtkComboBoxEntry - time:  7,36
GtkSpinButton - time:  4,06
GtkProgressBar - time: 18,26
GtkToggleButton - time: 11,73
GtkCheckButton - time:  2,55
GtkRadioButton - time:  3,20
GtkTextView - Add text - time: 11,96
GtkTextView - Scroll - time:  5,16
GtkDrawingArea - Lines - time: 27,89
GtkDrawingArea - Circles - time: 39,91
GtkDrawingArea - Text - time: 61,39
GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs - time:  8,39
 --- 
Total time: 216,90

Good?


----
On normal concdition
- 1000 repeat
- i915 o EEEPc (Pentium M 900MHz)
- 1024x600@60Hz
- maximized
- Ubuntu 9.10

GtkPerf 0.40 - Starting testing: Mon Apr 12 19:37:37 2010

GtkEntry - time:  4,27
GtkComboBox - time: 69,03
GtkComboBoxEntry - time: 53,78
GtkSpinButton - time: 20,61
GtkProgressBar - time: 15,96
GtkToggleButton - time: 15,46
GtkCheckButton - time:  9,58
GtkRadioButton - time: 14,50
GtkTextView - Add text - time: 344,45
GtkTextView - Scroll - time: 26,24
GtkDrawingArea - Lines - time: 113,30
GtkDrawingArea - Circles - time: 210,67
GtkDrawingArea - Text - time: 133,55
GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs - time: 22,96
 --- 
Total time: 1054,41

Scarf's time seems to be very good or GtkPerf is not goot benchmark too.

ANOTHER BIG THING

Finally, I added the next lines to kernel boot options:

enable_mtrr_cleanup mtrr_chunk_size=256M mtrr_gran_size=256M

And after reboot /proc/mtrr looks like:

reg00: base=0x000000000 (    0MB), size= 2048MB, count=1: write-back
reg01: base=0x080000000 ( 2048MB), size= 1024MB, count=1: write-back
reg02: base=0x0c0000000 ( 3072MB), size=  256MB, count=1: write-back
reg03: base=0x100000000 ( 4096MB), size= 4096MB, count=1: write-back
reg04: base=0x200000000 ( 8192MB), size= 8192MB, count=1: write-back
reg05: base=0x400000000 (16384MB), size=16384MB, count=1: write-back
reg06: base=0x0e0000000 ( 3584MB), size=  256MB, count=1: write-combining

And Flash fullscreen video goes smoothly! So the problem is solved.

Yes, that's Linux way - spent a lot of time to solve issues that Windows users do not have at all

BTW, there is a bad effect also: now system detects only 3355 MB...

AWESOME (1000 repeat too):

GtkPerf 0.40 - Starting testing: Mon Apr 12 22:15:16 2010

GtkEntry - time:  1,75
GtkComboBox - time: 22,96
GtkComboBoxEntry - time: 18,09
GtkSpinButton - time:  7,02
GtkProgressBar - time:  6,90
GtkToggleButton - time:  7,11
GtkCheckButton - time:  5,14
GtkRadioButton - time:  6,83
GtkTextView - Add text - time: 202,53
GtkTextView - Scroll - time: 14,10
GtkDrawingArea - Lines - time: 64,35
GtkDrawingArea - Circles - time: 115,01
GtkDrawingArea - Text - time: 91,28
GtkDrawingArea - Pixbufs - time: 13,67
 --- 
Total time: 576,75

I removed mtrr script from first post.

Sorry for very long post, hope you do not mind. To complete information for you i have to add something more. Hope it help. Since now even 480p YT works good on full screen. Before this modyfications 360 was snappy.

san@eeepc:~$ cat /proc/mtrr
reg00: base=0x000000000 (    0MB), size=  512MB, count=1: write-back
reg01: base=0x020000000 (  512MB), size=  256MB, count=1: write-back
reg02: base=0x030000000 (  768MB), size=  128MB, count=1: write-back
reg03: base=0x0d0000000 ( 3328MB), size=  256MB, count=2: write-combining

san@eeepc:~$ cat /proc/meminfo
MemTotal:         904628 kB
(...)

Seems that memory for OS is reg00:02, rest (128MB) is reserved for GPU (I set 128MB for mtrr in grub, since my gpu can not use more than this).

[SaintDanBert]

I have the Intel GM965/GM960 integrated graphics card in my laptop.
My existing /proc/mtrr shows five registers.
When I look at /proc/mtrr, it is owned by root and is owner writable.
The contents report as five registers:

reg00: base=0x0c0000000 ( 3072MB), size= 1024MB, count=1: uncachable
reg01: base=0x13c000000 ( 5056MB), size=   64MB, count=1: uncachable
reg02: base=0x000000000 (    0MB), size= 4096MB, count=1: write-back
reg03: base=0x100000000 ( 4096MB), size= 1024MB, count=1: write-back
reg04: base=0x0bf700000 ( 3063MB), size=    1MB, count=1: uncachable
reg05: base=0x0bf800000 ( 3064MB), size=    8MB, count=1: uncachable

The script does not designate a register. Does it need to?

When the script tries to write /proc/mtrr I get "permission denied".
When I try to write from the command line, I get the same thing.
YES, I do all of this using sudo for testing before I alter my boot.

Do I need specific driver editions or kernel editions before the script
will work properly? [NOTE -- If so, does it make sense for the script to check for these pre-requisits?]


Cheers,
~~~ 0;-Dan

[e-San]

[strike] "sudo echo 'text' > file" wont work, beacose 'sudo' works only for 'echo' command. you do '>' as regular user. find workaround for this. [/strike] forget it, i am bit tired

reigames sugested (quoted in my post) to add "enable_mtrr_cleanup mtrr_chunk_size=256M mtrr_gran_size=256M" to your grub, kernel command line. it worked for me. find if 256M is for you (for i915 128M is enought).

[K.Mandla]

Unstickied at the author's request.

[pckid]

can i do this then upgrade to lucid?

[psyke83]

can i do this then upgrade to lucid?

Are you asking because you want to follow the guide, or because you already followed the guide? You can't upgrade from Jaunty -> Lucid, as it's not possible to skip distributions (well, you can upgrade between LTS releases, such as Hardy -> Lucid, but that doesn't apply to you).

If you've already followed this guide, and you're upgrading from Jaunty -> Karmic -> Lucid, you should be safe (though I wouldn't recommend to do that anyway, as there is quite some potential for breakage). As far as I understand, all PPA repositories will be disabled during the upgrade process.

If you haven't yet followed the guide, then it will give you absolutely no benefit to follow it (as the upgrade will overwrite the packages).

[SaintDanBert]

Folks,
I'm really missing something because things are not making sense.
When I look at my /etc/X11/xorg.conf, I find the following

# xorg.conf (X.Org X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
#++
# Enable CTRL+ALT+BACKSPACE to restart X-server
#--
Section "ServerFlags"
        Option  "DontZap" "false"
EndSection

#++
# All of the "generic" display and input sections
#--
Section "Device"
        Identifier      "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier      "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
        Identifier      "Default Screen"
        Monitor         "Configured Monitor"
        Device          "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

# EOF -- /etc/X11/xorg.conf

I'm running a Thinkpad laptop with an Intel PM965/GM965 video.
I appreciate any help.

~~~ 0;-Dan

[fktt]

This may be a stupid question, but would this quide be of use on 10.04 with a gma 950?

ps. I'm running the acer apire one(AOA150) zg5.