HOWTO: Jaunty Intel Graphics Performance Guide

[psyke83]

I have a new jaunty install with an intel 945 chipset. I have trouble with scrolling and fullscreen flash. I have tried the various fixes in this thread without any noticeable improvements. The main reason I'm posting is to find out where the config file for the configured video device is located. It is not in the xorg.conf file. There are no specs at all in the file. Configured Monitor section is also empty. Please let me know what info about my setup and system I have to post in order to receive support. Thank you all for your invaluable help in the past and that which you all will provide to me and the community in the future. Joeray saying FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.

The /etc/X11/xorg.conf file is in fact the correct configuration file. Not too long ago, Xorg migrated towards the concept of an automatically-configured Xorg. The bare configuration file is still present in Ubuntu, presumably to make it easier for users to add driver/monitor options in the relative sections (for cases where automatic configuration is insufficient).

[Endolith]

You may not realize, but you're bordering within the territory of trolling.

So saying anything at all critical of Ubuntu is trolling?

[Arup]

Constructive criticism is fine with perspective, blatand rants just amounts to trollism.

[psyke83]

So saying anything at all critical of Ubuntu is trolling?

Not at all (within the guidelines of this forum, I suppose), but what the previous poster was saying was a distortion of reality.

[mbay2002]

Your question begins with a fallacy. Jaunty was shipped with a configuration that was deemed stable, at the cost of performance (we shipped with EXA acceleration as the default rather than UXA).

What exactly is your problem? Ubuntu, like any other distribution, is at the mercy of release schedules for upstream projects. There was no Intel driver with stable UXA (and therefore DRI2) acceleration shipping in time for Jaunty's release, so the Ubuntu developers wisely opted to revert to the more stable EXA acceleration.

Stability does not equal performance.

Hi Psyke -
Let me jump in here... first, thanks for all your help with this. I think the general frustration is that many of us assume that when a new stable version is released, we should download it and everything will work just as well as before, and hopefully we will see improvements.

When I ran update manager several weeks ago, I got a message that a new distro was available, and I elected to install on 3 of my systems that are running Ubuntu. Interestingly, only me EEE ran without a hitch... my other 2 systems required lots of hacks but are now running fine.

I don't know what the solution is, but the PROBLEM is that there needs to be an easy way to find out what is likely to break if a user chooses to install a new "stable" distro...

[joeray]

The /etc/X11/xorg.conf file is in fact the correct configuration file. Not too long ago, Xorg migrated towards the concept of an automatically-configured Xorg. The bare configuration file is still present in Ubuntu, presumably to make it easier for users to add driver/monitor options in the relative sections (for cases where automatic configuration is insufficient).

I just tried the safe mode option. Thanks to your helping me to understand how to configure the video device file, I have noticed a marked improvement over all in performance. Many Thanks to all involved. Joeray Out.

[psyke83]

Hi Psyke -
Let me jump in here... first, thanks for all your help with this. I think the general frustration is that many of us assume that when a new stable version is released, we should download it and everything will work just as well as before, and hopefully we will see improvements.

When I ran update manager several weeks ago, I got a message that a new distro was available, and I elected to install on 3 of my systems that are running Ubuntu. Interestingly, only me EEE ran without a hitch... my other 2 systems required lots of hacks but are now running fine.

I don't know what the solution is, but the PROBLEM is that there needs to be an easy way to find out what is likely to break if a user chooses to install a new "stable" distro...

Perhaps it was some kind of rhetorical question, but what you're asking for is the release notes - they exist, and they are always available on the day of each new release. The issue of potential performance regressions with Intel drivers was documented.

See: http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/rele...known%20issues

It would be nice to have a link to the release notes via the upgrade manager to make them more accessible, though.

[markbl]

The issue of potential performance regressions with Intel drivers was documented.

"Performance regression" is one thing though, "Unusable" is what many of us actually get. My laptop was simply unusable after I upgraded to jaunty, after running intrepid and earlier releases just fine. Video and games stuttered, desktop/compiz struggled, etc. That's what brought me here (and thanks for the semi-workaround).

I personally struggle to understand how ubuntu were happy to release jaunty like this given the enormous number of laptop + intel video users out there. This is one big killer issue and it has a low potential of being fixed in the near term, certainly unlikely within this release. Jaunty is looking like being ubuntu's "Vista".

[psyke83]

"Performance regression" is one thing though, "Unusable" is what many of us actually get. My laptop was simply unusable after I upgraded to jaunty, after running intrepid and earlier releases just fine. Video and games stuttered, desktop/compiz struggled, etc. That's what brought me here (and thanks for the semi-workaround).

I personally struggle to understand how ubuntu were happy to release jaunty like this given the enormous number of laptop + intel video users out there. This is one big killer issue and it has a low potential of being fixed in the near term, certainly unlikely within this release. Jaunty is looking like being ubuntu's "Vista".

I understand your frustration, but you have to understand that this issue did not affect all Intel graphics users - you (and I) were the unlucky ones.

Whilst I found the problem with video performance somewhat irritating, every other aspect of Jaunty was an improvement over Intrepid in my eyes (extremely fast boot, better PulseAudio integration, good general responsiveness, etc.).

Let's imagine the possible choices that the Ubuntu developers were presented with:

• Keep the 2.4 Intel driver. Then DRI would break for a lot of users (due to the Xorg server and DRM kernel changes).
• Keep the entire Xorg stack at the same version as Intrepid. What's the point, when you can just keep Intrepid installed?
• Delay the release until an Intel driver with better performance was released. Do you honestly think it would be wise to delay the entire distribution because of one driver that presents issues for a subset of users?

In reality, two feasible choices existed - either:

• to include the latest Intel driver with the new UXA acceleration method enabled by default (faster, but causes system freezes), or;
• include the latest Intel driver with the older EXA acceleration method enabled by default (slower, but it doesn't cause system freezes).

The developers chose the safest option - I would appreciate if you (or anyone) could suggest something better? The bugs are filed, the issues are being investigated, and (official) fixes will eventually arrive.

[markbl]

I don't have the technical background to propose the best way that ubuntu could have attacked this but I suspect that this problem affects *way* more people than you allude to and thus ubuntu could have perhaps identified this as a killer issue in the lead up to jaunty release and thrown more resources at the problem. Quite simply, the solution chosen is as unpalatable as the others.

For the few here who have expressed frustration, I bet there are *plenty more* others and new users who tried out the latest ubuntu on their intel laptop and then simply tossed the disk into the bin and gone back to Windows. There would be plenty more again who probably just live with their latest ubuntu installation and just think that "ubuntu doesn't work very well".

I really appreciate your work and comments here psyke83. I just think this is the worst bug I've ever seen in a ubuntu release from the perspective of one long time ubuntu user. Ok, it may not be their explicit fault but unfortunately it rubs some shine off the ubuntu reputation.