Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Richard Owlett]

On 05/31/2017 04:41 PM, Anil Duggirala wrote:

[snip]

... Is it possible that
installing Mate caused trouble of some sort. ...
I appreciate any help. For now, my plan, when I have time, is to
reinstall Debian Stretch, dont touch anything and configure to load
intel driver, and hope that any issues have been resolved.
thanks,



Stretch is due to make the transition from Testing to Stable in about 
two weeks IIRC. There are several upstream bug fixes for Mate in the 
works for that transition.

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Anil Duggirala]

On Wed, 2017-05-31 at 19:50 +, Curt wrote:
> On 2017-05-31, Anil Duggirala  wrote:
> > 
> > Hello,
> > I was just wondering if you could confirm that I am now using the
> > intel
> > driver, I dont know how to check this in my Xorg log. I am still
> > having
> 
> This used to grep accurately for the pertinent info (if things
> haven't
> changed--I'm still on Wheezy (asthmatic cough)):
> 
>  grep -B4 'Module class: X.Org Video Driver' /var/log/Xorg.0.log
> 
> (adjust path to log to wherever your log is living if it is living
> elsewhere though I doubt it).
> 

Thanks guys, the output of grep -B4 'Module class: X.Org Video Driver'
~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log is 
[58.352] (II) LoadModule: "intel"
[58.353] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/intel_drv.so
[58.380] (II) Module intel: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[58.380]    compiled for 1.19.0, module version = 2.99.917
[58.380]    Module class: X.Org Video Driver

So that makes it clear, the intel driver is bein used, is there
anything else I can do to improve my graphics. Is it possible that
installing Mate caused trouble of some sort. I tell you the truth, my
solution to many problems has been to simply reinstall the system. I
believe my system is not correctly configured in some way, for example,
composing this email in Evolution in the little composer window, if I
want to delete several words of text and press and hold my backspace
key, it goes back at a certain speed, so I have to wait to see how back
I will be taken with the time I have held pressed the backspace key.
Performance is just not good in general, and I believe this laptop
should certainly be able to handle Gnome, and guessing I would have
issues with any other DE.
I appreciate any help. For now, my plan, when I have time, is to
reinstall Debian Stretch, dont touch anything and configure to load
intel driver, and hope that any issues have been resolved.
thanks,

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Ben Caradoc-Davies]

On 01/06/17 02:25, Greg Wooledge wrote:

I have pasted my Xorg.log here
https://paste.debian.net/955691thanks a lot,

Please make sure you put whitespace after the URL.  From
https://paste.debian.net/955691 :


Or surround the URL with angle brackets 
likethis to delimit it from surrounding 
text.


Appendix C of RFC 3986  
recommends delimiting URIs in plain text with angle brackets. This is 
especially useful for URLs used in flowing text where the interpretation 
of trailing punctuation might be ambiguous.


Kind regards,

--
Ben Caradoc-Davies 
Director
Transient Software Limited 
New Zealand

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Greg Wooledge]

On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 07:50:09PM +, Curt wrote:
> This used to grep accurately for the pertinent info (if things haven't
> changed--I'm still on Wheezy (asthmatic cough)):
> 
>  grep -B4 'Module class: X.Org Video Driver' /var/log/Xorg.0.log
> 
> (adjust path to log to wherever your log is living if it is living
> elsewhere though I doubt it).

Just for posterity, in stretch, the Xorg.0.log file is in /var/log/ if
you run startx as root, or use a display manager; or ~/.local/share/xorg/
if you run startx as a non-root user.

(Also, you may want grep -FB4 there, since you're using . as a literal
dot rather than a single-character wildcard expression.  Not likely to
matter much in reality, but hey.)

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Curt]

On 2017-05-31, Anil Duggirala  wrote:
>
> Hello,
> I was just wondering if you could confirm that I am now using the intel
> driver, I dont know how to check this in my Xorg log. I am still having

This used to grep accurately for the pertinent info (if things haven't
changed--I'm still on Wheezy (asthmatic cough)):

 grep -B4 'Module class: X.Org Video Driver' /var/log/Xorg.0.log

(adjust path to log to wherever your log is living if it is living
elsewhere though I doubt it).

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Pascal Hambourg]

Le 31/05/2017 à 16:25, Greg Wooledge a écrit :

On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 09:15:20AM -0500, Anil Duggirala wrote:

I was just wondering if you could confirm that I am now using the intel
driver, I dont know how to check this in my Xorg log.


You simply read it until you find the driver lines.

https://paste.debian.net/955691 :

 69 [57.769] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Chipsets:
 70 i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G,
 71 915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM,
 72 Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, 
Q33,
 73 GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43
 74 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) HD Graphics
 75 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics
 76 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Pro Graphics


The above lines are not enough. They just mean that the intel driver has 
been loaded, not that it is actually used. You must read further for 
many more "intel" lines.

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Greg Wooledge]

On Wed, May 31, 2017 at 09:15:20AM -0500, Anil Duggirala wrote:
> I was just wondering if you could confirm that I am now using the intel
> driver, I dont know how to check this in my Xorg log.

You simply read it until you find the driver lines.

> I have pasted my Xorg.log here
> https://paste.debian.net/955691thanks a lot,

Please make sure you put whitespace after the URL.  From
https://paste.debian.net/955691 :

 69 [57.769] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Chipsets:
 70 i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G,
 71 915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM,
 72 Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, 
Q33,
 73 GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43
 74 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) HD Graphics
 75 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Graphics
 76 [57.772] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Iris(TM) Pro Graphics

etc.

It's not that hard to find.  Compare to your previous X log that had
modeset driver lines.

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Anil Duggirala]

Hello,
I was just wondering if you could confirm that I am now using the intel
driver, I dont know how to check this in my Xorg log. I am still having
an issue I do believe pertains to Gnome. The Applications menu in Gnome
Classic is sluggish at best, as I described before, moving the mouse
around it starts to dramatically increase cpu use, if I am playing a
video and then go to this menu, the video starts freezing. Also, my
scrolling is still not as smooth as it is in Windows (sorry for this
comparison, but it is what I have). Or, for example, the Gnome
animations upon closing or opening a window or in the Desktop Overview,
are not smooth. I believe I still dont have the best graphics
configuration and would like more help. I have pasted my Xorg.log here
https://paste.debian.net/955691thanks a lot,



On Sat, May 27, 2017, at 10:12 AM, Anil Duggirala wrote:
> Hello, I am looking at 2 new threads in my Inbox, which one are we
> going to follow ??> I pasted my new Xorg.log here 
> https://paste.debian.net/945756
> The situation has definitely improved,
> In my previous post  (in the other thread) I used the word completely,
> because I was missing the cp command. I checked to see if there was an
> xorg.conf file there, there wasnt, so I went ahead and copied.> thanks a lot 
> guys, I appreciate it,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Anil Duggirala]

Hello, I am looking at 2 new threads in my Inbox, which one are we going
to follow ??I pasted my new Xorg.log here https://paste.debian.net/945756
The situation has definitely improved,
In my previous post  (in the other thread) I used the word completely,
because I was missing the cp command. I checked to see if there was an
xorg.conf file there, there wasnt, so I went ahead and copied.thanks a lot 
guys, I appreciate it,

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell) (was: Oh no something has gone wrong! after...)

[Anil Duggirala]

> However, in https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00767.html he
> provided a pastebin (now expired) of Xorg.0.log that reported the
> modeset(0)
> driver in use.
> 
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00781.html explained how
> he
> could try configuring use of the Intel driver. 

Hi. thanks, I have followed those instructions completely now and the
situation improved notably, scrolling my Inbox and in LibreOffice is
better. I also noticed that right after logging in, previously the
screen would show the black terminal screen (again) while loading the
desktop, now I see a prettier gray Gnome background at that time. 
I have also uninstalled Mate (uninstalled all packages with "mate"
string in them), it seemed to make things (graphics) worst, and also
choosing an item from Places in the top bar in Gnome Classic would open
Caja instead of Files, it also made the Applications menu notably
slower. Should I take any other steps at completely removing Mate??
I dont know if my graphics are perfect now, but at least I can work
nicely in my PC now. Isnt using the Intel driver usually a better option
than using another?? I really need to learn about this (modeset) things
to be able to figure out what driver I am using.
thanks a lot,

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Michael Milliman]

Looks like this will probably top-post, or perhaps not have any quoted
material...I'm using mobile device at the moment, my apologies.
The last time I had to mess with anything Xorg was with the xorg.conf filr,
but that may well have been 10+ years ago.  I've probably forgotten more
than I ever knew about it now.  The conf file vs. conf.d directory has
become a common motif these days. I use the /etc/apt/sources.list.d
directory extensively on my system; it is the same principle (other than
not being optional).  Thanks for all the info, Felix, I have learned a lot,
though this was not originally my thread.  Hopefully, the OP has learned
some as well.

73's,
de WB5VQX -- The Very Quick X-ray

On May 26, 2017 21:48, "Felix Miata"  wrote:

Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 20:23 (UTC-0500):

> ...Does this cp command overwrite an existing
> xorg.conf.  AIR, the xorg.conf is no longer required (of course I've
> slept several times since I think I saw that :) ).
xorg.conf is an optional file that is unnecessary and not present for the
vast
majority of users for all generations of Xorg going back too far to
remember,
probably getting close to 10 years, maybe longer. The primary and large
exception is users of proprietary NVidia driver users.

> If it is overwriting,
> perhaps it would be a good idea if the OP preserved the existing
> xorg.conf in case the new one borks the system worse (always possible
> when messing with the drivers).

I don't know of any reason why a fresh Stretch installation to Intel gfx
would
have xorg.conf. He wouldn't be overwriting an existing unless he created it
himself.

> Well, as I wrote this, I took a look, and on my system (Stretch, with an
> amd processor and Radeon graphics) the etc/X11/xord.conf.d/ directory
> does not even exist.

Both xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d/ are optional. Most distros either create an
empty xorg.conf.d/, or populate one with a small number of tweaks specific
to
various combinations of hardware and/or software. A common one contains
exclusively keyboard configuration. Mine enables Ctrl-Alt-BS, which IIRC is
disabled by default in upstream Xorg.

xorg.conf is a comprehensive file. xorg.conf.d/ is designed for presence of
multiple files, each optional, each designed to address specific components.
IIRC, presence in xorg.conf.d/ inconsistent with anything in xorg.conf if it
exists overrides it.
--
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Felix Miata]

Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 20:23 (UTC-0500):

> ...Does this cp command overwrite an existing
> xorg.conf.  AIR, the xorg.conf is no longer required (of course I've
> slept several times since I think I saw that :) ).
xorg.conf is an optional file that is unnecessary and not present for the vast
majority of users for all generations of Xorg going back too far to remember,
probably getting close to 10 years, maybe longer. The primary and large
exception is users of proprietary NVidia driver users.

> If it is overwriting,
> perhaps it would be a good idea if the OP preserved the existing
> xorg.conf in case the new one borks the system worse (always possible
> when messing with the drivers).

I don't know of any reason why a fresh Stretch installation to Intel gfx would
have xorg.conf. He wouldn't be overwriting an existing unless he created it 
himself.

> Well, as I wrote this, I took a look, and on my system (Stretch, with an
> amd processor and Radeon graphics) the etc/X11/xord.conf.d/ directory
> does not even exist.

Both xorg.conf and xorg.conf.d/ are optional. Most distros either create an
empty xorg.conf.d/, or populate one with a small number of tweaks specific to
various combinations of hardware and/or software. A common one contains
exclusively keyboard configuration. Mine enables Ctrl-Alt-BS, which IIRC is
disabled by default in upstream Xorg.

xorg.conf is a comprehensive file. xorg.conf.d/ is designed for presence of
multiple files, each optional, each designed to address specific components.
IIRC, presence in xorg.conf.d/ inconsistent with anything in xorg.conf if it
exists overrides it.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Michael Milliman]

On 05/26/2017 08:03 PM, Felix Miata wrote:
> Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 19:40 (UTC-0500):
> 
>> OK, so the question is, since he is using the default modeset(0) driver,
>> what can he do,if anything, to install and try the Intel driver instead
>> and see if it works better?
> 
> In https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00781.html I explained how,
> but he hasn't written here whether he tried or not. I asked for another
> Xorg.0.log, in order to find that out (among other things), but that hasn't
> happened.
> 
Yes, I remember that post earlier in the thread.  I have however, slept
since then :) The OP has not AFAICT performed the cp command to install
the xorg.conf file. Does this cp command overwrite an existing
xorg.conf.  AIR, the xorg.conf is no longer required (of course I've
slept several times since I think I saw that :) ). If it is overwriting,
perhaps it would be a good idea if the OP preserved the existing
xorg.conf in case the new one borks the system worse (always possible
when messing with the drivers).

> If the Intel driver has already been tried, then his focus probably needs to 
> be
> shifted to hunting down anything to be tried that's specific to his Braswell
> chipset generation.
> 
> One possible thing to try (which AFAICT can't work in Gnome), is disabling of
> compositing. Whether Mate can work with compositing disabled ...
As Mate is a fork of Gnome (Gnome 2 to be exact) I would suspect that if
Gnome will not work without compositing, Mate would not either.  But,
the current Gnome desktop is Gnome3, and has been for some time, so
perhaps the Mate fork is early enough that it may run without
compositing (but I wouldn't put MY money on it.  As I run Mate, I guess
I could try it and see.  As I know what changes I'm making, if I bork
the system, I can always fix it with a console log-in :).
...I have no idea, but
> I know it can in Plasma and TDE, and most likely also in IceWM, LXDE and other
> lightweights. I do it, when necessary, or desirable, globally, via
> /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-extensions.conf:
Well, as I wrote this, I took a look, and on my system (Stretch, with an
amd processor and Radeon graphics) the etc/X11/xord.conf.d/ directory
does not even exist.
> 
>   Section "Extensions"
>   Option  "Composite" "Disable"
>   EndSection
> 

-- 
73's,
WB5VQX -- The Very Quick X-ray

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Felix Miata]

Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 19:40 (UTC-0500):

> OK, so the question is, since he is using the default modeset(0) driver,
> what can he do,if anything, to install and try the Intel driver instead
> and see if it works better?

In https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00781.html I explained how,
but he hasn't written here whether he tried or not. I asked for another
Xorg.0.log, in order to find that out (among other things), but that hasn't
happened.

If the Intel driver has already been tried, then his focus probably needs to be
shifted to hunting down anything to be tried that's specific to his Braswell
chipset generation.

One possible thing to try (which AFAICT can't work in Gnome), is disabling of
compositing. Whether Mate can work with compositing disabled I have no idea, but
I know it can in Plasma and TDE, and most likely also in IceWM, LXDE and other
lightweights. I do it, when necessary, or desirable, globally, via
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/70-extensions.conf:

Section "Extensions"
Option  "Composite" "Disable"
EndSection
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Michael Milliman]

On 05/26/2017 07:35 PM, Felix Miata wrote:
> Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 19:06 (UTC-0500):
> 
>> I hadn't checked the posts in the pastebin.  As I
>> stated, the problem is a little over my head at this point, so I'm not
>> sure what the modeset(0) driver being in use actually means, as the OP
> 
> It means he's most likely using the default Stretch Xorg driver configuration
> for Intel gfx
> 
>> also indicated.  At this point, he, and I for that matter, doesn't know
>> even whether that is correct, and if not what the alternative is or how
>> to configure for that alternative.
> The short story is that for some Intel users the Intel driver works better, 
> for
> other Intel users Xorg's integral modeset(0) driver works better, and for some
> Intel users, neither are satisfactory. Whether either driver is "correct"
> depends on the particular gfx hardware version.
> 
> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item=Ubuntu-Debian-Abandon-Intel-DDX
> is the only default Intel driver change announcement I can recall seeing.
> 
OK, so the question is, since he is using the default modeset(0) driver,
what can he do,if anything, to install and try the Intel driver instead
and see if it works better?
-- 
73's,
WB5VQX -- The Very Quick X-ray

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Felix Miata]

Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 19:06 (UTC-0500):

> I hadn't checked the posts in the pastebin.  As I
> stated, the problem is a little over my head at this point, so I'm not
> sure what the modeset(0) driver being in use actually means, as the OP

It means he's most likely using the default Stretch Xorg driver configuration
for Intel gfx

> also indicated.  At this point, he, and I for that matter, doesn't know
> even whether that is correct, and if not what the alternative is or how
> to configure for that alternative.
The short story is that for some Intel users the Intel driver works better, for
other Intel users Xorg's integral modeset(0) driver works better, and for some
Intel users, neither are satisfactory. Whether either driver is "correct"
depends on the particular gfx hardware version.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item=Ubuntu-Debian-Abandon-Intel-DDX
is the only default Intel driver change announcement I can recall seeing.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell)

[Michael Milliman]

On 05/26/2017 06:59 PM, Felix Miata wrote:
> Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 18:18 (UTC-0500):
> 
>> ...someone mentioned checking if the package
>> xserver-xorg-video-intel was installed on your system.  This package
>> should be installed if it is not.
> 
> He already reported in
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00785.html
> that it is installed
> 
>   dpkg -l | grep intel:...
>   ii  xserver-xorg-video-intel2:2.99.917+git20161206-1
> 
> However, in https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00767.html he
> provided a pastebin (now expired) of Xorg.0.log that reported the modeset(0)
> driver in use.
> 
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00781.html explained how he
> could try configuring use of the Intel driver. Subsequently OP reported Gnome 
> to
> be working, but also that unsatisfactory AV playback in Totem remains, even in
> Mate, plus he sees poor scrolling behavior in LibreOffice.
Thanks, Felix.  I hadn't checked the posts in the pastebin.  As I
stated, the problem is a little over my head at this point, so I'm not
sure what the modeset(0) driver being in use actually means, as the OP
also indicated.  At this point, he, and I for that matter, doesn't know
even whether that is correct, and if not what the alternative is or how
to configure for that alternative.

He (the OP) also reports a problem with the mate desktop background.
But this is a separate issue with mate desktop (which is a fork of the
Gnome2 [now defunct] desktop), which currently has a bug reported.

> 

-- 
73's,
WB5VQX -- The Very Quick X-ray

Re: Poor X performance with Intel 8086:22b1 (Braswell) (was: Oh no something has gone wrong! after...)

[Felix Miata]

Michael Milliman composed on 2017-05-26 18:18 (UTC-0500):

> ...someone mentioned checking if the package
> xserver-xorg-video-intel was installed on your system.  This package
> should be installed if it is not.

He already reported in
https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00785.html
that it is installed

dpkg -l | grep intel:...
ii  xserver-xorg-video-intel2:2.99.917+git20161206-1

However, in https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00767.html he
provided a pastebin (now expired) of Xorg.0.log that reported the modeset(0)
driver in use.

https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/05/msg00781.html explained how he
could try configuring use of the Intel driver. Subsequently OP reported Gnome to
be working, but also that unsatisfactory AV playback in Totem remains, even in
Mate, plus he sees poor scrolling behavior in LibreOffice.
-- 
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/