[gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
I posted this on the forums but I want some more information. I have a
bit of a dilemma. With these settings,

xf86-video-intel: 2.6.3-r1 xorg-server: 1.6.2-r1 and 1.6.3 kernel
module: i830 kernel: gentoo 2.6.29-r5 and 2.6.30-r4

sometimes when stopping or starting X my computer would freeze and there
would be no video output. However, other than that, inside Gnome Firefox
ran pretty smoothly, not incredibly fast, but not sluggishly at all.
With these settings,

xf86-video-intel: 2.8.0 xorg-server: 1.6.3 kernel module: i915 kernel:
vanilla 2.6.31_rc7


X starts and stops very smoothly without ever freezing, I think because
of the KMS. But Firefox runs sluggishly and my whole machine freezes in
Firefox frequently. According to this,
http://www.x.org/wiki/IntelGraphicsDriver, the 2.8.0 driver drops
support for XAA and EXA, but has no UXA support for my graphics card
(865G), so I think I'm getting no 2D acceleration. Could that be the
reason Firefox is so slow? As for the freezes, I think that's just
because the newer driver is unstable. What are the optimum driver and
kernel versions for my graphics card, the 865G? Also, the reason I'm
using the 2.6.31 kernel is because that X.Org wiki page says it works
best with the 2.8.0 intel driver. Oh, and what exactly is the kernel
module for and what are the differences between the i830 and i915? 

Pappy told me I should use kernel .27, and that KMS support right now
for my card is very unstable. Anyway, I just want to know the best
options right now for my card which is the 865G.

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Andrés Becerra Sandoval 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 1:00 PM, Simon Hunt wrote:
> I posted this on the forums but I want some more information. I have a
> bit of a dilemma. With these settings,
>
> xf86-video-intel: 2.6.3-r1 xorg-server: 1.6.2-r1 and 1.6.3 kernel
> module: i830 kernel: gentoo 2.6.29-r5 and 2.6.30-r4
>
> sometimes when stopping or starting X my computer would freeze and there
> would be no video output. However, other than that, inside Gnome Firefox
> ran pretty smoothly, not incredibly fast, but not sluggishly at all.
> With these settings,
>
> xf86-video-intel: 2.8.0 xorg-server: 1.6.3 kernel module: i915 kernel:
> vanilla 2.6.31_rc7
>
>
> X starts and stops very smoothly without ever freezing, I think because
> of the KMS. But Firefox runs sluggishly and my whole machine freezes in
> Firefox frequently. According to this,
> http://www.x.org/wiki/IntelGraphicsDriver, the 2.8.0 driver drops
> support for XAA and EXA, but has no UXA support for my graphics card
> (865G), so I think I'm getting no 2D acceleration. Could that be the
> reason Firefox is so slow? As for the freezes, I think that's just
> because the newer driver is unstable. What are the optimum driver and
> kernel versions for my graphics card, the 865G? Also, the reason I'm
> using the 2.6.31 kernel is because that X.Org wiki page says it works
> best with the 2.8.0 intel driver. Oh, and what exactly is the kernel
> module for and what are the differences between the i830 and i915?
>
> Pappy told me I should use kernel .27, and that KMS support right now
> for my card is very unstable. Anyway, I just want to know the best
> options right now for my card which is the 865G.
>
>

Hello,

I have a 865G too, the only combination that works for me with the
i915 intel driver is:

kernel: gentoo-sources-2.6.28
driver: xf86-video-intel: 2.7.1

Anything above that (>=gentoo-sources-2.6.29, >=xf86-video-intel:
2.7.1) fails for my setup with freezes like the ones you describe.

As my box is ~x86, I have installed many versions of xorg-server
without varying  the kernel and driver, and they worked all right.

I am thinking in giving up to using the intel driver in order to user
the latest kernel, with an /etc/X11/xorg.conf using a VESA card
configuration and I have not tested the i830 option.

Hope this helps.

-- 
  Andrés

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 03:48:59PM -0500, Andr??s Becerra Sandoval wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I have a 865G too, the only combination that works for me with the
> i915 intel driver is:
> 
> kernel: gentoo-sources-2.6.28
> driver: xf86-video-intel: 2.7.1
> 
> Anything above that (>=gentoo-sources-2.6.29, >=xf86-video-intel:
> 2.7.1) fails for my setup with freezes like the ones you describe.
> 
> As my box is ~x86, I have installed many versions of xorg-server
> without varying  the kernel and driver, and they worked all right.
> 
> I am thinking in giving up to using the intel driver in order to user
> the latest kernel, with an /etc/X11/xorg.conf using a VESA card
> configuration and I have not tested the i830 option.
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
> -- 
>   Andr??s
> 

Thank you very much! That is very helpful to know and I will get back to
you on how it works for me. Also, let me know how the VESA card
configuration works. What does that mean exactly, it's just a generic
solution?

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Keith Dart 
=== On Sat, 08/29, Andrés Becerra Sandoval wrote: ===
> kernel: gentoo-sources-2.6.28
> driver: xf86-video-intel: 2.7.1

===

I was having this problem too, until I decide to really dig into the
problem and finally have a working system with G35 chipset. 

Basically, the new intel drivers use a new acceleration system called
UXA, and this requires kernel mode switching support. Also, it seems to
use code from the framebuffer driver. So, you have to have a very
specific kernel config that includes framebuffer driver, and console
using framebuffer and the kernel must be 2.6.30-4 or above.

CONFIG_AGP_INTEL=y
CONFIG_DRM=m
CONFIG_DRM_I915=m   

CONFIG_DRM_I915_KMS=y   


CONFIG_VIDEO_OUTPUT_CONTROL=m   

CONFIG_FB=m 

CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID=y  

CONFIG_FB_DDC=m 

CONFIG_FB_BOOT_VESA_SUPPORT=y   

CONFIG_FB_CFB_FILLRECT=m

CONFIG_FB_CFB_COPYAREA=m

CONFIG_FB_CFB_IMAGEBLIT=m   

CONFIG_FB_INTEL=m
CONFIG_FB_INTEL_I2C=y   


CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE=y

CONFIG_VGACON_SOFT_SCROLLBACK=y 

CONFIG_VGACON_SOFT_SCROLLBACK_SIZE=256  

CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE=y  

CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE=m


Also emerge the latest mesa, latest xorg-server, and latest intel
driver. 

Also remove all driver options in the xorg.conf file. 

If that works for you you might then also enabled XvMC:
Option "XvMC" "true"

Just for movie playback improvements.

Works for me, YMMV.


-- Keith Dart

-- 

-- ~
   Keith Dart 
   public key: ID: 19017044
   
   =

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 03:40:14PM -0700, Keith Dart wrote:
> Works for me, YMMV.
> 
> 
> -- Keith Dart

And you don't get freezes or anything?

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
Hey, nevermind about my USB wireless-LAN card not working, it just
requires a different firmware for that kernel, I looked it up (although
the problems with it hanging still remain). By the way, I know I should
be replying to the messages I already sent right? But those messages
don't appear in my inbox, with mutt using GMail and IMAP, any
suggestions?

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
Well I tried the .28 kernel with the package versions you suggested, and
when the X server starts, it's just a black screen BUT the machine
doesn't freeze and there is video output, it is just black. These lines
seem relevant in the Xorg log:

(II) GLX: Initialized DRI GL provider for screen 0
(II) intel(0):
Setting screen physical size to 304 x 228 [config/dbus] couldn't take
over org.x.config: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied (Connection
":1.3" is not allowed to own the service "org.x.config.display0" due to
security policies in the configuration file)
(II) config/hal: Adding input device ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse

One other problem I have with that kernel is that my USB wireless LAN
card isn't seen, even though I have the correct prism54 module set in
the kernel, like in my new kernels where it works fine. By the way, if
you choose prism54 built-in, for some reason the kernel stops early in
the boot process for several minutes before continuing. Should I file a
bug?

Do you have an xorg.conf? I've been doing this without one, which works
with the other kernels.

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
And I just sent the last two messages in the wrong order because I
forgot I still only had a draft of my first message, I never actually
sent it until I realized that.

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Keith Dart 
=== On Sat, 08/29, Simon Hunt wrote: ===
> And you don't get freezes or anything?

===

No, everything seems to be working fine now.


-- Keith Dart

-- 

-- ~
   Keith Dart 
   public key: ID: 19017044
   
   =

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 04:44:31PM -0700, Keith Dart wrote:
> === On Sat, 08/29, Simon Hunt wrote: ===
> > And you don't get freezes or anything?
> 
> ===
> 
> No, everything seems to be working fine now.
> 
> 
> -- Keith Dart
> 

Okay, I did everything you said and THANK YOU! I don't get freezes
anymore BUT I don't have direct rendering, which means everything is
very slow because my CPU is doing all the work (I think that's what it
means...). Anyway, here is the Xorg log:


This is a pre-release version of the X server from The X.Org Foundation.
It is not supported in any way.
Bugs may be filed in the bugzilla at http://bugs.freedesktop.org/.
Select the "xorg" product for bugs you find in this release.
Before reporting bugs in pre-release versions please check the
latest version in the X.Org Foundation git repository.
See http://wiki.x.org/wiki/GitPage for git access instructions.

X.Org X Server 1.6.3.901 (1.6.4 RC 1)
Release Date: 2009-8-25
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.31-rc7 i686 
Current Operating System: Linux gentoo-desktop 2.6.30-gentoo-r4 #11 Sat Aug 29 
19:10:41 EDT 2009 i686
Build Date: 29 August 2009  07:22:41PM
 
Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sat Aug 29 19:45:53 2009
(II) Loader magic: 0x1da0
(II) Module ABI versions:
X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
X.Org Video Driver: 5.0
X.Org XInput driver : 4.0
X.Org Server Extension : 2.0
(II) Loader running on linux
(++) using VT number 8

(--) PCI:*(0:0:2:0) 8086:2572:1028:019d Intel Corporation 82865G Integrated 
Graphics Controller rev 2, Mem @ 0xe800/134217728, 0xfeb8/524288, I/O @ 
0xefa8/8
(==) Using default built-in configuration (39 lines)
(==) --- Start of built-in configuration ---
Section "Device"
Identifier  "Builtin Default intel Device 0"
Driver  "intel"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier  "Builtin Default intel Screen 0"
Device  "Builtin Default intel Device 0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier  "Builtin Default i810 Device 0"
Driver  "i810"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier  "Builtin Default i810 Screen 0"
Device  "Builtin Default i810 Device 0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier  "Builtin Default vesa Device 0"
Driver  "vesa"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier  "Builtin Default vesa Screen 0"
Device  "Builtin Default vesa Device 0"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier  "Builtin Default fbdev Device 0"
Driver  "fbdev"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier  "Builtin Default fbdev Screen 0"
Device  "Builtin Default fbdev Device 0"
EndSection
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier  "Builtin Default Layout"
Screen  "Builtin Default intel Screen 0"
Screen  "Builtin Default i810 Screen 0"
Screen  "Builtin Default vesa Screen 0"
Screen  "Builtin Default fbdev Screen 0"
EndSection
(==) --- End of built-in configuration ---
(==) ServerLayout "Builtin Default Layout"
(**) |-->Screen "Builtin Default intel Screen 0" (0)
(**) |   |-->Monitor ""
(**) |   |-->Device "Builtin Default intel Device 0"
(==) No monitor specified for screen "Builtin Default intel Screen 0".
Using a default monitor configuration.
(**) |-->Screen "Builtin Default i810 Screen 0" (1)
(**) |   |-->Monitor ""
(**) |   |-->Device "Builtin Default i810 Device 0"
(==) No monitor specified for screen "Builtin Default i810 Screen 0".
Using a default monitor configuration.
(**) |-->Screen "Builtin Default vesa Screen 0" (2)
(**) |   |-->Monitor ""
(**) |   |-->Device "Builtin Default vesa Device 0"
(==) No monitor specified for screen "Builtin Default vesa Screen 0".
Using a default monitor configuration.
(**) |-->Screen "Builtin Default fbdev Screen 0" (3)
(**) |   |-->Monitor ""
(**) |   |-->Device "Builtin Default fbdev Device 0"
(==) No monitor specified for screen "Builtin Default fbdev Screen 0".
Using a default monitor configuration.
(==) Automatically adding devices
(==) Automatically enabling devices
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/" does not exist.
Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF" does not exist.
Entry deleted from font path.
(WW) The directory "/usr/shar

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 07:55:16PM -0400, Simon Hunt wrote:
> On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 04:44:31PM -0700, Keith Dart wrote:
> > === On Sat, 08/29, Simon Hunt wrote: ===
> > > And you don't get freezes or anything?
> > 
> > ===
> > 
> > No, everything seems to be working fine now.
> > 
> > 
> > -- Keith Dart
> > 
> 
> Okay, I did everything you said and THANK YOU! I don't get freezes
> anymore BUT I don't have direct rendering, which means everything is
> very slow because my CPU is doing all the work (I think that's what it
> means...). Anyway, here is the Xorg log:
> 
> ...

Okay I got direct rendering to work, I think by removing the intel
framebuffer from my kernel modules. Now my graphics are definitely
faster, but not as fast as they once were before I upgraded to the 2.8
intel driver series. For instance, Facebook.com on Firefox is much
slower and laggy. And I've noticed it even in apps like mutt and less in
gnome-terminal. I haven't experienced any freezes though, and the way it
was before, it *definitely* would have frozen by now. So any thoughts on
why it is slower? Do you think it will be faster in subsequent releases?
I thought uxa was supposed to be better than whatever I had before.

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
Yes, it's me again. I think upgrading to the newest unstable
vanilla-source (31-rc8) makes it definitely go faster, but Firefox is
still a little laggy. Although Epiphany really isn't, so I think it's
just Firefox's fault. Anyway, my computer actually did freeze once. Just
wanting to provide an update I guess.

Re: [gentoo-user] Intel dilemma

2009-08-29 Thread Simon Hunt 
On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 07:06:35PM -0400, Simon Hunt wrote:
> Well I tried the .28 kernel with the package versions you suggested, and
> when the X server starts, it's just a black screen BUT the machine
> doesn't freeze and there is video output, it is just black. These lines
> seem relevant in the Xorg log:
> 
> (II) GLX: Initialized DRI GL provider for screen 0
> (II) intel(0):
> Setting screen physical size to 304 x 228 [config/dbus] couldn't take
> over org.x.config: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied (Connection
> ":1.3" is not allowed to own the service "org.x.config.display0" due to
> security policies in the configuration file)
> (II) config/hal: Adding input device ImPS/2 Generic Wheel Mouse
> 

This is probably because I was accidentally using an xorg.conf. I'll get
back to you on this later.