Hello everyone,

I'm having troubles with my install of Mandriva 2008 on my desktop. The os is running great minus one issue that makes it all but unusable. The entire OS is incredibly choppy and slow responding. My machine is an AMD x2 3800, 2GB RAM, ATI x1650 pro 256MB AGP. I'm running the latest ATI drivers downloaded today from their website, and am attempting to use Compiz Fusion.

Everything is choppy and slow, from opening menus to scrolling in websites. running glxgears immediately crashes X and restarts it.

I remember from a while ago xgl was needed to have any shot of an ATI card working. It is installed, but I'm not sure if its enabled, and I'm not sure if it's even neccesary anymore. Here is my xorg.conf:


# File generated by XFdrake (rev 230776)
# File generated by XFdrake (rev 230776)
# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf man page for details about the format of
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "layout1"
Screen 0 "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse2" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension
Load "v4l" # Video for Linux
Load "extmod"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx" # 3D layer
Load "dri" # direct rendering
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"

#DontZap # disable <Ctrl><Alt><BS> (server abort)
# allows the server to start up even if the mouse does not work
#DontZoom # disable <Ctrl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)
Option "allowmouseopenfail"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
Option "XkbOptions" "compose:rwin"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"
Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse2"
Driver "evdev"
Option "bustype" "0x0003"
Option "relBits" "+0+1+2"
Option "product" "0x008c"
Option "vendor" "0x045e"
Option "HWheelRelativeAxisButtons" "7 6"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
Option "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
Option "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
Option "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]-0"
Device "aticonfig-Device[0]-0"
Monitor "aticonfig-Monitor[0]-0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection


And here is the result of glxinfo:
name of display: :93.0
display: :93 screen: 0
direct rendering: No (If you want to find out why, try setting LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose)
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_MESA_swap_control, GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_OML_sync_control, GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_control,
GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group,
GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (2.1 Mesa 7.0.1)
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_fragment_program, GL_ARB_imaging,
GL_ARB_multitexture, GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_point_sprite,
GL_ARB_shadow, GL_ARB_shadow_ambient, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
GL_ARB_texture_cube_map, GL_ARB_texture_env_add,
GL_ARB_texture_env_combine, GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar,
GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3, GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat,
GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two, GL_ARB_texture_rectangle,
GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_window_pos,
GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra, GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_func_separate,
GL_EXT_blend_logic_op, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint, GL_EXT_copy_texture, GL_EXT_draw_range_elements,
GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_framebuffer_object, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays,
GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_point_parameters, GL_EXT_polygon_offset,
GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_shadow_funcs, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap,
GL_EXT_subtexture, GL_EXT_texture, GL_EXT_texture3D,
GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_env_add,
GL_EXT_texture_env_combine, GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3,
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_texture_rectangle,
GL_EXT_vertex_array, GL_APPLE_packed_pixels, GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3,
GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once, GL_ATIX_texture_env_combine3,
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_INGR_blend_func_separate,
GL_MESA_pack_invert, GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture, GL_NV_blend_square,
GL_NV_point_sprite, GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_texture_rectangle,
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap, GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp,
GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp, GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SGIX_depth_texture,
GL_SGIX_shadow, GL_SGIX_shadow_ambient, GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x2c 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2d 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2e 32 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon
0x2f 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon


One thing that stands out to me is that direct rendering is off, but appears to be enabled in xorg.conf.

Finally, if it matters, the screen is a 22" LCD connected via DVI and running at 1680x1024.

Thanks in advance for the help!
-Mike

Yes, I think it matters. I don't believe that you grasp the huge video workload that you are placing on your computer. Your computer components are rather meager by today's standards and your display has 1,720,320 pixels. You didn't mention how much RAM is on the motherboard. Wait. Let me guess. 256 MB.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor
2.0GHz, 1MB, 1GHz Bus, Socket AM2

In this case the L2 cache doesn't really support high resolution graphics. The clock speed is a bit low as well for the work that you expect it to do.

ATI Radeon X1650 XT Video Card
256MB, PCI Express x16, Dual DVI, VIVO
ATI - 100437750

ATI has never performed well on Linux. 256 MB is not enough to support flashy effects on the huge display that you are using.

---

The first thing that I would do is turn off the Compiz. Then get a decent Nvidia video card with 512 MB RAM on board. A PCIE X16 slot GT 8500 would work nicely. Lastly I recommend that the motherboard have at least 1 GB RAM.

Your computer will never perform adequately as a multimedia or high definition graphic computer. It just doesn't have the balls required to handle the huge amount of processing involved in creating dazzling effects on a large display. It probably couldn't run Compiz adequately well on an 800 x 600 display.

Well, it would have been terrific if you read my post before replying with a "your computer is a piece of crap" post. In the FIRST PARAGRAPH, I said the system has 2GB RAM, and 256MB Video RAM. No idea where you got the whole 256MB RAM on the motherboard, there is no such thing as Onboard RAM. And no idea why you are saying that the clock speed or L2 Cache is too low. None of this is relevent to my issue.

This machine runs Aero beautifully and achieves decent frame rates in newer Windows games. And even I know that compiz runs on almost anything. I had it running on an old Athlon XP 2400 with an nVidia MX420 64mb video card. That computer was running at 1024x768, but even when I set this machine to 1024x768 it is not any better than at 1680x1050. I even had it running on a Geforce 2 Go 16mb at 1024x768 on an old laptop.

Basically, my computer is fine, it's specs are fine, and upgrading is out of the question. Back to the questions I was looking for help with: How can I get compiz working properly? How can I get DRI to work properly?

Is the reason you decided to blow off my question and instead complain about my computer because there was not enough information? If so, what else would you like me to provide? I thought that the xorg.conf and glxinfo report were enough, but would be glad to provide more info if needed.

Thank you.

I didn't blow off your question.

You provided plenty of information. I didn't see that you have 2 GB RAM on the motherboard.

In my estimation you have a hardware problem. That's not blowing off your question. It is my diagnosis.

I did not intend to offend although it is predictable that offense would be taken. Nevertheless my intent was to say that I think you need a better graphic card that does not use ATI chips, and the display size is too big for your other hardware to manage flashy video effects on.

Maybe someone else will have a software solution that will work for your computer but I don't think that is likely.

Again, no offense intended. I would not even think of running flashy graphic effects on such a large display with that graphic card and cpu.

Thank you for the reply.

At this point I think it's safe to rule out hardware as a possibility, so at this point it is a software issue. Unfortunately, I don't plan on upgrading this PC any time soon. It is an aging machine that has already been replaced by a Q6600 machine last year. But I still do use it heavily and would really like to get linux on it so I can begin learning GUI linux. My new machine has an Intel Fake-RAID setup so installing Linux on that is a nightmare.

So I guess I'm really looking for someone who is good with the GUI and desktop effects to look through my files and see what is holding back this system. Also, would anybody know how to set that "LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose" setting that glxinfo suggests running to determine why DRI fails to work? That may help me get this figured out.

Edit: It may have been a little confusing in the first post: The machine runs great without compiz enabled. It is only slow and choppy when compiz is enabled.

Thanks again,
Mike

I just built a fake-RAID machine with Ubuntu on it. On the fake-RAID machine have you tried this?

Boot a live CD.
In a terminal window enter the dm-raid -ya command.
Then use cfdisk to create partitions on dm-0.

My machine has Nvidia fake-RAID and I installed Vista + SP1 before I installed Ubuntu so your mileage may vary.

---

I realize that I should not have made the comment about 256 MB RAM on the motherboard. That WAS naughty of me and I regret it. I don't come here to be nasty to people. I just got in a bit of a mood while I was writing my reply to your original question. I'm sorry about that. (Forgot to take my meds.)

I stand by the rest of it though. The fact that the video is okay when Compiz is disabled absolutely positively proves my point, IMO.

I had GeForce MX400 on 1680x1050 with lightspeed response of desktop and video playback. Now I'm on HD2400 pro AGP with slow 2D and other bla bla bla crapy stuff.
MS 6390
AMD Athlon XP 1800+
512 RAM
3 HDD (40, 160, 500)
What's wrong?

i have the same card GeForce MX400 and 512 ram( fedora 8 OS) running compz-fusion and SMplayer( with a mpg ,avi...) or totem ( dvd ) works fine A dvd can be a bit choppy sometimes so i turn off fusion .My 512 ram is a bit low.
but the ati/linux issue has been around for a long while .Yes they are getting better under AMD ownership
However installing a nvidia card would be best

It's sad that this topic went bad. Indeed, the hardware isn't at fault. The problem is that for some reason, Mesa libs are used instead of fglrx-related ones.

Sadly, I have the same problem and I don't have the solution…

Yves.