LinuxQuestions.org - The Running in Software Rendering Mode

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The Running in Software Rendering Mode

I have just installed Linux Mint 17.3 on my Acer Aspire laptop (two days ago) and it is still running in the rendering mode. I found a couple of suggested fixes that are not working for me.The included caution regarding using it (troubleshooting only) imply that it may be damaging is a serious concern to me. It appears that the problem with it (SIS M760GX) have been ongoing for 2 or 3 years. Is there a solution I have not yet discovered.

Are you running the Cinnamon DE? The situation you are describing arises when running Cinnamon on a system, like my ancient HP s3707c, with (by today's standards) graphically-challenged hardware. If you find that situation unacceptable, you should switch to a less-demanding GUI. I recommend Mate.

jspnow@hughes.net,

Welcome to LQ.

It is probably a good idea to choose another username unless you like receiving spam emails.

You should be able to run a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 using Ubuntu MATE 14.04/16.04:

https://ubuntu-mate.community/t/set-...-10-16-04/3553

Rock Doctor and Beach boy

Thanks for the replies.
Rock: I prefer finding a solution allowing me to continue using Cinn. I am on an Acer Aspire (2006). When I installed Linux everything on the hard drive was erased in the formatting. My hard drive had been set by Acer to have two partitions on the drive. The D contained the Acer data, etc. I do not know how removing the Acer specifics would affect the computer and its hardware, etc. What do you think about that?

Beach Boy: I would like to change the user name but did not see the option when I looked in My Profile.

Both: I am and will continue to seek a solution, and also think about whether to move to Mate.

jspnow@hughes.net,

Software rendering problems often arise with using Cinnamon and, generally speaking, it is advisable to use MATE or Xfce instead.

There is no need to do a fresh installation.

See post #4:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ng-4175571860/

jspnow:

Your Acer recovery partition is probably gone. I've got an Acer Aspire One ZG5 netbook from 2008 (Atom N270, 1GB RAM) on which I run currently a Mate DE. LXDE and XFCE work well, as did Gnome2 in it's day.

If you really want to try to get XP back (that second partition was probably a recovery partition), I have an "Unofficial Aspire_One_XP_Recovery_Disc.iso" sitting on the HDD of my desktop PC. No guarantees it'll work on your Aspire, but I'd be happy to send you a copy

Wanting XP back,

No, I don't want xp back. My question was asked because I was wandering if, by the removal of AcerD, The Linux program installation failed to detect certain needs for the machine. Such as the WIFI system, or the SIS m760GX graphics driver. Also, I have the original setup CD's if I were to roll back. Thanks for the offer though.
Is it feasible to have my Windows 10 desktop and my Acer Linux on the same network?
Thanks for your time and effort to assist in these matters.

Happy to see you don't want XP back :) Thought I'd offer just in case. The Acer partition (or lack thereof) would not negatively affect the installation of Linux.

Having a diverse set of OSs on your network should be no problem. My network includes multibooting machines that run (or have run) the following OSs: XP, Vista, Win 7, Win 8, Win 10, various versions of Fedora, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Puppy Linux, PCLinuxOS, and a few others.

To see which video driver your system is using, open a terminal window and type

Code:

lsmod | grep video\

(there's a space after the backslash). Even with a proper driver, Cinnamon really wants a graphics card with hardware acceleration; otherwise it reverts to software rendering, which is slower, and more demanding of the CPU, but should work. It's sometimes possible to use ndiswrapper with a Windows wifi driver. However, I don't believe it's possible to use a Windows graphics driver in Linux.

very frustrating thus far.

What are the dangers of running in software rendering mode? It is working but slow thus far.
The video card is SIS M760GX.
I had the wifi working until this afternoon. First it would not allow me to switch between the connection to the internet and the connection direct to my printer. Now I do not have wifi at all. I used Software Manager to install bcmwl-kernel-source and that is when I lost wifi.
I have tried to find a way to uninstall that without success.
Thanks for helping.

jspnow@hughes.net,

With regard to changing your username, you need to go to the LQ Home page:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/

Scroll to the bottom and click on Contact Us.

Which model of Acer laptop are you using?

How much RAM?

Which CPU?

Quote:

Originally Posted by jspnow@hughes.net (Post 5558217)

The video card is SIS M760GX.
I had the wifi working until this afternoon. First it would not allow me to switch between the connection to the internet and the connection direct to my printer. Now I do not have wifi at all. I used Software Manager to install bcmwl-kernel-source and that is when I lost wifi.
I have tried to find a way to uninstall that without success.

Hello and welcome to the forum :)

Just as a suggestion, you might want to change your username using the instructions at the top of the page here, lest your email inbox ends up with a boatload of SPAM in the very near future. ;)

Unfortunately, SiS and Broadcom chips can be very difficult to get working correctly in Linux. SiS is not well supported at all. In addition to what beachboy2 has requested, please attach an ethernet cord from your modem or router to your laptop, if you haven't already, and then open a terminal and post the entire results of these commands...

Code:

lspci -nnk

Code:

lsmod

Code:

iwconfig

Code:

rfkill list

Simply copy and paste the commands into the terminal and press "Enter." Then copy and paste the results into your next post. This should give folks a better understand of your hardware. :)

Regards...

Thanks to beachboy and Ardvark71. I have requested the 'user name' change.
Below are the requested data regarding my problems:

cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ lspci -nnk
00:00.0 Host bridge [0600]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 760/M760 Host [1039:0760] (rev 03)
Kernel driver in use: agpgart-amd64
00:01.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AGP Port (virtual PCI-to-PCI bridge) [1039:0002]
00:02.0 ISA bridge [0601]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS963 [MuTIOL Media IO] LPC Controller [1039:0963] (rev 25)
00:02.1 SMBus [0c05]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS961/2/3 SMBus controller [1039:0016]
Kernel driver in use: sis96x_smbus
00:02.5 IDE interface [0101]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 5513 IDE Controller [1039:5513]
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: pata_sis
00:02.6 Modem [0703]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] AC'97 Modem Controller [1039:7013] (rev a0)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
00:02.7 Multimedia audio controller [0401]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS7012 AC'97 Sound Controller [1039:7012] (rev a0)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: snd_intel8x0
00:03.0 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 0f)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:03.1 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 1.1 Controller [1039:7001] (rev 0f)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: ohci-pci
00:03.2 USB controller [0c03]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] USB 2.0 Controller [1039:7002]
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:04.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet [1039:0900] (rev 91)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: sis900
00:06.0 CardBus bridge [0607]: Texas Instruments PCI1410 PC card Cardbus Controller [104c:ac50] (rev 02)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
Kernel driver in use: yenta_cardbus
00:0b.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. TravelMate 2410 [1468:0312]
Kernel driver in use: wl
00:18.0 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration [1022:1100]
00:18.1 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map [1022:1101]
00:18.2 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller [1022:1102]
00:18.3 Host bridge [0600]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control [1022:1103]
Kernel driver in use: k8temp
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter [1039:6330]
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ lsmod
Module Size Used by
wl 6148096 1
bnep 20480 2
rfcomm 61440 0
bluetooth 430080 10 bnep,rfcomm
snd_intel8x0 40960 2
snd_ac97_codec 106496 1 snd_intel8x0
ac97_bus 16384 1 snd_ac97_codec
hid_logitech_hidpp 20480 0
snd_pcm 94208 2 snd_ac97_codec,snd_intel8x0
snd_seq_midi 16384 0
snd_seq_midi_event 16384 1 snd_seq_midi
binfmt_misc 20480 1
snd_rawmidi 28672 1 snd_seq_midi
pcmcia 53248 0
snd_seq 57344 2 snd_seq_midi_event,snd_seq_midi
joydev 20480 0
serio_raw 16384 0
dm_multipath 24576 0
snd_seq_device 16384 3 snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_midi
snd_timer 28672 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
scsi_dh 16384 1 dm_multipath
yenta_socket 40960 0
cfg80211 450560 1 wl
edac_core 49152 0
snd 69632 11 snd_ac97_codec,snd_intel8x0,snd_timer,snd_pcm,snd_seq,snd_rawmidi,snd_seq_device
edac_mce_amd 24576 0
k8temp 16384 0
pcmcia_rsrc 20480 1 yenta_socket
pcmcia_core 24576 3 pcmcia,pcmcia_rsrc,yenta_socket
soundcore 16384 1 snd
i2c_sis96x 16384 0
shpchp 32768 0
mac_hid 16384 0
parport_pc 32768 0
ppdev 20480 0
lp 16384 0
parport 40960 3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
xts 16384 1
gf128mul 16384 1 xts
dm_crypt 24576 1
dm_mirror 24576 0
dm_region_hash 20480 1 dm_mirror
dm_log 20480 2 dm_region_hash,dm_mirror
hid_logitech_dj 20480 0
hid_generic 16384 0
usbhid 49152 0
hid 98304 4 hid_generic,usbhid,hid_logitech_dj,hid_logitech_hidpp
psmouse 102400 0
sis900 28672 0
mii 16384 1 sis900
pata_acpi 16384 0
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.

eth0 no wireless extensions.

cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ rfkill list
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ rfkill list
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $

Quote:

00:0b.0 Network controller [0280]: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller [14e4:4318] (rev 02)
Subsystem: AMBIT Microsystem Corp. TravelMate 2410 [1468:0312]
Kernel driver in use: wl

Hi...

Whoops, you're using the wrong driver for this adapter. Please see here on how to correct this. :)

Quote:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter [1039:6330]
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Device [1025:0083]

There's no "driver in use" mentioned here or in your lsmod report. You're probably using just the basic VESA driver. I can poke around a bit and see if there is a solution available for your particular chip.

EDIT: If you would, please install "inxi" using this command...

Code:

sudo apt-get install inxi

And then post the graphics information from these commands...

Code:

inxi -Fxz

Code:

sudo lshw -C video

Disclaimer: Be careful with commands including "su" or "sudo" especially, as it will essentially allow root access to your system. Mistakes could possibly damage or even destroy your OS.

I also found this thread, which might be helpful.

I saw this article, too. Unfortunately, you don't have the same graphics chip so it may not work for you. :(

Regards...

Here is the data. I have not done the other yet. Thanks

cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ sudo apt-get install inxi
[sudo] password for cusfo:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
inxi is already the newest version.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 9 not upgraded.
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System: Host: Aspire-3000 Kernel: 3.19.0-32-generic i686 (32 bit gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: Cinnamon 2.8.8 (Gtk 3.10.8~8+qiana)
Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
Machine: System: Acer product: Aspire 3000
Mobo: Acer model: Lugano M Bios: Acer v: 3A27 date: 08/24/05
CPU: Single core Mobile AMD Sempron 3100+ (-UP-) cache: 256 KB
flags: (nx pae sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 1600 speed/max: 800/1800 MHz
Graphics: Card: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
bus-ID: 01:00.0
Display Server: X.Org 1.17.1 drivers: fbdev (unloaded: vesa)
Resolution: 1024x768@76.0hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.6, 128 bits)
GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.5.9 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS7012 AC'97 Sound Controller
driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: 1400 1c80 bus-ID: 00:02.7
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k3.19.0-32-generic
Network: Card-1: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] SiS900 PCI Fast Ethernet
driver: sis900 port: 1800 bus-ID: 00:04.0
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Card-2: Broadcom BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller
driver: wl bus-ID: 00:0b.0
IF: N/A state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives: HDD Total Size: 60.0GB (11.9% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: HTS421260H9AT00 size: 60.0GB temp: 33C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 53G used: 4.8G (10%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
ID-2: /boot size: 236M used: 46M (21%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
ID-3: swap-1 size: 2.08GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2
RAID: No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 61.0C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 146 Uptime: 4:14 Memory: 719.4/1950.2MB
Init: Upstart runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.111) inxi: 2.2.28
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $ sudo lshw -C video
*-display UNCLAIMED
description: VGA compatible controller
product: 661/741/760 PCI/AGP or 662/761Gx PCIE VGA Display Adapter
vendor: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS]
physical id: 0
bus info: pci@0000:01:00.0
version: 00
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: pm agp agp-3.0 vga_controller cap_list
configuration: latency=0
resources: memory:e8000000-efffffff memory:e2100000-e211ffff ioport:a000(size=128)
cusfo@Aspire-3000 ~ $

I did the wifi solution and it is now working as before.
The link regarding the rendering problem was informative, amd prompts me to say that according to the Acer User Guide my SIS m760GX has integrated 3D graphics. Thanks again.
And He is risen indeed!

Quote:

And He is risen indeed!

Amen! :)

The strange thing is that, from your report, you're using the "fbdev" driver, not the "sis," as shown in the thread I linked to. The only difference I see is that your xorg version is 1.17.1 and his was 1.15.1. I wonder if that would make a difference? It might be worth experimenting by trying the version of Mint that uses the 1.15.1 Xorg version. Otherwise, I'm not sure what to suggest at this point. :(

Regards...