[SOLVED] Intel HD 3000/Optimus very low performance

tondalar · 06-22-2012, 05:29 PM

I've been trying for the better part of 6 hours now to resolve this issue I'm having.

I have a Sager NP5165 laptop that uses Nvidia Optimus, a GT555M and the integrated HD 3000 graphics from the Sandy Bridge i7 in the machine.

Obviouly, Optimus won't work, or at least by default, but that's not what I'm after.

Since it's the integrated SB graphics rendering everything by default, performance has been very low. I run a 1920x1080 desktop, and moving windows is very choppy and the window movement itself is very slow. Chrome will also flicker constantly.

I've read that using the Mesa 8.0 or higher drivers will fix this, however I haven't been able to install them for the life of me. I've tried using the packages in the squeeze/wheezy/sid repos but that hasn't made anything better. I've also tried installing from source but the mesa package keeps complaining about a missing xcb-glx dependency. In searching for that package, I find absolutely nothing. Nothing in any repos, nothing online and not even Dr. Google is turning up anything.

So, I need some serious help, and quite probably some hand-holding since I am apparently missing something here, and knowing me it's probably something very obvious. I've been running Linux for years but I'm completely stumped here.

Like I said, at current I'm not concerned with being able to utilize the Nvidia discrete card (yet), I just want to be able to have a smooth desktop experience off the integrated SB graphics controller.

Hungry ghost · 06-22-2012, 07:13 PM

Hi,

I think the package you're looking for is libxcb-glx0. It's in all three Debian branches. How did you attempt to install the mesa package(s)? Did you use apt-get/aptitude? If you did and it didn't automatically find the required dependencies, then maybe you have something missing in your /etc/apt/sources.list, or you forgot to do an apt-get update (or both). Can you copy and paste your sources.list here to check if it's ok?

BTW, which branch are you using? In case you're using Stable (Squeeze), you really shouldn't mix it with Testing or Unstable since it can lead to a broken system.

tondalar · 06-22-2012, 07:17 PM

I've installed libxcb-glx0, in fact it was the first one I attempted after getting that compile error. And yes, initially I tried to install the Mesa packages via apt-get. I'm away from my laptop at the moment, however I made sure throughout the process to have my sources.list properly set for whichever repo I was pulling from (first squeeze, then wheezy, then sid via suggestion from a friend).

This is a fresh install, so I'm not worried about risking a broken install as not much has been done at all. I'm running Squeeze though.

Hungry ghost · 06-22-2012, 07:54 PM

If you're compiling some package from source, then you probably need libxcb-glx0-dev (preferably from the Squeeze repositories).

tondalar · 06-25-2012, 01:12 PM

Tried after installing libxcb-glx0-dev, still no go. Still failing on the same error. :\

tondalar · 06-25-2012, 02:48 PM

UPDATE:

I realized I didn't have an up-to-date libx11-xcb. That allowed me to finished the ./configure script without error. However, when running make I get the following:

Code:

In file included from nouveau_screen.c:27:
nouveau_driver.h:41:28: error: nouveau_device.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_driver.h:42:27: error: nouveau_grobj.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_driver.h:43:29: error: nouveau_channel.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_driver.h:44:24: error: nouveau_bo.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_driver.h:45:30: error: nouveau_notifier.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_driver.h:49:26: error: nv04_pushbuf.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_screen.c:31:27: error: nouveau_drmif.h: No such file or directory
nouveau_screen.c: In function ‘nouveau_init_screen2’:
nouveau_screen.c:106: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘nouveau_device_open_existing’
nouveau_screen.c:114: error: dereferencing pointer to incomplete type
nouveau_screen.c: In function ‘nouveau_destroy_screen’:
nouveau_screen.c:148: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘nouveau_device_close’
make[6]: *** [nouveau_screen.o] Error 1
make[6]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src/mesa/drivers/dri/nouveau'
make[5]: *** [lib] Error 2
make[5]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src/mesa/drivers/dri/nouveau'
make[4]: *** [subdirs] Error 1
make[4]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src/mesa/drivers/dri'
make[3]: *** [default] Error 1
make[3]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src/mesa/drivers'
make[2]: *** [driver_subdirs] Error 2
make[2]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src/mesa'
make[1]: *** [subdirs] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/turtle/Downloads/Mesa-8.0.3/src'
make: *** [default] Error 1

Any thoughts?

Hungry ghost · 06-25-2012, 05:43 PM

EDIT: Sorry, compiling with the --disable-nouveau option probably won't work since this option is not in the configure script's help (I had read in another forum it would work). So, the only option left is installing libdrm-nouveau1a from the backports.
-----

Since you don't need to make the Nvidia card work but only the Intel graphics, I think you can reconfigure the sources like this:

Code:

./configure --disable-nouveau

(You probably have to delete the untared sources, untar them again and repeat the whole compiling process).

Either that, or install the package libdrm-nouveau1a from the Squeeze backports.

Hungry ghost · 06-25-2012, 06:51 PM

I think you can disable nouveau by configuring the sources with the following command (just tried it in my machine and it worked):

Code:

./configure --with-gallium-drivers=""

Or, you could install the package libdrm-nouveau1a from the backports.

tondalar · 06-26-2012, 09:36 AM

Tried all mentioned suggestions, still getting the same error.

62chevy · 06-26-2012, 09:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tondalar

Tried all mentioned suggestions, still getting the same error.

Have you made your source code clean. Some times make clean will work or make dist-clean in the kernel but if the source is small then I just delete it and extract it again.

tondalar · 06-26-2012, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 62chevy

Have you made your source code clean. Some times make clean will work or make dist-clean in the kernel but if the source is small then I just delete it and extract it again.

Yes, I deleted and extracted the source again between each attempt.

tondalar · 06-26-2012, 12:48 PM

So, I noticed that after I installed libdrm-nouveau1a from backports I get the following message from apt-get whenever I try to install something new:

Code:

You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 vim : Depends: vim-runtime (= 2:7.2.445+hg~cb94c42c0e1a-1) but it is not going to be installed
 xserver-xorg-input-synaptics : Depends: xorg-input-abi-12 but it is not installable
                                Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.9.99.903) but 2:1.7.7-14 is to be installed
 xserver-xorg-video-nouveau : Depends: xorg-video-abi-10 but it is not installable
                              Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.9.99.903) but 2:1.7.7-14 is to be installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt-get -f install' with no packages (or specify a solution).

And if I run apt-get -f install, or anything to do with libdrm-nouveau of any variety, I get this:

Code:

 The following packages will be REMOVED:
  xserver-xorg-input-all xserver-xorg-input-synaptics xserver-xorg-video-all
  xserver-xorg-video-nouveau
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
10 not fully installed or removed.
After this operation, 975 kB disk space will be freed.

Now, I'm not wanting to just go ahead and remove those packages since it looks like I'd be left with only terminal at login, no GUI at all. Am I right, or should I in fact go ahead and remove those packages?

Hungry ghost · 06-26-2012, 03:40 PM

Have you tried removing libdrm-nouveau1a to see if the apt-get error disappears?

Code:

dpkg -r libdrm-nouveau1a

(Be careful in case dpkg attempts to remove something else)

tondalar · 06-27-2012, 10:40 AM

Removed libdrm-nouveau1a, still getting apt-get errors/issues.

Hungry ghost · 06-27-2012, 11:07 AM

Probably these errors are due to mixing Squeeze with the Wheezy and Sid repositories. What I'd do is either upgrade to Wheezy, or if you need a pure Squeeze system, reinstall Squeeze and don't mix it again with the Testing and Unstable branches. BTW, you will probably have more success with mesa on Wheezy since it has more up-to-date packages (in fact, mesa 8.0.3 is on Wheezy repositories, so you probably wouldn't need to compile anything).

Here's some info on how to upgrade from 'Stable' to 'Testing': http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/de...n.html#s3.1.11. In case you find upgrading too difficult, you could install Wheezy from scratch, since it will be easier (you won't have to deal with dependencies and a likely broken system; you'd just do a fresh Wheezy install).