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Old 09-17-2004, 12:52 AM   #1
lasindi
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Registered: Apr 2004
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu
Posts: 101

Rep: Reputation: 15
NVIDIA Driver makes OpenGL Apps Unstable


I've looked all over the Internet, spoken with other NVIDIA users, and no one seems to have this problem, but I desperately want a solution. I'm running a GeForce 4 Ti4200 128MB RAM and installed NVIDIA's proprietary driver. OpenGL programs become unstable, and it's not just the apps that crash, they manage to crash the whole system. I know this because I can't restart X11, I can't switch to other virtual terminals, and the only way to get out of this is to hit the reset button. The programs are unstable to varying degrees. BZFlag almost never crashes (had it crash only once. Scorched3D on the other hand, is extremely unstable, and usually crashes within a few seconds (at most it takes a minute). Even if the programmers wrote sloppy code, they shouldn't be able to crash the whole kernel, so something must be wrong with the driver. I know it's not my distro or kernel, because I've tried this with Fedora Core 2 and Slackware 10, 2.4 and 2.6, and all of them suffered from this problem. Below is the text of my xorg.conf file. It's too bad that NVIDIA's driver is proprietary; if it's the driver code at fault, we could go in and fix it. Unfortunately, it's all we can use to get 3D acceleration.

Code:
# File generated by xf86config.

#
# Copyright (c) 1999 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
# 
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#

# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of 
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

# NOTE:  This is a NEW IMPROVED version of XF86Config-fbdev that uses the vesa
# driver instead of the fbdev driver.  Thanks to Kenneth Fanyo who pointed
# this out to me. :)

# This XF86Config file is designed for use with the VESA framebuffer.
# This generic interface should work with nearly all video cards
# (although not every card will support every resolution).

# With the new driver, it should no longer be required to have frame buffer
# support in the kernel, or to run it on the console.
#
# Enjoy! :)
# -- volkerdi@slackware.com
#

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.

    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
    Load        "type1"
    Load        "freetype"
    Load        "speedo"

# This loads the GLX module
    Load       "glx"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.

    RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
# 
# If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or other
# programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo directory
# to the end of this list (or comment them out).
# 

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/CID/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"

# ModulePath can be used to set a search path for the X server modules.
# The default path is shown here.

#    ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is
# received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may
# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging

#    Option     "NoTrapSignals"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><Fn> VT switch sequence
# (where n is 1 through 12).  This allows clients to receive these key
# events.

#    Option     "DontVTSwitch"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence
# This allows clients to receive this key event.

#    Option     "DontZap"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching
# sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.

#    Option     "DontZoom"

# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With
# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,
# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will
# receive a protocol error.

#    Option     "DisableVidModeExtension"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client.

#    Option     "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"

# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device
# (mouse and keyboard) settings.

#    Option     "DisableModInDev"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to
# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).

#    Option     "AllowNonLocalModInDev"

# Set the basic blanking screen saver timeout.

#    Option      "blank time"    "10"    # 10 minutes

# Set the DPMS timeouts.  These are set here because they are global
# rather than screen-specific.  These settings alone don't enable DPMS.
# It is enabled per-screen (or per-monitor), and even then only when
# the driver supports it.

#    Option      "standby time"  "20"
#    Option      "suspend time"  "30"
#    Option      "off time"      "60"

# On some platform the server needs to estimate the sizes of PCI
# memory and pio ranges. This is done by assuming that PCI ranges
# don't overlap. Some broken BIOSes tend to set ranges of inactive
# devices wrong. Here one can adjust how aggressive the assumptions
# should be. Default is 0.

# Option   "EstimateSizesAggresively" "0"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"Keyboard"
# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").
# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),
# uncomment the following line.

#    Option     "Protocol"      "Xqueue"

# Set the keyboard auto repeat parameters.  Not all platforms implement
# this.

#    Option     "AutoRepeat"    "500 5"

# Specifiy which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1)).

#    Option     "Xleds" "1 2 3"

# To disable the XKEYBOARD extension, uncomment XkbDisable.

#    Option     "XkbDisable"

# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a European
# keyboard, you will probably want to use one of:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc102"
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc105"
#
# If you have a Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "microsoft"
#
# If you have a US "windows" keyboard you will want:
#
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc104"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "de"
#
# or:
#
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "de"
#    Option     "XkbVariant"    "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#
#    Option     "XkbOptions"    "ctrl:swapcaps"


# These are the default XKB settings for X.Org
#
#    Option     "XkbRules"      "xorg"
#    Option     "XkbModel"      "pc101"
#    Option     "XkbLayout"     "us"
#    Option     "XkbVariant"    ""
#    Option     "XkbOptions"    ""

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver

    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver	"mouse"

# On platforms where PnP mouse detection is supported the following
# protocol setting can be used when using a newer PnP mouse:

#    Option     "Protocol"      "Auto"

# The available mouse protocols types that you can set below are:
#    Auto BusMouse GlidePoint GlidePointPS/2 IntelliMouse IMPS/2
#    Logitech Microsoft MMHitTab MMSeries Mouseman MouseManPlusPS/2
#    MouseSystems NetMousePS/2 NetScrollPS/2 OSMouse PS/2 SysMouse
#    ThinkingMouse ThinkingMousePS/2 Xqueue
    Option "Protocol"    "imps/2"

# The mouse device.  The device is normally set to /dev/mouse,
# which is usually a symbolic link to the real device.


    Option "Device"      "/dev/input/mouse0"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/psaux"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/ttyS0"
#   Option "Device"      "/dev/ttyS1"

# When using XQUEUE, comment out the above two lines, and uncomment
# the following line.

#    Option "Protocol"	"Xqueue"

# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In
# almost every case these lines should be omitted.

#    Option "BaudRate"		"9600"
#    Option "SampleRate"	"150"

# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button Microsoft mice
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)

#    Option "Emulate3Buttons"
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"

# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice

#    Option "ChordMiddle"

EndSection

# Some examples of extended input devices

# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball"
#    Driver     "magellan"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball2"
#    Driver     "spaceorb"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen0"
#    Driver     "microtouch"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "1412"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "15184"
#    Option     "MinY"          "15372"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "1230"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen1"
#    Driver     "elo2300"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "231"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "3868"
#    Option     "MinY"          "3858"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "272"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonThreshold"       "17"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of monitor sections may be present

Section "Monitor"

    Identifier  "My Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

    HorizSync   31.5 - 50.0

#    HorizSync	30-64         # multisync
#    HorizSync	31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies
#    HorizSync	15-25, 30-50  # multiple ranges of sync frequencies

# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.

    VertRefresh 40-90

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200"
    Driver      "nvidia"
    #VideoRam    4096
    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200"
    Monitor     "My Monitor"

# If your card can handle it, a higher default color depth (like 24 or 32)
# is highly recommended.

#   DefaultDepth 8
#   DefaultDepth 16
   DefaultDepth 24
#   DefaultDepth 32

# "1024x768" is also a conservative usable default resolution.  If you
# have a better monitor, feel free to try resolutions such as
# "1152x864", "1280x1024", "1600x1200", and "1800x1400" (or whatever your
# card/monitor can produce)

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       32
        Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
    EndSubsection

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"

# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the
# right of screen 1.

    Screen "Screen 1"

# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection
lasindi
 
Old 09-17-2004, 02:18 AM   #2
Kahless
Member
 
Registered: Jul 2003
Location: Pennsylvainia
Distribution: Slackware / Debian / *Ubuntu / Opensuse / Solaris uname: Brian Cooney
Posts: 503

Rep: Reputation: 30
Try an older version of the driver from the archives. I think I tried three or four versions of the driver before I found one that worked well, and that one worked very well, but I dont remember which one it was. It was definatly not one of the newer ones, they work the worst.


I have the same card as you do. Unfortunatly, I no longer have linux installed on this box, so I cant experiment again, but i know one of the older drivers worked very well for me. (99fps in counter-stike in WINE under opengl)
 
Old 09-20-2004, 05:54 PM   #3
lasindi
Member
 
Registered: Apr 2004
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu
Posts: 101

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
I went as far back as the 5336 driver, and it would only work on the 2.4 kernel, and even with that, it wasn't solved. I really would like to run the 2.6 kernel still, so do I need to get a new video card to solve this problem? If it is, I'm willing to do it, I just want to make sure it's not something else.

lasindi
 
Old 09-20-2004, 08:47 PM   #4
jev-bird
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Registered: Jul 2004
Location: USofA
Distribution: Whatever runs accordingly.
Posts: 200

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Make sure you have the correct amount of video ram specified for your card. OpenGL on my nvidia works great but only after I got the drivers installed "correctly" and edited my X config file as it says you are to do in the README. It may take a while and some tinkering with but the worst thing you can do is rush.
 
Old 09-24-2004, 12:14 AM   #5
lasindi
Member
 
Registered: Apr 2004
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu
Posts: 101

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
I managed to make OpenGL much more stable. I changed xorg.conf to use NVIDIA's AGP instead of AGPGART. Now, instead of crashing in 5 seconds, I can run Scorched3D for about 15-30 minutes before the computer completely locks up. Obviously AGPGART was part of the problem, but there must be something else, since it's still unstable, albeit less so. I also tried turning AGP off completely, and it was still as unstable as when I used NVIDIA's AGP. The full name of my card is "GeForce4 Ti4200 with 8X AGP," so does the 8X AGP have an impact on stability? My motherboard can only handle up to 4X, which is what the BIOS is set on. I also heard that the "VideoRam" option has no impact on the NVIDIA driver (i.e., that the driver ignores that option), so I can't really set the RAM to the correct setting in xorg.conf. Any idea what's the problem beneath AGP?

lasindi
 
Old 09-24-2004, 02:46 AM   #6
jev-bird
Member
 
Registered: Jul 2004
Location: USofA
Distribution: Whatever runs accordingly.
Posts: 200

Rep: Reputation: 30
Quote:
Originally posted by lasindi
I also heard that the "VideoRam" option has no impact on the NVIDIA driver (i.e., that the driver ignores that option), so I can't really set the RAM to the correct setting in xorg.conf. Any idea what's the problem beneath AGP?

lasindi
Your right. I actually just got my nvidia card and I did notice everytime I looked at my xorg conf file that part was edited out but I still get the maximum video memory out of my card. Thank god for nvidia my drivers have installed and ran opengl, 3d acceler, etc even metisse with optimal performance in a linux sense practically out the box. I had a fairly decent integrated card but now I like the nvidia much better. Hope ya get it solved.
 
Old 11-10-2004, 10:03 PM   #7
Gophy
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Sep 2003
Distribution: Debian Testing/Unstable
Posts: 17

Rep: Reputation: 0
I'm having a problem similar to this on my debian system. Did you ever solve it?
 
Old 11-12-2004, 11:22 PM   #8
lasindi
Member
 
Registered: Apr 2004
Distribution: Slackware, Ubuntu
Posts: 101

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
I finally solved it! It had nothing, however, to do with software or configurations. My motherboard seems to have been the problem. My old one had a SiS 735 chipset, and I've upgraded to a new motherboard with a NVIDIA nForce2 chipset. Same hard drive, same software and configs, zero problems. I also tried a SiS 730 mobo and though it didn't have issues with OpenGL, it seemed to be very unstable with KDE applications. So, the lesson to be learned here, it seems, is that SiS motherboards ought to be avoided. If someone has an explanation that would clear SiS of guilt here, I would love to hear it. Although the OpenGL issue was my primary motivation for upgrading, finding out that the motherboard was not the problem wouldn't make it completely worthless (I went from a 266 MHz FSB to 400 MHz and I finally get to use my video card's full 8X AGP).

lasindi
 
  


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