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I am continuing to tweak my Dell Inspiron i3646 Slackware 14.1 install further. Graphics are running quite slowly, I know that it is a low end machine but I believe it is not fully utilizing the machine's Intel GPU. For the one hour I ran Windows 8.1 on this machine before wiping it to install Slackware HD videos ran very smoothly at 1080p.
My /etc/X11 folder has an xorg.conf-vesa file which appears to be active (a change in screen resolution there to 1920x1080 did seem to influence my screen resolution which was originally quite fuzzy) and the xorg.conf.d folder is empty. I suspect this means that I am running a Vesa driver rather than the Intel driver. After changing the screen resolution output my terminal resolution (tty CLI) is very crisp using Vesa at 1920x1080x32, the screen resolution in XFCE and KDE is somewhat more crisp than before (currently running at 1920x1080 at 32bit depth) but still not very crisp. I had to manually add that resolution and bit depth to xorg.conf-vesa which up to that point had 1024x768 at 24 bit depth set as the highest resolution.
Other potentially useful output is:
Code:
drm_kms_helper 35118 1 i915
drm 229054 2 i915,drm_kms_helper
agpgart 27267 3 drm,intel_agp,intel_gtt
i2c_core 20936 4 drm,i915,drm_kms_helper,i2c_algo_bit
/dev/fb0
BOOT_IMAGE=Linux ro root=801 vt.default_utf8=0
/etc/modprobe.d/
/etc/modprobe.d/README
cat: /etc/modprobe.d/*kms*: No such file or directory
ls: cannot access /etc/X11/xorg.conf: No such file or directory
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
client glx vendor string: Mesa Project and SGI
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa Project
[ 187.349] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[ 187.369] (II) LoadModule: "intel"
[ 187.370] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[ 187.370] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[ 187.371] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[ 187.553] (II) LoadModule: "vbe"
[ 187.554] (II) LoadModule: "int10"
[ 187.577] (II) LoadModule: "ddc"
[ 187.655] (II) LoadModule: "shadow"
[ 187.656] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
[ 187.657] (II) LoadModule: "int10"
[ 187.903] (II) LoadModule: "evdev"
I would like to try to install an Intel driver if feasible, preferably recent, since the CPU (Celeron J1800) is relatively recent. I am not positive but I believe the CPU architecture is actually a 64 bit dual core Intel Atom but now branded by Intel as a "Celeron" just to confuse everybody!
BTW my attempt yesterday to compile a 3.17.4 custom kernel (partly for the experience and education) following Alien Bob's directions on SlackDocs produces a Kernel panic and fails both with or without an initrd. The stock Slackware generic 3.10.17 kernel (using an initrd) also fails with what appears to be the same kernel panic, the only kernel that boots smoothly is the huge kernel.
My /etc/X11 folder has an xorg.conf-vesa file which appears to be active
No it's not. Only files ending in .conf are considered by the X server. So you're actually using the default X settings.
Please provide the full /var/log/Xorg.0.log, preferably as an attachment (add the .txt extension then so the upload be accepted by LQ) or a link to a file uploaded to pastebin.com or similar.
PS please open another thread for your kernel issue, as that's another topic. I just hope you didn't forget to reference the initrd in /etc/lilo.conf and to run lilo afterwards.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 12-07-2014 at 04:47 PM.
Reason: PS added.
No it's not. Only files ending in .conf are considered by the X server. So you're actually using the default X settings.
Please provide the full /var/log/Xorg.0.log, preferably as an attachment (add the .txt extension then so the upload be accepted by LQ) or a link to a file uploaded to pastebin.com or similar.
PS please open another thread for your kernel issue, as that's another topic. I just hope you didn't forget to reference the initrd in /etc/lilo.conf and to run lilo afterwards.
With the kernel compilation I did reference the initrd in lilo and did run lilo afterwards. I just mentioned the the kernel compile in case one suggestion for a solution for the graphics problem was to compile myself a custom, presumably more current, kernel. Kind of saying been there, done that. I did gain some useful education from the 5 hour exercise, though this is not my first kernel compilation. I run at best a 50% success rate with kernel compilations.
I hope this works, attached is my /var/log/Xorg.0.log file.
You probably need to switch the "driver" in xorg.conf to "intel" to get full graphics acceleration. Intel has fairly good support under X actually. I'd also recommend installing the driconf Slackbuild also.
You probably need to switch the "driver" in xorg.conf to "intel" to get full graphics acceleration. Intel has fairly good support under X actually. I'd also recommend installing the driconf Slackbuild also.
How do I do that (switching xorg.conf to Intel)? I don't have an xorg.conf file in /etc/X11/ (just a xorg.conf-vesa) and my /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory is empty.
You probably need to switch the "driver" in xorg.conf to "intel" to get full graphics acceleration.
That shouldn't be necessary as the X server already tries to use it:
Code:
[ 187.372] (II) intel: Driver for Intel(R) Integrated Graphics Chipsets:
i810, i810-dc100, i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 854, 852GM/855GM, 865G,
915G, E7221 (i915), 915GM, 945G, 945GM, 945GME, Pineview GM,
Pineview G, 965G, G35, 965Q, 946GZ, 965GM, 965GME/GLE, G33, Q35, Q33,
GM45, 4 Series, G45/G43, Q45/Q43, G41, B43, HD Graphics,
HD Graphics 2000, HD Graphics 3000, HD Graphics 2500,
HD Graphics 4000, HD Graphics P4000, HD Graphics 4600,
HD Graphics 5000, HD Graphics P4600/P4700, Iris(TM) Graphics 5100,
HD Graphics 4400, HD Graphics 4200, Iris(TM) Pro Graphics 5200
[ 187.372] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[ 187.372] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
[ 187.372] (--) using VT number 7
[ 187.553] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[ 187.553] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
But that fails, probably because /dev/dri/card0 is missing. Then the X server falls back yo using the VESA driver.
Last edited by Didier Spaier; 12-07-2014 at 05:20 PM.
If you've ran xorgsetup, usually, the first device is loaded with "driver" "modesetting". Open /etc/X11/xorg.conf with any text editor, and scroll down to the first device. Look for something like this:
It should be the first device, sometimes labeled also as Device 0. Change the driver listed to intel. You also, if you add the line
Option "AccelMethod" "exa"
Try switching the acceleration method from "exa" to "glamor" and see if you can get OpenGL 2D rendering. If glxinfo comes back with the intel driver enabled with DRI, it should provide full hardware acceleration.
If you've ran xorgsetup, usually, the first device is loaded with "driver" "modesetting". Open /etc/X11/xorg.conf with any text editor, and scroll down to the first device. Look for something like this:
It should be the first device, sometimes labeled also as Device 0. Change the driver listed to intel. You also, if you add the line
Option "AccelMethod" "exa"
Try switching the acceleration method from "exa" to "glamor" and see if you can get OpenGL 2D rendering. If glxinfo comes back with the intel driver enabled with DRI, it should provide full hardware acceleration.
I never did run xorgsetup until today. Ran it and played around with the generated xorg.conf file in various permutations, first unmodified then with card0 changed to intel (from modesetting) initially without then with AccelMethod "glamor" then "exa" in sequence. I think it fails card0 and card1 and falls back on card2 (Vesa). When I comment out card2 (Vesa) xinit fails completely.
I think Monsieur Spaier is correct in saying that the Intel driver fails (set as card0 and card1) and it falls back on the Vesa driver which then fails when I comment it out, and works again when I uncomment the Vesa driver.
I think I maybe OK with the Vesa driver if I can make XFCE and KDE look less fuzzy. My tty CLI is much more crisp (after setting it to 1920x1080x32 in lilo.conf) than my X windows. BTW I commented out that lilo.conf VGA/Vesa entry (and executed lilo again) while experimenting with xorg.conf, since I read elsewhere (not Slackware) that the Intel (and ATI) drivers insist on KMS (which I am not sure I fully understand).
Any ideas on how to improve my fuzzy XFCE and KDE regardless of which driver is being used? The resolution does appear to be 1920x1080 which is correct for the monitor, it just looks fuzzy.
I wonder if that intel card is actually a PowerVR chip?
Not according to what I read on the interwebs. As best as I can tell this is a Bay Trail Intel Atom core with a relatively old and relatively slow Ivy Bridge (yes, an older generation) native Intel GPU tacked on, but obviously I am uncertain.
That Vendor and Product ID appears here. http://cateee.net/lkddb/web-lkddb/DRM_I915.html
The description is "Atom Processor Z36xxx/Z37xxx Series Graphics & Display" which you should also see in the output of /sbin/lspci.
If you google you will find that the Bay Trail devices have been subject to drm issues. This would explain why the i915 driver is failing to load. You could check for drm errors in the output of 'dmesg'.
If the Slackware 14.1 3.10.17 kernel is not working for you, then perhaps upgrading to Slackware-current and the 3.14.24 kernel will help.
.............
If the Slackware 14.1 3.10.17 kernel is not working for you, then perhaps upgrading to Slackware-current and the 3.14.24 kernel will help.
Thanks. I may ultimately do that, it is a secondary machine that I am having great fun tinkering with. As a secondary machine, stability is not my main focus, though knowing Slackware I suspect Slackware current, which I have run once before in a VM but never bare metal, is probably more stable than many "stable" distros out there.
But before then, I am having great fun tinkering with compiling a custom kernel, so far unsuccessfully. As I am typing this I am compiling the brand spanking new 3.18 stable kernel based loosely on the "huge" 3.10.17 config file. If this also fails will try to rerun it using the config file from Slackware current. If all else fails, I may wipe the root partition (I have a separate home partition) and install current, but until then I am having great fun tinkering with 14.1, which other than the minor graphics snafus is running great on this machine (only the huge kernel runs, generic panics).
I reattempted a kernel compile, using the 3.18 kernel from kernel.org and basing it mainly on my 3.10.17 huge config, since that is the one kernel that worked for me. I made very minor mods (essentially one) in the graphics drivers selections compared to what I had with 3.10.17. The upshot is that I now have a functioning custom huge kernel that boots and seems to recognize the Intel hardware and has a somewhat working driver. XFCE is much more crisp on the screen and HD videos sort of run well in VLC (but not other video players) with minimal video artefacts. Overall I consider this a success. I am attaching my new /var/log/Xorg.0.log file in case anyone is interested.
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