Nvidia graphic card: lower resolution, glx performance for one user

NightStranger · 08-24-2013, 02:15 AM

Distro: Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx)
--------------------------------------------------

Hallo forum

in my system I have installed a Nvidia graphic card:

Code:

lspci:

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6610 XL] (rev a2)

I have installed Nvidia's proprietary driver

Code:

dpkg -l nvidia*

[...]
ii  nvidia-173                        173.14.22-0ubuntu11.2             NVIDIA binary Xorg driver, kernel module and VDPAU library
[...]

For settings, I use "NVIDIA X Server Settings", but I mainly use the default settings.
Only screen resolution is changed from "Auto" to 1920 x 1200
I got the modification saved in xorg.conf (not merged).

Now, xorg.conf looks like this:

Code:

# nvidia-settings: X configuration file generated by nvidia-settings
# nvidia-settings:  version 1.0  (buildd@palmer)  Fri Apr  9 10:35:18 UTC 2010

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "Layout0"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    Option         "Xinerama" "0"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "mouse"
    Option         "Protocol" "auto"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/psaux"
    Option         "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
    Option         "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    # generated from default
    Identifier     "Keyboard0"
    Driver         "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    # HorizSync source: edid, VertRefresh source: edid
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Unknown"
    ModelName      "Samsung SyncMaster"
    HorizSync       30.0 - 94.0
    VertRefresh     56.0 - 75.0
    Option         "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "GeForce 6610 XL"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "TwinView" "0"
    Option         "TwinViewXineramaInfoOrder" "CRT-0"
    Option         "metamodes" "1920x1200 +0+0"
    SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Login as 1st user (admin), the screen resolution starts with 1920x1200 as expected.
The GLX performance looks like this which seems OK.

Code:

glxgears
Running synchronized to the vertical refresh.  The framerate should be
approximately the same as the monitor refresh rate.
27252 frames in 5.0 seconds
27782 frames in 5.0 seconds
27776 frames in 5.0 seconds

CPU load is up to 100 % (is this normal?)

When I log in as 2nd user (no admin), the screen resolution starts with 1280x1024 instead of 1920x1200

GLX performance is also much worse:

Code:

 glxgears
Running synchronized to the vertical refresh.  The framerate should be
approximately the same as the monitor refresh rate.
6807 frames in 5.0 seconds
6907 frames in 5.0 seconds
6963 frames in 5.0 seconds
6825 frames in 5.0 seconds

GLX-info looks like this:

Code:

 glxinfo
name of display: :0.0
display: :0  screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
server glx version string: 1.4
server glx extensions:
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, 
    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGI_swap_control, 
    GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_NV_float_buffer, 
    GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float
client glx vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, 
    GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_SGI_video_sync, 
    GLX_NV_swap_group, GLX_NV_video_out, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, 
    GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_NV_float_buffer, GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float, 
    GLX_EXT_fbconfig_packed_float, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, 
    GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB, GLX_NV_present_video
GLX version: 1.3
GLX extensions:
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, 
    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGI_swap_control, 
    GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_NV_float_buffer, 
    GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float, GLX_ARB_get_proc_address
OpenGL vendor string: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL renderer string: GeForce 6610 XL/PCI/SSE2/3DNOW!
OpenGL version string: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 173.14.22
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.20 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
OpenGL extensions:
[...]

The display is a flat screen Samsung 244T connected via VGA.

Additional issues (both admin and no-admin)

When I just scroll the views (e. g. browser) with my mouse wheel, the motion looks "bumpy" (not smooth) and the CPU load goes up to 100 % (AMD Sempron 2800+, 1,5 GB RAM).

Who can help me to trace and solve this problem?

thanks in advance and kind regards

Rai

cascade9 · 08-24-2013, 02:36 AM

10.04 is end of life, out of support (for desktop use). Upgrade to a newer version, or a different distro.

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Releases

glxgears is not a benchmark.

nVidia 6XXX cards (including the very rare 'GeForce 6610 XL' model) should use the 195.36 drivers with 10.04, up to the 304.XX drivers with newer/current distros. 173.XX will work, but the newer drivers work better.

astrogeek · 08-24-2013, 02:41 AM

You might want to at least get the latest driver, 195.36 if cascade is correct.

But Nvidia keeps per user configs so you could easily have different settings for each user. To set it as each user run NvidiaConfig.

Also, as noted, glxgears is not a good benchmark.

NightStranger · 08-28-2013, 12:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrogeek

But Nvidia keeps per user configs so you could easily have different settings for each user.

That is, what I also suspect. But I could not find any nvidia related config file in the user's home directory. Do you have an idea, where the user settings can be found?

Quote:

To set it as each user run NvidiaConfig.

I also tried this, but the settings are not stored for the next log in. So I consider to delete the user settings, if I find them, and use the system settings instead.

Rai

astrogeek · 08-28-2013, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightStranger

That is, what I also suspect. But I could not find any nvidia related config file in the user's home directory. Do you have an idea, where the user settings can be found?

I also tried this, but the settings are not stored for the next log in. So I consider to delete the user settings, if I find them, and use the system settings instead.

Rai

I am not on my Nvidia system at the moment so cannot check exactly - but I recall that I had to add a line to my X startup script to load the user configs. I use fluxbox and had to add it to ~/.fluxbox/startup, but you can add it in ~/.xinitrc for any DE.

Maybe someone can point the right way - I'll be back at my Nvidia box tomorrow.

astrogeek · 08-28-2013, 08:55 PM

OK, here is how it works...

When you run NvidiaConfig it creates a file in the user's home directory...

Code:

~/.nvidia-settings-rc

When X starts the DE or window manager, you need to do the following before the exec line that starts the DE/WM...

Code:

nvidia-settings --load-config-only

That line loads the per-user config file for that X session.

In my own case it goes into my ~/.fluxbox/startup script, but you can add it to the ~/.xinitrc or other script that starts the DE/WM, just as long as it appears before the exec line.

You should also have a man page with more info:

Code:

man nvidia-settings

Good luck!

NightStranger · 08-29-2013, 01:36 PM

Thanks for your support.

Quote:

When you run NvidiaConfig it creates a file in the user's home directory...

Code:

~/.nvidia-settings-rc

I could find the config file and I moved it out of the way (renamed it). Now the display of all users have the same configuration with full resolution

Quote:

You might want to at least get the latest driver, 195.36 if cascade is correct.

I downloaded the driver from here http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d...195.36.15.html and installed it successfully.

Unfortunally, the jumpy scrolling of a view e. g. in Firefox still persists. I have checked "soft scrolling" and "use HW accelleration if available" in FF settings. CPU usage still rises up to 100 % during scrolling.

Maybe I have to live with this?

cascade9 · 08-31-2013, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NightStranger

I downloaded the driver from here http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux_d...195.36.15.html and installed it successfully.

My suggestion that 10.04 should be using 195.36.XX drivers is because that is the drivers in the 10.04 repos.

Using jockey to get the repos drivers should still work. Even though 10.04 is 'end of life' for desktop use, its still supported as a server. But becauise its no longer supported for desktop use, its not a good idea to keep using it as a desktop....