Slow display (graphics)

[arist]

I am running 12.10 on an HP Mini netbook. It has an Intel graphics controller using the i915 driver. I'm using the desktop workspace, not the netbook. Desktop effects are not enabled.

The problem: The display is much slower than with 12.04. When I switch from virual desktop 1 to 2, for example, some windows in 1 linger on the display while 2 is being drawn. It takes maybe one second to redraw the desktop. Yakuake leaves long trails when it's closed. Top shows nothing hogging the CPU. This happens both on battery and AC power.

Is this a problem with Xorg? Any ideas of what I could try?

[SteveRiley]

12.10 is bundled with a newer version of Mesa, which was causing performance problems with KWin. KDE 4.9.3 has fixed this issue. Please add the Kubuntu PPA to your software sources and update your system.

[arist]

Please add the Kubuntu PPA to your software sources and update your system.

I added the ppa, ran the update and upgrades (hundreds of them), rebooted. Didn't help much, if at all. But after reading the bug reports you linked to, I tried this: in System Settings/Desktop Effects/Advanced, I changed "Qt Graphics System" from Raster to Native. That helped, even though Desktop Effects were not enabled. Still not as fast as I would like, but definitely an improvement. Thanks, SR.

[SteveRiley]

Mesa 9.1, available in the Xorg-Edgers PPA, improves the situation even more. I'm using it on both my machines and have no problems with KWin performance. Please read and understand everything on that page before you install. Some folks have reported problems with the bleeding edge packages from Edgers; personally, I've never experienced problems.