945GM card / OpenGL issue works but veeerrrrryyyy slow (SOLVED)

[mtoboll]

I've recently come over to using Kubuntu on my laptop; started using Fiesty Alpha, then Beta, now have a fresh install of the final running...

After dealing with the 915resolution issue on my intel 945GM video card, and following other tweaks, I had the video including OpenGL running quite smoothly while using the Alpha and Beta versions.

Than I wanted a fresh install of the final, and reloaded. I expected to have to deal with the video card issue all over again, no biggie, I did it once without a lot of fuss.

But I have everything in place like it was before (as far as I can tell) and anything OpenGL related either won't run, or will run extremely slow.

GoogleEarth for example ran beautifully prior to final. Now when I start it, it tells me I'm running as "OpenGL in software mode", and tells me that performance can be improved by upgrading my driver. My OpenGL screen savers move in slow motion, and my system fan kicks into high speed the entire time they are running.

I'm not saying anything is wrong with Kubuntu final, just that I am missing something that needs to be configured.

I'm still new to Kubuntu, so I'm just not certain where to look for the problem, or if I would even recognize it if I saw it.

Any directions/suggestions appreciated.

[SheeEttin]

Re: 945GM card / OpenGL issue works but veeerrrrryyyy slow

Quick answer: Software rendering is just that, rendering through software. You want hardware rendering. Look around on this and other forums for information on how to do that (or just post back if you can't find any).

[mtoboll]

Re: 945GM card / OpenGL issue works but veeerrrrryyyy slow

I found it! SheeEttin - you gave me a whole new approach to try.

I had spent hours searching forums and googling terms about opengl, googleearth, 945MG, intel, jerky video, etc... I never thought about "hardware rendering".

So googling that lead me to "direct and indirect rendering", which in turn lead me to "xserver".

So I'm in adept and filter packages to "xserver" and found all of the xserver-xorg-video-xxxxx packages.

I noticed that I had xserver-xorg-video-i810 installed, but there was also a xserver-xorg-video-intel that was not installed. Both had the exact same description, so I selected the -intel to install and that automatically flagged the -i810 for uninstall.

I applied the changes, Ctrl-Alt-Backspace and Hurrah!! Google Earth and screensavers are smooth as silk

Thank you!

[SheeEttin]

Re: 945GM card / OpenGL issue works but veeerrrrryyyy slow

Really? I thought it was going to be much more complicated...

Oh well, it works! Have fun.

[mtoboll]

Re: 945GM card / OpenGL issue works but veeerrrrryyyy slow

Yeah, me too!

But you got me looking from a different angle, and I think it was dumb luck where I noticed the 2 different drivers, yet they have the same list of supported cards.

I just tried switching them out of desperation, and got lucky.

I should also add, I forgot one thing -- After applying the changes in Adept, and before the Ctrl-Alt-Backspace, I did go into the System Settings > Monitor & Display > Hardware Tab and changed the card listed in there to 'Intel 810'. Then restarted.

Thanks again!