9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

[MoonRise]

Found this quite interesting.

http://distrowatch.com/weekly.php?issue=20090817

[Snowhog]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Yes, very!

From the article:

Conclusions

The problems caused by the wholesale changes in the Intel graphics stack have not been fully resolved. Judging by the forums of distributions using the 2.8.0 Intel driver in testing and my own experience, it appears that the most serious problems, particularly those affecting system stability, have been solved. Based on the rate of progress in recent months I am hopeful that releases scheduled for the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2009 may finally have Intel graphics performance that is at least the equal of what we had last year. The promised improvements in performance using the kernel-based GEM, kernel mode switching (KMS), UXA and DRI2 will be delivered later than the Intel developers anticipated and after much heartache for the user community. In the end, though, the promises that were made will undoubtedly be fulfilled.

The usual critics of Linux have used the Intel video driver regression as further "proof" that Linux is somehow not ready for the desktop. The openness of the Linux community allowed every aspect of this issue to be examined in excruciating detail which made the situation seem somehow unique. It isn't. Problematic proprietary video drivers have been released for proprietary operating systems before and probably will be again.

Linux users with affected Intel chipsets ended up running one of the many Linux distributions that didn't have the problem or else simply ran a previous but still supported version of their favorite distro. We continued to enjoy Linux on the desktop even if we experienced some disappointment and frustration with our favorite distribution. My own frustration with Mandriva was an expression of the fact that I had come to expect nothing less than excellence from their products over a period of years.

We can only hope that those who develop core elements of Linux and the various Linux distributors have learned from this experience and will think twice before rushing code to market too early in the future.

[MoonRise]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

I'm still going to hold off a while here. KK on this laptop runs very smoothly, so no need to get over carried away. This system isn't my main production system that would require these functions, though it would be nice to WOW people with it. It is highly shocking that Intel didn't keep up for this side of the tracks. I haven't heard of these issues for the "dark side" .

[Snowhog]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

I have continued hope that Intel and the developers will 'get it together' to resolve this. There are thousands (hundereds) of Linux users with affected Intel GPUs, and they can't be left hanging for ever. I just want, as the article states, the same performance I had in Intrepid/Jaunty with my Intel GPU. I don't mind not gaining additional performance, but I can't accept 'less than what I had.' :P

[MoonRise]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Oh, I understand and agree. I really fault Intel. Fair, I don't know. A company as large as they are and advertised to the extent they have about the support for all sides of the spectrum and then to have the many that bought systems with "Intel Inside" for the Linux aspect to be let down, unacceptable.

[GreyGeek]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

The Intel 2.8 driver and the .31-14 kernel have combined to give the best performance for my Intel GM45 chip yet.

Yesterday I used ffmpeg to create a video of my desktop at what it claimed was 114 fps. All I know was that the mouse movement in the video was as smooth as silk and none of the graphics as distorted or missing.

ffmpeg -f x11grab -s wxga -r 25 -i :0.0 -sameq /home/jerry/out.mpg

I can now run SecondLife with 64bit Karmic at 25 fps and gorgeous color.

Just a few niggles remain, but I am a very happy camper with most 3D acceleration going at between 30-50 fps.

[MoonRise]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Did KK use that Intel driver automatically? My system reports the correct Graphics card but insists on using VESA. If I force the Intel Driver by using xorg.conf I encounter "LARGE FONT" syndrome and any of the known fixes for that doesn't appear to work. If I can get rid of the large font issue, I think I'd be rather pleased, but as it stands, for me, the Intel Driver is broken. Fintan and you are the only ones I know of so far that have working Intel Graphics. Fintan's graphic card being very similar to mine leaves me stumped as to why? This is a fresh install.

[GreyGeek]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Yup, "out of the box", just as HAL automatically configures it.

When I bought this laptop a year ago last August the first Linux distro I installed on it was Mandriva 2009 PWP.

I couldn't get xorg to give me accelerated video so I had to settle for VESA. Strangely, however, VESA gave me about 5 to 10 fps accelerated video (which is proof the driver was borken ) so I could use GoogleEarth and Stellarium, albeit jumpily. SecondLife was at 3.5 fps very slow.
I moved to Kubuntu because Juanty's ALPH was KDE 4.2.1, while Mandriva was on 4.1.2. When I ran the Jaunty LiveCD I was stunned to see that it gave me accelerated video automatically. Mandriva had used the i810 driver while Januty used the i915 driver.

[MoonRise]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

I finally got mine working. I really don't know why some Acer machines work and others don't, but oh well, I got mine working . Question. I had to specify in xorg.conf the "intel" driver. Does that driver automatically decide which card is installed or can I specify more specifically "i915" in xorg.conf?

[GreyGeek]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Both drivers are in the Intel 2.2.9 package.
Take your pick.

[monte48lowes]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

(which is proof the driver was borken )

Is that a cross between borked and broken? Just curious.

Mike

[GreyGeek]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

Ya caught me!

My 68 year old brain doesn't communicate as well with my fingers as it used to. They should have typed "broken".

Then, the brain kick in again and when my eyes read "borken" my brain saw "broken". Dyslexia.

I've been plagued with a mild form of dyslexia all my life, couple with a severe form of strabismus. I had surgery to correct the latter about 40 years ago, but the eye muscle that was tied up then has relaxed, which is one reason why I don't fly any more. Prior to Lasik surgery I wore glasses with so much prism (for strabismus) and correction that I could only wear featherlite plastic lens with Silicon pads. Even then, if I was hot and sweaty I had to tape the nose bridge to my forehead in a classic nerd solution.

While strabismus has come back to a degree, my Lasik vision is still 20-25 or better and I only need glasses for close work, like using my laptop.

I haven't found anything that helps the dyslexia except the spell checker, which I sometimes forget to use or because I don't see the little red squiggly line under the misspelled word.

And, sometimes, my fingers type the wrong word, but spell it correctly. In the forth paragraph above, while proof reading it I noticed that I had typed "work" when I meant to type "wore". Sometimes I catch that kind of error, sometimes I don't.

[monte48lowes]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

I was certainly not pointing out anyone's flaws. I thought we had a new word going...

Borken or b0rken can also be internet slang for "broken," often referring to a computer program or a feature of a program that is not working as expected. It can also be used to refer to a very important bond between two people, which will ultimately fail.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borken

Apparently it's already been taken. Dang it.

Mike

[GreyGeek]

Re: 9.04 and 9.10 Intel Video Driver Article

I didn't your post as an insult..

And, I wasn't aware that "borken" was a real word!

Thanks for the info!