HOW TO: Install experimental X.Org and the latest graphics drivers

[SteveRiley]

Running 12.10 with xorg-edgers and savatt repos.

You shouldn't need the additional PPA from Robert Hooker (https://launchpad.net/~sarvatt/+archive/intel-sna), as the regular driver in Xorg now has SNA enabled by default. (Matter of fact, Robert has closed the intel-sna PPA -- when I try to navigate to that Launchpad URL, it throws an authentication error.)

[schnelle]

There is another nice ppa with latest opensource drivers from git.

"Updated and Optimized Graphics Drivers" https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/graphics-drivers

The ppa has only drivers so it lowers the risk of breakage. I am using it all the time without any problems (plus newest stable kernel from mainline kernel ppa)

[SteveRiley]

Huh, interesting... hadn't enountered that one before.

I didn't install the drivers from that PPA, but did try the suggested test for Gallium and LLVMpipe. They sure seem a lot faster than the regular renderer. On my X1, with Intel HD3000 graphics, note the difference:

steve@x1:~$ [B]glxgears -info[/B]
Running synchronized to the vertical refresh.  The framerate should be
approximately the same as the monitor refresh rate.
GL_RENDERER   = Mesa DRI Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile 
GL_VERSION    = 3.0 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = Intel Open Source Technology Center
GL_EXTENSIONS = <...snip...> 
303 frames in 5.0 seconds = 60.565 FPS

steve@x1:~$ [b]LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 glxgears -info[/B]
GL_RENDERER   = Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x301)
GL_VERSION    = 2.1 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = VMware, Inc.
GL_EXTENSIONS = <...snip...>
2130 frames in 5.0 seconds = 425.861 FPS

I think I'm going to have to learn more about this. My first question: why does the native DRI do v-sync, and does that ultimately matter? Yum, research!

[HalationEffect]

Regarding vsync, try this:

export vblank_mode=0
glxgears -info

The first command disables sync to vblank for anything subsequently executed from that particular terminal window.

[sixonetonoffun]

 glxgears -info
GL_RENDERER   = Mesa DRI Intel(R) 965GM x86/MMX/SSE2
GL_VERSION    = 2.1 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = Intel Open Source Technology Center
299 frames in 5.0 seconds = 59.626 FPS

LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 glxgears -info
GL_RENDERER   = Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x301)
GL_VERSION    = 2.1 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = VMware, Inc.
1349 frames in 5.0 seconds = 269.640 FPS

This seems reasonable for this old 965 GM. Best of all the latest update I did last night seems to pretty much smoothed out rough edges on the desktop cube animation. Not quite tearing but there had been a bit of a jagged edge to it. I'm beginning to think Intel Graphics don't suck!

[67GTA]

You shouldn't need the additional PPA from Robert Hooker (https://launchpad.net/~sarvatt/+archive/intel-sna), as the regular driver in Xorg now has SNA enabled by default. (Matter of fact, Robert has closed the intel-sna PPA -- when I try to navigate to that Launchpad URL, it throws an authentication error.)

I think he has thrown in with the xorg-edgers. Just got an update from xorg-edgers repo with his name attached: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.20.1+git20120725.8c5077e4-0ubuntu0sarvatt

[QUOTEThere is another nice ppa with latest opensource drivers from git.

"Updated and Optimized Graphics Drivers" https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/graphics-drivers

The ppa has only drivers so it lowers the risk of breakage. I am using it all the time without any problems (plus newest stable kernel from mainline kernel ppa) ][/QUOTE]

This PPA sounded nice, but it stops at "precise" so I was afraid of breaking stuff in quantal. Maybe since it is the driver only, it won't matter. Just got my new ivy bridge graphics laptop, and ran across this thread while trying to get the most out of it. Seems to be a good time to switch from AMD/Nvidia.

[HalationEffect]

I'm beginning to think Intel Graphics don't suck!

Agreed! My SandyBridge HD graphics... that's right, not HD2000 or 3000 or 4000, just plain HD (the lowest spec version of SandyBridge graphics) gives me this:

export vblank_mode=0
glxgears -info
ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: option value of option vblank_mode ignored.
GL_RENDERER   = Mesa DRI Intel(R) Sandybridge Desktop 
GL_VERSION    = 3.0 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = Intel Open Source Technology Center
GL_EXTENSIONS = <snip>
25768 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5153.522 FPS
26773 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5354.439 FPS
26835 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5366.963 FPS

(Edit) Here's what I get with Gallium / LLVMpipe:

LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 glxgears -info
GL_RENDERER   = Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x301)
GL_VERSION    = 2.1 Mesa 8.1-devel
GL_VENDOR     = VMware, Inc.
GL_EXTENSIONS= <snip>
5454 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1090.742 FPS
5687 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1137.258 FPS
5688 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1137.393 FPS

With Gallium / LLVMpipe giving ~20% of the performance and only OpenGL 2.1 support... I'll stick with the non-Gallium driver for now.

[pnunn]

Sadly I just had to rebuild my entire system after a crash this morning, I think due to the kernel installed as part of this update not playing at all with the nvidia-current package.

The machine would start to boot to X and just hang with the splash screen drawing dots across the screen, I was able to log in using a text terminal but no matter what I tried (backing out the ppa, removing the 3.5 kernel, reinstalling nvidia) I could not get X to run.

I ended up, after about 3 hours blowing the system away and starting again (a day to fix). So.. buyer be ware.. . Won't be doing this again in a hurry.

Peter.

[SteveRiley]

Yeah, I'm seeing similar results when using native DRI without v-sync.

steve@t520:~$ [B]vblank_mode=0 glxgears -info[/B]
ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option vblank_mode overridden by environment.
GL_RENDERER   = Mesa DRI Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile 
GL_VERSION    = 3.0 Mesa 8.0.2
GL_VENDOR     = Tungsten Graphics, Inc
GL_EXTENSIONS = <...snip...>
17633 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3526.499 FPS

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around whether these big FPS numbers matter. If 24 frames per second is good enough for film, and 60 is good enough for high-def, what do we need 3500 frames per second for?

[capt-zero]

Steve,

Just tried out your suggestion of this ppa. Seems to have solved my problems, so far, that I've had trying to use opengl on this new (to me) system. Works great.

Thanx,
capt-zero

[HalationEffect]

The big FPS numbers barely matter at all, because glxgears is not a benchmark. Don't expect to get FPS numbers anywhere near as high in a real OpenGL application, such as a game... expect an FPS rate an order or two of magnitude lower.

It's been some years since I got curious about the FPS issue and did a lot of web searching for info, but from what I recall, film and TV frames incorporate motion blur (due to the exposure time for each frame) which makes a low frame rate seem smoother than it really is. That effect, combined with persistence of vision, gets the job done at low FPS rates. However, crisp computer generated frames don't have motion blur.

[SteveRiley]

Just tried out your suggestion of this ppa. Seems to have solved my problems, so far, that I've had trying to use opengl on this new (to me) system. Works great.

Cool, glad it's working for you. While Xorg-Edgers appears not to work for everyone (note some of the reports in this thread reflecting that), I've found that it works reliably for me. This is definitely one of those YMMV things, I guess.

[SteveRiley]

It's been some years since I got curious about the FPS issue and did a lot of web searching for info, but from what I recall, film and TV frames incorporate motion blur (due to the exposure time for each frame) which makes a low frame rate seem smoother than it really is. That effect, combined with persistence of vision, gets the job done at low FPS rates. However, crisp computer generated frames don't have motion blur.

Ah, I figured it was something related to how the brain perceives motion. Thanks for the quick bit of education.

[vinnywright]

well this PPA https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/graphics-drivers did not crash my system like the Xorg-Edgers did

but how dose one tell whether gallium llvmpipe is being used as default or not?
as (and I quote) "* gallium llvmpipe as the default software renderer rather than classic swrast"... it seas it dose ??

I cant rely tell if anythings faster/better or not from the usual , which was ok to start with on my core i3 Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 02)

VINNY

[sixonetonoffun]

Sadly I just had to rebuild my entire system after a crash this morning, I think due to the kernel installed as part of this update not playing at all with the nvidia-current package.

If you decide to try again follow Dibbles Nvidia Proprietary Video Driver -- HOW TO directions regarding blacklisting and creating a new init image.

This happened to me on my old nvidia machine adding nomodeset to the grub gfx line allowed me to boot and make it to X and the kde desktop. Once there creating a new init image fixed the next boot. Directions are really detailed in Dibbles How To so I won't try to add anything. If nothing else try installing to a usb stick (not a persistent image) for testing.