Interesting Video Problem with ATI Radeon 9800 Pro (not a 3D accel based problem)

binarynova · 08-23-2005, 08:59 PM

I just finished a fresh install of Gentoo Linux.

Basic system specs:
AMD Athlon 2500+
1.5GB of RAM
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
SB Live!

Package versions:
Xorg-x11 version 6.8.2-r2
Gnome (light package in Gentoo) 2.10.1
ATI Radeon drivers version 8.14.13-r2

Here's my problem. Gnome/X is rendering really slowly. It's just not drawing as fast as it could. The fade after clicking "Log Out" in the Gnome menu is not a fade at all... it's like a slideshow. Loading up a fullscreen app shows a slow draw as well, and loading up a new website in Firefox shows the same speed problem.

Also, the first time I click on them, menus aren't quickly responsive. And of course, windows don't really just "appear" when I open them... I can actually see them draw. Dragging the gnome terminal around (with solid background color, no transparencies) results in an insane amount of tearing.

But here's the kicker... glxgears reports ~4000fps and TuxRacer is running like a bat out of hell at 1280x1024. Basic info from glxinfo shows that 3D acceleration is set up perfectly.

So... for the first time I have flawless 3D performance after a nearly fresh install... but the simple 2D performance of opening windows and webpages is noticably bad.

I'm totally at a loss here. Anyone have any ideas?

Shown below are some important files and outputs in case anyone can find anything wrong.

/etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Code:

# File: xorg.conf
# File generated by fglrxconfig (C) ATI Technologies, a substitute for xf86config.

# Note by ATI: the below copyright notice is there for servicing possibly
# pending third party rights on the file format and the instance of this file.
#
# Copyright (c) 1999 by The XFree86 Project, Inc.
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# THE XFREE86 PROJECT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
# 
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of the XFree86 Project shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from the
# XFree86 Project.
#

# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the XF86Config(4/5) man page for details about the format of 
# this file.
# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************
# DRI Section
# **********************************************************************
Section "dri"
# Access to OpenGL ICD is allowed for all users:
    Mode 0666
# Access to OpenGL ICD is restricted to a specific user group:
#    Group 100    # users
#    Mode 0660
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.

    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection

# This loads the Type1 and FreeType font modules
    Load        "type1"
    Load        "freetype"

# This loads the GLX module
    Load        "glx"   # libglx.a
    Load        "dri"   # libdri.a

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.

    RgbPath	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
# 
# If you don't have a floating point coprocessor and emacs, Mosaic or other
# programs take long to start up, try moving the Type1 and Speedo directory
# to the end of this list (or comment them out).
# 

    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
#    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"

# The module search path.  The default path is shown here.

#    ModulePath "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerFlags"

# Uncomment this to cause a core dump at the spot where a signal is 
# received.  This may leave the console in an unusable state, but may
# provide a better stack trace in the core dump to aid in debugging

#    Option "NoTrapSignals"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><BS> server abort sequence
# This allows clients to receive this key event.

#    Option "DontZap"

# Uncomment this to disable the <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> mode switching
# sequences.  This allows clients to receive these key events.

#    Option "Dont Zoom"

# Uncomment this to disable tuning with the xvidtune client. With
# it the client can still run and fetch card and monitor attributes,
# but it will not be allowed to change them. If it tries it will
# receive a protocol error.

#    Option "DisableVidModeExtension"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local xvidtune client. 

#    Option "AllowNonLocalXvidtune"

# Uncomment this to disable dynamically modifying the input device
# (mouse and keyboard) settings. 

#    Option "DisableModInDev"

# Uncomment this to enable the use of a non-local client to
# change the keyboard or mouse settings (currently only xset).

#    Option "AllowNonLocalModInDev"

EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************

# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"kbd"
# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").
# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),
# uncomment the following line.

#    Option "Protocol"   "Xqueue"

    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"

# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
#    Option "Xleds"      "1 2 3"

#    Option "LeftAlt"    "Meta"
#    Option "RightAlt"   "ModeShift"

# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#    Option "XkbModel"   "pc102"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#    Option "XkbModel"   "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"
# or:
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "de"
#    Option "XkbVariant" "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#    Option "XkbOptions" "ctrl:swapcaps"

# These are the default XKB settings for XFree86
#    Option "XkbRules"   "xfree86"
#    Option "XkbModel"   "pc101"
#    Option "XkbLayout"  "us"
#    Option "XkbVariant" ""
#    Option "XkbOptions" ""

#    Option "XkbDisable"

    Option "XkbRules"	"xfree86"
    Option "XkbModel"	"microsoft"
    Option "XkbLayout"	"us"

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver

    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver "mouse"
    Option "Protocol"   "ExplorerPS/2"
    Option "Device"     "/dev/input/mice"
    Option "Buttons" "5"
    Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of monitor sections may be present

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "Monitor0"
    HorizSync   30-97
    VertRefresh 50-160
    Option "DPMS"

EndSection


# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of graphics device sections may be present

# Standard VGA Device:

# Section "Device"
#    Identifier  "Standard VGA"
#    VendorName  "Unknown"
#    BoardName   "Unknown"

# The chipset line is optional in most cases.  It can be used to override
# the driver's chipset detection, and should not normally be specified.

#    Chipset     "generic"

# The Driver line must be present.  When using run-time loadable driver
# modules, this line instructs the server to load the specified driver
# module.  Even when not using loadable driver modules, this line
# indicates which driver should interpret the information in this section.

#    Driver      "vga"
# The BusID line is used to specify which of possibly multiple devices
# this section is intended for.  When this line isn't present, a device
# section can only match up with the primary video device.  For PCI
# devices a line like the following could be used.  This line should not
# normally be included unless there is more than one video device
# installed.

#    BusID       "PCI:0:10:0"

#    VideoRam    256

#    Clocks      25.2 28.3

#EndSection

# === ATI device section ===

Section "Device"
    Identifier                          "ATI Graphics Adapter"
    Driver                              "fglrx"
# ### generic DRI settings ###
# === disable PnP Monitor  ===
    #Option                              "NoDDC"
# === disable/enable XAA/DRI ===
    Option "no_accel"                   "no"
    Option "no_dri"                     "no"
# === misc DRI settings ===
    Option "mtrr"                       "off" # disable DRI mtrr mapper, driver has its own code for mtrr
# ### FireGL DDX driver module specific settings ###
# === Screen Management ===
    Option "DesktopSetup"               "0x00000000" 
    Option "MonitorLayout"              "AUTO, AUTO"
    Option "IgnoreEDID"                 "off"
    Option "HSync2"                     "unspecified" 
    Option "VRefresh2"                  "unspecified" 
    Option "ScreenOverlap"              "0" 
# === TV-out Management ===
    Option "NoTV"                       "yes"     
    Option "TVStandard"                 "NTSC-M"     
    Option "TVHSizeAdj"                 "0"     
    Option "TVVSizeAdj"                 "0"     
    Option "TVHPosAdj"                  "0"     
    Option "TVVPosAdj"                  "0"     
    Option "TVHStartAdj"                "0"     
    Option "TVColorAdj"                 "0"     
    Option "GammaCorrectionI"           "0x00000000"
    Option "GammaCorrectionII"          "0x00000000"
# === OpenGL specific profiles/settings ===
    Option "Capabilities"               "0x00000000"
# === Video Overlay for the Xv extension ===
    Option "VideoOverlay"               "on"
# === OpenGL Overlay ===
# Note: When OpenGL Overlay is enabled, Video Overlay
#       will be disabled automatically
    Option "OpenGLOverlay"              "off"
# === Center Mode (Laptops only) ===
    Option "CenterMode"                 "off"
# === Pseudo Color Visuals (8-bit visuals) ===
    Option "PseudoColorVisuals"         "off"
# === QBS Management ===
    Option "Stereo"                     "off"
    Option "StereoSyncEnable"           "1"
# === FSAA Management ===
    Option "FSAAEnable"                 "no"
    Option "FSAAScale"                  "1"
    Option "FSAADisableGamma"           "no"
    Option "FSAACustomizeMSPos"         "no"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX0"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY0"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX1"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY1"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX2"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY2"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX3"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY3"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX4"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY4"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosX5"                "0.000000"
    Option "FSAAMSPosY5"                "0.000000"
# === Misc Options ===
    Option "UseFastTLS"                 "0"
    Option "BlockSignalsOnLock"         "on"
    Option "UseInternalAGPGART"         "yes"
    Option "ForceGenericCPU"            "no"
    BusID "PCI:1:0:0"    # vendor=1002, device=4e48
    Screen 0
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen0"
    Device      "ATI Graphics Adapter"
    Monitor     "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24
    #Option "backingstore"

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600"
        ViewPort    0 0  # initial origin if mode is smaller than desktop
#        Virtual     1280 1024
    EndSubsection
EndSection

# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************

# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
    Identifier  "Server Layout"

# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.

    Screen "Screen0"

# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection

### EOF ###

Select output from the end of dmesg:

Code:

fglrx: module license 'Proprietary. (C) 2002 - ATI Technologies, Starnberg, GERM ANY' taints kernel.
[fglrx] Maximum main memory to use for locked dma buffers: 803 MBytes.
ACPI: PCI Interrupt 0000:01:00.0[A] -> Link [LNKA] -> GSI 10 (level, low) -> IRQ  10
[fglrx] module loaded - fglrx 8.14.13 [Jun  8 2005] on minor 0
allocation failed: out of vmalloc space - use vmalloc=<size> to increase size.
[fglrx] Internal AGP support requested, but kernel AGP support active.
[fglrx] Have to use kernel AGP support to avoid conflicts.
[fglrx] Kernel AGP support doesn't provide agplock functionality.
[fglrx] AGP detected, AgpState   = 0x1f000a0b (hardware caps of chipset)
agpgart: Found an AGP 3.5 compliant device at 0000:00:00.0.
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:00:00.0 into 8x mode
agpgart: Putting AGP V3 device at 0000:01:00.0 into 8x mode
[fglrx] AGP enabled,  AgpCommand = 0x1f000302 (selected caps)
[fglrx] free  AGP = 121909248
[fglrx] max   AGP = 121909248
[fglrx] free  LFB = 116387840
[fglrx] max   LFB = 116387840
[fglrx] free  Inv = 0
[fglrx] max   Inv = 0
[fglrx] total Inv = 0
[fglrx] total TIM = 0
[fglrx] total FB  = 0
[fglrx] total AGP = 32768

Select output of glxinfo:

Code:

name of display: :0.0
display: :0  screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
    GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_make_current_read,
    GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.3
client glx extensions:
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_ATI_pixel_format_float,
    GLX_ATI_render_texture
GLX extensions:
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_import_context,
    GLX_ARB_multisample
OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: RADEON 9800 Pro Generic
OpenGL version string: 1.3.5140 (X4.3.0-8.14.13)

binarynova · 08-27-2005, 09:49 PM

Well, I believe I've used up all my "auto bumps" so here's a little bump hoping someone has some idea of what might be wrong.

I've done a bit of research and haven't been able to come up with anything, except that I appear to not be alone in this problem, just... in a minority.