[SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

serpentiz · 2013-05-05 23:32:37

This is my first post, and let me apologize if this issue has already been resolved, I haven't been able to find any sort of fix that works on the forums or the wiki. I just installed Arch this weekend, and I love it, everything seems to work fine, except when I try to resize windows, it's very laggy. I'm running the Nvidia-beta drivers from the AUR, I've also tried the official Nvidia and Nouveau packages, with the same issues. I read that it may be a problem with MTRR. So I ran cat /proc/mtrr with these results:

reg00: base=0x000000000 (    0MB), size= 2048MB, count=1: write-back
reg01: base=0x080000000 ( 2048MB), size= 1024MB, count=1: write-back
reg02: base=0x0c0000000 ( 3072MB), size=  512MB, count=1: write-back
reg03: base=0x100000000 ( 4096MB), size= 4096MB, count=1: write-back
reg04: base=0x200000000 ( 8192MB), size=  512MB, count=1: write-back
reg05: base=0x21f800000 ( 8696MB), size=    8MB, count=1: uncachable
reg06: base=0x0ffc00000 ( 4092MB), size=    4MB, count=1: write-protect

I've read that having any "uncachables" in the list is bad, and there's a way to fix it through bios, but my bios has no options for mtrr, so that's not an option for me.

Also, when I run steam, I get this error message:

OpenGL GLX context is not using direct rendering, which may cause performance problems.

but according to both glxinfo and nvidia settings, direct rendering is on. I also noticed that cinnamon states that my video card only has 128MB, which is also wrong, as it runs 2GB (incidentally, nvidia settings recognizes the correct card/ram specifications). So, I have no idea what to do from here, I can't get it to work properly. As stated in the subject, I'm running an Asus G74sx laptop with a GeForce GTX 560m card, I use Gnome for a login manager, but Cinnamon desktop. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks

Last edited by serpentiz (2013-05-14 21:13:25)

Dheart · 2013-05-06 12:48:34

Could this be an issue with optimus? You probably have dual video cards and don't have the correct setup for your intel video card (hence rendering indirectly).
Try reading the wiki.

serpentiz · 2013-05-06 17:15:45

Okay, so I tried installing bumblebee. I was using Nvidia proprietary driver, but it conflicted with some of bumblebee's libs so I switched to Nouveau driver and went on to install Bumblebee via the wiki, I added my user account to bumblebee and enabled the service via systemctl and rebooted. After the reboot, I tried using Optirun and it didn't work, here's the error I got:

[ 2363.304595] [ERROR]The Bumblebee daemon has not been started yet or the socket path /var/run/bumblebee.socket was incorrect.
[ 2363.304672] [ERROR]Could not connect to bumblebee daemon - is it running?

I tried booting into windows, then rebooting Arch (found that fix in another forum) but that didn't work for me, I tried re-installing bumblebee, and using systemctl start bumblebeed from the terminal, still no luck. Then I did some research on the laptop itself, and it turns out that, while there is a video chip included on the Intel i7-2630QM chip that my laptop runs, the laptop does not use Nvidia's Optimus technology, and that chip is never used, so I'm guessing Linux just defaults to load the driver for the Intel chip. So if that's the case, how do I tell Linux that I don't want it to load that chip, and only use the Nvidia card?

Last edited by serpentiz (2013-05-14 21:14:49)

Dheart · 2013-05-07 10:39:12

You should probably install lib32* packages?

serpentiz · 2013-05-13 18:14:52

I installed the required lib32 packages, and this solved the Steam issue, thanks Dheart. Also, figured out that my slow-redraw problem was due to a theme I was using that wasn't installed correctly, switched to a different theme and everything is good now.

Last edited by serpentiz (2013-05-13 18:55:38)

i8igmac · 2013-05-29 01:03:23

i just want to reply to the serpentiz. . . it looks like we have the same machine, seems your problems are solved so this is off topic. . . first thing i did was install a linux distro and im looking for others out there that done the same... any problems and fix's you have? briefe review?

i notice your unreachable error above, cat /proc/mtrr i have the same resaults? is this a problem? i just did a bios update from 201 and now 203 (just thought it was good idea) do you expearnce over heating?
i dont like how my machine runs during games Core 0: +89.0°C (high = +86.0°C, crit = +100.0°C) seen higher

inxi -b

System:    Host: bigmac-G74Sx Kernel: 3.2.0-31-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Xfce 4.8.3 Distro: Linux Mint 13 Maya
Machine:   System: ASUSTeK (portable) product: G74Sx version: 1.0
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: G74Sx version: 1.0 Bios: American Megatrends version: G74Sx.203 date: 09/23/2011
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i7-2670QM CPU (-HT-MCP-) clocked at 800.00 MHz 
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA Device 1251 X.Org: 1.11.3 driver: nvidia Resolution: 1600x900@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: GeForce GTX 560M/PCIe/SSE2 GLX Version: 4.2.0 NVIDIA 304.88
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller driver: r8169 
           Card-2: Intel Centrino Wireless-N + WiMAX 6150 driver: iwlwifi 
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 1000.2GB (27.6% used)
Info:      Processes: 195 Uptime: 1 day Memory: 700.6/7963.0MB Client: Shell inxi: 1.7.33

serpentiz · 2013-05-29 02:15:45

i8igmac,

I have tried nearly every distro out there on my machine, save for Gentoo, and so far I like Arch Linux the best. The MTRR problem isn't a real issue, I found out after reading more on the Arch forums, because the GTX560m doesn't use MTRR, and that's why there are no options available in bios for it. I'm setup to dual boot Arch and Windows, and for gaming I tend to boot into Windows, however I have played Brutal Legend in Linux, with no problems as far as overheating. Linux Mint only handles older proprietary drivers (310 I think is the newest available there) while Arch is up to 319, which is a much better driver, in my opinion. As far as other problems go, this particular problem I posted about was caused by a bad theme install, it was Delorean-Dark and I installed it from the AUR, but it wasn't quite jiving with Cinnamon 1.8, I uninstalled it and re-installed it via Cinnamon and everything is fine now. As for other problems: If you use any other display manager besides GDM, expect to do some fiddling to get your fn keys and number pad working right. I use GDM to login and Cinnamon as my desktop environment and these work really well with my hardware out of the box. Currently everything is functioning well, the only problem I'm experiencing right now is that the Weather Cinnamon applet doesn't work, not a huge deal tho, I suspect it's because Cinnamon 1.8 is quite new and some applets/themes haven't been updated yet. So if you're looking for a distro that's faster, more functional and less bloated than Ubuntu/Ubuntu cloans, I'd highly suggest Arch, it's what I'm sticking with for now. I'd recommend using the Beginners Guide (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Beginners'_Guide) if you do decide to install, and read everything, especially when you install packages, pacman will tell you at the end of every install what other dependencies are recommended. If I had read those when I first installed my Nvidia drivers, I'd not have had to make this post in the first place. Also the forums are your best friend, in most cases any problem you have, someone else has probably already experienced and solved, I find most my answers here. As far as the overheating of your processors, I think this is a common issue in Ubuntu based systems, there is a way to fix it, but I'm not sure what it is, with arch, you have the Laptop-Mode-Tools package (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Laptop_Mode_Tools) to help with power management. I hope this answers your question.

*Edit

I thought I should add, I did some research on the i7 processor that the G74sx runs, and while there's no official word from Intel about the normal operating temperature of the CPU, it appears as though the CPU does run relatively hot, that's normal. Most users experience idle temperatures around 50C, which is where mine tends to run in Linux. As you've pointed out already, the critical temp is 100C, that's where the power saving transistors on the CPU will kick in and start to throttle it, in an attempt to cool it. You said you tend to see it running around 86C when gaming, that's high, but you're probably not in any real danger unless you've seen it go above 100C. If that's the case, and it happens often, I'd suggest maybe upgrading to a later version or Mint or using a different distro. You may be able to install a different kernel if you really don't want to upgrade to a later Mint version, I know it's possible with Arch, and I'm sure it is with Ubuntu-based distros as well, but not real sure how to do it. Here are a couple of helpful articles where I found my information on i7 processors:

http://www.pugetsystems.com/blog/2009/0 … peratures/
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/I … QM%29.html

Last edited by serpentiz (2013-06-09 04:13:59)

Arch Linux

#1 2013-05-05 23:32:37

[SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#2 2013-05-06 12:48:34

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#3 2013-05-06 17:15:45

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#4 2013-05-07 10:39:12

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#5 2013-05-13 18:14:52

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#6 2013-05-29 01:03:23

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

#7 2013-05-29 02:15:45

Re: [SOLVED] Video issues on Asus G74sx / Nvidia GTX560m

Board footer