[SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

soerensen3 · 2014-09-17 13:52:55

Hello,

I'm on 64 Bit Arch Linux (3.16.2-1-ARCH) and while updating my packages the new nvidia driver (340.32-1) was installed.
After that it seems i have serious performance issues. I'ts hard to tell wich version worked before because I didn't notice this in the beginning.
This is my graphics card: NVIDIA GPU GeForce 9500 GT (G96)
So i tried to use the nvidia-beta from the AUR but they dropped support for my gpu in this version.
When i want to downgrade to the last version in pacman's cache it's complaining about the kernel version which updated as well.
Does it mean i have to downgrade the kernel as well? How do i prevent pacman from updating then and does it mean i can never have a new kernel version from now on (because nvidia dropped support for my gpu)? Is there any other option other than downgrading.

I don't know which log files and programs outputs are relevant. Xorg0.log does not seem to show any errors. If you need more information I post it on request.

Pacman's cache for nvidia
nvidia-337.25-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
nvidia-337.25-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
nvidia-337.25-4-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
nvidia-340.24-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
nvidia-340.24-3-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz
nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.xz

Thanks for any tips!

Oh and one more thing, I can tell that the driver or something is slow because I still have Linux Mint on another partition, which works fine. It has some 330 nvidia driver installed. The noveau driver seems to be faster as well, but I need 3D acceleration as I'm developing games in linux.

Last edited by soerensen3 (2014-09-18 13:15:57)

mrunion · 2014-09-17 14:24:58

The short of it is you will either:

1) have to downgrade the Kernel and anything else that matches the version of the nVidia driver you want to use (not very maintainable going forward, maybe)
2) custom-build a Kernel and/or nVidia driver for your machine (and handle appropriate updates when new Kernels come out)
3) Try an alternative nvidia driver that supports legacy cards. Do you know for sure your card is no longer supported?

All of these options should be well covered by searching the forums and Wiki. Have you searched for a solution yet? If so, what have you tried?

berbae · 2014-09-17 14:46:58

The actual kernel 'linux 3.16.2-1' and 'nvidia 340.32-1' should be installed without incompatibility.
What kernel version do you use, and what nvidia driver do you try to install with it?
When you speak about a error message, post the exact command preceding it and the textual error message on the screen, rather than describing it with your words.
As for the kernel versions, there will be a legacy 340 nvidia driver which will follow future kernel updates. So you have not to bother about this.

Last edited by berbae (2014-09-17 14:48:46)

soerensen3 · 2014-09-17 17:29:19

Thanks for the replies so far!

@mrunion:

Ok I did not know that you could recompile the nvidia driver as it is closed source but when you download and run the driver installer from their website, it says something about compiling. So i guess I just have to pick a different driver version from the nvidia website and install that. I would have preferred a real package though but I don't want to go that deep as to build my custom one for now.
So I will try to get an older version of the drivers there and see if it solves the problem.

@berbae:

Yes the kernel is 'linux 3.16.2-1' and driver is 'nvidia 340.32-1'. The only problem with that one is that it's really slow for me, when using the 3D Acceleration.
The problem with the unsupported gpu is only for the nvidia-beta driver from AUR. They say (https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nvidia-beta/) that nvidia are going to drop support from version 343 on. I also tried to install it and the XOrg log said something about my card not being supported by the driver anymore.

About the error message. The only error message I got was when installing the older package from pacman's cache which I can't cite literally but it said that the old driver package was for the older kernel version preceding 3.16.2-1. To me it makes perfect sense but I didn't know you can compile your own without nvidia's sources.

I will tell you if downloading an older version from nvidia's website will do the trick.

berbae · 2014-09-17 20:48:32

As the nvidia 340 driver will soon enter a legacy long term supported branch, you may consider opening a new bug ticket at the nvidia bug tracker for your performance issue with it. Take care to provide data showing the degrading performances.

Concerning using an old version, you'd better use an old PKGBUILD for the version you want to use, and adapt it to the kernel version against it you want to build it. I don't think using directly the nvidia installer outside pacman control is a good idea; this will install libraries, module files and other things, without pacman knowing it; to me it is risky.

Last edited by berbae (2014-09-17 20:49:48)

soerensen3 · 2014-09-18 13:14:38

@berbae:

You were right, it was a bad idea to manually install the nvidia drivers without pacman. I ended up with a blank screen after bootup where all i could do is switch blindly to the virtual console and hit ctrl+alt+del to restart. Luckily I could boot into Mint and chroot into arch to uninstall the driver and reinstall the pacman driver.

Good News though. Today there was a new kernel version released with a new driver nvidia 340.32-2 which solved the perfomance issue. Now it is running as fast as before!

Thanks for all the help! I'm really starting to like Arch Linux for the support you get in the forums!

Arch Linux

#1 2014-09-17 13:52:55

[SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

#2 2014-09-17 14:24:58

Re: [SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

#3 2014-09-17 14:46:58

Re: [SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

#4 2014-09-17 17:29:19

Re: [SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

#5 2014-09-17 20:48:32

Re: [SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

#6 2014-09-18 13:14:38

Re: [SOLVED]Performance Issues with nvidia-340.32-1-x86_64,can't downgrade

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