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#1 2016-11-20 00:59:20

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Alright, my important system configuration is that I have 2 AMD R9 295x2 GPUs in my system. I want to use the open source GPU drivers.

For the past few months, I have experienced 2 major issues with this: 1) The performance is horrible (Minecraft gets 20 FPS on min settings, Firefox takes 30 seconds to rerender when changing tabs, etc) and 2) In htop and any other process viewer, all processes show as using 0%, but in the per-core CPU usage, something is always using nearly 100% of one core.

I have tried compiling a custom kernel, with the option to enable AMDGPU support for CIK parts turned on, and everything else default. I have tried the following configs:

1) amdgpu in MODULES in mkinitcpio.conf, radeon not blacklisted, default kernel = Boots to blinking white cursor
2) amdgpu in MODULES in mkinitcpio.conf, radeon not blacklisted, custom kernel = Boots fine, X starts fine, the issues described above happen
3) amdgpu in MODULES in mkinitcpio.conf, radeon blacklisted, custom kernel = Boots fine, X does not start
4) radeon in MODULES in mkinitcpio.conf, radeon not blacklisted (duh), custom or default kernel = Boots fine, X starts fine, the issues described above happen

I have also tried manually running the following script I have written, to no effect:


    #!/bin/bash
    for i in 0 1 2 3; do
        echo high | tee /sys/class/drm/card$i/device/power_dpm_force_performance_level
        echo performance | tee /sys/class/drm/card$i/device/power_dpm_state
    done


Can somebody please tell me how I can begin troubleshooting this issue? Using the proprietary driver is not an option.

I'm at my wit's end here.

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#2 2016-11-20 16:07:16

Lone_Wolf
Member
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

The R9 295x2  has 2 GPUs on board, do you have 1 or 2 of those cards?

What DE or WM are you using ?

please post lspci -k, xorg log, xrandr -q and glxinfo | grep renderer  .

Unless you need Vulkan or OpenCL support, using the amdgpu kernel module instead of radeon will not bring much (if any) benefit .


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#3 2016-11-22 16:04:51

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Lone_Wolf wrote:

The R9 295x2  has 2 GPUs on board, do you have 1 or 2 of those cards?

What DE or WM are you using ?

please post lspci -k, xorg log, xrandr -q and glxinfo | grep renderer  .

Unless you need Vulkan or OpenCL support, using the amdgpu kernel module instead of radeon will not bring much (if any) benefit .

Sorry for taking awhile, here you go:

I have 2 of the cards, so 4 GPUs total - I am OK if Linux just uses the first GPU in the first card.
I am using Cinnamon.

lspci -k: http://sprunge.us/XUhd
Xorg.0.log: http://sprunge.us/ciha
xrandr -q: http://sprunge.us/UibM
glxinfo | grep renderer: http://sprunge.us/OKeN

Note that my current configuration is custom kernel with that CIK option enabled, MODULES="amdgpu" in mkinitcpio.conf, and radeon not blacklisted.

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#4 2016-11-23 21:56:26

Lone_Wolf
Member
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

The "xrandr -q" paste seems empty, did it indeed give no output ?

You can remove xf86-video-ati , X prefers xf86-video-amdgpu for your cards anyway.
Fresh xorglog after you removed that please,

How many screens do you have attached ?

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2016-11-23 21:57:15)


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#5 2016-11-24 04:05:38

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Whoops, sorry - I accidentally piped that one through the grep. Here it is (also answering your last question): http://sprunge.us/bbfC
I will do that this evening and provide you with the log!

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#6 2016-11-24 04:32:57

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

I've just done that, it SEEMS to be performing a bit better but honestly it is hard to tell if it's because of this change or something else. Also, the CPU usages all showing as 0 still persists.

Xorg.0.log: http://sprunge.us/edLH

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#7 2016-11-24 12:18:14

Lone_Wolf
Member
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

The removal of xf86-video-ati was to get a cleaner logfile and make X job a bit more simpler, not to solve the problem.

xrandr output shows atm X combines all your screens into one big screen of 7840x2560 pixels (some parts of which are not visible) .
It also looks like one of the screens is rotated.
How do you configure that setup , xrandr commands in ~/.xinitrc, an autostarting script ?
please post the file(s) that have those commands.

Do you have compositing enabled in cinnamon ?
Try swtiching it on/off, does it make a difference ?

And a few obligatory questions :
Is microcode updating configured ?
Is your Uefi/BIos firmware uptodate ?


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#8 2016-11-24 16:10:13

seth
Member
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 49,995

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

check "glxinfo -l | grep GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE"
If that's below your resolution in any direction, there's your slowness.

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#9 2016-11-25 06:09:21

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Lone_Wolf wrote:

The removal of xf86-video-ati was to get a cleaner logfile and make X job a bit more simpler, not to solve the problem.

xrandr output shows atm X combines all your screens into one big screen of 7840x2560 pixels (some parts of which are not visible) .
It also looks like one of the screens is rotated.
How do you configure that setup , xrandr commands in ~/.xinitrc, an autostarting script ?
please post the file(s) that have those commands.

Do you have compositing enabled in cinnamon ?
Try swtiching it on/off, does it make a difference ?

And a few obligatory questions :
Is microcode updating configured ?
Is your Uefi/BIos firmware uptodate ?

Yep, I have a 1440p landscape on the left, 4k landscape in the middle, and 1440p portrait on the right. They are configured via the GUI "Display" settings in Cinnamon - I'm not sure where the file for that is. I can't figure out where to enable/disable compositing, but I am pretty sure it is enabled.

Microcode updating is indeed configured, and UEFI is up to date.

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#10 2016-11-25 06:10:13

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

seth wrote:

check "glxinfo -l | grep GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE"
If that's below your resolution in any direction, there's your slowness.

It's 16384. I thought you were onto something, but good try!

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#11 2016-11-25 07:20:13

seth
Member
Registered: 2012-09-03
Posts: 49,995

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Check whether it's the DE - install fluxbox or icewm or so, log into that and check the behavior.
(Cinnamon has iirc mandatory compositing and we could see a problem of the GPU driver to handle more than one GL context)

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#12 2016-11-25 11:11:19

Lone_Wolf
Member
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

AppleDash wrote:

They are configured via the GUI "Display" settings in Cinnamon - I'm not sure where the file for that is

Try ~/.config/autostart


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#13 2016-11-26 07:18:22

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

seth wrote:

Check whether it's the DE - install fluxbox or icewm or so, log into that and check the behavior.
(Cinnamon has iirc mandatory compositing and we could see a problem of the GPU driver to handle more than one GL context)

I will look into that and let you know!

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#14 2016-11-26 07:19:14

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Lone_Wolf wrote:
AppleDash wrote:

They are configured via the GUI "Display" settings in Cinnamon - I'm not sure where the file for that is

Try ~/.config/autostart

Nothing interesting in there I'm afraid.

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#15 2016-12-01 15:25:05

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

So... Firefox crashed, followed by Cinnamon, followed by a hard lock. I hard rebooted, and suddenly performance is great and I can see CPU usages. WTF?

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#16 2016-12-03 10:50:44

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

After a reboot, it's gone again.

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#17 2016-12-04 16:32:02

Lone_Wolf
Member
From: Netherlands, Europe
Registered: 2005-10-04
Posts: 11,868

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

AppleDash,this is starting to sound like a hardware problem.

Try reseating the videocards, memory modules etc .
Is your powersupply stable ?

If you remove one card, do the problems continue ?

Last edited by Lone_Wolf (2016-12-04 16:32:33)


Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.


(A works at time B)  && (time C > time B ) ≠  (A works at time C)

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#18 2016-12-06 12:36:54

AppleDash
Member
From: Canada
Registered: 2015-08-28
Posts: 26

Re: AMD R9 295x2 performance issues and everything showing as 0% CPU usage

Lone_Wolf wrote:

AppleDash,this is starting to sound like a hardware problem.

Try reseating the videocards, memory modules etc .
Is your powersupply stable ?

If you remove one card, do the problems continue ?

Tried all of that. Tried with just the first card and just the second, different slots, etc. RAM is fine, passes memtest. PSU is top quality and of high enough rating. All of this works 100% flawlessly in Windows for what it's worth - there's just many reasons I don't want to use Windows.

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