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#1 2007-11-12 07:13:41

serrano
Member
Registered: 2007-11-11
Posts: 10

Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I start asking myself if switching from xf86-video-i810 to xf86-video-intel was not a premature step.
My switch has been motivated by using a monitor with a weird resolution that cannot be used without
a custom modeline. The xf86-video-intel succeeds at solving this problem but actually fails for many
other things:

1- traditional xorg.conf configuration no longer works. The new framework based on xrandr is
     probably superior to the traditional xorg.conf setting but it is really annoying to waste half
     a day for customizing X, yet another time.
2- hibernate no longer works (see my previous mail).
3- compiz/beryl/emerald fail (may be this is not due to xf86-video-intel. With compiz, it's hard to know).
4- xine and mplayer can not longer be used with the xv output driver (this problem has been reported
     so many times in various forums that I don't think it is useful to provide another bug report here, and
     for those that might be interested: no "option CacheLines XXX" does not work).
5- vlc and realplay no longer work (because it is not possible to select the output video driver of
     these softwares).

I would love to understand what is the development status of xf86-video-intel. I would also love
to hear experts opinion: is it time to switch from i810 to intel driver?

Thanks for in advance for any comment, remark, or advice.

--
Manuel

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#2 2007-11-12 07:57:28

.:B:.
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2006-11-26
Posts: 5,819
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I'm I have suspend (to RAM) working with the following /etc/pm/sleep.d/00hacks contents:

#!/bin/bash
case $1 in
    suspend)
        chvt 1
        #vbetool vbemode get > /tmp/vbemode
        vbetool vbestate save > /tmp/vbestate
        modprobe -r aes2501
        ;;
    resume)
        vbetool post
        #vbetool vbemode set < /tmp/vbemode
        vbetool vbestate restore < /tmp/vbevbestate
        chvt 7
        modprobe -v aes2501
        ;;
esac

Resuming is still quite quirky - if I unplug my USB mouse before suspending or resuming the resume process irrevocably locks up sad. With the USB mouse plugged in it works fine though.

I'm using xf86-video-intel (with xorg-server 1.3 from testing before - this is the only driver that supports the GMA965 X3100 GPU). Other than the resume quirks, no problems here.


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#3 2007-11-12 10:28:16

Allan
Pacman
From: Brisbane, AU
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 11,365
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

serrano wrote:

5- vlc and realplay no longer work (because it is not possible to select the output video driver of
     these softwares).

VLC: Settings > Preferences > Video > Output Modules and click "Advanced Options" in lower right corner.

Also, I can't use xv driver with xf86-video-i810.


I had to add "highres=off nohz=off" to grub to get the screen returning with hibernate.  I actually no longer need the vbetool hacks.

Last edited by Allan (2007-11-12 10:29:10)

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#4 2007-11-12 13:09:00

.:B:.
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2006-11-26
Posts: 5,819
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Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I am gonna try that too. I only end up putting more and more in that hacks file but the successful resumes get only rarer.


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#5 2007-11-12 14:30:08

phildg
Member
Registered: 2006-03-10
Posts: 146

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I've switched to xf86-video-intel because since the xorg update Fn-F8 (CRT/LCD switch) stopped working and I couldn't switch outputs with xrandr with xf86-video-i810. Using xv with mplayer works. CacheLines also works over here.

Using Intel 82852/855GM integrated graphics. My x configuration needed no alteration other than changing 'Driver "i810"' to 'Driver "intel"'

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#6 2007-11-12 14:36:36

raymano
Member
Registered: 2006-10-13
Posts: 357
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

B wrote:

I am gonna try that too. I only end up putting more and more in that hacks file but the successful resumes get only rarer.

B this is an issue with the new 2.6.23-1 kernel and how it treats suspended devices. Suspend/resume has become really crappy after 2.6.21. I'm trying to find a patch or any way to fix it. Checkout this thread:

http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=298477

Last edited by raymano (2007-11-12 14:44:52)


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#7 2007-11-12 15:37:14

jinn
Member
From: Gothenburg
Registered: 2005-12-10
Posts: 506

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I have no problem with it.. suspend works, anything else works.. Only sometimes when shutting down the computer (when running compiz-fusion) X froze. I blame compiz for that, since It never happened before or after compiz.

My laptop: Hp dv2000.


The ultimate Archlinux release name: "I am your father"

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#8 2007-11-13 04:01:39

.:B:.
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2006-11-26
Posts: 5,819
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Raymano: I had bad experiences with 2.6.23.1 alltogether (system locking up on closing the laptop lid and so on). I rolled back to 2.6.22.12...

Disabling high resolution timers and tickless (I suppose that's what nohz is) certainly helps here. I still need the vbetool hack though.

Last edited by B (2007-11-13 04:02:31)


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#9 2007-11-13 07:12:59

serrano
Member
Registered: 2007-11-11
Posts: 10

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Thanks for all your comments and remarks. Reading your mails I have
been able to improve the behavior of my laptop.

First the hibernation problem:

Some of you suggested to play with vbetool. In particular one post mentioned:

> I'm I have suspend (to RAM) working with the following
> /etc/pm/sleep.d/00hacks contents:

#!/bin/bash
case $1 in
    suspend)
        chvt 1
        #vbetool vbemode get > /tmp/vbemode
        vbetool vbestate save > /tmp/vbestate
        modprobe -r aes2501
        ;;
    resume)
        vbetool post
        #vbetool vbemode set < /tmp/vbemode
        vbetool vbestate restore < /tmp/vbevbestate
        chvt 7
        modprobe -v aes2501
        ;;
esac

Surprisingly enough. It was just the opposite option that fixes my
problem!  That is, commenting out the VBE section of my
/etc/hibernate/common.conf file did it. That is, after commenting the
following lines,

### vbetool
#EnableVbetool yes
#RestoreVbeStateFrom /var/lib/vbetool/vbestate
#VbetoolPost yes
#RestoreVCSAData yes

hibernation works again as it used to. Suspend to disk and suspend to
ram are both operational (with a vanilla kernel 2.6.23.1).

Second problem:

VLC and REALPLAY no longer work. One post gave the solution of using a
different video driver with VLC. Thanks for pointing out the solution but
unfortunately, that's just a workaround. First, there is still a problem
with REALPLAY and second, I think that the error message prompted by Mplayer
and others:

X11 error: BadAlloc (insufficient resources for operation)

is the evidence that there is something wrong with the new Xorg server
or with the xf86-video-intel driver.

--
Manuel

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#10 2007-11-13 07:40:21

Allan
Pacman
From: Brisbane, AU
Registered: 2007-06-09
Posts: 11,365
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "intel"
    Option "LinearAlloc" "8160" #<-- Add this option
EndSection

Someone else where on the forums (IceHand?) suggested I add this line to my xorg.conf to help with the BadAlloc.  Might work for you...

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#11 2007-11-13 07:48:10

.:B:.
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2006-11-26
Posts: 5,819
Website

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Serrano, two observations:
- you say you have /etc/hibernate blabla. The 00hacks file is used by pm-utils, which does not have any /etc/hibernate stuff. I suppose you are using another suspend implementation;
- i'd take out the aes2501 line, after all this is a driver specific to my setup.

I pasted that file for reference, not for verbatim copying wink.


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#12 2007-11-13 08:29:20

sH
Member
From: Braunschweig, Germany
Registered: 2007-05-02
Posts: 145

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

I would be interested in how to get compiz going with this driver. I followed all steps from the wiki and still get the message that I am missing the GLX extension. Ubuntu Gutsy is using the experimental "intel" driver too but there I had compiz going with the same hardware.

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#13 2007-11-13 10:03:22

iphitus
Forum Fellow
From: Melbourne, Australia
Registered: 2004-10-09
Posts: 4,927

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Got libgl-dri installed? Is the glx extension loaded in xorg.conf?

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#14 2007-11-14 14:58:18

serrano
Member
Registered: 2007-11-11
Posts: 10

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

B wrote:

Serrano, two observations:
- you say you have /etc/hibernate blabla. The 00hacks file is used by pm-utils, which does not have any /etc/hibernate stuff. I suppose you are using another suspend implementation;
- i'd take out the aes2501 line, after all this is a driver specific to my setup.

I pasted that file for reference, not for verbatim copying wink.

Yes. Sure. Sorry about my confusion post. I'm using the hibernation provided by vanilla Linux kernel 2.6.23.1
and the hibernate-script package. Since you have mentioned vbetool I have played with the vbe settings
of hibernate-script. With your post you have shown me the good direction even though the solution to
fix my problem was opposite to yours ;-) Anyhow, thanks again.

--
Manuel

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#15 2007-11-16 07:51:52

brain0
Developer
From: Aachen - Germany
Registered: 2005-01-03
Posts: 1,382

Re: Is xf86-video-intel really operational?

Maybe a little late, but I'll summarize my experience with this driver:

serrano wrote:

1- traditional xorg.conf configuration no longer works. The new framework based on xrandr is
     probably superior to the traditional xorg.conf setting but it is really annoying to waste half
     a day for customizing X, yet another time.

I didn't even notice that. It automatically chooses the best resolution for my laptop. When I use an external monitor, I set it up via xrandr anyway.

2- hibernate no longer works (see my previous mail).

What can I say, always worked, still works (I used -intel from the beginning).

3- compiz/beryl/emerald fail (may be this is not due to xf86-video-intel. With compiz, it's hard to know).

beryl worked and compiz-fusion now works as well. I never had any trouble, what does yours say, why is it failing?

4- xine and mplayer can not longer be used with the xv output driver (this problem has been reported
     so many times in various forums that I don't think it is useful to provide another bug report here, and
     for those that might be interested: no "option CacheLines XXX" does not work).
5- vlc and realplay no longer work (because it is not possible to select the output video driver of
     these softwares).

That is very weird. With beryl, the Xv output driver didn't work at all. But since I switched to compiz and compiz-fusion, Xv works again and does so very well.

Summary: I never used -i810 (tried once), instead I started with -intel when I got this machine. I never had trouble. To answer your question, yes the driver is really operational, at least to my experience.

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