[Mageia-dev] GNOME llvmpipe rendering in gnome-session-3.6.0-2.mga3

Tue Oct 9 15:39:27 CEST 2012

On Tue, Oct 09, 2012 at 12:08:42AM -0400, andre999 wrote:
+> zago a écrit :
+> >On Mon, Oct 08, 2012 at 12:32:16PM -0400, andre999 wrote:
+> >>Olav Vitters a écrit :
+> >>>On Mon, Oct 08, 2012 at 02:32:24PM +0200, ovitters wrote:
+> >>>>Name        : gnome-session                Relocations: (not relocatable)
+> >>>>Version     : 3.6.0                             Vendor: Mageia.Org
+> >>>>Release     : 2.mga3                        Build Date: Mon Oct  8 14:26:33 2012
+> >>>
+> >>>>ovitters <ovitters> 3.6.0-2.mga3:
+> >>>>+ Revision: 303504
+> >>>>- add patch to unblacklist llvmpipe
+> >>>
+> >>>I've unblacklisted llvmpipe like Fedora has done for a few releases. In
+> >>>some cases I noticed my normal driver not working (reason unknown), so
+> >>>in case GNOME is sometimes slow, check if it isn't rendering using
+> >>>llvmpipe.
+> >>>
+> >>On my system, running mga2, unblacklisting llvmpipe (so as to use
+> >>regular gnome3, instead of classic/fallback mode) makes all display
+> >>in regular gnome3 run extremely slow.
+> 
+> This includes the virtual console, or scrolling in gedit, neither of
+> which has any need for accelerated display.
+> 
+> >>It must be that llvmpipe is used for all display, even when
+> >>acceleration isn't indicated.
+> >
+> >Hmm, that is not good. I'll test for a few days, otherwise I'll revert.
+> >
+> >What is reported in System Settings → Details under Graphics? llvmpipe
+> >or something else?
+> 
+> It says
+> "Carte graphique  Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x300)"
+> 
+> Strangely enough, I have now uninstalled llvmpipe and am running
+> gnome3 in fallback/classic mode.
+> But it said the same thing before uninstalling.
+> I guess that the message is only set/reset under regular gnome.
+> I don't think classic mode was slow with llvmpipe installed, but
+> uninstalled it since llvmpipe was in the libllvm-devel package
+> (version 3.0 on mga2), which is huge (1 G in size).
+> The equivalent package on fedora is apparently llvm-devel.
+> (I uninstalled it to leave more space on /.)
+
+So it seems to be using llvmpipe eventhough better methods are
+available. That is not what is supposed to be done :-(
+
+I'll check, otherwise I'll revert for now.
+
+> >
+> >>BTW, regular gnome3 might well be called "tablet mode".  A lot of
+> >>extensions have been developped to revert to a display more like
+> >>gnome2.
+> >
+> >I am not using a tablet and suggest you first try it on a tablet.
+> >
+> My wife has a tablet-like android computer.  The default regular
+> gnome3 has the same appearance (and awkwardness to quickly access
+> applications).
+> Sorry, but don't have access to a tablet powerful enough to run gnome3.
+> I looked at a number of extensions, and it was surprising how many
+> were oriented to bringing back a more gnome2-like (and/or less
+> tablet-like) appearance.
+
+Judging based on appearance is not enough. One example: On a tablet
+computer you rely completely on the on screen keyboard. The on screen
+keyboard in GNOME 3 cannot be relied upon. A really reliable on screen
+keyboard would be great for accessibility reasons...
+
+Now if you really use a touch interface, you'll indeed have the same
+thing with GNOME 3 as with e.g. Android. But with either a mouse of a
+keyboard I don't see any difficulties. Obviously it works differently,
+but I have an Android phone and use GNOME 3 and the experience is not
+the same. There is more to it than showing applications as icons in a
+grid.
+
+> So there are already solutions for most of the appearance problems.
+> (And if necessary, I'll modify some to regain a convenient
+> environment.)
+
+GNOME 3 allows for way more customizations than ever before.
+
+> I'm surprised at the performance problems of llvmpipe.  Although my
+> cpu is 32-bit and 64-bit is recommended, it does have the
+> recommended sse2 function.
+> See http://www.mesa3d.org/llvmpipe.html
+> 
+> (It has taken me ages to get gnome3 -- classic -- in a usable state.
+> Next to regain access to svn.)
+
+I tried it under Fedora and it was not slow. Currently we're long away
+from a stable release so IMO it is the right time for some testing, but
+it should at least not use llvmpipe when something better is available.
+
+-- 
+Regards,
+Olav
+