Things done in xfce4 are slow, why?

[dimyself]

Hi everyone :)

I'm fairly new to freebsd (although worked with it before...). I NEED HELP!! I've spent the last 2 days working on this system (for my mother). Here's the deal. No matter what OS I've tried, it just runs like sh*t (although I haven't tried windows because she always gets so many viruses with it...)!!! In Linux I've tried different OS's, different configurations, different desktops/window managers. Everything is always slow! Can't stream video, windows are laggy and redraw on the screen really badly. It makes things really frustrating for mum :)

So I decided to give freebsd a shot, but yet again things are just freakin slow :( I would like to get some help with this maybe there is something I'm missing in the config.

Ok so this is an older system, but not so old that it should CRAWL when streaming youtube or moving/closing windows!!!!

Specs:
1.8ghz celeron
512mb ram
8gb hd
64mb NVIDIA G2 mx400
21" CRT

Current config:
xfce4
FreeBSD 8.0-RELEASE-p3
nvidia driver x86-96.43.16 (from nv website, NOT ports)
xorg 1.6.1
etc...

Direct rendering enabled:
[fran@bingo ~]$ glxinfo | grep direct
direct rendering: Yes
[fran@bingo ~]$

Could it be monitor refresh rate? In linux this hasnt fixed the issue, however I'm not quite sure how to set here...Where and what to set in xorg for refresh/res?

If I try to set in nvidia settings, I just get an error:
Unable to load X Server Display Configuration page:

Failed to query NoScanout for screen 0.

xdpyinfo:
[fran@bingo /usr/home/fran/Desktop]$ xdpyinfo
name of display: :0.0
version number: 11.0
vendor string: The X.Org Foundation
vendor release number: 10601000
X.Org version: 1.6.1
maximum request size: 16777212 bytes
motion buffer size: 256
bitmap unit, bit order, padding: 32, LSBFirst, 32
image byte order: LSBFirst
number of supported pixmap formats: 7
supported pixmap formats:
depth 1, bits_per_pixel 1, scanline_pad 32
depth 4, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
depth 8, bits_per_pixel 8, scanline_pad 32
depth 15, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
depth 16, bits_per_pixel 16, scanline_pad 32
depth 24, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
depth 32, bits_per_pixel 32, scanline_pad 32
keycode range: minimum 8, maximum 255
focus: window 0x1c00005, revert to Parent
number of extensions: 27
BIG-REQUESTS
Composite
DAMAGE
DOUBLE-BUFFER
DPMS
DRI2
GLX
Generic Event Extension
MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
MIT-SHM
NV-CONTROL
NV-GLX
RANDR
RECORD
RENDER
SHAPE
SYNC
X-Resource
XC-MISC
XFIXES
XFree86-DGA
XFree86-VidModeExtension
XINERAMA
XInputExtension
XKEYBOARD
XTEST
XVideo
default screen number: 0
number of screens: 1

screen #0:
print screen: no
dimensions: 1024x768 pixels (347x260 millimeters)
resolution: 75x75 dots per inch
depths (7): 24, 1, 4, 8, 15, 16, 32
root window id: 0xa3
depth of root window: 24 planes
number of colormaps: minimum 1, maximum 1
default colormap: 0x20
default number of colormap cells: 256
preallocated pixels: black 0, white 16777215
options: backing-store NO, save-unders NO
largest cursor: 64x64
current input event mask: 0x7a802c
ButtonPressMask ButtonReleaseMask LeaveWindowMask
ExposureMask StructureNotifyMask SubstructureNotifyMask
SubstructureRedirectMask FocusChangeMask PropertyChangeMask
number of visuals: 33
default visual id: 0x21
visual:
visual id: 0x21
class: TrueColor
depth: 24 planes
available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
significant bits in color specification: 8 bits
visual:
visual id: 0x22
class: DirectColor
depth: 24 planes
available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
significant bits in color specification: 8 bits
visual:
visual id: 0x23
class: TrueColor
depth: 24 planes
available colormap entries: 256 per subfield
red, green, blue masks: 0xff0000, 0xff00, 0xff
significant bits in color specification: 8 bits
etc.....


top (while in xfce):

last pid: 65432; load averages: 0.38, 0.47, 0.46 up 0+07:11:19 01:06:17
79 processes: 1 running, 78 sleeping
CPU: 9.3% user, 0.0% nice, 7.4% system, 1.9% interrupt, 81.3% idle
Mem: 158M Active, 198M Inact, 86M Wired, 4496K Cache, 59M Buf, 35M Free
Swap: 556M Total, 556M Free

PID USERNAME THR PRI NICE SIZE RES STATE TIME WCPU COMMAND
65379 fran 8 44 0 105M 75312K ucond 1:47 7.08% firefox-bin
65326 fran 1 46 0 47368K 37520K select 1:14 6.15% Xorg
65367 fran 1 46 0 29284K 13048K select 0:11 1.46% Terminal
65432 fran 1 44 0 3680K 1716K RUN 0:00 0.20% top
1220 root 1 44 0 3804K 1360K select 0:18 0.00% hald-addon-st
439 root 1 44 0 3448K 816K select 0:16 0.00% moused
1190 haldaemon 1 44 0 7036K 3144K select 0:11 0.00% hald
65358 fran 1 44 0 30008K 13080K select 0:04 0.00% xfce4-panel
65357 fran 1 45 0 28048K 12152K select 0:04 0.00% xfce4-panel
65352 fran 1 44 0 17540K 10484K select 0:02 0.00% xfwm4
65407 fran 1 44 0 27780K 11972K select 0:02 0.00% mousepad
65359 fran 1 44 0 36668K 15372K select 0:02 0.00% xfdesktop
1182 root 1 44 0 6072K 2372K select 0:02 0.00% sendmail
1284 root 1 44 0 4560K 1964K ttyin 0:01 0.00% bash
752 messagebus 1 44 0 3500K 1736K select 0:01 0.00% dbus-daemon
65346 fran 1 44 0 15568K 8332K select 0:01 0.00% xfce4-session
65365 fran 1 44 0 27224K 10916K select 0:01 0.00% xfce4-menu-pl


Whatever you want to see, let me know. Please, I need to get this thing working...

Maybe the video card/system is just too old to support newer OS's/video demands?

thank you

[wblock@]

If every OS is slow, that suggests it's the hardware. Linux and FreeBSD both use xorg, so might have the same problems with given hardware. On old video cards, compositing should probably be disabled.

After that, I'd try a different video card. On older/slower systems, I've had success with VIA ProSavage II onboard, ancient SIS AGP something-or-other, and AGP and PCI Radeon 7000VE.

[dimyself]

Could it be refresh rate?

[dimyself]

If every OS is slow, that suggests it's the hardware. Linux and FreeBSD both use xorg, so might have the same problems with given hardware. On old video cards, compositing should probably be disabled.

After that, I'd try a different video card. On older/slower systems, I've had success with VIA ProSavage II onboard, ancient SIS AGP something-or-other, and AGP and PCI Radeon 7000VE.

idk, I havent had XP on it for about 3 years but when I did it ran fine. It ran well with pclinuxos 2007 as well. I dont think its the hardware...Should 1.8ghz, 512mb ram, 64mb vid card struggle/lag on youtube or redrawing and moving windows around??

[wblock@]

Could it be refresh rate?

No. A too-slow refresh rate will just make for a flickery display. It would not affect the speed you can drag windows around.

[dimyself]

Is there anything I can check with the nvidia driver and/or xorg.conf?

[wblock@]

idk, I havent had XP on it for about 3 years but when I did it ran fine. It ran well with pclinuxos 2007 as well. I dont think its the hardware...Should 1.8ghz, 512mb ram, 64mb vid card struggle/lag on youtube or redrawing and moving windows around??

If the video card has DRI and accelerated 2D, it should be fast enough. Your Xorg.0.log might show what's going on.

You could try the xubuntu livecd. If it's fast enough with that, you could grab the Xorg.0.log and copy the settings for use with FreeBSD. Or just use it as-is.

[dimyself]

Ok, I've tried ubuntu in the past and it is just super slow but that was kde... I did try linux mint with a lightweight desktop and it worked ok....EXCEPT all windows I would try to close would just hang for like 5 seconds. Very annoying.

I will try xubuntu though and see about Xorg.

Nvidia seems to be working on here though...

[dimyself]

Xorg.conf module section:
Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "dri2"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
Load "record"
EndSection

[dimyself]

didnt see anything about acceleration. Where can I check that

[dimyself]

Also not sure if it makes a difference, but in glxgears I get about 300fps.

[wblock@]

didnt see anything about acceleration. Where can I check that

/var/log/Xorg.0.log shows what is actually happening as X starts and runs.

[dimyself]

[root@bingo ~]# cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -i accel
(**) NVIDIA(0): Enabling RENDER acceleration
(II) NVIDIA(0): NVIDIA 3D Acceleration Architecture Initialized
(II) NVIDIA(0): Using the NVIDIA 2D acceleration architecture
(**) product 0x0100: (accel) keeping acceleration scheme 1
(**) product 0x0100: (accel) filter chain progression: 2.00
(**) product 0x0100: (accel) filter stage 0: 20.00 ms
(**) product 0x0100: (accel) set acceleration profile 0

[wblock@]

Please post the whole thing. Did you turn off compositing in xfce?

[dimyself]

I didn't turn it off, I'm not sure where it is

Attached is my xorg.

[wblock@]

I didn't turn it off, I'm not sure where it is

Settings/Window Manager Tweaks/Compositor, uncheck "Enable display compositing".

[dimyself]

It is already disabled. Is there anything in my Xorg log that looks off?

Today I'm going to try a 128mb agp card opposed to the 64mb pci card I have in there and see if that makes a difference

[wblock@]

It is already disabled. Is there anything in my Xorg log that looks off?

Not to me, but somebody who knows more about nVidia cards may see something.

Today I'm going to try a 128mb agp card opposed to the 64mb pci card I have in there and see if that makes a difference

That's worth a shot. If that doesn't do it, see if xubuntu performs okay. If it does, grab the Xorg.0.log from it.

[dimyself]

I couldn't get xubuntu to boot. When I disable splash, the error shows as ata2.0 error and hangs there just repeating. I couldn't find a quick answer as to why.

[wblock@]

I couldn't get xubuntu to boot. When I disable splash, the error shows as ata2.0 error and hangs there just repeating. I couldn't find a quick answer as to why.

Which says maybe it's nothing to do with the OS or video card, and some other hardware is failing.

[dimyself]

Well i'll look into the error.

I did swap cards and configure for agp. Glxgears was reporting 300fps on my 64mb card and after the swap is now reporting:

5812 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1162.334 FPS
7227 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1445.061 FPS
7264 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1452.633 FPS

So performance did improve with the new card. However......everything is still slow!!! youtube still has choppy video and windows lag when moving/closing them! I'll look into that error.

Do you see anything wrong in my attached Xorg.conf or xorg.log?

[dimyself]

The error its giving me is with the cdrom. It does eventually time out and continue booting. I dont think an error with the cdrom would cause performance issues with video? Its not on the same cable or controller as HD.

[PhenomII]

Greetings,
A couple of things come to mind as I read this.
I wonder about your BIOS settings. What happens if you set everything to defaults. Then only change the settings that you absolutely have to. You appear to have problems with your IDE port settings - you noted CD issues as well as ATA2. What I would suggest is to let the BIOS determine the drive settings (auto). Then choose ATAPI/CDROM as first in the boot order setting. Don't attempt to make any changes to TRANSFER type/speed. Let the BIOS decide.
It would also be really helpful to see the output of dmesg(8) (https://ultimatedns.NET/man/?query=dmesg)
dmesg -a

A last question; did you use nvidia-xconfig to make/alter your xorg.conf(5) (https://ultimatedns.NET/man/?query=xorg.conf)?

HTH

[dimyself]

Greetings,
A couple of things come to mind as I read this.
I wonder about your BIOS settings. What happens if you set everything to defaults. Then only change the settings that you absolutely have to. You appear to have problems with your IDE port settings - you noted CD issues as well as ATA2. What I would suggest is to let the BIOS determine the drive settings (auto). Then choose ATAPI/CDROM as first in the boot order setting. Don't attempt to make any changes to TRANSFER type/speed. Let the BIOS decide.
It would also be really helpful to see the output of dmesg(8) (https://ultimatedns.NET/man/?query=dmesg)
dmesg -a

A last question; did you use nvidia-xconfig to make/alter your xorg.conf(5) (https://ultimatedns.NET/man/?query=xorg.conf)?

HTH



Thanks for the response... Yea I did set bios to defaults and I didnt alter them other than boot settings and enable fast boot.

Actually through my research it seems that alot of users on linux/unix who use Adobe flash get really bad performance (even on newer systems than mine). It seems that flash for linux/unix is setup so that it offloads processing to the cpu instead of video card. That would make sense because when I upgraded from the 64mb pci card to the 128mb agp card AND overclocked it was still lagging. When I look at cpu while lagging (i can't really remember) but I think it was firefox killing the cpu.

What I did instead was install chrome (lightyears faster than firefox it seems) and video is streaming much better. Now they (youtube) are using html5 instead of flash which works flawless (no lag) over the newest version of flash.

So I think I'm good now. I'll have to see what she thinks about it performing

[wblock@]

Are you saying the problem was not dragging windows in general, just Firefox windows playing flash?

[fronclynne]

Well i'll look into the error.

I did swap cards and configure for agp. Glxgears was reporting 300fps on my 64mb card and after the swap is now reporting:

5812 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1162.334 FPS
7227 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1445.061 FPS
7264 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1452.633 FPS

So performance did improve with the new card.

Those are unreal numbers, I get around 130fps (and keep in mind that das Kino ist 24fps, & even good quality video is only about 75fps). There's a reason they warn against using glxgears as a benchmark. For me, I get slow window movement and refresh because of processor contention (make -j3 buildworld for instance (turion x2 @ @GHz 4G ram etc etc)), but in your case, I don't know. If fiddling with rendering and accel doesn't fix it, you need to look at maybe what's actually running. daemons, applications, etc.