Solved: Mouse lag problem

J

Jakeotr

I'm a new FreeBSD (10) user, but a long time Linux user. I am trying out FreeBSD in earnest (systemd is pushing the wrong buttons with me, and I hope more Linux users come aboard). I have a problem though with mouse issues. Reasonably sure it is hardware but not sure how to test. Hardware is:

  • Asus Sabretooth 990 FX motherboard
  • AMD FX-8350
  • Samsung 840 pro SSD
  • Nvidia ge660
The mouse lags/hangs in Firefox (w & w/o with and without safe-mode) or Opera, though occasionally in other software. I am using a Logitech wireless mouse/keyboard combo, but I have tried various other USB mice (can't get a PS/2 to work) and keyboards. I have loaded FreeBSD on an older computer (Gigabyte board, AMD Phenom CPU) and it does not have this problem. I have also installed FreeBSD 9.2 and 10 in VirtualBox on a Linux install on this same machine and noticed the same behavior (only not to the same degree). I have tried hald, and moused settings, checked the logs, watched top, but I can't see anything unusual. Any terminal window I can watch while this behavior is going on? Any ideas on what direction to look would be appreciated as this is not workable. Thanks
 
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I can post xorg.conf later this evening, and any other log info, but I have already tried it both on and off. Thanks to your guide (which is awesome BTW, thank you).
 
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Just for more info: I have set the AHCI driver to load at boot (on and off) after having a constant error for a bad DVD drive, I have unplugged all USB peripherals except for keyboard/mouse, and turned off USB 3.0 in the BIOS. I have tried letting HAL configure keyboard/mouse and shutting it off in Xorg with
Code: 
Option "AutoAddDevices" "Off"
Thanks
 
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Here is my xorg.conf
Code: 
Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "X.org Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
#	InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
#	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
#       Option "AllowEmptyInput" "Off"        
#        Option "AutoAddDevices" "Off"
EndSection

Section "Files"
	ModulePath   "/usr/local/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/OTF"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
	FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
        FontPath     "/usr/local/lib/X11/fonts/dejavu"
EndSection

Section "Module"
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "dri2"
	Load  "extmod"
	Load  "record"
	Load  "glx"
        Load  "freetype"
EndSection

#Section "InputDevice"
#	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
#	Driver      "kbd"
#EndSection

#Section "InputDevice"
#	Identifier  "Mouse0"
#	Driver      "mouse"
#	Option	    "Protocol" "SysMouse"
#	Option	    "Device" "/dev/sysmouse"
#	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
#EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor0"
	VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
	ModelName    "Monitor Model"
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "SWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "HWcursor"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoAccel"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "ShadowFB"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "UseFBDev"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "Rotate"             	# [<str>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"           	# <i>
        #Option     "FlatPanel"          	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "FPDither"           	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "CrtcNumber"         	# <i>
        #Option     "FPScale"            	# [<bool>]
        #Option     "FPTweak"            	# <i>
        #Option     "DualHead"           	# [<bool>]
	Identifier  "Card0"
	Driver      "nvidia"
	VendorName  "NVIDIA Corporation"
	BoardName   "GK106 [GeForce GTX 660]"
	BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "Card0"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
#	SubSection "Display"
#		Viewport   0 0
#		Depth     1
#	EndSubSection
#	SubSection "Display"
#		Viewport   0 0
#		Depth     4
#	EndSubSection
#	SubSection "Display"
#		Viewport   0 0
#		Depth     8
#	EndSubSection
#	SubSection "Display"
#		Viewport   0 0
#		Depth     15
#	EndSubSection
#	SubSection "Display"
#		Viewport   0 0
#		Depth     16
#	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection
 
AHCI only affects disks. That DVD error is probably not an error, just showing there is no disk in the drive. Does a corded mouse have the same problems as the wireless one? For a USB mouse, it is not necessary to enable moused.
 
Warren, thanks for the reply. Corded mouse does not make a difference. It seems moused was enabled from installation, and when I kill it the mouse stops working. Interestingly I just installed PC-BSD on another drive and under KDE in Konqueror it seems like the problem is lessened. Firefox under KDE or Mate is still very stuttery. Could being a GTK application have something to do with it? (time passes) Although it seems other KDE applications are affected as well. Where I see it most is in menu bar drop downs. I saw another similar post to menus being slow but it seemed the problem was KDE pulling in a GTK .rc file. Nearly all my hardware is new, could I just the perfect combination to create a problem?
 
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The hardware should be fine, although I can't speak for the Nvidia card. Still, the video card should not affect mouse movement.

With a default install of X, twm(1) should be included. Try that instead of KDE to see if the mouse problems are present in both.
 
Looks like the same behavior under twm, not as bad, but maybe that's owing to its smaller footprint? I don't think it's a resource issue as I have fast CPU and 8 GB RAM. I just wonder if something is interrupting the USB system, because it will happen for a few seconds and then be fine for 10-15 secondss. Is there anything more fine grained than top to watch system functions/processes? BTW I dual boot this with Linux Mint and no problem there. I also see no stuttering on the root window or terminals.
 
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That's a very fast system which should have no problems at all. It's worth turning off legacy USB emulation in the BIOS. If that does not help, please post your /etc/rc.conf and /boot/loader.conf.
 
I can't shut off the USB system completely as I need it for mouse/keyboard, but I've shut off all ports not needed. I'm going to try to get PS/2 port working today, although it doesn't work in Linux either...so it may be bad.
/boot/loader.conf
Code: 
nvidia_load="YES"
ahci_load="YES"

/etc/rc.conf
Code: 
hostname="godzilla"
ifconfig_re0="DHCP"
sshd_enable="YES"
ntpd_enable="YES"
# Set dumpdev to "AUTO" to enable crash dumps, "NO" to disable
dumpdev="AUTO"
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"
linux_enable="YES"
moused_enable="YES"
 
Legacy USB emulation is a BIOS setting that allows using a PS/2 keyboard in the BIOS. It sometimes interferes with normal use after booting.
 
Shutting off legacy USB doesn't work either, probably a good thing as I dual boot, and GRUB can't cope with my USB keyboard when legacy is off.
 
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Enabling IOMMU in the BIOS has helped the mouse lag problem quite a bit. It still happens once in a while, but it's much better. I don't understand completely what IOMMU is supposed to do; apparently it remaps memory for devices that can't go above a certain limit, but I'm not sure how it has helped me. Maybe someone with more knowledge of this can suggest the reason why it's happening or maybe some way to tune it even farther.
 
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Answering my own issue in case anyone's in the same place: never did figure out the problem (the above did not work BTW), but after upgrading to 10.1 no problems. So, for what it's worth.
 
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