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

[Olav Vitters]

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