Low NWN frame rate

[Trendane]

Well, hopefully, this'll be the last problem to deal with. I have an open thread on the Bioware Linux forum as well, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask here also.

 

Neverwinter Nights is finally functioning again, but I'm only getting about 8-9 fps. To me, that seems rather low for an Athlon 2500+ with 512mb of RAM, GeForce4 MX onboard chipset, and running at 1024x768 with the game quality set at merely 'Good'.

 

I'm running 2.6.8.1-12mdk kernel and the 1.0-6629 Nvidia drivers downloaded from their site.

 

There are no errors listed in the xorg log. Howlever, cat /proc/driver/nvidia/agp/status returns this:

 

Status: Disabled

 

Is it because the video chipset is onboard? Is the fact that AGP is disabled the reason the my system keeps coming up in 1400x1050 with that stupid panning desktop?

 

If I can just get the last of this stuff fixed, I'll stop messing with the box and just spend my days and nights chopping goblins and those oh-so-beautiful gnolls.

 

While NWN is the primary focus of my desire to get the resolution fixed and fps up to something respectible, if this thread is in the wrong forum, please feel free to relocate it and accept my apologies for the mispost.

[papaschtroumpf]

as root try glxgears and make sure you get a number >1000, if not you don't havw haedrware acceleration on

[Trendane]

as root try glxgears and make sure you get a number >1000, if not you don't havw haedrware acceleration on

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ahaaaa! I'm getting about 120-140fps. I guess that means HW Accel isn't on.

 

Now let's see....if I were a HW Acceleration 'On' switch....where would I be?

[Trendane]

Okay, I've looked around in MCC and I don't see anything to activate hardware acceleration.

 

Where would I find this elusive 'On' switch?

[SoulSe]

I hate to say this, but don't get your hopes up for NWN - it is very bad under Linux unless you have a really good card. I had a Geforce MX440 and I sold it and bought a FX5700 because there is no way to get good performance with low-end Geforce cards.

 

On your hardware acceleration, do you have the nvidia drivers installed? There are many posts on this board that will tell you how to do that, so use the search function, but basically:

 

- Download the latest Linux drivers from nvidia.com

- Stop X (init 3)

- Install the drivers (sh package)

- Edit xorg.conf or XF86Config-4 and change 'nv' to 'nvidia' in the device section.

- Make the nvidia module load at boot.

- Restart X.

 

Now you can type:

$ glxinfo |grep direct

to see if direct rendering is working.

[Trendane]

I hate to say this, but don't get your hopes up for NWN - it is very bad under Linux unless you have a really good card. I had a Geforce MX440 and I sold it and bought a FX5700 because there is no way to get good performance with low-end Geforce cards.

 

On your hardware acceleration, do you have the nvidia drivers installed?

 

Now you can type:

$ glxinfo |grep direct

to see if direct rendering is working.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Well...I know for a fact that it will work well on this system because it was working perefectly...as smooth as glass...before I upgraded the kernel some months ago. The nvidia module is loaded and looks to be working okay....except for the slow framerate and screwed up resolution....and, apperantly, the hardware acceleration. I've attached the xorg.conf for reference.

 

As for the glxinfo |grep direct

direct rendering: Yes

 

X11]# cat xorg.conf

# File generated by XFdrake.

 

# **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of

# this file.

# **********************************************************************

 

Section "Files"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)

# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of

# the X server to render fonts.

FontPath "unix/:-1"

EndSection

 

Section "ServerFlags"

#DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)

#DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)

AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work

EndSection

 

Section "Module"

Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension

Load "v4l" # Video for Linux

Load "extmod"

Load "type1"

Load "freetype"

Load "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so"

EndSection

 

Section "InputDevice"

Identifier "Keyboard1"

[trendane@Carradesh NWN]$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf

# File generated by XFdrake.

 

# **********************************************************************

# Refer to the XF86Config man page for details about the format of

# this file.

# **********************************************************************

 

Section "Files"

# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (they are concatenated together)

# By default, Mandrake 6.0 and later now use a font server independent of

# the X server to render fonts.

FontPath "unix/:-1"

EndSection

 

Section "ServerFlags"

#DontZap # disable <Crtl><Alt><BS> (server abort)

#DontZoom # disable <Crtl><Alt><KP_+>/<KP_-> (resolution switching)

AllowMouseOpenFail # allows the server to start up even if the mouse doesn't work

EndSection

 

Section "Module"

Load "dbe" # Double-Buffering Extension

Load "v4l" # Video for Linux

Load "extmod"

Load "type1"

Load "freetype"

Load "/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.so"

EndSection

 

Section "InputDevice"

Identifier "Keyboard1"

Driver "keyboard"

Option "XkbModel" "pc105"

Option "XkbLayout" "en_US"

Option "XkbOptions" ""

EndSection

 

Section "InputDevice"

Identifier "Mouse1"

Driver "mouse"

Option "Protocol" "ExplorerPS/2"

Option "Device" "/dev/mouse"

Option "ZAxisMapping" "6 7"

EndSection

 

Section "Monitor"

Identifier "monitor1"

VendorName "Sony"

ModelName "Sony GDM-2038"

HorizSync 28.0-85.0

VertRefresh 50.0-160.0

 

# Sony Vaio C1(X,XS,VE,VN)?

# 1024x480 @ 85.6 Hz, 48 kHz hsync

ModeLine "1024x480" 65.00 1024 1032 1176 1344 480 488 494 563 -hsync -vsync

 

# TV fullscreen mode or DVD fullscreen output.

# 768x576 @ 79 Hz, 50 kHz hsync

ModeLine "768x576" 50.00 768 832 846 1000 576 590 595 630

 

# 768x576 @ 100 Hz, 61.6 kHz hsync

ModeLine "768x576" 63.07 768 800 960 1024 576 578 590 616

EndSection

 

Section "Device"

Identifier "device1"

VendorName "Nvidia Corporation"

BoardName "NVIDIA GeForce4 (generic)"

Driver "nvidia"

Option "DPMS"

Option "IgnoreEDID" "1"

Option "NvAGP" "0"

EndSection

 

Section "Screen"

Identifier "screen1"

Device "device1"

Monitor "monitor1"

DefaultColorDepth 24

 

Subsection "Display"

Depth 8

Virtual 1600 1200

EndSubsection

 

Subsection "Display"

Depth 15

Virtual 1600 1200

EndSubsection

 

Subsection "Display"

Depth 16

Virtual 1600 1200

EndSubsection

 

Subsection "Display"

Depth 24

Virtual 1600 1200

EndSubsection

EndSection

 

Section "ServerLayout"

Identifier "layout1"

InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"

Screen "screen1"

EndSection

Edited January 7, 2005 by Trendane

[SoulSe]

I couldn't get more than 11fps in NWN with my MX440, but then it was an AOpen card and a complete piece of shite.

 

I would try and re-install the nvidia driver. All you would really need to do is stop X (by dropping to init 3) and reinstalling it. It will then compile the module under your new kernel environment (make sure the /usr/src/linux symlink points at the correct kernel source).

[Trendane]

I couldn't get more than 11fps in NWN with my MX440, but then it was an AOpen card and a complete piece of shite.

 

I would try and re-install the nvidia driver. All you would really need to do is stop X (by dropping to init 3) and reinstalling it. It will then compile the module under your new kernel environment (make sure the /usr/src/linux symlink points at the correct kernel source).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

*nodnod* I'll try reinstalling the drivers as you suggest. Perhaps something just didn't compile correctly.

 

But I *know* there must be a solution to this....somewhere. It was working fine before....and the only thing that has changed, is the kernel, nvidia driver, and NWN versions.

[SoulSe]

I couldn't get more than 11fps in NWN with my MX440, but then it was an AOpen card and a complete piece of shite.

 

I would try and re-install the nvidia driver. All you would really need to do is stop X (by dropping to init 3) and reinstalling it. It will then compile the module under your new kernel environment (make sure the /usr/src/linux symlink points at the correct kernel source).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

*nodnod* I'll try reinstalling the drivers as you suggest. Perhaps something just didn't compile correctly.

 

But I *know* there must be a solution to this....somewhere. It was working fine before....and the only thing that has changed, is the kernel, nvidia driver, and NWN versions.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have no doubt that if it worked before, it will work again ;)

 

It might be the version of nvidia driver as well, some versions are better with certain cards than others.

[Trendane]

I have no doubt that if it worked before, it will work again ;)

 

It might be the version of nvidia driver as well, some versions are better with certain cards than others.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hmmm....mayhaps I should roll back to an earlier version. Or just wait until the next comes out and see if the new one corrects the problem.

 

Thanks a metric ton, SoulSe.