[SOLVED]Poor video performance for GE Force GT 1030

[Azo]

I always wanted to try Linux but the new Windows 11 compatibility issue convinced me to take immediate action. My desktop is old, I built it about 6 years ago by buying parts (motherboard, CPU, memory etc.) and assemble them. I updated the graphic card to support and additional 4K monitor and added memory to 8GB. I built this computer for CAD and photos and 4K video editing. And it did a great job and I hope I can use it a few more years. I was able to install Mint Cinnamon 20.2.
It was not easy, I encountered problems but I was able to solve them by using tutorials and search for help. I shrank the partition using Windows command (big hassle) and I installed Linux Cinnamon. My intention is to use Windows for CAD and Photoshop and for everything else Linux (about 80% of the time).
The Wi-Fi USB adaptor Netgear A6100 did not worked and I was not able to find a fix on forum (if there is one please let me know). I solve it by replacing with a Asus A51 USB adaptor that works well. Everything is fine with except of video performance. This is a deal breaker, and I have no choice than to ask for help.
Videos on IPTV or You Tube is just a succession of pictures and not a smooth video. Even the mouse pointer is not smooth (jumping about 1 cm between to consecutive positions). Also typing is very slow.
The Driver manager give me 4 available drivers for GeForce GT 1030:
1. nvidia-driver 470 (recommended)
2. nvidia-driver 460
3. nvidia-driver 390
All above drivers work with one monitor only. The only driver that supports two monitors is Xsever-xorg-video-nouveau (open source). But the performance is unacceptable.
Or maybe I am wrong and there is another problem not related to video performance. It is first time I installed Linux and I am really pleased I did it without asking for help until now.

[SMG]

Videos on IPTV or You Tube is just a succession of pictures and not a smooth video. Even the mouse pointer is not smooth (jumping about 1 cm between to consecutive positions). Also typing is very slow.
The Driver manager give me 4 available drivers for GeForce GT 1030:
1. nvidia-driver 470 (recommended)
2. nvidia-driver 460
3. nvidia-driver 390
All above drivers work with one monitor only.

Welcome to the forum, Azo.

That is not what usually happens.

Please give us information about your install by entering this command in a terminal: inxi -Fxxxrz
Click </> from the mini toolbar above the textbox where you type your reply and then place your cursor between the code markers and paste the results of the command between the code markers [code]Results[/code]. This will let us know how Mint sees your hardware.

[Azo]

Code: Select all

adi@adi-Linux:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-80-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 wm: muffin 5.0.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: P8B75-M v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: 1701 date: 08/06/2014 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i5-2500K bits: 64 type: MCP 
  arch: Sandy Bridge rev: 7 L2 cache: 6144 KiB 
  flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 26401 
  Speed: 1600 MHz min/max: 1600/3700 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1600 2: 1600 
  3: 1600 4: 1600 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nouveau 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1d01 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz, 3840x2160~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NV138 v: 4.3 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P8H77-I driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:1e20 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108 High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com. 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0fb8 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-80-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P8 series driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 
  bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: ASUSTek AC51 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wireless Adapter [Mediatek MT7610U] type: USB driver: mt76x0u bus ID: 1-1.4:3 chip ID: 0b05:17d1 
  serial: <filter> 
  IF: wlxf07959eb42be state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 18.68 GiB (4.0%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB 
  speed: <unknown> serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 58.36 GiB used: 18.68 GiB (32.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 40.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau temp: 36 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://packages.linuxmint.com uma main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
  2: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
Info:
  Processes: 198 Uptime: 10m Memory: 7.71 GiB used: 2.27 GiB (29.5%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 

[SMG]

This is the data with the nouveau driver. It appears everything is installed correctly.

Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nouveau
v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1d01
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz, 3840x2160~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: NV138 v: 4.3 Mesa 20.2.6 direct render: Yes

To figure out why there is an issue with the Nvidia drivers, you would need to install one and then provide the output of inxi -Gx. That would give us an idea of what is happening.

It is possible you are only seeing one screen because software rendering is happening, but usually you would get a pop-up message saying "no hardware acceleration" if that is happening. Software rendering usually can not push images to more than one screen.

[Azo]

Yes, you were right, when only one monitor is working (1920x1080) I got the window "no hardware acceleration".
However, I installed the driver nvidia-470.57 (recommended) and it starts with both monitors and everything looks fine: movies play normal, mouse pointer is not jumping and typing is instant.
In the past I did install all 3 nvidia available drivers and every time started with one monitor and the error window. I suspected it is an intermittent issue and I restarted. Unfortunately it started with one monitor only. I restarted again and both monitors kicked in. The below script is with two monitors, everything should be fine.
I will restart again to get one monitor only and rerun inxi -Gx.

Code: Select all

adi@adi-Linux:~$ inxi -Gx
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia 
  v: 470.57.02 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa 
  resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz, 3840x2160~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.57.02 direct render: Yes 

[Azo]

First reboot started normal and second time with one monitor only.
The second 4K monitor is connected with an HDMI cable. I disconnected and reconnected the HDMI cable end but it not fix the problem.
This is the script:

Code: Select all

adi@adi-Linux:~$ inxi -Gx
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia 
  v: 470.57.02 bus ID: 01:00.0 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau 
  unloaded: vesa resolution: 1920x1200~77Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.2.6 
  direct render: Yes

[SMG]

In this case, on the Display line there is nouveau instead of Nvidia and the renderer is llvmpipe which is software rendering. This type of situation can happen when the X Server starts, but the Nvidia modules are not yet ready to load.

Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GP108 [GeForce GT 1030] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia
v: 470.57.02 bus ID: 01:00.0
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau
unloaded: vesa resolution: 1920x1200~77Hz
OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 11.0.0 256 bits) v: 4.5 Mesa 20.2.6
direct render: Yes

I think your problem is similar to the one in this thread [SOLVED] NVIDIA driver failing sometimes on boot ("no hardware acceleration"). Let us know if the fix roblm recommends in the second post addresses the issue for you. It will load the Nvidia modules earlier in the boot cycle so they are ready when X Server starts.

[Moonstone Man]

The second 4K monitor ...

All above drivers work with one monitor only.

Maximum digital resolution: 4096 x 2160 @ 60 Hz

What that means is that the total width of all your displays added together cannot exceed 4096 pixels.

1920 + 3840 = ...

[Azo]

GF GT 1030 has two ports, one DVI and the second HDMI. As per spec:
DVI max resolution: 1920x1080 @ 60hz
HDMI max resolution: 3840x2160 @ 30hz
I am using this card since 2018 on Windows 10 with one 1920x1080 monitor connected on the DVI port and an 4K monitor connected to HDMI port. I meets the spec. In Linux when is not failing at boot (~ 50% of time) the script shows normal function.

[Azo]

Following the instructions, I opened the module file and I added the 3 lines:
nvidia
nvidia-drm
nvidia-modeset
Then File -->Save
I reboot the computer 5 times and both monitors started. Since before the failure rate was about 50% it is save to say that it worked well and problem is solved.
Thank you very much for guidance and patience.

[SMG]

I reboot the computer 5 times and both monitors started. Since before the failure rate was about 50% it is save to say that it worked well and problem is solved.
Thank you very much for guidance and patience.

Glad to hear it is working.

Please go to your first post in this thread, click the pencil icon, and add [SOLVED] to the title so others know you are no longer seeking help on this issue.

[Moonstone Man]

Glad to hear it is working.

So am I. I don't like being wrong