Please recommend a cheap graphics card for Dell Poweredge T110 II

[Martin-A]

Hello,

I am new both to this forum and to Linux (Mint Cinnamon 17.3). My ability to use and make sense of command lines is extremely limited.

I am in the process of transferring twenty years of data (and some applications) from Windows XP to Linux Mint 17.3, on a Dell PowerEdge T110 II machine, bought for the purpose. I now have just about everything working well. Except for the message "Running in Software Rendering mode".

From searching the net, it seems there are issues with old graphics cards on Linux. (The Dell T110 II has built in graphics Matrox G200eW WPC M450.)

From what I have read, it seems that the quickest and best solution will be simply to install a cheap up to date graphics card (PCI Express) that Linux Mint can automatically recognise and automatically install the necessary drivers.

Please recommend one or two up-to-date (and cheap - I am operating on a retirement pension) PCI Express graphics cards that I can buy on Ebay and which will be dealt with invisibly by Linux. If my assumption that this is the quickest solution is wrong, please put me right.

Many thanks for any help with this issue.

Martin A

[Fred Barclay]

G'day Martin! I admit I know barely anything about graphics cards (or computer hardware of any sort, for that matter; I'm a software guy) but it might help if we could see an overview of your system hardware.
Simply open a terminal, make it fullscreen, and run the following code:

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inxi -Fxz

Then highlight and copy the text, come back here, and paste it between two

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[code]

[/code] tags.

Now as to your question, " If my assumption that this is the quickest solution is wrong, please put me right." Changing graphics cards is neither the quickest nor the cheapest solution.
You're using either Cinnamon, right? This DE (desktop environment) uses what is known as "3D effects", which basically means it makes your graphics card work harder for some fancy effects you may never use. Neither the MATE nor the Xfce version of Mint include 3D effects, so they won't fall back into Software Rendering Mode (which is terribly slow).

Changing to MATE or Xfce would be free, and would be faster than having to order a graphics card and wait for it to arrive. Please be aware, though, that if you decide to go this route and reinstall Mint with a different DE, and you have important documents/videos/anything on your current installation of Mint, you will lose them. Please back them up first!

Cheers!
Fred

[Ark987]

That's a server! May I ask how do you end up with that as your workstation?

Maybe an NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290?

https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1 ... 0nvs%20290
http://www.howopensource.com/2012/10/in ... using-ppa/

According to http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t110-2/pd you have:

4 PCIe G2 slots:
Two x8 slots (one with x16 connectors)
One x4 slot (with x8 connector)
One x1 slot

But because this is a server, there could be some gotchas in hardware compatibility. I would call DELL and ask them which video card is compatible with that model, try to choose the NVIDIA brand if they offer you a quote or simply write down the model name.

[Martin-A]

Ark987 - yes it's described by Dell as a server.

I got it because it was a lot of computer (and very little previous use it seems) for not much money. Except for not having sound (sorted by connecting a 2.99€ USB external sound device) it seemed to be what I needed. I did not anticipate that Linux would have a problem with its built in graphics.

Thank you for the graphics card suggestion.

[Martin-A]

Fred, Thank you for your comments. inxi -Fxz results posted below.

Now as to your question, " If my assumption that this is the quickest solution is wrong, please put me right." Changing graphics cards is neither the quickest nor the cheapest solution.
You're using either Cinnamon, right? This DE (desktop environment) uses what is known as "3D effects", which basically means it makes your graphics card work harder for some fancy effects you may never use. Neither the MATE nor the Xfce version of Mint include 3D effects, so they won't fall back into Software Rendering Mode (which is terribly slow).

Yes, I am using Cinnamon. That's because a friend uses it and so I can call on his experience rather than (as it seemed at the time) unnecessarily ventureing into the unknown.

In fact I currently have pretty well all of the fancy effects (zooming windows etc) turned off simply because I find that sort of 'eye candy' distracting.

Changing to MATE or Xfce would be free, and would be faster than having to order a graphics card and wait for it to arrive. Please be aware, though, that if you decide to go this route and reinstall Mint with a different DE, and you have important documents/videos/anything on your current installation of Mint, you will lose them. Please back them up first!

Well having invested some months (off and on) installing all sorts of stuff and testing it, migrating tens of gigabytes of data, getting printers, scanners to work, testing backup procedures, installing Wine (for a couple of must-have legacy Windows applications) so on, then running in parallel with Windows for some weeks to check all works correctly, it would be costly in time to repeat all that, even if not money.

But I'd certainly like to get rid of the 'rendering mode' warning that pops up.

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martin@Dell-T110-II ~ $ inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: Dell-T110-II Kernel: 3.19.0-32-generic x86_64 (64 bit gcc: 4.8.2)
           Desktop: Cinnamon 2.8.6 (Gtk 3.10.8~8+qiana) Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
Machine:   System: Dell product: PowerEdge T110 II
           Mobo: Dell model: 0PM2CW v: A01 Bios: Dell v: 2.4.3 date: 05/09/2013
CPU:       Quad core Intel Xeon E31220 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 8192 KB
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 24741
           clock speeds: max: 3400 MHz 1: 3246 MHz 2: 1666 MHz 3: 1692 MHz 4: 2650 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Matrox Systems MGA G200eW WPCM450 bus-ID: 04:03.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.17.1 drivers: mga (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1280x1024@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.6, 256 bits)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.5.9 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 USB PnP Sound Device driver: USB-Audio Sound: ALSA v: k3.19.0-32-generic
           Card-2 GEMBIRD driver: USB Audio usb-ID: 002-004
Network:   Card: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM5722 Gigabit Ethernet PCI Express driver: tg3 v: 3.137 bus-ID: 03:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 300.0GB (40.9% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST3300657SS size: 300.0GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 271G used: 82G (32%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/dm-1
           ID-2: /boot size: 236M used: 50M (23%) fs: ext2 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 4.26GB used: 0.02GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/dm-2
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: N/A
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 225 Uptime: 10:07 Memory: 1895.0/3922.1MB Init: Upstart runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4
           Client: Shell (bash 4.3.111) inxi: 2.2.28 
martin@Dell-T110-II ~ $ 

[Fred Barclay]

It appears I misjudged your system and it is certainly a powerful one. By all means stick with Cinnamon if you're most comfortable with it.
I have to say that it's certainly an unusual setup. I didn't even know that a Matrox Systems graphics card existed.

[Ark987]

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Graphics:  Card: Matrox Systems MGA G200eW WPCM450 bus-ID: 04:03.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.17.1 drivers: mga (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1280x1024@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.6, 256 bits)
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.5.9 Direct Rendering: Yes

Based on this info you may want to try to install this package: xserver-xorg-video-mga

http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/tru ... mga.4.html
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/trusty/+pa ... -video-mga

I guess this should solve your video software rendering issue and save you some bucks.
Open a terminal and run:

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sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-mga

And then reboot the computer.

[Martin-A]

Ark 987 - thank you for that. The first command seemed to go fine:

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martin@Dell-T110-II ~ $ sudo apt-get update
[sudo] password for martin: 
Get:1 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security InRelease [65.9 kB]
Ign http://archive.canonical.com trusty InRelease                              
Hit http://archive.canonical.com trusty Release.gpg                            
Hit http://archive.canonical.com trusty Release                                
Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main amd64 Packages [493 kB]  
Hit http://archive.canonical.com trusty/partner amd64 Packages                 
Hit http://archive.canonical.com trusty/partner i386 Packages                  
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa InRelease                               
Hit http://archive.canonical.com trusty/partner Translation-en                 
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa Release.gpg                             
Get:3 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/restricted amd64 Packages [13.0 kB]
Get:4 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe amd64 Packages [130 kB]
Get:5 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/multiverse amd64 Packages [4,978 B]
Get:6 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main i386 Packages [464 kB]   
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa Release                                 
Get:7 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/restricted i386 Packages [12.7 kB]
Get:8 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe i386 Packages [130 kB]
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/main amd64 Packages                     
Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/multiverse i386 Packages [5,168 B]
Get:10 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/main Translation-en [271 kB] 
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/upstream amd64 Packages                 
Get:11 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/multiverse Translation-en [2,570 B]
Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/restricted Translation-en [3,206 B]
Get:13 http://security.ubuntu.com trusty-security/universe Translation-en [76.6 kB]
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/import amd64 Packages                   
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/main i386 Packages                      
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/upstream i386 Packages                  
Hit http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/import i386 Packages                    
Ign http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty InRelease                                 
Get:14 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates InRelease [65.9 kB]            
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release.gpg                               
Get:15 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main amd64 Packages [781 kB]   
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa InRelease                                  
Hit http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa Release.gpg                                
Hit http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa Release              
Get:16 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted amd64 Packages [15.9 kB]
Get:17 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe amd64 Packages [361 kB]
Get:18 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse amd64 Packages [13.2 kB]
Get:19 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main i386 Packages [748 kB]    
Hit http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa/main amd64 Packages                        
Hit http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa/main i386 Packages                         
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/import Translation-en_GB                
Get:20 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted i386 Packages [15.6 kB]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/import Translation-en                   
Get:21 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe i386 Packages [363 kB]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/main Translation-en_GB                  
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/main Translation-en                     
Get:22 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse i386 Packages [13.6 kB]
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/upstream Translation-en_GB              
Get:23 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/main Translation-en [391 kB]   
Ign http://packages.linuxmint.com rosa/upstream Translation-en                 
Get:24 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/multiverse Translation-en [7,227 B]
Get:25 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/restricted Translation-en [3,699 B]
Get:26 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty-updates/universe Translation-en [189 kB]
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa/main Translation-en_GB                     
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty Release                                   
Ign http://extra.linuxmint.com rosa/main Translation-en                        
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main amd64 Packages                       
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted amd64 Packages                 
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe amd64 Packages                   
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse amd64 Packages                 
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main i386 Packages                        
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted i386 Packages                  
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe i386 Packages                    
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse i386 Packages                  
Get:27 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en_GB [96.8 kB]       
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/main Translation-en                       
Get:28 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse Translation-en_GB [98.3 kB] 
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/multiverse Translation-en                 
Get:29 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted Translation-en_GB [3,483 B] 
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/restricted Translation-en                 
Get:30 http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en_GB [7,557 B]   
Hit http://archive.ubuntu.com trusty/universe Translation-en                   
Fetched 4,846 kB in 10s (465 kB/s)                                             
Reading package lists... Done

But the second was not happy.

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martin@Dell-T110-II ~ $ sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-video-mga
[sudo] password for martin: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies.
 xserver-xorg-video-mga : Depends: xorg-video-abi-15
                          Depends: xserver-xorg-core (>= 2:1.14.99.902)
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
martin@Dell-T110-II ~ $ 

I still think that the best compromise (time diverted from other things vs. money spent) would be to install a cheap (eg ~$30) but up to date graphics card that Linux will automatically recognise and configure the drivers.

[Ark987]

I see the problem, I found this bug report:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour ... ug/1316035

I believe your time is better spent on purchasing a 3D accelerated supported video card. It is a complex situation that involves a major change in the X (Display server): http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=n ... px=MTA0NDg. Long story short, it will be almost impossible to get 3D hardware acceleration with your Matrox video card.

P.S.: Do not try to install the xserver-xorg-video-mga by installing the missing dependencies (if you know how to do that). That package conflicts with everything else in the system and it will REMOVE Cinnamon and a bunch of software, in other words you won't have a GUI anymore.

[Martin-A]

Yes, thank you, I agree with what you say.

Is there anywhere I can find a list of graphics cards that are known to be problem-free with Linux/Cinnamon?

[Ark987]

No that I know, essentially anything that is compatible with Ubuntu, but as you saw your Matrox card is suppose to be compatible but it isn't

Your best bet is on NVIDIA, that's supported for sure, but you have to be careful because you are using a server machine not a regular PC. You have to look for a compatible card with your server fist and then compatible with Mint/Ubuntu.

I found this thread: http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... t/19511816, there are two hits there:

• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133523
• https://www.amazon.com/SILENT-Solution- ... entries*=0

I still recommend to call DELL and ask them first what's compatible with the model of your machine.
My second recommendation is to stick with NVIDIA brand, there is an ongoin matter with the newer version of Ubuntu 16.04 and ATI drivers: https://tjaalton.wordpress.com/2016/03/ ... ntu-16-04/

[phd21]

HI "Martin-A",

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum !

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

I am assuming that you already checked the "driver manager" to see if there are any recommended drivers?

Solve display problems in Ubuntu and Linux Mint
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/display


You could try installing BOTH of these PPA's below regarding the most current Open Source video drivers, afterwards, reboot, check your System Settings, Driver Manager, to see if any recommended video drivers show up, if it shows any, install the recommended one, and reboot; even if none show up, you would still be using the most recent video drivers available. If you have a Nvidia Graphics (video) card, then there are other instructions, just ask...


X.org-Edgers PPA
you can also add the X.org-Edgers PPA if youre concerned about your graphics performance. This PPA will give you the absolute latest version of the X.org X display server, which is a part of the entire graphics stack. If you want better graphics performance, its important to keep the entire stack updated. You should not use this PPA if you use the proprietary graphics drivers.

Type in at the console terminal prompt each line one by one, or copy and paste each line:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xorg-edgers/ppa
sudo apt-get update


Oibaf is a PPA that includes the very latest graphics drivers, and is updated virtually every day. This PPA is only helpful if youre using the open source drivers rather than the proprietary nVidia or AMD drivers proprietary drivers are not included.

Type in at the console terminal prompt each line one by one, or copy and paste each line:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo apt-get update



Amazon.com also has great deals on Nvidia cards. $42.99us 2gb vram
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-204 ... _284822_10


Hope this helps ...

[Martin-A]

Ark987 - Thank you for those comments. And for all the investigation you have done on my behalf.

Your best bet is on NVIDIA, that's supported for sure, but you have to be careful because you are using a server machine not a regular PC. You have to look for a compatible card with your server fist and then compatible with Mint/Ubuntu.

I have an Nvidia "Quadro NVS 280" card and I tried that a few days ago. But that also came up with the "rendering" message and a quick search showed other people having problems with it under Linux. After I removed it, Linux would only boot up in some sort of non GUI recovery mode until it sorted things out. I got scared that had it not been able to sort things out I'd have had to start again from square one.

I felt that (in my situation of very limited knowledge and experience of Linux) finding a "guaranteed to work under Linux Mint" card would be the most direct way to dealing with the issue.

I found this thread: http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... t/19511816, there are two hits there:

Thank you - that looks something promising to follow up.

I still recommend to call DELL and ask them first what's compatible with the model of your machine.

There are plenty of examples of cards that work fine in Dell systems (including cards built in by Dell) under Windows (so are obviously compatible with the system hardware) but that won't work under Linux, so I'm not sure that that information would solve the problem.

Thank you again for all your efforts.

[Martin-A]

Phd21 -

Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Mint and its excellent forum !

Thank you. It's a bit like stepping off the plane in a country where everybody is very helpful but the speak a language in which only a few words are recognisable. Years ago (before Microsoft Windows had even been heard of) I used Unix workstations, so one or two of the words make sense.

And thank you for the efforts you have put into providing information relevant to my query.

I am assuming that you already checked the "driver manager" to see if there are any recommended drivers?

Yes, I have. It simply says that no proprietory drivers are installed. (I'm assuming I was using it correctly.)

Solve display problems in Ubuntu and Linux Mint
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... ct/display
You could try installing BOTH of these PPA's below regarding the most current Open Source video drivers, afterwards, reboot, check your System Settings, Driver Manager, to see if any recommended video drivers show up, if it shows any, install the recommended one, and reboot; even if none show up, you would still be using the most recent video drivers available. If you have a Nvidia Graphics (video) card, then there are other instructions, just ask...

Having spent a lot of time getting the system configured as I want it, I am reluctant to experiment when I don't have much idea what I am doing. I think that I will install a spare disk, install Linux on that and then it can crash and burn without causing needless grief.

Amazon.com also has great deals on Nvidia cards. $42.99us 2gb vram
https://www.amazon.com/EVGA-GeForce-204 ... _284822_10

Thanks for pointing that out. I'm in France but I see that Amazon.co.uk has this card and they say they can deliver it here by Tuesday. If I could be 90% sure that, after plugging it into the machine, Linux would recognise it and would work correctly with it, I would order one immediately. I see it can draw up to 16W, so it is within the limit of the computer (25W total for all PCI-e slots).

[phd21]

Hi (Salut) "Martin-A",

You are welcome.
Je vous en prie. De Rein.

If you need help with translating almost any language into another language, you can install something like "Google Translate", or "Translate", add-ons in your browser(s) for right click translation options, and you can visit this website below, and paste a web link for a full page translation, including this forum. Tip: In this web page, you might need to remove the "s" from "Https", if it is a secure web link.

Si vous avez besoin d'aide à la traduction de presque toutes les langues, vous pouvez installer quelque chose comme 'Google Translate', ou 'Traduire', add-ons dans votre navigateur (s) pour bonnes options de traduction de clic, et vous pouvez visiter ce site ci-dessous, et coller un lien web pour une traduction de la page complète, y compris ce forum: Astuce: Vous pourriez avoir besoin d'enlever le 's' de 'Https', si elle est un lien web sécurisé.

http://itools.com/tool/google-translate ... translator


If you need help with understanding computer language (computer jargon), then you will need to be more specfic on what you do not understand.

1.) Regarding the Amazon.com card that I linked, here is a recent post from someone who just got one.
I Got a "New" Video Card!*
viewtopic.php?f=60&t=222747

2. You should have a good backup to an external USB hard drive, using a hard drive imaging program like the great free "Clonezilla Live"; which you could also use to another hard drive. Then, if anything happens, just restore it.

2.a.) The PPA's I mentioned will not hurt your system to install them, and try them. If it does not help, you can just remove the PPA's, reboot, and you will be fine.

Good Luck (Bonne Chance) ....

Let us know how it all works out for you...

Translate_add-on2sm.jpg

Translate_add-on4sm.jpg

Translate_add-on5sm.jpg

[Martin-A]

phd21 - Many thanks. I'm very familiar with Google translate - when I type something in French, I normally type it into Google translate and check that what comes out in English still makes sense. [I'm a Brit, although I have lived in France for over ten years.]

So far as Linux command lines are concerned it's lack of familiarity. Sometimes, with memories from Unix years ago, I will type a command without even thinking and it works fine. But more often, I need to look up each individual command, figure out where things are installed and so on, which all takes more time than there is available. I have no problem asking for help on things that I cannot make sense of but I don't like to ask about things merely because I have not taken the time to look them up.

Yes, getting Clonezilla to clone my encrypted main disc is the next step in migrating to Linux. My objective is that, no matter what happens, including having the PC stolen or the hard drive go up in smoke, I can have the system operating as normal within an hour or so. Currently, I back up the data to external hard drive (there are several tens of Gigabytes of it) which I store elsewhere.

Thanks for the link to someone who successfully installed that graphics card. That encourages me to go ahead and order one. I'll post an update on what happens after it arrives and I have installed it.

[Martin-A]

On second thoughts, I think I'll hold off from buying it for a while, even though Amazon.fr temptingly say that it can be delivered by this evening if I order it now.

"Software rendering mode" is not currently impacting my quality of life and it's more my style to snag something for 10€ at a vide grenier or on Ebay. Plus the 29W of the card is close to the T110's 35W power limit for its PCI-E cards.

[robinsongit]

I recommending - best video card for dell t110 it's a GT730 with 1GB DDR5 - its 25W, Brands Gigabyte,MSI
Take a look specification:
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop ... ifications

[Martin-A]

robinsongit - thank you for that information.

Have you yourself tried that card in a Dell Poweredge T110 II running linux Mint?