Display Issue

[micksulley]

Running 20.1 Cinnamon with two screens, NVIDIA Corporation GF119 [GeForce GT 610] and Intel© Core™ i7-3770K CPU @ 3.50GHz × 4
In Driver Manager I have 3 options

nvidea-driver-390 (recommended
xserver-xorg-video-nouveau (open-source)
nvidea-340

If I choose nvidea-340 I get an unmet dependencies error, so really just have the first 2 as options.

If I use nvidea-driver-390 it works, but when I open Firefox with a few pages open from last time it takes 2-3 minutes, system monitor shows one of the processors running at 100% for that time, and I see even longer delays when using Blender. System Monitor shows xorg and firefox as the high users.

If I use xserver-xorg-video-nouveau again it works, I don't experience the delays, but it is very sluggish, using drag and drop the object lags behind the mouse pointer. There is even a noticeable delay when using the arrow keys or delete key on text.

Are there any settings I could change to overcome the issues with either of these driver options?
Thanks
Mick

[SMG]

There are factors besides drivers which can affect system performance. 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.

[micksulley]

Here is the result

Code: Select all

mick@Mint20Desk:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-74-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 4.8.6 wm: muffin 4.8.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.1 Ulyssa base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: P8Z77-V LX v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
  BIOS: American Megatrends v: 2501 date: 07/21/2014 
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Mouse M315/M235 
  serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes 
  status: Discharging 
  Device-2: hidpp_battery_1 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard K270 
  serial: <filter> charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes 
  status: Discharging 
CPU:
  Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Core i7-3770K bits: 64 type: MT MCP 
  arch: Ivy Bridge rev: 9 L2 cache: 8192 KiB 
  flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 56165 
  Speed: 1605 MHz min/max: 1600/3900 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 1605 2: 1605 
  3: 1607 4: 1608 5: 1605 6: 1605 7: 1932 8: 1749 
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P8 series driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
  chip ID: 8086:0162 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF119 [GeForce GT 610] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia 
  v: 390.143 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:104a 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.9 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz, 1920x1200~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GT 610/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.143 
  direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio 
  vendor: ASUSTeK P8Z77-V LX driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 
  chip ID: 8086:1e20 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GF119 HDMI Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel 
  v: kernel bus ID: 01:00.1 chip ID: 10de:0e08 
  Device-3: C-Media type: USB driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid 
  bus ID: 2-1.6.1:4 chip ID: 0d8c:1008 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-74-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: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.08 TiB used: 2.56 TiB (62.9%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G size: 447.13 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: B1E1 scheme: MBR 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HDN726040ALE614 
  size: 3.64 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> 
  rev: W7JH scheme: GPT 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 438.62 GiB used: 20.77 GiB (4.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
  ID-2: /home size: 3.58 TiB used: 2.54 TiB (71.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 49 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/google-chrome.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxgndu-sqlitebrowser-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxgndu/sqlitebrowser/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages ulyssa main upstream import backport
  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
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/sane-project-sane-git-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/sane-project/sane-git/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/serge-rider-dbeaver-ce-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/serge-rider/dbeaver-ce/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main
Info:
  Processes: 246 Uptime: 2h 05m Memory: 15.52 GiB used: 5.30 GiB (34.1%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 8/9 
  Shell: bash v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38 
mick@Mint20Desk:~$ 

[SMG]

If I use nvidea-driver-390 it works, but when I open Firefox with a few pages open from last time it takes 2-3 minutes, system monitor shows one of the processors running at 100% for that time, and I see even longer delays when using Blender. System Monitor shows xorg and firefox as the high users.

If I use xserver-xorg-video-nouveau again it works, I don't experience the delays, but it is very sluggish, using drag and drop the object lags behind the mouse pointer. There is even a noticeable delay when using the arrow keys or delete key on text.

I do not quite understand your comment of how you do not experience delays with nouveau, but then say it is sluggish and lags. Does that mean that when using Nvidia and after the 2-3 minutes delay there are no problems? But while with nouveau it is sluggish all the time?

Here is the result mick@Mint20Desk:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz

I do not see anything of concern there.

[micksulley]

Yes that's right, with nouveau the start up is OK but the operation from then on is really not usable, click drag and the object lags behind the mouse pointer, delete characters in a document and the screen is one or two characters behind, easy to make mistakes like that.
With nvidea it takes 2-3 minutes to open Firefox, other applications seem OK but I did see it also when importing a file in Blender. After that the operation is generally OK, no noticeable lag on dragging or character deletion etc. however if I open q new tab in Firefox it can take 2 minutes, although usually it is pretty much instant after the initial start.
Are there any logs which could point to problems in this area?

[SMG]

If it was an Nvidia driver issue, I would expect it to happen with all apps. Since the issue seems specific to certain ones, there may be settings within those apps which might help.

I am not familiar with Firefox logs, but in Firefox, check Preferences/Settings > General and scroll down to the Performance section. Try clearing the option "use hardware acceleration when available" and see if that helps. I seem to recall reading that on the Firefox forum site as something to try.

I do not know what options Blender might have or if certain types of files just might take longer to import, but you might want to check the Blender forum for tips.

[motoryzen]

If it was an Nvidia driver issue, I would expect it to happen with all apps. Since the issue seems specific to certain ones, there may be settings within those apps which might help.

I am not familiar with Firefox logs, but in Firefox, check Preferences/Settings > General and scroll down to the Performance section. Try clearing the option "use hardware acceleration when available" and see if that helps. I seem to recall reading that on the Firefox forum site as something to try.

I do not know what options Blender might have or if certain types of files just might take longer to import, but you might want to check the Blender forum for tips.

Indeed..I had to do the same setting adjustment in Chrome browser to fix an odd visual lag spike problem while watching youtube videos..both in Windows 10 and Linux Mint Cinnamon.

[micksulley]

It didn't seem to make any difference. I also tried changing back to a single monitor but that didn't seem to make any difference either.
I have to agree that as other applications are not affected it does look like a Firefox issue so I will post on that forum.
Thanks for your help anyway.

Do you have any idea why it would be so sluggish with the nouveau driver?

Mick

[SMG]

Do you have any idea why it would be so sluggish with the nouveau driver?

Your computer is showing dual graphics (Intel & Nvidia) as activated. I would have to see the inxi output to know if nouveau is rendering when nouveau is installed. It may be that Intel is rendering when nouveau is installed? I do not know how your computer's BIOS decides which GPU to use in that type of situation.