[SOLVED] Minecraft severely lagging on my Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.3

[IonStar]

Hello everyone!

I started using Linux Mint two months ago, as that was the recommendation my friend has given me when I had finally decided to abandon Windows 10 (Yes, I'm a Linux noob ). Everything works great except... well, Minecraft. It lags so much that the game is unplayable. This is weird, because apart from many vanilla versions of the game I've also played many modded servers and I have never experienced any lag that would make my character move 1 frame-per-second. I have read many discussions here and managed to edit game-specified JVM arguments in order to increase memory allocation from 2 GB to 4 GB. It helped a little, but that's it. My game is still unable to go above 5 FPS. The version of Minecraft in question is 1.20.1., vanilla, no mods, texture packs, shaders, etc. I'm using the official Minecraft Launcher, which I installed via Software Manager. Here are my laptop specifications:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-171-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE C55-C v: PSCP6E-015019Y4 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: FF50 model: 06F5 v: Type2 - Board Version serial: <filter> UEFI: INSYDE v: 5.40 
           date: 03/28/2016 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Pentium N3700 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Airmont rev: 3 
           L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 12800 
           Speed: 584 MHz min/max: 480/2400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 706 2: 681 3: 1309 4: 1499 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Toshiba driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:22b1 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 405 (BSW) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 compat-v: 3.0 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series High 
           Definition Audio 
           vendor: Toshiba driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:2284 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-171-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n vendor: Lite-On driver: wl 
           v: kernel port: 2040 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:4365 
           IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Toshiba driver: r8169 
           v: kernel port: 1000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 24.45 GiB (5.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC Solid State Disk size: 476.94 GiB 
           speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 467.89 GiB used: 24.44 GiB (5.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 54.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linrunner-tlp-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/linrunner/tlp/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com una 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: 214 Uptime: 17m Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 1.39 GiB (18.1%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

Thank you all in advance for help!

[1000]

1. Turn on some type of system monitor.
For example: top , htop , System Monitor.
Compare the consumption of hardware resources without game and with game.

2. Check your graphical environment settings ( Cinnamon ).
You may need to turn off special effects.

3. How other games work ?
- For example Minetest
- For example https://classic.minecraft.net/
- Fo example SuperTuxKart

4. You can test with another kernel

5. If the problem only applies to this game, you can ask the developers of this game.

[IonStar]

1. Turn on some type of system monitor.
For example: top , htop , System Monitor.
Compare the consumption of hardware resources without game and with game.

2. Check your graphical environment settings ( Cinnamon ).
You may need to turn off special effects.

3. How other games work ?
- For example Minetest
- For example https://classic.minecraft.net/
- Fo example SuperTuxKart

4. You can test with another kernel

5. If the problem only applies to this game, you can ask the developers of this game.

Hello!

Thank you for reaching out and giving me advice on how to troubleshoot my issue.

1) I've compared the consumption of my hardware resources and this is the pattern that I've noticed. RAM usage stays almost the same while the game is running. The only thing that does change is my CPU usage before and while running Minecraft. All of my cores are used at about 20 to 30 percent with no programs running, while at most times the two of my cores are used at 100 percent while Minecraft is running.

2) I turned all the 'Effects' options off.

3) I've run all these games and compared the System Monitor data. One CPU core was used at 100 percent in SuperTuxKart and Classic Minecraft but it would quickly fall down to 60 percent or less. They ran smoothly, no lag whatsoever.

4) I tried using XanMod, but it won't boot up. Grub's always returning me to the menu, where I can choose to run Linux, Advanced Options, UEFI...(followed the instructions here: https://christitus.com/ultimate-linux-gaming-guide/ ; ran into issue 'cannot locate package' so I used commands presented on the official XanMod Kernel site: https://xanmod.org/ ; the command line kept saying that I miss something for i*** [don't remember the number, could it be some graphics card?]... although I was clearly missing something, kernel was installed and added to grub, but unable to be launched.

Side note: I've tried running Minecraft through Lutris (which has Gamemode built-in) and did so in vain. No improvement whatsoever. (At one point I was 'running' the game at 0 fps.)
I have some screenshots of the System Monitor so if you need them or anything else, any details which could help you crack this enigma down, please let me know. If not, I'm jumping to the advice number 5.

Kind regards,

[1000]

- You can check also game settings.

- In a conversation with minecraft developers,
pay attention to what version of the game you are using.
* Older version is probably it Java Edition
* Newer version it is Bedrock Edition and probably not working on Linux.

Edited
- You can also test on other Linux distribution

[IonStar]

Hello everyone!

I started using Linux Mint two months ago, as that was the recommendation my friend has given me when I had finally decided to abandon Windows 10 (Yes, I'm a Linux noob ). Everything works great except... well, Minecraft. It lags so much that the game is unplayable. This is weird, because apart from many vanilla versions of the game I've also played many modded servers and I have never experienced any lag that would make my character move 1 frame-per-second. I have read many discussions here and managed to edit game-specified JVM arguments in order to increase memory allocation from 2 GB to 4 GB. It helped a little, but that's it. My game is still unable to go above 5 FPS. The version of Minecraft in question is 1.20.1., vanilla, no mods, texture packs, shaders, etc. I'm using the official Minecraft Launcher, which I installed via Software Manager. Here are my laptop specifications:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-171-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: TOSHIBA product: SATELLITE C55-C v: PSCP6E-015019Y4 
           serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: FF50 model: 06F5 v: Type2 - Board Version serial: <filter> UEFI: INSYDE v: 5.40 
           date: 03/28/2016 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: Intel Pentium N3700 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Airmont rev: 3 
           L2 cache: 1024 KiB 
           flags: lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 12800 
           Speed: 584 MHz min/max: 480/2400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 706 2: 681 3: 1309 4: 1499 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Integrated Graphics 
           vendor: Toshiba driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 chip ID: 8086:22b1 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa 
           resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 405 (BSW) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.2.6 compat-v: 3.0 
           direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Atom/Celeron/Pentium Processor x5-E8000/J3xxx/N3xxx Series High 
           Definition Audio 
           vendor: Toshiba driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 00:1b.0 chip ID: 8086:2284 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-171-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Broadcom and subsidiaries BCM43142 802.11b/g/n vendor: Lite-On driver: wl 
           v: kernel port: 2040 bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 14e4:4365 
           IF: wlp1s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: Toshiba driver: r8169 
           v: kernel port: 1000 bus ID: 02:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
           IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 24.45 GiB (5.1%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC Solid State Disk size: 476.94 GiB 
           speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 467.89 GiB used: 24.44 GiB (5.2%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 54.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linrunner-tlp-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/linrunner/tlp/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com una 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: 214 Uptime: 17m Memory: 7.67 GiB used: 1.39 GiB (18.1%) Init: systemd v: 245 
           runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client inxi: 3.0.38 

Thank you all in advance for help!

Hello!

Thanks to the kind people of Linux gaming community on Reddit, I was able to successfully troubleshoot my issue. The solution for my issue is using Sodium and Lithium mods on Prism Launcher and forcing Linux to use Iris drivers (since my Intel GPU is gen 8, it is compatible with iris drivers). I used the following command to edit the following file:

Code: Select all

sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

After that I pasted this into the file:

Code: Select all

Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel Graphics"
Driver "intel"
Option "TearFree" "true"
Option "DRI" "iris"
EndSection

Lastly, I saved the file and did a reboot.
Now I have more than 20+ fps and am able to play Minecraft like I have on Windows.
Thank you all here in this forum who helped me think this through and ultimately, stick with Linux for good.
Cheers!