(SOLVED) Software Rendering Mode (No video hardware accel

[MASPINWALL32]

Hello, this is my first time using or installing any linux based os , things seemed to be going well until I booted mint via usb. I installed linux mint via usb and it booted to the mint desktop but it was really fuzzy and looked like it was overlapping screens. (dont know how to exactly describe it but it was not functional). So then i rebooted in compatability mode where it seemed to have loaded correctly except that I received a notification that it is running in software rendering mode. It goes on and says "Cinnamon is currently running without video hardware acceleration and as a result you may observe much higher than normal cpu usage..."

It seems to be a driver related issue, which makes sense because I have had driver problems recently in windows (part of the reason for the switch). There are no devices under sound, video and game controller and have been recently using a usb sound card for music. But everything else has seemed to been working fine.

Also when i go to driver manage, i try to select nvidia-304 which is the recommended device. But when i apply changes it automatically reverts back to the alternate driver "xserver-xorg-video-nouveau" not to sure what that means
I am running Mint 16 cinnamon. 32bit
Again I am not sure what the exact issue is and as I am new to linux could use some help resolving this. Thanks!

(Switched to mint 15 xfce solved the problem)

[austin.texas]

Please open a terminal and run the command
inxi -b
and post the results here. Delete the Network mac addresses for security reasons.
I have had very similar graphics problems with Mint Cinnamon on older 32 bit systems. Mint 16 Mate worked for me when Cinnamon did not.

[AlbertP]

@ austin.texas: inxi -b is not showing MAC addresses, they only appear when you add an "x" to it. What you can do if you want only graphics, is inxi -Gx. I don't think we are interested in the network data in this case.

[austin.texas]

inxi -b is not showing MAC addresses, they only appear when you add an "x" to it.

You are right. I was thinking of inxi -Fx

[MASPINWALL32]

Yea I believe running cinnamon was a little too much for my graphics card to handle. Switched over to mate and I dont have that problem any more.

[AlbertP]

I don't think so if you have an NVIDIA card with the 304 driver listed. I have seen Cinnamon run fine on a laptop with Intel Celeron M + ATI Radeon Xpress graphics (from 2006) and on a few systems with Intel GMA 900 graphics (a chip from 2005).

You probably just have a driver problem that needs to be fixed, and can likely be fixed if you open Terminal from the menu, run "inxi -Gx" and provide us the output.
On Mate, the problem likely still exists, but less visible because MATE does not require 3D acceleration.

[MASPINWALL32]

Thats kind of what I meant I think it is a driver related issue too because I have had problems with my sound/video driver recently. Also I am now running mint 15 xfce, decided to try 15 in place of 16 to see if it would help any of my issues.

Ok so I ran xnxi -Gx

Graphics: Card: NVIDIA C67 [GeForce 7150M / nForce 630M] bus-ID: 00:12.0
X.Org: 1.13.3 driver: vesa Resolution: 1024x768@61.0hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.2, 128 bits) GLX Version: 2.1 Mesa 9.1.1 Direct Rendering: Yes

[MASPINWALL32]

Also I added nomodeset to the grub, however when I went to reboot without compatibility mode it once again booted to the distorted linux screen. I am ready to install linux off my usb and onto my hard disk but I am hesitant knowing I currently can only boot linux in compatibility mode.

[AlbertP]

With the NVIDIA driver installed you will probably be able to boot Linux normally. Note: you should install the driver after installing Mint, not on the live DVD/USB.
If Mint does not boot the first time, you can select Recovery Mode on the Grub menu and on the recovery menu, use the 1st option to resume booting. This will have the same effect as compatibility mode on the live system. Then you will be able to install the driver. If the driver is not working right away after installation, run "sudo nvidia-xconfig" in terminal. Maybe that was your problem at first.

[MASPINWALL32]

Okay I have installed it to my computer, now, how and where do I find the right drivers to install?

[MASPINWALL32]

Oh wow just opened driver manager and was able to switch over to nvidia, restarted and booted fine. Thanks alot!

[fio1022]

Ok,first post and totally lost.
I installed Mint and getting notice that "Cinnamon is currently running without video hardware acceleration and,as a result you may observe much higher than normal CPU usage"
I ran the command sudo inxi -Gx
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX400] bus-ID: 01:00.1
X.org: 1.15.1 drivers: (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau tty size:80x24 Advanced Data: N/A for root
Not sure what to do next.I keep running into roadblocks
Thanks

[AlbertP]

You're replying to somebody else's topic which is already marked solved.
Your GPU is not capable of running Cinnamon, and a better driver for it is not available for Mints newer than 13. Since the computer is quite old I would suggest running a lighter edition like Mint 17 Xfce (or maybe Mint 17 Mate can run on it too).