NVidia Optimus on newer notebooks

Discussion in 'Mac and Linux' started by DeathByDenim, July 3, 2013.

  1. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    Hey, that's pretty neat. I just tried optirun and primusrun again in build 58678 and it no longer crashes! I get the menu and all that stuff. The mouse cursor is a bit wonky, but not invisible. It just has a black background rather than a transparent one.
    Unfortunately, the engine itself doesn't render planets.
    primusrun.jpg
    Oh well. It still seems like progress! :)
  2. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    Ooh, the latest build (58772) works with optirun!
    Versions:
    Bumblebee: 3.2.1-4+xedgers~saucy1
    VirtualGL: 2.3.3-20131014
    bbswitch-dkms: 0.8-1~saucyppa1
    This is with a GeForce GT 650M on Kubuntu 13.10. I have the xorg-edgers PPA installed and I have manually downloaded the latest virtualgl.
    Code:
    [08:32:02.751] INFO OpenGL Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
    [08:32:02.751] INFO OpenGL Renderer: GeForce GT 650M/PCIe/SSE2
    [08:32:02.751] INFO OpenGL Version: 4.3.0 NVIDIA 325.15
    [08:32:02.751] INFO OpenGL Shader Language Version: 4.30 NVIDIA via Cg compiler
    
    It's not perfect though. Maximizing the window makes Coherent stop. Strategic icons are missing as well as the selection box and the green dots indicating metal. Also the mouse cursor is the system mouse cursor, rather than the PA cursor.
    Funnily enough, the missing selection box and the cursor problem can be fixed by applying the same fix for the open source drivers. (The Mesa UI fix)
  3. sechastain

    sechastain Member

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    man, I've been away from this too long.

    what kind of frame rate are you getting?
  4. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    The frame rates are actually worse than on the Intel card, but that's probably because many shaders fail to compile for the Intel card but do compile for NVidia.

    I'm getting about 30 fps on the NVidia card, but about 60 fps on the Intel. Mind you, this is just after just spawning. Because there are important bits missing when using the NVidia (like metal points!), I can't use the NVidia for an actual game just yet. Sometimes the metal points do appear though.
  5. sechastain

    sechastain Member

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    So, I just quit trying to use bumblebee and started using nvidia-prime and nvidia-319 drivers instead. This has initial optimus support for linux.

    I'm seeing 20+ fps late into games. Don't think I'm seeing anything over 60 fps.

    GeForce GT 640M/PCIe/SSE2 according glxspheres

    Glxspheres reports 900+ fps, which beats the crap out of what I was seeing with primus.
  6. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    So, it appears the new gamma build (62110) runs successfully under optirun. I do however have to apply the same fix as for the Mesa drivers to get the cursor and icons and such to show properly.

    Can somebody confirm it works for them using optirun as well? You will have to install the attached mod manually by unzipping it in ~/.local/Uber Entertainment/Planetary Annihilation/mods and then run PAMM and enable it there.

    Attached Files:

  7. SXX

    SXX Post Master General

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    So cursor workaround working for you? It's really important :)
  8. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    Yes, but while using optirun. Kind of weird. Maybe the game runs on a mixture of the Intel HD4000 and the NVidia GT 650M?
  9. SXX

    SXX Post Master General

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    When you run PA using optirun CoherentUI_Host still using Intel HD4000.
  10. gerii

    gerii Member

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    Tried it, but the UI is unresponsive for me. I need around five minutes just to start a game. The planet loads fine, but it's still unplayable. Using 334 driver from xorg-edgers. Mousefix is working.
    GL_RENDERER = GeForce GT 750M/PCIe/SSE2 GL_VERSION = 4.4.0 NVIDIA 334.21 GL_VENDOR = NVIDIA Corporation, bumblebee 3.2.1-5~xedgers~saucy1
    Mint 16 KDE 4.12.2, Kernel 3.13.9
  11. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    Hmm, that's too bad...
    I just upgraded to the 334 driver from xorg-edgers as well and I am also using bumblebee 3.2.1-5~xedgers~saucy1.
    I do have KDE 4.12.3, Kernel 3.11.0-19-generic, but I feel that should matter much. Strange.

    The Coherent UI still runs on the Intel card. Do you have an Intel HD4000 as well?
  12. gerii

    gerii Member

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    I have the Intel HD Graphics 4400 on the i5-4200U.
  13. gerii

    gerii Member

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    I tried it again now, and as long as I don't move the mouse it works fine. But as soon as I move my mouse the game and the UI completely stalls until half a second after I stop the mouse movement. Zooming with the mousewheel or using mouse shortcuts works fine however.
    How do you start the game? optirun ./pamm_linux and then via the mod manager?
    Last edited: April 8, 2014
  14. DeathByDenim

    DeathByDenim Post Master General

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    No, I just do "optirun ./PA" and that's it.
    Maybe you can try to put optirun in the host/CoherentUI_Host file as well?

    What worked for me in the past is to use nvidia-prime. That will make your entire desktop run on the NVidia card so the Intel card isn't even involved anymore. Of course, this will heat your laptop and decimate the time you can run your laptop on battery power, but it just might get PA to work. You will need to uninstall bumblebee for that though.

    Just a warning: when removing nvidia-prime again, I needed to do apt-get purge nvidia-prime instead of just apt-get remove nvidia-prime. Otherwise it would leave me with a broken Xorg.
  15. gerii

    gerii Member

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    Tried it, still having the same problem. Battery life is more important for me than playing PA, so I'll use Windows if I want to play PA and hope that it will get fixed someday.
  16. gerii

    gerii Member

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    It works for me now on the latest build with primusrun and --software-ui. :)
    Last edited: June 20, 2014
    DeathByDenim likes this.

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