Re: Slow GUI (NVIDIA)(KDE4)

On 05/23/2011 11:04 AM, Renaud (Ron) Olgiati wrote:
> Since updating to 2010.2 I have a very slow GUI: moving an icon on the desktop
> takes about 15 seconds, switching from desktop to an open app using the panel
> 7 to 10 seconds.
>
> Also XFDrake offered me a video card that would work at none of the settings,
> either with proprietary or OS driver, had to trial and error until I found
> another card that would (more or less) work.
>
> Is that a known problem ?

First, you need to have your system fully updated.  This probably 
is not your problem, as 2010.2 is simply an update from 2010.1 
plus a handful of eye-candy files but if you have not updated do 
so.  If kernel or proprietary drivers are updated, you will need 
to reboot for dkms to rebuild the drivers.

Second, recent nVidia drivers have had problems, of a variety of 
types.  One problem that is perpetually present is that settings 
in existing config and cached files are not removed when you 
change drivers.  You need to use rm -rf $HOME/.*uth* $HOME/tmp/* 
/tmp/* /var/tmp/*  to clean these out before restarting KDE4. 
Otherwise, XFdrake may have given you the correct drivers but 
they may fail due to left-overs from the earlier drivers.

XFdrake is usually pretty good at setting things up, but it may 
not recognize which card you have.  Make sure that is correct, 
and that settings within XFdrake are correct, and use the test 
option to see if a setup selected works.  If that works, but the 
gui does not launch after leaving XFdrake try removing the old 
config and tmp files.  If still no joy, you may need to 
experiment to find out what will work.  This can be a PITA, but 
is sometimes necessary.

Speed of the GUI is dependent on your system's intrinsic speed 
and the load you have on it.  Using 3-D and lots of eye-candy can 
and will slow things down, perhaps dramatically on a slow system. 
  What is your system?  How much RAM (for eye-candy)? How much 
video RAM?  nVidia drivers from the nvidia website or Mandriva's 
packaged proprietary drivers? (Install both and problems are 
virtually guaranteed, as the two put some files in different 
places.  Use one or the other.)

Using the Mandriva Linux Control Center, the section for setting 
up your display has instructions for trouble-shooting.  Have you 
gone through that exercise?

Cheers!

jim b.

-- 
UNIX is not user unfriendly; it merely
      expects users to be computer-friendly.