Re: Slow GUI (NVIDIA)(KDE4)

On 05/25/2011 05:03 PM, Renaud (Ron) Olgiati wrote:
> On Wednesday 25 May 2011 14:34 my mailbox was graced by a message from Jim
> Beard who wrote:
>
>> Use (on the command line) rpm -qa |grep kernel |sort
>> to see what you have installed.
>
> root@ron:/home/ron #  rpm -qa |grep kernel |sort
Two packages providing firmware support.  I would leave them alone.
> kernel-firmware-20100217-1mnb2
> kernel-firmware-extra-20100429-2mnb2

Three server kernels.  Further on this below.
> kernel-server-2.6.31.5-1mnb-1-1mnb2
> kernel-server-2.6.33.7-2mnb-1-1mnb2
> kernel-server-2.6.36.4-69mib-1-1mib2010.2

Devel packages for only two of your kernels.
> kernel-server-devel-2.6.33.7-2mnb-1-1mnb2
> kernel-server-devel-2.6.36.4-69mib-1-1mib2010.2

Two meta packages, that simply require that an update package be 
installed whenever one becomes available.
> kernel-server-devel-latest-2.6.36.4-69mib2010.2
> kernel-server-latest-2.6.36.4-69mib2010.2

I'm not sure what this is, so would leave it alone.
> libkplatokernel7-2.2.2-1mdv2010.1

Nvidia driver packages (compiled binaries included) for only two 
of your kernels.
> nvidia173-kernel-2.6.31.5-server-1mnb-173.14.20-7mdv2010.0
> nvidia173-kernel-2.6.33.7-server-2mnb-173.14.25-3mdv2010.1

A "latest" meta package.
> nvidia173-kernel-server-latest-173.14.25-1.20100921.3mdv2010.1

One nvidia driver package for a different set of nvidia cards, 
plus the meta package, but for only one of your kernels.
> nvidia96xx-kernel-2.6.33.7-server-2mnb-96.43.16-2mdv2010.1
> nvidia96xx-kernel-server-latest-96.43.16-1.20100921.2mdv2010.1

"Current" nvidia packages for two of your kernels plus the meta 
package.
> nvidia-current-kernel-2.6.31.5-server-1mnb-185.18.36-4mdv2010.0
> nvidia-current-kernel-2.6.33.7-server-2mnb-195.36.24-3mdv2010.1
> nvidia-current-kernel-server-latest-195.36.24-1.20100921.3mdv2010.1
>
> Seems I have far too many...

Three kernels on the system is not a problem.  I recommend 
keeping at least one old kernel on the system, just in case an 
update/upgrade brings in an incompatible or flaky kernel.  You 
then have a kernel known to be good to revert to.  This is more 
important if you enable backports repositories for updates, if 
you use a non-standard kernel (e.g. a tmb kernel), or if you test 
unstable apps or use a beta system.

Running server kernels, though, may be part (or in conjunction 
with other factors all) of your slow GUI problem.  Server kernels 
are not tailored to support x-windows or a GUI desktop. (They are 
tailored to serve as servers!).  There was a known problem with 
the Mandriva installer a year or two ago, in that it often would 
install a server kernel when it should have installed a desktop 
kernel.  If you have more than 4GB RAM on your system, and are 
running the 32-bit OS, you may need the server kernel to make use 
of all your memory.  (I vaguely remember something about the 
desktop 586 kernel being able to use 8GB RAM, but if so the 
Mandriva website page on kernel selection has not been updated.) 
  64-bit systems will use all the memory you have, regardless, 
but there are other considerations (e.g. Adobe flash offers only 
a beta version for 64-bit).

If you have 4GB or less of RAM, or if you have 8GB or less and 
are willing to experiment, I would recommend downloading and 
installing the latest stock Mandriva kernel and the latest tmb 
kernel.  Keep the kernels you have that work, at least until you 
have two new ones that you have tried and know work.  Then delete 
the old ones. (Keep your main kernel and at least one backup).

kernel-desktop-2.6.36.2-2mnb-1-1mnb2
kernel-desktop-devel-2.6.36.2-2mnb-1-1mnb2
kernel-desktop-latest-2.6.36.2-2mnb2

kernel-tmb-desktop-2.6.35.8-1mdv-1-1mdv2010.1
kernel-tmb-desktop-devel-2.6.35.8-1mdv-1-1mdv2010.1
kernel-tmb-desktop-latest

(kernel-tmb-desktop-latest is not available for 2.6.35.8)

When these two have been installed, boot first to one and then to 
the other and use XFdrake to install the proprietary drivers.
You may need to use XFdrake only once, with dkms taking over the 
task for the other new kernel.

Looking at the choices in Install Software (Mandriva Linux 
Control Center, all packages gui or non-gui and installed or not 
installed), it appears that nvidia173 is for nvidia GeForce FX 
cards, nvidia96XX is for GF 2/3/4 cards, and nvidia-current is 
for GeForce 6 and later cards.  No mention of GeForce 5 cards. :(

Once you have the correct card selected and ask for the 
proprietary driver, XFdrake should automatically download any 
other packages needed.  If an nvidia driver package you need is 
not available with precompiled binaries, dkms will compile and 
install the drivers when you reboot.

If you know the specs on your monitor, you might take a look at 
/etc/X11/xorg.conf and see if what XFdrake put in it matches up 
with the monitor you have.

Cheers!

jim b.

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