nvidia driver problem

[NightTwix]

im using gentoo linux and i did update my nvidia drivers today

i experienced this before and was only able to solve it by downgrading the drivers again.
Sadly this is no longer an option as this version is no longer available in the paket manager.

the problem is that the game performs really badly now. I get 0-5 fps near a fort and thats unplayable.
One thing i noticed is that the CPU usage behaves diffrently. With the former drivers there was always one core at 100% and the other at 0% and usage was switching from core to core.
Now both cores are used at the same time but only to 40% the one and to 25% the other (varies a bit but far from 100%)

the drivers i used before were:
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-1.0.9631-r1

the driver i use now is:
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-1.0.9639

i tried all of the following, with mixed results. They either behaved as the actual one or didnt work at all.
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-100.14.19
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-96.43.01
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-71.86.01
x11-drivers/nvidia-drivers-1.0.7185

is there anyone with a CoreDuo who experiences similar problems?
how does you cpu-usage behave when playing? (i play windowed btw)
which specific nvidia driver version do you use?
and any idea how i can persuade my box to perform decent again? :ohill:

[feldmann_markus]

Your Core Problem is solved with the linux-source-2.6.23-rc8.

Try this Kernel. This Version works very good with multi Core.
And the nvidia-drivers-100.14.19 works for me.

My System is Debian Etch Kernel 2.6.23-rc8
nvidia-drivers-100.14.19 and Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 256MB
AMD Turion 64 X2 Core Duo
Ram 2Gb

Maybe your Graphics Card doesnt support the needed Features?
Maybe you have got unacceptable X-config file?

[NightTwix]

my xorg.conf should be fine.
it worked flawlessly, all the time

i have a 7900 GO. the rolauncher recognize it as one, too
strangely lspci says:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation Unknown device 0298 (rev a1)

well, ill try a newer kernel. mine is still 2.6.18-gentoo-r3.

[Froste]

in debian, in the package pciutils (which contains lspci) there's a script called update-pciids, see if you have that too, otherwise check /usr/share/doc/pciutils

[NightTwix]

in debian, in the package pciutils (which contains lspci) there's a script called update-pciids, see if you have that too, otherwise check /usr/share/doc/pciutils

disco

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce Go 7900 GS (rev a1)


and to the kernel update...
somehow 'make oldconfig' f*cked it up and half of my box is broken now.
ah well, ill fix it someday and keep you informed

[Froste]

don't use make oldconfig, so much change between kernel releases, it's not meant as an end-user backup, it's meant for kernel-devs who know their kernels inside out

[NightTwix]

don't use make oldconfig, so much change between kernel releases, it's not meant as an end-user backup, it's meant for kernel-devs who know their kernels inside out

aw ... end user

im sure its in the offical gentoo documentation and it Always Worked Fine (TM)

well the performance problems were related to something completly diffrent.
i didnt have access to /dev/nvidiactl anymore. no idea why but my performance is back on track. :)

sound works too. now i need iptables and especially SATA support back and all is fine again

thx for the support ^^

[Froste]

If it worked fine, it was by pure coincidence - seriously don't use it.

[klixon]

If it worked fine, it was by pure coincidence - seriously don't use it.
It generally works well for minor version bumps, as in 2.6.22.8 > 2.6.22.9
Major bumps regularly add new features or change configuration dependencies, so it's better not to trust it when you go from 2.6.22.9 > 2.6.23

[NightTwix]

so whats the alternative?
going through all the options before each update?
meh...

[Froste]

There is no alternative to oldconfig, going through it like a checklist is The Right Way, the whole point of building your kernel is to configure it yourself, otherwise you might aswell use a stock kernel

[klixon]

so whats the alternative?
going through all the options before each update?
meh...

This sucks the first few times you do it. It generally takes me half a minute to a minute now. You'll get used to it ;) Besides, you get to select all the shiny new stuff a genkernel would't give you.

Gentoo does have the genkernel script (i believe that's how it's called, but I switch from gentoo 4 months ago) which is the only alternative guarenteed (well... supposed, may be better :sifflote: ) to work.