Martin Juhl's Blog

Yesterday I moved from Natty to Oneiric. I know that some users are already running Ironhide on Oneiric, but was still a little excited to how easy/hard the process would be.

It turned out to be an pretty easy job.. but still not without problems.. those problem where not caused by ironhide though, but by a change to udev, or rather to the folder structure of /var/run..

The /var/run directory has been moved to /run and /var/lock to /run/lock.. Either the Ubuntu people forgot this in their update scripts, or something didn’t go as planned.

When rebooting after the upgrade, I was stuck at the Ubuntu splash-screen. It took me a while to figure out what was wrong.. but here’s a quick howto.. I guess you could do this before rebooting.. but else reboot in recovery mode afterwards (holding Shift to get into the Grub boot menu) and select remount the root partition. After that, drop to a command prompt.

mkdir -p /run/lock
mv /var/run/* /run/
mv /var/lock/* /run/lock/
rm -rf “/var/run”
rm -rf “/var/lock”
ln -s /run /var/run
ln -s /run/lock /var/lock

reboot

After that I had to re-add the ironhide ppa:

apt-add-repository ppa:mj-casalogic/ironhide

and rerun ironhide-configuration, to get graphics running…

Everything else seems to work fine…

News..
I have released the first version of Ironhide, which is going to be my branch of bumblebee..

This version features:

* Graphical User Interface for Configuration and Submitsystem.
* Tests build into the Configuration, should help us narrow down problems.
* Major cleanup, removed all content not related to Ubuntu.
* Updated VirtualGL.

For now there is only natty packages available. This is soon to change…

The Ironhide packages conflict with bumblebee, so you should be asked to remove the old packages when installing Ironhide.. If your having problems getting ironhide to work, please reboot after uninstalling bumblebee… and then rerun ironhide-configuration..

https://launchpad.net/~mj-casalogic/+archive/ironhide/

Installation notes:

I have given up on supporting the nvidia packages myself.. The version in Natty works just fine, and if you want newer versions, I can confirm that the X-org edgers repository works great with Ironhide:

https://launchpad.net/~xorg-edgers/+archive/ppa

When new versions come out, just rerun the configuration.

Report problems/issues here:

https://github.com/MrMEEE/ironhide/issues

The “New” Bumblebee Project is available here:

https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project/Bumblebee

Quite a lot is happening around bumblebee these days…

I know that I haven’t been very active lately, partly due to vacation…

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about the way that bumblebee has been implemented.. The popularity really surprised me, and looking back a LOT of things where done too quickly and implemented wrong.. All in all it seems like every bugs-fix, triggered two new bugs…

I also allowed a lot of people to contribute to the project which, with all respect to their work, at times made me feel like I lost control a little over which way bumblebee was “flying”… I think this also was a reason why I lost some inspiration…

What is happening right now is that:

A lot of the people who has been contributing to the bumblebee-project, is now starting over from scratch in one combined project: https://github.com/Bumblebee-Project

Right now, I have chosen not to contribute to the Bumblebee-project, and try some stuff out on my own… nothing has really been published : https://github.com/MrMEEE/ironhide, this will include a graphical bumblebee setup and probably extentions to bumblebee-ui.. This project will probably be renamed to distinguish the two.. but just to be clear, I much appreciate the work the other guys are doing and there is no bad air between us.. I just need some “creative” time off…

So, right now, yes… things are broken, both in the ppa and in the git versions.. I hope that the above efforts will solve this as soon as possible, and a BIG thanks to every tester, contributor, programmer and user of bumblebee out there..

Today (night) I finally got bumblebee packaged into a Ubuntu Launchpad PPA. Something that I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time now… At the same time I have introduced a new installer/configuration utillity. Basically with the same functionality, but it has been cleaned up and should be much easier to use.

Now what does that mean?? For ordinary users, that means that all the installation process should be a lot easier now for Ubuntu-based distributions.

All you have to do is run the following commands:

sudo apt-add-repository ppa:mj-casalogic/bumblebee

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install bumblebee

Does it get any easier???

I’ve moved the version of bumblebee in the PPA to version 2.0, to indicate that this really is a major step forward..

Thanks to all for your feedback, I know that you haven’t heard much from me for the last two weeks…

So now it’s back to fixing bugs, but from now on, i’ll focus on fixing the bugs in PPA version.

The complete PPA is available here:

https://launchpad.net/~mj-casalogic/+archive/bumblebee/

Ok, ok…

I made a BIG bummer in the end of may… and apparently it has only been discovered now :D…

Commit – https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/commit/6cd6b2485668e8a87485cb34ca8a0a937e73f16d

That caused this problem:

https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/commit/a047be85247755cdbe0acce6f1dafc8beb84f2ac

Again I’m sorry that I didn’t give myself the time to test the code completely, but working on bumblebee in the middle of the night and working “real” work in the days, doesn’t always gives the best results.. but I’m trying my best.. which I think people understand… 😀

The positive thing here is how many people are active in the bumblebee community and that bumblebee have gotten even more attention:

http://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/i1c0p/oh_fuck/

Bumblebee was included in “This week in linux”..

It has now been about 4 weeks since I sat in a small hotel room in Norway and implemented the first lines, of what was going to be the bumblebee project.

By now I have hit over 30.000 hits on the first blog page alone, have about 200 followers on twitter and about 200 issues have been created on github ( about 130 closed )…

z0rc has forked the project to debumblebee and is now supporting debian through that.

Joaquín is providing support for Arch Linux, and  backbone is handles Gentoo

arnauddupuis and paulvriens are helping me on bumblebee with Fedora and OpenSuSE support, and other people are also beginning to submit patches and suggestions (thanks!)..

This has really been some crazy weeks, and not looking to settle down right now.. 😀

Thanks to all for your support, suggestions and reports..

Arch Linux Support:

http://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=49469

wiki:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Bumblebee

Debian Linux Support:

https://github.com/z0rc/debumblebee

Gentoo Linux Support:

https://github.com/iegor/bumblebee-Gentoo-support

Hi all..

Bumblebee v.1.6.43 has been released…

This has been some crazy days, with A LOT of feedback and bugs…

If you want to speed up the work, send me a Red Bull here.

If you get your machine running with bumblebee, please run the bumblebee-submitsystem.

Right now I’m getting so many problems reported in, that I have lost the overview completely…

Therefore I will now introduce a new way to report bugs regarding bumblebee..

Procedure as follows:

Install the newest version of Bumblebee…

If you have had any previous installation of Bumblebee/Prime-ng installed.. Please run the bumblebee-uninstall tool and reinstall afterwards (no need for reboot)..

If you still have a problem, please create an issue on github:

https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee/issues

Then run the bumblebee-bugreport tool and send the created package to mj@casalogic.dk

I know it’s easier just to send an email.. But this will help me get the bugs organised and hopefully provide help faster..

Thanks..

Martin Juhl

First of all… The project has been renamed to bumblebee (the support and right hand of Optimus Prime)

From now on all howto/software updates will be done on github: https://github.com/MrMEEE/bumblebee

Only status and tests will be kept here…

The Installation should now be completely automatic…

Now 3D is enabled on both the Intel and the nVidia at the same time..

The Intel card is running the Desktop and the nVidia card can be used for
the thougher applications with the command “optirun32 <application>” or
“optirun64 <application>”…

So now we just need somebody to write an application for automatically
balance which applications should be run on which card.. and shut the nVidia
card down, when not used..

But still I think it is a good step forward…

Up’s:

We got nvidia acceleration on our Linux games and programs.. wine as well..

We got CUDA support… Also for SDK 4.0 which windows doesn’t support for the optimus drivers.

Down’s:

A few programs doesn’t work.. this far I have only found Diablo 2.. which gives some weird double/single buffer error in wine…
This seems to be a Nvidia problem in general, and nothing to do with this solution.. Diablo works with the -w parameter for window mode, and other people with just an Nvidia card is reporting this problem as well..

Still not transparent/automatic switching like in Window$.. but a big step the right way..

No acceleration from the Intel card.. so Nvidia 3D or none…

Vdpau doesn’t seem to be working on the Intel screen, only on the none-watchable nVidia screen … we might need to implement something like VNC to get it to work…

Drains battery pretty fast… Not as bad as I feared… got battery for 2+ hours…

Further Idea’s:

Combine this with the acpi module hack, to get more battery time, when the Nvidia card is not used.. auto-shutdown??

Maybe a seperate X-server for the Nvidia card is the way to go, so we can shut that down as well when not used.. Working in prime-ng V.2.0..

Try to get both the Intel and the Nvidia libraries installed at the same time, so that 3D is enabled for both cards.. Working in prime-ng V.2.0..

I will now update this with a version number.. this should make it easier to look for changes: v.1.4.2 (latest: Support for more laptops and performance and tests)

OUTDATED FROM HERE AND DOWN… GO TO GITHUB INSTEAD…

I have found a way to use the nvidia card in machines WITHOUT the optimus mux…

There are still a few flaws… but in my regard they are few…

This has been testet succesful on:

First of all I have this running on my Alienware M11X R2, on Ubuntu Natty 11.04 64-bit.. And haven’t tried it on any other configurations.. so I hope you can report back, if it works on other laptops (it should) and other distributions….

Here it goes:

First of all download the following:

General:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/xorg.conf

32-bit deb-based:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/turbojpeg_1.11.1_i386.deb

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/VirtualGL_2.2.1_i386.deb

64-bit deb-based:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/turbojpeg_1.11.1_amd64.deb

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/VirtualGL_2.2.1_amd64.deb

32-bit rpm-based:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/turbojpeg-1.11.i386.rpm

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/VirtualGL-2.2.1.i386.rpm

64-bit rpm-based:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/turbojpeg-1.11.x86_64.rpm

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/VirtualGL-2.2.1.x86_64.rpm

Source:

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/turbojpeg-ipp-1.11.1.tar.gz

http://www.martin-juhl.dk/optimus/VirtualGL-2.2.1.tar.gz

Files can also be found here:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/virtualgl/files/

Ok… Installation:

Start by installing the nvidia driver:

sudo aptitude install nvidia-current     (ubuntu)

then put the xorg.conf in /etc/X11/

It might be necessary to change the “ConnectedMonitor” under the Nvidia-device section and BUSID’s for the Intel and Nvidia Card..

Here is what I got so far:

after that, install the two files you downloaded above:

sudo dpkg -i VirtualGL*        (deb)

or

sudo rpm -ihv VirtualGL*     (rpm)

Note:

Turbojpeg or libjpeg-turbo is not needed, and actually gives a lower performance.. I left the links if you want to experiment..

Performance Tests can be found at the end…

Now run:

sudo vglserver_config

answer as below:

1) Configure server for use with VirtualGL in GLX mode
2) Unconfigure server for use with VirtualGL in GLX mode
X) Exit

Choose:
1

Restrict 3D X server access to vglusers group (recommended)?
[Y/n]
n

Restrict framebuffer device access to vglusers group (recommended)?
[Y/n]
n

Disable XTEST extension (recommended)?
[Y/n]
y
… Creating /etc/modprobe.d/virtualgl.conf to set requested permissions for
/dev/nvidia* …
… Attempting to remove nvidia module from memory so device permissions
will be reloaded …
ERROR: Module nvidia is in use
… Granting write permission to /dev/nvidia0 /dev/nvidiactl for all users …
… Modifying /etc/X11/xorg.conf to enable DRI permissions for
all users …
… Adding xhost +LOCAL: to /etc/kde4/kdm/Xsetup script …
… Disabling XTEST extension in /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc …

Done. You must restart the display manager for the changes to take effect.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Your system uses modprobe.d to set device permissions. You
must execute rmmod nvidia with the display manager stopped in order for the
new device permission settings to become effective.

1) Configure server for use with VirtualGL in GLX mode
2) Unconfigure server for use with VirtualGL in GLX mode
X) Exit

Choose:
x

Then:

append the following two lines to /etc/profile or to your ~/.bashrc if that exists..

VGL_DISPLAY=:0.1
export VGL_DISPLAY
VGL_COMPRESS=yuv
export VGL_COMPRESS
VGL_READBACK=fbo
export VGL_READBACK

Now you need to make sure that your Desktop Enviroment runs the following command after starting up..

vglclient localhost &

In KDE this is archived by creating: ~/.kde/share/autostart/vglclient.desktop (you might need to create the autostart folder as well):

[Desktop Entry]
Comment[da]=
Comment=
Exec=vglclient localhost &
GenericName=
Icon=exec
MimeType=
Name=vglclient
Path=
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=false
TerminalOptions=
Type=Application
X-DBUS-ServiceName=
X-DBUS-StartupType=
X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
X-KDE-Username=
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=desktop_kdebase

and reboot…

Hopefully your computer comes back up..

now you should be able to start applications with:

vglrun <application>

and the nvidia card will be used for acceleration..

btw. <application> needs to contain the full path to the application if not in the path…

It is still the Intel card running the rest.. and for now I haven’t found a way to activate acceleration for both cards.. so no fancy compiz effects.. but thats no problem for me, as long as I can use my nvidia card for gaming :D…

Hope this will help someone..

Nvidia Always on in Gnome or KDE:

This is experimental.. might be unforeseen problems:

KDE:

Create: /usr/share/xsessions/kde-plasma-vgl.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Type=XSession
Exec=/usr/bin/startkde-vgl
TryExec=/usr/bin/startkde-vgl
Name=KDE Plasma Workspace Nvidia Accelerated
Comment=The desktop made by KDE

Create: /usr/bin/startkde-vgl:

#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/vglrun -d :0.1 /usr/bin/startkde

and run:

chmod +x /usr/bin/startkde-vgl

Gnome:

Create: /usr/share/xsessions/gnome-vgl.desktop:

[Desktop Entry]
Type=XSession
Exec=/usr/bin/gnome-session-vgl
TryExec=/usr/bin/gnome-session-vgl
Name=GNOME Nvidia Accelerated
Comment=The GNU Network Object Model Environment. A complete, free and easy-to-use desktop environment
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=desktop_kdebase-workspace

Create: /usr/bin/gnome-session-vgl:

#!/bin/bash
/usr/bin/vglrun -d :0.1 /usr/bin/gnome-session

and run:

chmod +x /usr/bin/gnome-session-vgl

The Accelerated sessions should now be available in gdm or kdm..

KDE or Gnome doesn’t work with Desktop Effects, but everything else seems to work.. (applications are automatically started with the Nvidia card)

Performance:

I’m using glxgears and getting:

~ 1700 fps with libjpeg-turbo

7362 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1472.247 FPS
6651 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1330.055 FPS
6507 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1301.198 FPS
9399 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1879.629 FPS
9519 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1903.788 FPS
8857 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1771.247 FPS
9524 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1904.607 FPS
8545 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1708.921 FPS
9485 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1896.910 FPS
9495 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1898.814 FPS

~ 1600 fps with turbojpeg

6580 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1315.794 FPS
7177 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1435.397 FPS
9346 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1869.135 FPS
8206 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1641.097 FPS
6429 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1285.784 FPS
7006 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1401.094 FPS
6229 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1245.770 FPS
7559 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1511.768 FPS
8541 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1708.090 FPS
8503 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1700.564 FPS
8501 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1700.139 FPS
8540 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1707.930 FPS

~ 1900 fps with none of them installed

7621 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1524.158 FPS
9526 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1905.055 FPS
9504 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1900.725 FPS
9487 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1897.317 FPS
9419 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1883.613 FPS
8754 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1750.718 FPS
9435 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1886.882 FPS
9400 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1879.999 FPS
9408 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1881.523 FPS

~ 1600 fps with xuv

7888 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1577.544 FPS
7906 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1581.168 FPS
7963 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1592.556 FPS
8090 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1617.894 FPS
8122 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1624.336 FPS
8204 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1640.684 FPS
8377 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1675.184 FPS
8288 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1657.548 FPS
8399 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1679.671 FPS

I dag spillede både Dame 1 og jeg selv på Herre 2…

Damekampen:

Resultatet først: vi tabte 45 – 27…

Vi spillede rigtig flot forsvar igennem hele kampen, og til tider kørte angrebet også rigtig fornuftigt.. men der var dog for lange pauser hvor vi slet ikke scorede..

Om det var det store nederlag til falcon i tirsdag der stadig sad lidt i baghovedet, eller at vi simpelthen bare ikke er helt klar endnu er ikke til at sige… men det var tydeligt at se at vi lige skal igang… Vi skal også lige have selvtilliden på plads og efter at have været ungdomstræner i mange år, så må jeg erkende at det er mindst lige så vigtigt for damespillere som for mini’er og juniorer… Men det var ret at se at specielt Monica virkelig kom igang idag, dog lige et par periode for sent…

Jeg ser frem til næste kamp…

Herrekampen:

Vi spillede en god kamp og vandt 68-54.. Jeg spillede ikke specielt godt.. men sådan går det jo engang imellem…

Dame 1 spillede i dag kamp mod Falcons Eliterække-hold i pokalturneringen…

Vi gjorde det godt og blev ved med at kæmpe kampen igennem… men Falcon var i bedre form, mere rutinerede, bedre teknisk og viste alt i alt hvorfor de spiller i Ligaen…

Kampen endte 15 – 96, men vi lærte rigtig meget, og jeg glæder mig meget til at se vores første 2. divisions kamp mod VLI på søndag…