hi all,

since recently i'm experiencing performance problems with the kde4 desktop on my sony vaio laptop running kubuntu 9.04. everything used to be fast and smooth, so i wonder what's wrong now. the problems include very slow minimize/fade animations, wobbly windows not working reasonably, etc.

to track down the problem, let me add some more information. i really don't have much experience with this, so if i miss something important, please tell me.

##############
the kwin compositing is set to opengl, because using xrender wobbly is not really working. following a suggestion i read somewhere else, i also recently deleted kwinrc and configured it freshly.

##############
graphics:
lspci| grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile 945GM/GMS, 943/940GML Express Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)

##############
glxinfo | grep direct
get fences failed: -1
param: 6, val: 0
direct rendering: Yes


##############
xorg.conf:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "true"
EndSection

###############

best regards,
zsaja

The new intel drivers are known to be sucky. You're likely running into driver regressions .

What I can confirm is:

linux-2.6.29 + KMS + xorg-video-intel 2.6.3 or 2.7.0 very slow with compositing effects, and disabled dithering due to kernel bug (patch available)

linux-2.6.30-rc2 + KMS + xorg-video-intel 2.6.3 or 2.7.0 fast and reliable with compositing effects

I'm usinng Debian testing/sid with xorg server 1.6.1. Custom vanilla 2.6.30-rc2 krenel with KMS enabeld by default.

You can try those settings.

I am using an intel 82Q35 Express Integrated Graphics Controller and was kinda slow and had bad corruption.

I added to the Device section of xorg.conf:
Option "AccelMethod" "UXA"

and added to /etc/modules:
i915 modeset=1

My corruption is gone and it seems a lot faster.
linux-image-2.6.29-1-amd64 2.6.29-3
xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.7.0-1
xserver-xorg-core 2:1.6.1-1