linuxconsole-dev

Linux console / Ruby patch on dual PCI Express

[Magnus L. <lin...@ma...>]

This is my first post to this list, I hope everyting works. :) 

I am using kernel 2.6.* with ruby on my home computer since december last 
year. I have two nvidia graphicscard - TNT2 Ultra PCI and Geforce4 AGP. 

Everything works as it should and without problems, now I have a few 
questions: 

1) When will this patch go into the main linux tree? What is left to do before 
it can merge, or is that "out of the question" / not gonna happen in the 
forseable future? 

2) Several vendors (via, nvidia, etc) will soon start selling mobo-chipsets 
capable of dual PCI-express or AGP + PCI-express slots. 

First (a); will PCI-express cards work "just like" AGP cards in general in 
linux. 

Second (b); will PCI-express motherboards/graphicscards work "out of the box" 
with linux? 

Third (c); Does Linux support multiple AGP ports today, which the AGP-standard 
does. 

If it does, will it be possible to use one of these dual PCI-express boards 
with the ruby patch to make a system with two X-consoles where each has one 
PCI-express graphics card?

A system like that would be very intresting, since I am today having problems 
with openGL and other accelerated graphics on the PCI nvidia card. (which I 
assume is due to the poor performance of the PCI bus, I only get ca 700 fps 
in glxgears on the PCI card, and xv-accelerated video has lower fps (some 
jerkiness) than xv on the AGP graphicscard). 

So, in summare, my second question is; Does anyone know if the future dual 
PCI-express (or PCI-express + AGP port) motherboards (such as the VIA 
K8T890Pro or nvidia Nforce 4 SLI) will work with linux and the ruby patch in 
particular to set up a multi-console system using fast gfx cards? 

-- 
/Magnus Lundstedt, InfiDyne Technologies HB

E-mail:         mag...@in...
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IRC:            magnus@#inf...@ir...
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                SE-756 43
                Uppsala, Sweden

Re: Linux console / Ruby patch on dual PCI Express

[Hugo V. <hvw...@ya...>]

--- Magnus Lundstedt
<lin...@ma...> wrote:

> This is my first post to this list, I hope everyting
> works. :) 
> 
> I am using kernel 2.6.* with ruby on my home
> computer since december last 
> year. I have two nvidia graphicscard - TNT2 Ultra
> PCI and Geforce4 AGP. 
> 
> Everything works as it should and without problems,
> now I have a few 
> questions: 
> 
> 1) When will this patch go into the main linux tree?
> What is left to do before 
> it can merge, or is that "out of the question" / not
> gonna happen in the 
> forseable future? 
> 
> 2) Several vendors (via, nvidia, etc) will soon
> start selling mobo-chipsets 
> capable of dual PCI-express or AGP + PCI-express
> slots. 
> 
> First (a); will PCI-express cards work "just like"
> AGP cards in general in 
> linux. 
> 
> Second (b); will PCI-express
> motherboards/graphicscards work "out of the box" 
> with linux? 
> 
> Third (c); Does Linux support multiple AGP ports
> today, which the AGP-standard 
> does. 
> 
> If it does, will it be possible to use one of these
> dual PCI-express boards 
> with the ruby patch to make a system with two
> X-consoles where each has one 
> PCI-express graphics card?
> 
> A system like that would be very intresting, since I
> am today having problems 
> with openGL and other accelerated graphics on the
> PCI nvidia card. (which I 
> assume is due to the poor performance of the PCI
> bus, I only get ca 700 fps 
> in glxgears on the PCI card, and xv-accelerated
> video has lower fps (some 
> jerkiness) than xv on the AGP graphicscard). 
> 

We have the same system in reverse: I have TNT2-AGP
and MX-440-PCI. On the latter I get 1077 fps and on
the former 474 fps.

But my problem, I think is the CPU processor: 850MHz
just is not enough to drive the 2 X servers. It might
also be 2.6.9. But Aivils would know.

H.







		
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Re: Linux console / Ruby patch on dual PCI Express

[Zoltan B. <zb...@fr...>]

Magnus Lundstedt =EDrta:
> This is my first post to this list, I hope everyting works. :)=20
>=20
> I am using kernel 2.6.* with ruby on my home computer since december la=
st=20
> year. I have two nvidia graphicscard - TNT2 Ultra PCI and Geforce4 AGP.=
=20
>=20
> Everything works as it should and without problems, now I have a few=20
> questions:=20
>=20
> 1) When will this patch go into the main linux tree? What is left to do=
 before=20
> it can merge, or is that "out of the question" / not gonna happen in th=
e=20
> forseable future?=20

As I heard, it won't get into the kernel in this form.
Instead, one of the development directions of Linux-2.7.x
will be to remove the console system from the kernel and
create a user space console system. This way, all the past,
present and future races will be removed as well, that plagued
the development of 2.[56].x and were only solved in late
2.6.x.

> 2) Several vendors (via, nvidia, etc) will soon start selling mobo-chip=
sets=20
> capable of dual PCI-express or AGP + PCI-express slots.=20
>=20
> First (a); will PCI-express cards work "just like" AGP cards in general=
 in=20
> linux.=20

They should.

> Second (b); will PCI-express motherboards/graphicscards work "out of th=
e box"=20
> with linux?=20

They should.

> Third (c); Does Linux support multiple AGP ports today, which the AGP-s=
tandard=20
> does.=20

The kernel should support it, as all the PCI-like devices are discovered
through the PCI BIOS calls. But I am yet to hear about such a mainboard
that implements the "sidecar" AGP that is part of the AGP 3.0 standard.

> If it does, will it be possible to use one of these dual PCI-express bo=
ards=20
> with the ruby patch to make a system with two X-consoles where each has=
 one=20
> PCI-express graphics card?

The answer is "definitely, yes" here. :-)

> A system like that would be very intresting, since I am today having pr=
oblems=20
> with openGL and other accelerated graphics on the PCI nvidia card. (whi=
ch I=20
> assume is due to the poor performance of the PCI bus, I only get ca 700=
 fps=20
> in glxgears on the PCI card, and xv-accelerated video has lower fps (so=
me=20
> jerkiness) than xv on the AGP graphicscard).=20

I had the same problem, like one of our daughters played SuperTux on the
X server that drove my PCI Radeon and it hogged even IDE transfers.
I reniced the X server (renice 10 <pid of X>), and it almost solved the
problem. I say "almost" because now the SuperTux lowered the framerate,
pretty much visibly. I haven't experimented more.

> So, in summare, my second question is; Does anyone know if the future d=
ual=20
> PCI-express (or PCI-express + AGP port) motherboards (such as the VIA=20
> K8T890Pro or nvidia Nforce 4 SLI) will work with linux and the ruby pat=
ch in=20
> particular to set up a multi-console system using fast gfx cards?=20

They should work.

Best regards,
Zolt=E1n B=F6sz=F6rm=E9nyi

Re: Linux console / Ruby patch on dual PCI Express

[Aivils <ai...@un...>]

On Monday 29 November 2004 20:33, Zoltan Boszormenyi wrote:
> Magnus Lundstedt =EDrta:
> > This is my first post to this list, I hope everyting works. :)=20
> >=20
> > I am using kernel 2.6.* with ruby on my home computer since december la=
st=20
> > year. I have two nvidia graphicscard - TNT2 Ultra PCI and Geforce4 AGP.=
=20
> >=20
> > Everything works as it should and without problems, now I have a few=20
> > questions:=20
> >=20
> > 1) When will this patch go into the main linux tree? What is left to do=
 before=20
> > it can merge, or is that "out of the question" / not gonna happen in th=
e=20
> > forseable future?=20
>=20
> As I heard, it won't get into the kernel in this form.
> Instead, one of the development directions of Linux-2.7.x
> will be to remove the console system from the kernel and
> create a user space console system.=20

 i have read similar rumors sice 1999 :)
James Simons have political influence. He should know.

> This way, all the past,=20
> present and future races will be removed as well, that plagued
> the development of 2.[56].x and were only solved in late
> 2.6.x.
> > 2) Several vendors (via, nvidia, etc) will soon start selling mobo-chip=
sets=20
> > capable of dual PCI-express or AGP + PCI-express slots.=20
> >=20
> > First (a); will PCI-express cards work "just like" AGP cards in general=
 in=20
> > linux.=20
>=20
> They should.
>=20
> > Second (b); will PCI-express motherboards/graphicscards work "out of th=
e box"=20
> > with linux?=20
>=20
> They should.
>=20
> > Third (c); Does Linux support multiple AGP ports today, which the AGP-s=
tandard=20
> > does.=20
>=20
> The kernel should support it, as all the PCI-like devices are discovered
> through the PCI BIOS calls. But I am yet to hear about such a mainboard
> that implements the "sidecar" AGP that is part of the AGP 3.0 standard.
>=20
> > If it does, will it be possible to use one of these dual PCI-express bo=
ards=20
> > with the ruby patch to make a system with two X-consoles where each has=
 one=20
> > PCI-express graphics card?
>=20
> The answer is "definitely, yes" here. :-)

This is device driver specific feature. Since Nvidia print in their README
"improved PCI Express" i hope about full success as before.
If Xfree86, Xorg do not put PCI Express into drivers, then we can dream onl=
y.

> > A system like that would be very intresting, since I am today having pr=
oblems=20
> > with openGL and other accelerated graphics on the PCI nvidia card. (whi=
ch I=20
> > assume is due to the poor performance of the PCI bus, I only get ca 700=
 fps=20
> > in glxgears on the PCI card, and xv-accelerated video has lower fps (so=
me=20
> > jerkiness) than xv on the AGP graphicscard).=20
>=20
> I had the same problem, like one of our daughters played SuperTux on the
> X server that drove my PCI Radeon and it hogged even IDE transfers.
> I reniced the X server (renice 10 <pid of X>), and it almost solved the
> problem. I say "almost" because now the SuperTux lowered the framerate,
> pretty much visibly. I haven't experimented more.

PCI is slower by default. In my end glxgears schows similar reasults.
Unloaded box - PCI is 2x slower. mplayer takes 2x more CPU on PCI.

Troble hides in the 2.6.X task scheduler which one do not care how evenly
cpu is distributed over a very short timespace, and yes, 2.6 does not do=20
this well. By default 2.6 uses 100msec timeslices for each process. If You
have 2 tasks, then each have 5 moves per second. This case is very
ugly for video games.
As solution is nice +19 usage. In nice +19 case task schedule gives only
10msec for task as maximal timeslice. So if You start
user1>nice -n +19 game1
user2>nice -n +19 game2
both games run smooth, but never as under 2.4.XX . i cannot explain
technical essence, but this is gamer feeling. 2.6.XX bump off WineX,
which becames slower, choppy.

> > So, in summare, my second question is; Does anyone know if the future d=
ual=20
> > PCI-express (or PCI-express + AGP port) motherboards (such as the VIA=20
> > K8T890Pro or nvidia Nforce 4 SLI) will work with linux and the ruby pat=
ch in=20
> > particular to set up a multi-console system using fast gfx cards?=20
>=20
> They should work.

Who knows. For AGP we have hardcoded code in the kernel for each mobo vendo=
r.
In the Nvidia case this code seems exists in the binary driver, i hope so
because Nvidia anounce PCI Express support (which mobo? reference board?).

Aivils