Hyperion Entertainment Message Boards

Posted: **Wed Aug 12, 2015 1:12 pm**

About a week ago I updated my Wily Werewolf (15.10) installation and it appeared Ubuntu migrated to GCC 5 so I couldn't run a few things like Compiz and Ktorrent since they don't use the new libraries (regular composite effects work though). Apparently there is supposed to be a new Compiz by now. I'm adding my screenshot. The good news are for all those people that are used to Mplayer - although Mplayer2 still fails to start, Mplayer has been updated which means you can also use SMplayer without MPV support. I'm not posting the new Mplayer here because I got it from a different distro. Bear in mind that the procedure of replacing Mplayer2 with Mplayer involves the removal of certain packages which may prove complicated on some set-ups, mainly being the need to remove and install again Lubuntu-Desktop (not the Lubuntu-Core or LXDE-Core) and doing so might cause the user to become invalid and you'll need to create a new one or switch to LXDM (for example) instead of LIGHTDM. The advantage of Mplayer is of course the best all-around performance on desktop or on Iceweasel/Firefox via the Viewtube Greasemonkey script. I'm also using just the r600.so file from the unofficial Mesa and everything works like it should so maybe we can test the new Mesa with the color patch (HD5870) without the need to downgrade.

Posted: **Wed Aug 12, 2015 6:41 pm**

Srtest wrote:About a week ago I've updated my Wily Werewolf (15.10) installation and it appears Ubuntu migrated to GCC 5 so I couldn't run a few things like Compiz and Ktorrent since they don't use the new libraries (regular composite effects work though). Apparently there was supposed to be a new Compiz by now. I'm adding my screenshot. The good news are for all those people used to Mplayer - although Mplayer2 still fails to start, Mplayer has been updated which means you can also use Smplayer without MPV support. I'm not posting the new Mplayer here because I got it from a different distro. Bear in mind that the procedure of replacing Mplayer2 with Mplayer involves the removal of certain packages which may prove complicated on some set-ups, mainly being the need to remove and install again Lubuntu-Desktop (not the core or LXDE) and doing so might cause the user to become invalid and you'll need to create a new one or switch to LXDM (for example) instead of LIGHTDM. The advantage of Mplayer is of course the best all-around performance on desktop or on Iceweasel/Firefox via the Viewtube Greasemonkey script. I'm also using just the r600.so file from the unofficial Mesa and everything works like it should so maybe we can test the new Mesa with the color patch (HD5870) without the need to downgrade.

Thank you very much for testing Lubuntu 15.10 PowerPC and many thanks for your explanations. I appreciate it very much.

Posted: **Thu Aug 13, 2015 7:51 am**

I also have GCC 5 installed on ubuntu MATE 15.10:

I have no problems with Compiz.

Posted: **Fri Aug 14, 2015 5:42 pm**

xeno74 wrote:I also have GCC 5 installed on ubuntu MATE 15.10:

I have no problems with Compiz.

Well it was a week ago so maybe in the meantime they updated Compiz. I'll get to it at a later date.

Right now I try to test the new LXQT and fail. There are packages of Power platforms however they are only for QT5 and what is used currenty is QT4. The next Ubuntu should be LTS so that means the Lubuntu guys will once again support our platform and they are in the process of migrating to LXQT a.k.a Lubuntu-Next. from checking the various repositories and doing some research it seems there aren't that many packages left out as far as we are concerned and if some stuff gets ported we can begin testing it even before the official release, because as I said the LXQT packages exist. What I have noticed is that a minor app like qterminal is a dependency and is something preventing installing Lubuntu-Next from the developmental repository. I've seen the very same app get ported on the AOS side when the entire QT was ported so maybe someone there can help.

A question: why not do a new Mesa especially when 11 is about to come out, if only for Northern Islands and Evergreen? On the AOS side you have Warp3D for Southern Islands and newer while I use a HD5870 and can't use it. This way we can test it and eventually when the LLVM bug is resolved you will know more about what works and what is the expected performance.

Posted: **Wed Aug 19, 2015 8:15 am**

Well, It took about a week and they updated most of the programs that needed migrating to GCC 5. I guess more will follow.

For those that use Pidgin for their chats, Facebook changed their protocol so you can't use XMPP anymore, however, if you happen to use Icedove/Thunderbird for mail, there is also a chat option there that can bypass it while using XMPP so you can continue getting all your chats at the same place (there's a workaround for Pidgin just not for our platform).

You can get a new Iceweasel 40.0.1 beta which is supposed to offer improved performance on Linux (something to do with off-main threading). Maybe you'll want to try it out.

About LXQT maybe our Debian users can try it out as an alternative desktop and post their findings here.

Posted: **Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:35 am**

Srtest wrote:Well, It took about a week and they updated most of the programs that needed migrating to GCC 5. I guess more will follow.

For those that use Pidgin for their chats, Facebook changed their protocol so you can't use XMPP anymore,

Yes, I use Pidgin for FB chats. I noticed this issue, 2 days ago.

Srtest wrote: You can get a new Iceweasel 40.0.1 beta which is supposed to offer improved performance on Linux (something to do with off-main threading). Maybe you'll want to try it out.

Unfortunately it isn't available for Linux PPC at the moment.

Iceweasel 40 build status: https://packages.debian.org/de/experimental/iceweasel

The same problem on Ubuntu: launchpad.net

Posted: **Wed Sep 16, 2015 1:29 am**

Did an update on Lubuntu and everything works at it should. Been using MESA 11 for quite some time now. You can find it on an experimental PPA, if you want I can send it to you in private. Check out the GLXgears results they are pretty good. Everything works if you replace just the "r600.so" file except that on some situations you can get extreme slowdowns on certain movies, so I guess it is still better to follow the entire Mesa replacement procedure as unfortunately Mesa 11, while offering improved performance in some aspects still doesn't solve our issues without having to degrade OpenGL.

- You can use Icedove 40 as a 3-way solution for chat (Facebook and Gmail included), mail and RSS. Very nice to have everything in one place.

- All issues stemming from the migration to GCC 5 have been resolved (at least what I'm using) and now I can also use LibreOffice 5.

- I'm using an EXT3 partition between AOS and Lubuntu (much faster than NTFS) and I've figured out how to avoid certain issues:
A. First of all, don't use a hard drive that is kind of at the end of its life span as you will need to follow the following hints much more closely.
B. Try to limit to a minimum the actions you do on the AOS side as far as writing and deleting.
C. If you need to transfer Amiga files that give you an added .info file try to pack them in an archive. The shared EXT3 drive/partition doesn't like those too much.
D. Try to do all the maintenance work on the Lubuntu side as it is much more sensitive and the simplest error from fussing on the AOS side can make the partition read only on the AOS side so on that side try sticking to executing/playing/whatever and transfer files only when needed.
E. It still works normally after the recent drop of the EXT3 code base due to EXT4 compatibility.
F. The e2fsck code was updated last April (not on Ubuntu) so updating could help.

- After the move to Systemd I can't use the Bluetooth kernel modules.

- I'm having some issues with the graphics on WIn98 on Qemu as it will only allow me to have the standard driver and 16 colors. If someone knows what to do then if you can help it will be great.

* The GLXgears scores where captured previously to launching Nexuiz, Qemu & SMplayer.

** UPDATE: FIREFOX 40.0.3 out for Lubuntu on power platforms! according to the hype it supposed to have special Linux features about multi-threading browsing.

Posted: **Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:50 am**

Srtest wrote:Did an update on Lubuntu and everything works at it should. Been using MESA 11 for quite some time now.

Impressive!

Srtest wrote: You can find it on an experimental PPA, if you want I can send it to you in private.

It would be nice if you could send me the link to the experimental PPA.

Srtest wrote: Check out the GLXgears results they are pretty good. Everything works if you replace just the "r600.so"

The glxgears values of Mesa 11 are great! I am very surprised. How are these results compare to the unofficial Mesa 1.0.0.4? Could you please post the results from the unofficial Mesa 1.0.0.4?

Srtest wrote: - After the move to Systemd I can't use the Bluetooth kernel modules.

You mean the Bluetooth kernel modules from the 4.3 RC1 kernel package, don't you?

Srtest wrote: - I'm having some issues with the graphics on WIn98 on Qemu as it will only allow me to have the standard driver and 16 colors. If someone knows what to do then if you can help it will be great.

You could install the VBEMP driver on your Windows 98 if you like.

I use this driver on my Windows NT 4.0 guest:

Dowload:

http://bearwindows.zcm.com.au/vbe9x.htm

ftp://alter.org.ua/incoming/soft/vbe/win9x/vbe9x.htm

Srtest wrote: ** UPDATE: FIREFOX 40.0.3 out for Lubuntu on power platforms! according to the hype it supposed to have special Linux features about multi-threading browsing.

Fantastic news!

Posted: **Fri Sep 18, 2015 6:03 am**

I've been having serious issues with the network driver for the card supplied with the X1000. It seems to have started when I moved to kernel 4.2 and became much more severe when switching to 4.3 alphas and RC1. Normal browsing and such uses are usually ok. The issues start when the network uses become much more intense when downloading and using different apps to do so (haven't tested if it also happens with streaming or just the opening of ports and not the heavy bandwith usage in itself).

_____________________

The results of the Mesa 11 LibGL are not very different from the unofficial Mesa LibGL. The difference for me is that when using the unofficial Mesa LibGL I get a more stable GLXgears framerate in the 14XX.XX standard than with Mesa 11 LibGL when it usually hangs around 13XX.XX and occasionally goes up to the 14XX.XX framerate, so I guess if you need those extra 50-100 fps on average then stick to the unofficial Mesa LibGL. From what I have tried movie/game performance is very close in both of them and it seems the use of the Mesa 11 performs differently than the unofficial Mesa between different players and videos as it seems to be related to stuff coming directly from Mesa 11 and its state.

Now to the weird part - if I don't start Compiz, GLXgears reports much lower framerates... although the actual uses remain pretty much the same or even better sometimes than without Compiz. It is known that enabling composite effects can in turn effect performance in other uses and areas.

_____________________

A guide to getting Compiz working on Lubuntu 15.10 at start-up login (assuming all the necessary components of Compiz and Metacity are installed and ready):

1. Go to the Lubuntu menu
2. Click on Preferences
3. Activate "Default applications for LXSession" (lxsession-default-apps)
4. Switch to the "Core applications" tab
5. Go to "Composite Manager" and add: "compiz --replace" (don't press reload!)
6. Go to "Windows Manager" and add: "metacity"
7. Exit the app and start a new File Manager, and go to: "/home/aminux/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu" and edit "desktop.conf".
8. In the opened document go to the line that starts with "composite_manager/autostart=" and add "true" so you will get: "launcher_manager/autostart=true", save and exit.
9. Compiz doesn't like Openbox so don't use it and instead use Metacity or maybe you can get another manager/decorator to work with it. It's not a big deal because Openbox sucks anyway. You can modify Metacity preferences with "gnome-tweak-tool".

_____________________

Yes, I mean that I have placed the kernel modules in the right directory as instructed and I can get the modules for MOL (for examples) working while Blutooth doesn't work and doesn't even show up on Hardinfo (System Profiler and Benchmark). I get an error message on start-up kernel about the issue which directs me to a certain control file of Systemd for further review which I haven't accessed and all while everything continues to load normally.

Posted: **Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:21 am**

Hi Srtest,

Many thanks for testing Lubuntu 15.10 with the new X1000 kernels.

Srtest wrote:I've been having serious issues with the network driver for the card supplied with the X1000. It seems to have started when I moved to kernel 4.2 and became much more severe when switching to 4.3 alphas and RC1. Normal browsing and such uses are usually ok. The issues start when the network uses become much more intense when downloading and using different apps to do so (haven't tested if it also happens with streaming or just the opening of ports and not the heavy bandwith usage in itself).

Do you mean the internal PWRficient Gigabit Ethernet network device or the Realtek RTL8139 PCI network card? The Linux developers changed a lot of source code since the kernel 4.2.
Could you test the latest 4.1 kernel too, please?

Download: vmlinux-4.1.7-AMIGA_one_X1000.tar.bz2

I tested my Realtek RTL8139 PCI network card. I opened Facebook, listened to the web radio and did an apt-get upgrade at the same time. I didn't see any problems. I have to test it more.

Srtest wrote: Now to the weird part - if I don't start Compiz, GLXgears reports much lower framerates... although the actual uses remain pretty much the same or even better sometimes than without Compiz. It is known that enabling composite effects can in turn effect performance in other uses and areas.

I have the same experiences. (see the following screenshot)

I installed Mesa 11 today. Without replacing the r600_dri.so, I don't have 3D acceleration. HardInfo shows the following values:

OpenGL
Vendor Unknown
Renderer Unknown
Version Unknown
Direct Rendering No

After replacing the r600_dri.so with the r600_dri.so from the unofficial version 10.0.4, HardInfo shows the following values:

OpenGL
Vendor X.Org
Renderer Gallium 0.4 on AMD BARTS
Version 3.0 Mesa 10.0.4
Direct Rendering Yes

Unfortunately the Glxgears values are as good as with the whole unofficial Mesa installation but the idea with replacing only the r600_dri.so is fantastic!!!!!!

Code: Select all

sudo cp mesa-10.0.4/lib/dri/r600_dri.so /usr/lib/powerpc-linux-gnu/dri

After a new login the 3D acceleration works.

Srtest wrote: Yes, I mean that I have placed the kernel modules in the right directory as instructed and I can get the modules for MOL (for examples) working while Blutooth doesn't work and doesn't even show up on Hardinfo (System Profiler and Benchmark). I get an error message on start-up kernel about the issue which directs me to a certain control file of Systemd for further review which I haven't accessed and all while everything continues to load normally.

Currently, I am testing ubuntu MATE 15.10 amd64 in a virtual VMware Player 12 machine too and I also see the Systemd kernel modules error message on start-up there. In my point of view it is a Ubuntu userland problem. (see the following screenshot)

I tested the Bluetooth kernel modules with the kernel 4.2 final and with the RC1 of kernel 4.3. With both kernels, Bluetooth works.

I know it doesn't solve your problem with the Bluetooth kernel modules. Could you test the kernel 4.2 final too because of the Bluetooth kernel modules issue, please? Did you have the directory /lib/modules or did you create it before you copied the kernel modules? The problem is, if you don't install a standard kernel from the repository then you don't have the directory modules. I created it manually and copied the kernel modules directory to this directory. The strange think is, the kernel modules didn't show in HardInfo. I had to install a standard Ubuntu kernel from the repository and the installer created this directory for me. After that I copied the X1000 kernel modules directory to the new modules directory. Afterwards HardInfo shows the Bluetooth kernel modules. That's strange isn't it?
I removed the standard Ubuntu kernel and apt didn't removed the modules directory because it wasn't empty. After that, HardInfo still shows the Bluetooth kernel modules.

Cheers,

Christian

Hyperion Entertainment Message Boards

Lubuntu 15.10 (LXQt)

Lubuntu 15.10 (LXQt)

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10

Re: Lubuntu 15.10