Typing in Eclipse very laggy (Ubuntu 16.04 + Unity + RX480 + AMDGPU PRO 16.30)

[Tekkla]

Hi,

with installed AMDGPU PRO driver there is a quit annoying input and rendering lag in my Eclipse IDE. Without PRO driver there is no lag but only 800x600 screenresolution.

Do you know a config option or so to fix this issue?

Thanks and greetings
Tek

[bridgman]

When you are running without the PRO driver have you updated the kernel & userspace drivers to get HW acceleration ?

AFAIK if you run out-of-the-box 16.04 with Polaris you're going to get VBIOS graphics and nothing more.

Please run "glxinfo | grep renderer" running without the PRO driver and tell us what you get. Looking for the OpenGL renderer string.

[Tekkla]

When you are running without the PRO driver have you updated the kernel & userspace drivers to get HW acceleration ?

Without the driver I did nothing else then using a fresh installed Ubuntu.

Please run "glxinfo | grep renderer" running without the PRO driver and tell us what you get. Looking for the OpenGL renderer string.

The result

GLX_INTEL_swap_event, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer, GLX_MESA_query_renderer, OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon (TM) RX 480 Graphics

Beside the PRO driver I installed linux-firmware 1.160 (https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source...firmware/1.160), the latest Mesa stuff from padoka PPA and to be honest, I'm only doing trial and error because I'm a bloody noob with this "new GPU and no plug'n play " thing.

[bridgman]

Thanks.

OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon (TM) RX 480 Graphics

Not sure what to make of the above output... I'm used to seeing more text (eg llvmpipe on <hardware>). It probably means you are running with software rendering, which would explain why you get great performance for simple text operations but also explain why you are not getting other driver features.

If you pick up a 4.7 or newer kernel along with your updated Mesa etc.. I think that should get you full open source acceleration.

[Tekkla]

Not sure what to make of the above output... I'm used to seeing more text (eg llvmpipe on <hardware>). It probably means you are running with software rendering, which would explain why you get great performance for simple text operations but also explain why you are not getting other driver features.

I think the hardware acceleration works. I can play Bioshock Infinite, Cities Skylines and Civ5 without any problem.

Running "/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p" returns

OpenGL vendor string:   ATI Technologies Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon (TM) RX 480 Graphics
OpenGL version string:  4.5.13448 Compatibility Profile Context 16.30.3

Not software rendered:    yes
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       yes

Unity 3D supported:       yes

So I think Unity use hardware acceleration too. Only in Eclipse this annoying inputlag is present. Typing text with 0.5s inputlag isn't fun. And it's not only textyping. Switching to a new line is the same. ~0.5s for refreshing the window. I just tested it again. Without PRO driver Unity gestes rendered by software but input and rendering lag in Eclipse is gone.

If you pick up a 4.7 or newer kernel along with your updated Mesa etc.. I think that should get you full open source acceleration.

Every try with a 4.7 kernel results in errors and a non working system. :/

[Tekkla]

Every try with a 4.7 kernel results in errors and a non working system. :/

Update: I do not know why and how, but I just succesfully installed 4.7.2 Kernel, rebooted without any error and the inputlag in Eclipse is no more! *cheer*

[bridgman]

OK, so your #5 email said that you were still running with the AMDGPU PRO userspace driver, even though you thought you had uninstalled it. There's a chance that when you updated the kernel the DKMS build for the AMDGPU PRO kernel driver failed so now you're running the upstream kernel driver, but that's just a guess.

Can you run the unity_support_test program again and see if the output has changed ?

[Tekkla]

Can you run the unity_support_test program again and see if the output has changed ?

Kernel 4.4.0.36 without AMDGPU PRO driver

$ /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
OpenGL vendor string:   VMware, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 4.0, 256 bits)
OpenGL version string:  3.0 Mesa 12.1.0-devel - padoka PPA

Not software rendered:    no
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       yes

Unity 3D supported:       no

With kernel 4.7.2 Steam does not start. But that's not a problem because I'm working under Ubuntu while I'm playing under Win 10.

[bridgman]

OK, that makes sense - the stock kernel does not include Polaris support, so you're getting software rendering.

The configuration I was asking about was the one from your post #6, with 4.7.2 kernel and unknown (at least to me ) userspace.

[Tekkla]

Yes. But what is the reason behind the inputlag in Eclipse when AMDGPU PRO driver is installed?

With finally successful installed 4.7.2 Kernel under 16.04 my problem is gone. Good for me. But it was a long and hard way full of tests with different kernels and Ubuntu based distris to come to this point. It could have been so much easier with AMDGPU PRO driver without this lag problem.