4 Replies Latest reply on Dec 28, 2015 3:19 AM by Gianluca_Cecchi

    NUC5CPYH how to optimize video on Linux

    Gianluca_Cecchi
    Gianluca_Cecchi Dec 26, 2015 8:43 AM

      Hello,

      I'm trying to install a Linux operating system on this NUC kit.

      I have tried with CentOS 7 and almost all is ok but the video smoothness.

      I'm using mate desktop to keep minimal impact but sometime I see sluggish and freezes.

      Also I'm not able to play videos (only with option "-vo x11" but in this way without full screen)

      I'm going to try with fedora 23 too and compare.

      Is there any hint? Also in relation with bios video parameters?

      By default I see this

      IGD minimum memory 32mb

      IGD aperture size 256mb

      IGD primary video port auto

       

      Do they influence behavior of OS video?

      One note: I'm using a monitor that is connected through vga port and using 1280x1024 resolution, so not an extreme one...

      BTW: I already updated to latest bios version 0047.

       

      Thanks in advance,

      Gianluca

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        • 1. Re: NUC5CPYH how to optimize video on Linux
          Apachez
          Apachez Dec 26, 2015 9:49 AM (in response to Gianluca_Cecchi)

          I use a D54250WYK successfully with Ubuntu 15.10.

           

          Using the drivers that comes with Ubuntu (also tried the Obiaf PPA but that sometimes borks).

           

          The only "manual hack" I have performed is to force use of SNA by (unfortunately I dont recall how do verify which accelmethod is currently being used, perhaps somebody else in here who remembers?):

           

          1) Create /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf

           

          Section "Device"

          Identifier "Intel Graphics"

          Driver "intel"

          # Option "SwapbuffersWait" "true"

          Option "AccelMethod" "SNA"

          # Option "AccelMethod" "UXA"

          Option "TearFree" "true"

          EndSection

           

          2) Reboot

           

          For more info see https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel_graphics#SNA_issues

          • 2. Re: NUC5CPYH how to optimize video on Linux
            snowpine
            snowpine Dec 26, 2015 12:10 PM (in response to Gianluca_Cecchi)

            Did you install all pending CentOS updates and reboot? Red Hat (and by extension, CentOS) uses an older kernel, but they frequent push out kernel updates with "backported" support for newer hardware. It is worth a try running the updates and rebooting, if you haven't done so already. If that doesn't work, I think you are on the right track going with a distribution like Fedora 23 that uses a newer kernel and drivers.

             

            That said, modern Linux desktop environments (like Mate) tend to do best on powerful computers with dedicated graphics cards. I checked the specs on your NUC5CPYH and see it is a dual-core Celeron N3050 with integrated graphics, is that accurate? N3050 scores 842 on PassMark CPU benchmarks; this is on the low end of modern hardware (plus you don't have a graphics card, so the CPU has to perform that task, in addition). With your limited hardware specs, I would recommend to disable all desktop effects and compositing, and/or consider a lightweight windows manager, such as Openbox, Fluxbox, etc. (Or run it "headless" without a GUI, for example as a home server.)

             

            A final thought is that Intel does not test Linux on the NUC (only Windows is stable/supported), and dozens of users on these forums have reported problems running Linux on their NUCs. At the end of the day, you might be happiest switching to Windows on your NUC, or returning your NUC and getting a different computer entirely.

            • 3. Re: NUC5CPYH how to optimize video on Linux
              Apachez
              Apachez Dec 27, 2015 11:26 AM (in response to snowpine)

              The problem is not Linux on NUC, its the quality assurance of Intel which is broken (a sleep state shall NEVER brick a device - you shall ALWAYS be able to remove power to the device in order to restore its operation, which the NUC fails after suspend mode). There are plenty of Windows users having issues with NUCs too.

               

              While we are at it - the one designer (and the one who approved it) who put the CMOS battery on the opposite side so you must DISASSEMBLE the WHOLE NUC unit before you can make it truly powerless (as workaround to the above screwup with suspend mode) should be punished in public :-)

               

              Regarding accelmethod you will find out which one is applied through:

               

              >grep -i accelmethod /var/log/Xorg.0.log

               

              That should output something similar to:

               

              [     5.100] (**) intel(0): Option "AccelMethod" "SNA"

              • 4. Re: NUC5CPYH how to optimize video on Linux
                Gianluca_Cecchi
                Gianluca_Cecchi Dec 28, 2015 3:19 AM (in response to Gianluca_Cecchi)

                Hello,

                thanks for your answers. I try to answer myself to your opinions and requested clarifications, as I was able to arrive at a confortable environment. 

                A preliminary note: the target was to buy a low end home pc with reasonable price/performance ratio to give to a friend of mine, able to run productivity suite (libreoffice), internet and basic audio/video.

                I saw some low end laptops (around 300 euro) but often they are terrible in terms of keyboard experience and video quality too.

                So I opted for this NUC, with these expence details (VAT included):

                NUC itself: 160 euro

                4gb kingston ram: 23 euro

                samsung 820 250gb ssd disk:77 euro

                cabled fine logitech mouse and keyboard: 24 euro

                for a total of 284 euro.

                I already had a 10 year old 19" monitor (Acer AL922) that continues to make it great work at 1280x1024 and so I completed the budget for my friend.

                My friend in the future can then buy another better monitor if he likes.

                 

                This said, I then installed Fedora 23 and all went very good indeed.

                No BIOS changes from default have been done.

                I used net install workstation iso and selected lxde desktop option, to avoid gnome-shell and gnome bloatware...

                All went ok and smoothness is fantastic. No video freeze as I had with CentOS 7 in normal usage between windows.

                Note that previously I installed CentOS 7.2 and also applied all the available updates and I used epel and nux repos to have audio/video components.

                But video quality was not good and unable to play any video

                In Fedora 23 I have used rpmfusion free and not free repos.

                I also used google-chrome repo, because firefox is usable but I find google chrome is quite better, in particular in speed of rendering complex pages (such as italian newspapers...)

                With vlc I can play many avis but also mkv full hd videos with reasonable usability.


                So I think here the new versions of kernel, kernel modules and drivers made the goal. Initially I wanted to use CentOS 7 to have a less dynamic updating system, but due to the relative new hw Fedora 23 is indeed the best choice here.

                I didn't have time to see the accel method used in Xorg of CentOS 7, but I can confirm that in fedora 23 it is SNA by default.

                The line confirming this in Xorg.0.log


                [    14.388] (II) intel(0): SNA initialized with Cherryview (gen8) backend

                 

                No custom configuration file needed:

                [root@casa ~]# ll /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/

                totale 4

                -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 232 26 dic 17.46 00-keyboard.conf

                [root@casa ~]#

                Thanks to all.

                Gianluca