Intel graphics, MSI mini-pc and tearing

[tpprynn]

Hello. I've installed 64 bit Debian 8.8 LXDE on an MSI Cubi mini pc. It has Intel HD graphics. (Does that detail need to be more specific?) I've used the .iso that has the non-free software included. Overall it's fine, if inevitably slower than I've seen Debian behaving on my full size computer. On that, an AMD/ATI setup, a xorg.conf file with tear-free details stops tearing successfully, both watching videos and for example if you move an application window around. This is a quad core machine, albeit I think 1.3ghz or 1.6ghz, and there is 2gb of RAM.

Boot hangs if I try the Intel equivalent so far. I can live with it if this is as smooth as things will get, but hopefully more can be done. I use xcompmgr for shadows and fades sometimes but the result of tearing is the same with or without this. (Compton doesn't start, so I reverted to its daddy.) I've used the SNA option and one other that I now forget, with the same results. Any assistance is appreciated, sample xorg.conf files for Intel and so on. If you need any more details let me know.

Thanks.

[bdtc1]

For one laptop with Intel HD520 graphics, it works well with kernel 4.4 and the stock Jessie xserver-xorg-video-intel.

For another laptop with Intel HD 5500 graphics, it works well with kernel 4.10 and the jessie-backports version of xserver-xorg-video-intel v2.99.

[Cefiar]

Definitely need more detail. There's a lot of Intel chipsets, and each one has it's own quirks. You may have stumbled onto a bug (either in the kernel or in the drivers) and without that info it'd be hard to know if this is something fixed in a later version of either.

Easiest way is probably to install the 'inxi' package (in misc) and run:

Code: Select all

inxi -CG

That will show the cpu details and the graphics card details that the system has detected, including any version of X and 3D accelerated graphics details. If it can't quite figure out the graphics device, it'll display the brand and PCI id value (eg: Intel Device xxxx, etc).

Note: With Intel cards, the CPU is part of the graphics, so the CPU itself is probably enough to pin down the graphics device, but the extra info (eg: 3D graphics, X, etc) helps as well.

[tpprynn]

Thanks very much. This is the output from inxi:

Dual core Intel Celeron N3050 (-MCP-) cache: 1024 KB
Clock Speeds: 1: 499 MHz 2: 499 MHz
Graphics: Card: Intel Device 22b1
Display Server: X.Org 1.16.4 drivers: fbdev,vesa,intel
Resolution: 1600x900@0.00hz
GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 3.5, 128 bits)
GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.3.2

(does the Celeron clock speed sound right, by the way?)

[stevepusser]

CPU speed seems fine--that means that the speed is going up and down depending on the load--inxi caught it at idle.

Just do a search of these forums for your 5th generation Broadwell-type CPU model, "N3050", and the answer to how to get your graphics working correctly in Jessie will be answered. It's not well-supported in standard Jessie, since it's more recent than the stock Jessie 3.16 kernel.

If you wish to see how a Jessie-based distro will work that has those upgrades already applied, you could try a live session of MX 16 64-bit (not 32-bit). That will demonstrate how the same upgrades will work in your standard Debian Jessie, and inxi is already installed. Note the difference in the inxi output vs what you get now.

Just a note with the newer kernel--it will use a new power controller for your CPU, called "p-state". Speeds may be reported differently. It's possible to boot your machine with p-state disabled, in which case it will fall back to the cpufreq manager you are using now.