So interesting problem with 8400M G on acer 5520G

almora99 · 04-06-08, 01:13 PM

Hi everybody.
I have an interesting problem with my nvidia card.

With 169.12 driver ;
when graphic card working at performance level 0,
My X server freezes if I try to move a window or open a divx in GNOME.
(Only X freezes with losing keyboard control, system goes properly.)
(System is not aware of this freezes, no log, no kernel messages...)

But if graphic card works at performance level 1 or 2, no any problem.

"Nvidia X server settings" from "applications->System tools" menu in gnome desktop shows this performance levels and related frequency values:

performance level 0: 169MHz GPU / 100MHz Memory
performance level 1: 275MHz GPU / 200MHz Memory
performance level 2: 400MHz GPU / 400MHz Memory

Is performance level 0 (169MHz/100MHz) too slow for system stability?
Which one is controlling this values? "Nvidia's BIOS" or "nvidia's DRIVER" ?
Should I update nvidia card's Bios?
What should I do about this problem?

My card is "nvidia 8400M G"
My laptop is "Acer 5520G"
I'm using Fedora 8 and its up to date.
A detailed description of my problem is here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...r-5520-630877/

Please write your suggestions...

shaundennie · 04-06-08, 01:39 PM

GPU frequency scaling isn't always very stable on laptops. There are various ways to force the card to maximum power and I think that searching this message board for PerfLevelSrc should give you the information you need to fix your problem.

almora99 · 04-08-08, 07:54 AM

Thanks for reply.

Yes... Adding modprobe.conf
options nvidia NVreg_RegistryDwords="PerfLevelSrc=0x2222"
worked for me. But card works at Performance level 2 (full power) always.

Can I assign different values to "PerfLeverSrc" parameter to make my card work only level 1 or level 2 (I want to disable only level 0) I couldn't find any info about logic of "0x2222". Do you know any?

04-06-08, 01:13 PM	#1
almora99 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3	So interesting problem with 8400M G on acer 5520G Hi everybody. I have an interesting problem with my nvidia card. With 169.12 driver ; when graphic card working at performance level 0, My X server freezes if I try to move a window or open a divx in GNOME. (Only X freezes with losing keyboard control, system goes properly.) (System is not aware of this freezes, no log, no kernel messages...) But if graphic card works at performance level 1 or 2, no any problem. "Nvidia X server settings" from "applications->System tools" menu in gnome desktop shows this performance levels and related frequency values: performance level 0: 169MHz GPU / 100MHz Memory performance level 1: 275MHz GPU / 200MHz Memory performance level 2: 400MHz GPU / 400MHz Memory Is performance level 0 (169MHz/100MHz) too slow for system stability? Which one is controlling this values? "Nvidia's BIOS" or "nvidia's DRIVER" ? Should I update nvidia card's Bios? What should I do about this problem? My card is "nvidia 8400M G" My laptop is "Acer 5520G" I'm using Fedora 8 and its up to date. A detailed description of my problem is here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...r-5520-630877/ Please write your suggestions...

04-06-08, 01:39 PM	#2
shaundennie Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 79	Re: So interesting problem with 8400M G on acer 5520G GPU frequency scaling isn't always very stable on laptops. There are various ways to force the card to maximum power and I think that searching this message board for PerfLevelSrc should give you the information you need to fix your problem.

04-08-08, 07:54 AM	#3
almora99 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 3	Re: So interesting problem with 8400M G on acer 5520G Thanks for reply. Yes... Adding modprobe.conf options nvidia NVreg_RegistryDwords="PerfLevelSrc=0x2222" worked for me. But card works at Performance level 2 (full power) always. Can I assign different values to "PerfLeverSrc" parameter to make my card work only level 1 or level 2 (I want to disable only level 0) I couldn't find any info about logic of "0x2222". Do you know any?