260.19.06 regression

[naib]

The 256.x series of drivers had been very stable for me. I recently upgraded my machine (i* series...) and I started experiencing alot of lag on my desktop if I ran any 3D games.

For instance I would launch HeroesOfNewerth and if I was to switch desktops to view ssh/irc there would be a visible lag in displaying new text ( something that isn't present when HoN isn't running)

The 260.x beta drivers came out and I installed them and imidiately experienced a vast improvement in performance - the 2D rendering lag which a 3D app was running was gone

HOWEVER two extreme regressions have been noted

#1 HoN would now crash. in a 40min game I am pretty much guenteed to crash *IF* I CTRL-ALT-{left,right}
the games crashlogs clearly show it is part of the drivers AND associated with pthreads

Signal: Segmentation fault

Backtrace:
./hon-x86_64() [0x408536]
/lib/libpthread.so.0() [0x33de80f410]
/usr/lib/libnvidia-glcore.so.260.19.06() [0x327ac84d0a]
//usr/lib64/opengl/nvidia/lib/libGL.so.1() [0x3ea1070702]

Memory map:
00400000-0040c000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 11386906                           /opt/HoN/hon-x86_64
0060c000-0060d000 rwxp 0000c000 08:03 11386906                           /opt/HoN/hon-x86_64
0060d000-40888000 rwxp 00000000 00:00 0                                  [heap]
40889000-408ef000 rwxp 00000000 00:0e 831                                /dev/zero
40a2e000-40a30000 r-xs 00000000 00:11 488507                             /tmp/glETCTxd (deleted)
416e4000-4174a000 rwxp 00000000 00:0e 831                                /dev/zero
3279a00000-3279a01000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 21102608                       /usr/lib64/opengl/nvidia/lib/libnvidia-tls.so.
3279a01000-3279c01000 ---p 00001000 08:03 21102608                       /usr/lib64/opengl/nvidia/lib/libnvidia-tls.so.
3279c01000-3279c02000 rwxp 00001000 08:03 21102608                       /usr/lib64/opengl/nvidia/lib/libnvidia-tls.so.
3279e00000-327b1e8000 r-xp 00000000 08:03 18711564                       /usr/lib64/libnvidia-glcore.so.260.19.06
327b1e8000-327b3e7000 ---p 013e8000 08:03 18711564                       /usr/lib64/libnvidia-glcore.so.260.19.06
327b3e7000-327b9c3000 rwxp 013e7000 08:03 18711564                       /usr/lib64/libnvidia-glcore.so.260.19.06
327b9c3000-327b9d9000 rwxp 00000000 00:00 0
...

downgrading drivers completely remove this crash BUT brings back the lag.



ALSO some very basic 2D apps start playing up:
gvim.
When executed under the 260.x drivers and using openbox as the desktop environment the GUI is non-responsive.
IF gvim is launched: gvim -f it is usable but the save/open gtk dialog is non-functional.

Associated gentoo bug on the topic of gvim and nv-260.x
http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=336837

[naib]

Well I installed 260.19.12 today and exactly the same issue.

May I ask why these drivers have been classed as stable release by nvidia when this very clear regression exists?

[imikkl]

I can confirm that gvim issue. Hope to see a fixed driver soon, as 256.53 doesn't compile with kernel 2.6.36 on my machine.

[jayates]

Originally Posted by imikkl

I can confirm that gvim issue. Hope to see a fixed driver soon, as 256.53 doesn't compile with kernel 2.6.36 on my machine.

Ditto here and clock changes don't work on 260.

[artem]

You can use 256.53 driver with Linux 2.6.36.

Here's that patch:

[jayates]

Thanks Artem. Works great.

[BitJam]

I upgraded to 260.19.12 today in hopes of getting rid of video tearing (from both vdpau and non-vdpau apps) and ran smack dab into the gvim problem. Gvim -f is often usable but I have a lot of breakage because I call gvim from about a dozen scripts, none of which use the -f flag.