Karmic Power!

Being a little disappointed with Dell's progress in fixing the sound and video stuttering/crackling/pop-ups/etc as well as poor Nvidia driver support for W7, - I decided to give Linux (Ubuntu 9.10 <Karmic Koala>) an extensive try in order to answer a couple of key questions:
1. Is there an alternative to Windows OS on M17X?
2. Is the stuttering issue hardware or software related (or both)?

Initially, I tried OpenSuse Linux and got decent results out of the box: both audio and video were perfect. This already gave me a confidence boost to continue despite some serious problems in stability of the OpenSuse Linux. The first system update run ended up with a crash... I gave it another try with similar results...Alas. The distro looks amazing IMHO.

So I switched to a lighter and friendlier (and more familiar ) distro - Ubuntu. Karmic Koala gave me a hard time out of the box: no sound at all and no wireless. After a while (2-3 reinstalls) I decided to stop reformatting partitions and fixing MBRs in order to restore W7 boot loader. Instead , installed VMWare Player inside of W7 and created a virtual installation of Ubuntu. After some more experimenting with drivers I realized that all I needed was a wired Internet connection.
I returned to a real fresh install, plugged in my spare ethernet cable and got the access!
After the installation I simply opened the Hardware Drivers menu and activated the wireless and the new Nvidia 185. drivers (that sat there waiting for a single click )
Next was the sound...Took awhile. But found a very good guide for building a new alsa (sound engine) and got it! Now sound works (both headphone sets/speakers/internal mic etc).
In addition Ubuntu has its own equivalent of OSD which is installed by default and all function keys and touch-keys have visual effects out of the box.
This is just the beginning and the real deal is to make your favorite games
run smooth, and that's gonna be my next mission. Yet already I got to say thanks to Dell and Microsoft for pushing me to the other side. M17X is a great machine and the hardware works good, but software is still lagging behind. First time in my life I see how linux video driver smokes the windows'
one.... on a gaming machine.
As for the eyecandy - look in Youtube for Compiz Fusion
Anyway, this thread is for those who might wanna give Linux a try.
I will keep you posted with the "gaming" progress. Will see how far did Wine and Cedega have evolved.
Stay tuned. And Merry X-Mas!


###### IMPORTANT UPDATE !!! #########

Ok, so after quite a bit of testing I'm going to edit the first post to give an update on the overall situation of running Ubuntu 9.10 on M17X.

Correct me if you have different insights but so far:

Installation order:
1) Boot from Ubuntu 9.10 cd/dvd, install the O.S. (make sure you have an Ethernet cable plugged-in)
2) Run Update Manager and install all the updates. Reboot*.
3) Wireless: System-> Administration-> Hardware Drivers-> Activate the wireless STA driver. Reboot*.
4) Video: System->Administration-> Hardware Drivers-> Activate the recommended 185 driver. Reboot*
5) Sound: System->Administration->Synaptic Package Manager - find the backports-alsa (choose your kernel version) - Apply. reboot*

* you can try installing all of the above and then just restart once.
I played it slow and safe.

Why the 185 driver?
Well, it appears that the latest 190.x and 195.x beta drivers do not really help with SLI. You can enable SLI with them but playing the latest games will be next to impossible due to jagged 3D-rendering. With SLI disabled you can actually get a better performance with the Ubuntu modded 185 drivers as they also:
a) Do not block the brightness changing (Fn+F4/5 will work normally)
b) Do not slow down/ freeze the computer when on battery!

Verdict:
Performing a clean Install of Ubuntu Karmic Koala following the above steps should give you a stutter free machine with no sound/video issues, lower temps and way faster than under Vista/W7 in about 40min of your time.

Our next step is the Software Guide.
Stay tuned...

 

Nice job!

And I like your new avatar. Just dont play that stuff around when people are nearby

 

so your saying get Ubuntu to fix dpc lat?

 

You can install the 190.53 drivers. They are really good. I check the temperatures and are lower than windows 7 (just by two degrees but still...) powermizer works perfectly fine that's why. In order to install the latest NVidia drivers tho you have to disable the X first, and because the procedure has changed since the last time I did it, now you have to press Ctrl-Alt-F1, login, and type: sudo service gdm stop Then run the installation. To start the gdm after the installation type: sudo service gdm start
For the sensors to monitor GPU,CPU and HDD temperatures type: sudo apt-get install sensors-applet

Hybrid is not supported and I don't think it will be....
I have to search how to allow the processor to run at the overclocked speed because even though I have it OCed from BIOS, Ubuntu runs at stock speeds

 

Lol thanks, yet your avatar is giving me shivers... Could you make it ... less scary?
As for the bokkens (wooden swords) , a huge part of my hobby is to play this stuff with people around.

 

I'm sure the issue will be eventually fixed in windows, but yes the system has no dpclat problems with linux on it.

 

Nice tips, thanks. I already installed the sensors-applet, plus Nvidia Xserver gives you some details on the GPUs. Did you try running some games with 190.53?
After looking through WINE forums I got a very positive feedback from people running smooth Dragon Age, Crysis and pretty much every game I play.

 

Ill try to install the new drivers instead I guess...still have no internet on m17x though

 

I just installed the 195.30 beta and right now I am installing wine. I don't have any game available right now to try

 

hey guys, I'd love to try this with you but everytime I try to install linux it shows a raid array but I disabled it when i got my m17x, i've been using the second hd for storage for months. anyone know how to fix this ?
thx

 

turn off raid in the BIOS

then format the drive to clear the raid

 

I did that months ago

i just took one of them out at a time and booted, so hopefully it'll work now brb

 

nvm 10char

 

Ok, screw the VMWare method of running games under linux. Stamatisx you are right. Installed the latest version of Wine, seems like it improved a lot since I tried it last time couple of years ago, lol. Installing Dragon Age....

 

Gday all

A new M17x owner here and long time Linux fan

First thing I did after delivery and initial test was to shrink the Win 7 partition and install Karmic on a fresh partition (Raid 0), native, not in VMWare.

Currently running the nvidia 190.53 drivers which seem quite good. Had to do a bit of tweaking to get wifi and sound working 100%.

I am also running overclocked at 2.93GHz in BIOS, and this is working in Ubuntu, not sure what is the issue with the earlier poster's no OC problem.

Couple of niggly issues still remain:

* If integrated or hybrid graphics are enabled in BIOS, X wont start
* If booted up on battery, integrated is enabled automatically, then X wont boot, however you can go into BIOS and re-disable it, then boot and all is OK.
* Resume from suspend doesn't seem to work properly, machine is very slow after resume until reboot.

No issues with any stuttering, latency etc ala Windoze.

Would be really nice to sort out X with the 9400m enabled.

 

What frequencies does CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor show you? How did you check your cpu frequency?

There is no support for hybrid and once you installed the drivers for the dedicated GPUs in SLI mode you need to create a new Xorg.conf for the 9400 otherwise X won't start.

*edit*
I checked the frequency using this command: sudo dmidecode --type 4
and it shows the correct OCed frequency, it is a problem of CPU Frequency Scaling Monitor that it doesn't indicate the correct frequencies.

 

Try also PlayOnLinux

 

Make sure that your power cable doesn't come unplugged. INSTANT freeze on any linux distro I've tried.

As for linux... make sure you have SLi enabled (it is not enabled out of the box) http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=8322308&postcount=16

Also, get the beta drivers from http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html - the 190.53 drivers are much faster than the 185 drivers provided by Ubuntu.

PlayOnLinux is a great tool... But honestly I had a lot of trouble with things that were supposed to be supported out of the box... Like Steam, for example, and all the Steam games. Weird graphical corruption for one. No stutter on any games I tried under Linux though (YMMV)

 

+1 for Playonlinux. Many of those games are on my wish list.
Also I did install the 190.53 drivers. Very nice. Now it's time for some eye-candy (Compiz Fusion/Avant etc).
Any other issues so far?
The only problem I found is if you unplug the power and stay on battery, the brightness is locked and can't be changed. Any ideas how to fix it?

 

In my case it there was no freeze (I tried it on 185.) but the brightness was locked even after replugging the power cord.

 

With 190.53 I do see a slowdown when the power cord is unplugged. This doesn't happen with 185.

Hmmm..., I can see all neighborhood wireless networks but mine is never visible in the network manager. So the only option for me was to connect to a "hidden wireless network" and now it takes a few mins after a boot for it to connect.

 

When the hell did they fix that? I was using Karmic not even two weeks ago and every time my power cord came out, the laptop froze... Maybe now that I downgraded to the A01 BIOS it will work though...

 

What settings do you use for fonts and rendering? Right now Firefox is very ugly compared to windows.

I use sans 10, resolution 89 dpi, subpixel (LCDs), Hinting Full, Subpixel Order RGB

Did anyone manage to improve rendering? Screenshots are welcome as well

*edit*
screenshot http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/8315/screenshotjl.png

 

I have the A02 and it's ok. I do see the problem with 190.53. How can I roll back to the 185? It's still in the activated mode in the hardware drivers, but the Nvidia xserver shows the 190.53...

 

Did you try this?: sudo ./(the NVidia drivers) --uninstall

I haven't tried it but I think it will work

 

Yea I do have the same rendering issues.
Here are the screenshots

 

I imported the windows fonts with these settings


It's not perfect but better than before

 

Looks like a recent patch fixed the kernel crash when the power cord came unplugged... I don't like Ubuntu much and use Linux Mint... I put the installer CD in and pulled the plug - instant freeze. Installed it, ran all updates, and pulled the plug - no freeze.

 

Correction... no, it still freezes. Just not always.

It seems to send some sort of a notification to the BIOS because the scroll lock and caps lock lights start flashing and the only way to shut down the system is to hold the power button until it turns off.

 

Are you guys able to change the screen brightness under the 190.53 drivers? It wasn't a problem for me till the first time I switched to battery... Since then it's not working.

 

Can you confirm the same in Ubuntu+185. drivers?
For me it's just a minor slowdown (with 190.53) which disappears when the power cord is back. It doesn't happen at all with 185.

Ohh, and I had a problem similar to yours in OpenSuse.

 

I'm not using any nVidia drivers right now but it did the same thing when I was using those... if I switch to a terminal using CTL-ALT-F1 before unplugging the cord, it shows me the dump of the kernel crash.

EDIT: Installed the 185 drivers - complete system lock.

 

Ubuntu or Mint?
If it's Mint, I suggest trying some other distros.
If it's Ubuntu try doing a clean install without too much tweaking, just go for the video driver, run the updates and see if it's still there.

 

I can confirm that with the 190.53 when you change the brightness the system becomes very sluggish and so unresponsive that you end up pressing the power button to power off and boot again. At least I never change the brightness or use the battery so this doesn't affect me that much.

 

Mint is basically Ubuntu but with all the non-free, proprietary stuff included...

Anyway, it happens on EVERY distro I've tried. Its something with my machine and linux, I just haven't figured out what exactly.

Also, I can't get SLI to run on the stock 185 at all (black screen when I add SLI to my xorg.conf file) and on 190.53, it looks like all the colors are inverted. Anyone figure that one out?

 

If you install the 190.53 with the sli enabled it should work without any configuration of the Xorg.conf

 

How do you install it with SLI enabled? I've only ever heard of enabling SLI AFTER its installed.

 

From BIOS disable hybrid and 9400, keep the SLI on. Install linux and run the driver installation, you are good to go.

 

SLI is off by default when you install the driver. It has to be enabled manually. If you don't believe me, run glxgears from terminal, expand it to full screen and watch your GPU temperatures. Only one will go up. And if you go into the nvidia x server settings, click on screen zero and if it doesn't say SLI, you aren't running SLI. I always have my 9400 and hybrid SLI disabled in BIOS.

 

Is it really that much better than W7? I mean, is it worth it?

 

I tried the glxgears and temps went both up, then I clicked on screen zero and it didn't say SLI, I took tho 2 screenshots 1 2 and SLI is on both of them

can you provide screenshots of what you mention?

did you try to run: sudo nvidia-xconfig --sli=AFR
if not, you have to stop gdm berore you do it

 

If you want just to play games that work out of the box then no, it is not worth it. If you like to spend hours trying to make things work then definitely.

 

Something is messed up... I just installed straight Karmic to see what the deal is... And I had to manually install the broadcom STA drivers (which I knew I had to do so I already had them on a USB stick)... Give me a few and I'll install the 190 drivers.

I want SLI to be AUTO though, *NOT* AFR...

 

type this then: sudo nvidia-xconfig --sli=Auto

these are the options you have:

--sli=SLI, --no-sli
Enable or disable SLI. Valid values for SLI are 'Off', 'On','Auto', 'AFR', 'SFR', 'AA', 'AFRofAA'.

 

Okay, I've done that... but I'm still getting inverted rendering until I open up nvidia x server settings... then it says there was 1 GPU error but SLI is enabled. :/

That's on either auto or AFR.

 

Ok, lets take the installation from the beginning. After having a clean install of Ubuntu 9.10 I use the ethernet to connect to the internet and from system -> administration -> hardware drivers activate the Broadcom STA wireless driver

After that I download the nvidia 190.53 drivers, make them executable by right click on the file -> permissions -> allow executing file as program

Ctrl-Alt-F1, login, and then type: sudo service gdm stop
and istall the driver by typing: sudo ./NVIDIA.version.etc.etc

after the install I type:
sudo nvidia-xconfig -a
sudo nvidia-xconfig --SLI=Auto
sudo reboot

So if you do the same steps you get an error?

 

I use sudo sh NV* and I haven't done the nvidia-xconfig -a command. I could try that I guess.

I mean its working now... but every time I boot I have inverted graphics and have to launch the X server settings app... then about 30 seconds later, it fixes it.

Also, the screen dimming bug is obnoxious as hell... It happens even when you have to put your password in to launch an app, install, etc. I didn't notice it when I wasn't running SLI though.

 

The only dimming bug I experience is when I purposely change the brightness and after a while I have to shutdown and reboot.

 

hmm... May be related to my messed up setup. I'm downloading Phoronix's Test Suite right now so I can't reboot but I did the -a command and it set up two screens, maybe that is part of my problem.

 

That's true, I usually avoid the -a command

this is my xorg.conf, yours should be similar

# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 1.0 (buildmeister@builder58) Fri Dec 18 18:35:05 PST 2009


Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
HorizSync 28.0 - 33.0
VertRefresh 43.0 - 72.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce GTX 280M"
BusID "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Device1"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
BoardName "GeForce GTX 280M"
BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "SLI" "AFR"
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection


*edit*
I forgot to mention that I use the 195.30 beta drivers...