Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

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Moonchild
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Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-09-25, 14:20

Because of severe problems with Intel IGP hardware an drivers, there are some common things you can try to solve issues like driver crashes, rendering issues, and performance problems.

This is also valid for the fairly common setup where a computer (usually laptop) has both an IGP and another (often NVidia) GPU in it, where 2D/3D acceleration can be passed on to the more powerful dedicated GPU. In this setup the IGP will still process the data coming from the dedicated GPU to put it on the screen. Because of the way accelerated surfaces work, problems in DirectX acceleration on the IGP can still cause problems in Pale Moon, even if hardware acceleration is passed on to the dedicated GPU. In addition, if there are 2 GPUs present, it is difficult for Pale Moon to determine which hardware is actively used and what the individual capabilities are.

If you encounter driver restarts, hangs, blue screens or rendering issues on an IGP or hybrid setup, before you try anything else, try the following:
  1. Type about:config in the address bar, press enter, find layers.prefer-d3d9 and double-click it to set it to true. Completely exit and restart the browser.
  2. If 1) doesn't fix the problem, type about:config in the address bar again, press enter, find layers.acceleration.disabled and double-click it to set it to true. Completely exit and restart the browser.
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Accel

Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Accel » 2012-11-26, 17:07

Moonchild, i found that on my laptop's Switchable Graphic setup( AMD 6630M + intel HD 3000), the above workarounds just don't work. ater some experiment on about:config options, i found another workaround that works with AMD switchable graphics option.

gfx.direct2d.disabled from false to true


but this bug only on dynamic based ( based on application needs ) switchable graphics method and not on fixed ( based on power source )

the same happens with firefox or waterfox by the way. so it is not Palemoon's fault.

my question is, does turning this off affect palemoon drastically?
Attachments
Bug on Switchable Graphics.jpg

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Moonchild
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Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-11-26, 20:12

Disabling direct2d will impact performance quite drastically, but you will still have partial acceleration otherwise, so it's not necessarily a disaster. It will be noticeable, though - unfortunately hybrid setups are a bad way of doing PC graphics for accelerated applications that aren't full-screen like games; this can't be helped.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
"Linux makes everything difficult." -- Lyceus Anubite

Accel

Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Accel » 2012-11-27, 00:17

what if i use D3D9 acceleration for the layers? would it make things better on switchable graphics setup?

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Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-11-27, 11:18

It's definitely something to try - people have reported some measure of success using the d9d3 API, because it tends to be implemented better in integrated graphics drivers (because it's tried and tested technology)
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
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Accel

Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Accel » 2012-11-27, 15:08

well, after some testing. it seems enabling D3D9 for layers improves performance quite a bit.

how about opengl moonchild? i think Intel 3000 supports OpenGL 2.0. is it not? would it be a better option of rendering layers than D3D9?

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Re: Intel IGP and hybrid setup issues

Unread post by Moonchild » 2012-11-27, 16:21

Using OpenGL for rendering layers is not recommended - it only works properly on a small handful of combinations, and I don't think it would work on your hybrid combination.
"Sometimes, the best way to get what you want is to be a good person." -- Louis Rossmann
"Seek wisdom, not knowledge. Knowledge is of the past; wisdom is of the future." -- Native American proverb
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