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 Post subject: Problems with video?
PostPosted: Fri Mar 12, 2010 11:20 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:04 pm
Posts: 905
Location: LA, CA
I have a Pundit-S (MOBO:ASUS P4S8L ACPI, CPU:P4 2.4, 512MB) that I've installed LinHES on. It's running OK with the exception of playing HD feeds as it drops frames like crazy and maxes CPU. Thought I'd try to optimize before buying a vidcard.

By default, xorg has under "Device"

Code:
Driver      "fbdev"


After a little searching I found this that explains installing and using

Code:
Driver      "sis"


I see that sis_drv.so is already onboard LinHES. So I plug it in xorg. However I get this in Xorg.0.log Seems the sis driver is old? or not playing well?

Code:
(II) LoadModule: "sis"

(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//sis_drv.so
(II) Module sis: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
        compiled for 1.4.2, module version = 0.9.4
        Module class: X.Org Video Driver
        ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 2.0
(EE) module ABI major version (2) doesn't match the server's version (4)
(II) UnloadModule: "sis"
(II) Unloading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers//sis_drv.so
(EE) Failed to load module "sis" (module requirement mismatch, 0)
(EE) No drivers available.

Fatal server error:
no screens found


Here's some other details on this unit.

Code:
# lspci | grep VGA
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter


Any thoughts, or should I just chuck it and get a vidcard.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 1:46 pm 
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Joined: Fri Sep 19, 2003 6:37 pm
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Location: Whittier, Ca
First thought would be to upgrade the SiS video drivers. However due to version of X running upstream (Arch), this might be a hassle. Second thought is Google. I believe they might be a way to force the use of the driver even with the error. But really, I think the easiest thing might be to just get the nVidia. I don't know what SiS's performance would be like even with a working driver. I do know the nVidia will be rock solid and you can use VDPAU.


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PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2010 6:50 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:20 pm
Posts: 98
Location: Krakow, Poland, EU
Hi TMS,

I share the same hardware as you, running R6.02.00 with P4S8L Pundit's motherboard (being not aware our barebone was labelled Pundit-S; I always read it as AB-P2600 ; perhaps this is specific to European market). Here is 'lspci -vnn' output :

Code:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter [1039:6325] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Device [1043:8081]
   Flags: 66MHz, medium devsel, IRQ 11
   BIST result: 00
   Memory at e8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
   Memory at e3800000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
   I/O ports at d800 [size=128]
   Capabilities: <access denied>
   Kernel modules: sisfb


I face the same situation as you; generic fbdev supersedes sisfb driver. Strange, as SIS315 (part of SIS651 chipset) is not a new graphics chip. I thought it would have been supported out of the box. Here is my Pundit's xorg.conf file:

Code:
section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "ShadowFB"                  # [<bool>]
        #Option     "Rotate"                    # <str>
        #Option     "fbdev"                     # <str>
        #Option     "debug"                     # [<bool>]
        Identifier  "Card0"
        Driver      "fbdev"
        VendorName  "Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS]"
        BoardName   "65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter"
        BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection


BTW, I see no xorg.conf.sis file in /usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/ under R6.02.00. Does it explain that SIS entry does not pop up in the advanced Xorg settings of the Service Menu ?


Code:
locate -bi xorg.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.install
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.ati
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.intel
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.nvidia
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.vesa
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.via
/usr/MythVantage/templates/xorg/xorg.conf.vmware

I don't know if the choice for SIS driver got removed after ticket #684 went created ?


Quote:
I see that sis_drv.so is already onboard LinHES. So I plug it in xorg. However I get this in Xorg.0.log

I guess you played directly with xorg.conf file, and did not go to the Service Menu, right ?

Quote:
Any thoughts, or should I just chuck it and get a vidcard.

Well, according to ticket #684, jams commits to fix it for R6.03.00. When reading Cecil...
Cecil wrote:
First thought would be to upgrade the SiS video drivers. However due to version of X running upstream (Arch), this might be a hassle.

...I would not put my hands into.



Regarding an additional video card, take care of the size factor. I chose half-sized PCI cards to make them fit into my Pundit's small case. Typically, full-sized PCI cards collide with the fan. The video card you are referring to, does not seem to be half-sized, does it ?

Quote:
I have a Pundit-S (MOBO:ASUS P4S8L ACPI, CPU:P4 2.4, 512MB) that I've installed LinHES on. It's running OK with the exception of playing HD feeds as it drops frames like crazy and maxes CPU.


I am afraid it won't help, but let's talk about BIOS settings for the onboard graphics chip. How much RAM did you allocate to the graphics chip, and AGP aperture ? Whatever value I chose for them, I never noticed the slightest visual degradation/enhancement on the video displayed. I guess it has an impact for 3D rendering, which we basically do not use to play a video. Could you confirm ?

Quote:
After a little searching I found this that explains installing and using driver "sis"

Thanks for that useful link. Valuable content, from Jarod Wilson once again. But on my side, I will wait for R6.03.00 :?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:49 pm 
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Joined: Fri Oct 20, 2006 12:04 pm
Posts: 905
Location: LA, CA
Hey Golffies. Looks like we're in the same boat. Let me see if I can answer a few of your questions.

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a MythVantage template for the sis driver. I made the tweak in xorg.conf to call the sis driver, unsuccessfully.

I did purchase the above linked Sparkle vid card and it worked and fit perfectly. It took a bit of work and the bios never would switch from the onboard vga. But LinHES does see the card and can use it. The above card also fits physically in the tight case and it does come with the short bracket, but I didn't use it. There is still room between the fan and card.

I tried about everything with the BIOS and settings and it just would play 1080i smoothly. I upped the ram to 1G, popped in a 2.8GHZ P4 CPU as well, still HD would peg the thing. However after adding the Sparkle vid card, I was seeing about 20% cpu usage and smooth as silk 1080i video out VGA and DVI.

On another note, I also tried a mythbuntu install. And while they have the "sis" driver running, I still couldn't play 1080i smoothly. I'm guessing the onboard just isn't capable of 1080i, but then again mythbuntu seems to have a bigger footprint imo. Maybe LinHES using "sis" driver could pull it off...


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:45 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:20 pm
Posts: 98
Location: Krakow, Poland, EU
Hi,

A few months ago, James solved and closed the ticket #684 regarding the SIS driver trouble. I am running LinHES 6.04.00 from stable repositories, and see no improvement here: my LinHES is still running on regular frame buffer with many artefacts, as SIS driver is not available in Service Menu, under Xorg advanced configuration.

Is it available only to those running testing repositories ?

Image


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PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:24 pm 
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:20 pm
Posts: 98
Location: Krakow, Poland, EU
Hi TMS,

Too Many Secrets wrote:
Any thoughts, or should I just chuck it and get a vidcard.


I failed to order that PCI card (Sparkle SFPC84GS512U2LP) when it was available with a S-video output.

Image


The card is now shipped with a HDMI port instead (Sparkle SP84GS512S3LNMP), and many online stores do confuse both models, using the old photo still. Some reviews report the new version as being shipped with a useless legacy S-video cable trailing in the box !

Image


S-video is mandatory for my setup. The closest PCI graphics card featuring S-video output still is the eVGA 512-P1-N402-LR. Unfortunately, it comes with a geForce 6200 and no 8400 chipset. 6200 is OpenGL 2.1 compliant, but is not supported by VDPAU.

Image


For those of us, PCI bus addicts, not being tied to S-video port as I am, a graphics card from Zotac (ZT-60604-10L) hosts a modern (2012) geForce GT 610 nVidia chipset ! Amazing, there is still a niche market for PCI bus users. :o I have no idea about the actual performance, the PCI bus 133MB/s legacy speed being a well known bottleneck.

Image


TMS, a question directed to you: regarding the power consumption of the Sparkle card (its heatsink is thicker than a single PCI slot), how much does it heat inside the confined Pundit-S case ?


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PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2012 9:03 am 
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Joined: Mon Dec 18, 2006 1:20 pm
Posts: 98
Location: Krakow, Poland, EU
I have hard time finding the video card we talked about two years ago, for the Pundit-S both of us have (SPARKLE GeForce 8400 GS PCI VGA/DVI-I/S-video aka SFPC84GS512U2LP).

nVidia + PCI + tv-out seems to be a deprecated configuration for most if not all producers. The same is less true with Radeon chipsets, I found at least one card with tv-out (HIS H435H512PP) on PCI bus.

Image


But I am reluctant at going this way; there are two many reviews floating around about poor Linux drivers for Radeon, regression bugs, the worst of these reviews stating that even AMD's proprietary drivers do not support hardware accelerated video decoding on PCI bus. :!: :?: :!:

Have you any idea about how much these bad reports are verified for a non gaming appliance as LinHES ? To which extend would a Radeon 3450 or 4350 powered video card be useful for my MythBox (chipsets differ only by how many cores they have) ?

Beyond the discontinued Sparkle 8400GS, may I find another video card featuring both VDPAU compliant chipset and tv-out on PCI bus ?


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