[lug] XFree86 4.1.0 slow compared to 3.3.6?

[John Karns]

On Wed, 21 Nov 2001, Tkil said:


> my box got hacked this weekend, so i took the opportunity to upgrade
> to the latest and greatest KRUD (2001-11).  most things are working
> happily, but i've noticed that many things in X seem *much* slower
> than before.  i don't have hard numbers handy, but things like
> graphics scrolling (as in mozilla) and even just moving whole windows
> (i use fvwm2, so i just move an outline -- but the repainting of the
> window in the new location is noticably slow) are both much slower.

Interesting - I'm using fvwm2, and it displays window contents as I move
them around the screen.

Sorry, I can't do much to enlighten you about the problem.  Regrettably, X
is pretty much a blak box for me. (I've peeked inside on occasion, but
have been mostly dumbfounded by the myriad wires which lead in all
directions.)

Just a comment or two...

I use (a lowly) ATI Rage Pro something or other, with XF86 4.0.2 I
believe.  When I did my upgrade from 3.3.6, there was no noticeable
difference in performance, FWIW.

Assuming that you're using a 2.4 series kernel, you should be able to
disble the DRI & frame buffer options in the kernel cfg (as you're
probably already aware).

The compile process for the XF86 4.0 series X servers has been greatly
simplified (in contrast to 3.x anyway) from my experience.  It shouldn't
be too difficult to compile the server binary from 4.0 and drop it in,
provided there aren't compatibility problems with any supporting X
components, of course.

P.S. Good luck in your new endeavor.  I hope you'll continue making your
usual well articulated contributions to this list.

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John Karns                                        jkarns at csd.net