From 6d2dbebf68a5a242d6c8710823875fa22d53d696 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Kévin Le Gouguec Date: Sun, 23 Feb 2025 09:39:42 +0100 Subject: Copyedit The Saga Do I smell link rot? --- guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30/killing-time.org | 104 ++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+), 53 deletions(-) (limited to 'guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30') diff --git a/guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30/killing-time.org b/guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30/killing-time.org index e4ef53d..bd60aef 100644 --- a/guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30/killing-time.org +++ b/guides/sysadmin/machines/amdahl30/killing-time.org @@ -4,7 +4,8 @@ November 28. Since then, I have been getting uncannily reproducible stuttering and frame drops (60↘40±10) in Hades Ⅱ when moving toward effect- or -particle-heavy areas of the hub rooms (Crossroads, Training Grounds). +particle-heavy sub-areas of the hub rooms (e.g. toward the Cauldron at +the Crossroads, or toward the Silver Pool in the Training Grounds). No idea WTF, those areas ran fine before. - "High" graphics setting at native 1920×1080 resolution. @@ -32,13 +33,13 @@ Well then. Spoiler alert: nothing I learned here solved the problem. Chronicled the journey anyway since I wandered through interesting spots) -Started by noticing that the Plasma "Power Management" tray widget -says "Power Profile" is "Not available". Not sure whether that was -the case with the old installation; maybe I had something configured -or installed to enable this? +The Plasma "Power Management" tray widget says "Power Profile" is "Not +available". Not sure whether that was the case with the previous +installation; maybe I had something configured or installed to enable +this? -Internet says "install and enable power-profiles-daemon", except -that's on: +Internet says "install and enable power-profiles-daemon", but +that is already on: #+begin_example $ systemctl status power-profiles-daemon.service @@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ $ powerprofilesctl Internet says I am missing the right scaling driver, and sounds very keen on enabling =amd_pstate=, which I do not seem to have available. =/proc/config.gz= suggests the kernel configuration supports it, but -=cpupower= does not appear to know about it: +=cpupower= does not know about it: #+begin_example $ zcat /proc/config.gz | grep -i pstate @@ -109,10 +110,10 @@ $ lscpu | grep -i cppc Flags: […] cppc […] #+end_example -So ACPI problem? Lots of posts mentioning =amd_= parameters on the +So ACPI problem? Lots of posts mention =amd_= parameters on the kernel command-line, but AFAIU those posts are stale with newer -kernels (6.11 here) which automatically (attempt to) load the -=amd_pstate= driver. +kernels (6.11 as of this writing) which automatically (attempt to) +load the =amd_pstate= driver. Went through the UEFI menu and found nothing related to ACPI or [[https://forum.level1techs.com/t/amd-p-state-driver/197885/24][X2APIC]]. Skeptical of UEFI settings anyway, since I did not change @@ -193,8 +194,8 @@ $ powerprofilesctl And lo, the 🍃↔🚀 slider appears in the Power Management tray widget. -Nervous about entering the "Overclocking" UEFI zone tho, and concerned -about these "Maximum frequencies". +Nervous about entering the "Overclocking" UEFI zone though, and +concerned about these "Maximum frequencies". /And does it even help with the game?/ @@ -224,7 +225,7 @@ initializes successfully without me having to mess with * Sᴇᴠᴇʀᴀʟ Wᴇᴇᴋꜱ Lᴀᴛᴇʀ - [[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/5475/page=1/][ridge reports]] "bad frame pacing on ADMGPU", - when vsync is turned off: a non-factor in my testing, - - lots of useful information in that thread tho and + - lots of useful information in that thread though and interesting-sounding pointers, - [[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/5475/page=2/#r42519][Shmerl]] says: - games can cause stutter by underloading the GPU, causing it to @@ -235,13 +236,13 @@ initializes successfully without me having to mess with - /lots/ of sysfs noodling there; unfortunately, none of the suggested settings for =power_dpm_force_performance_level= & =pp_power_profile_mode= change the symptoms. - - Since this forum seems full of knowledgeable folks, posted [[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/6437/][a new - topic]] there… but then [[https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/6463/][the UK OSA dropped]]. + - Since GamingOnLinux seems full of knowledgeable folks, posted [[https://web.archive.org/web/20241220053228/https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/6437/][a + new topic]] there… but then [[https://web.archive.org/web/20250102185206/https://www.gamingonlinux.com/forum/topic/6463/][the UK OSA dropped]]. - In [[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/amd/-/issues/3618#note_2689087][this drm/amd#3618 thread]], @agd5f suggests "6.11 stable kernels" include a fix for the issue at hand there and a further rework "was submitted to 6.13"; @mattipulkkinen reports happy results with - 6.13-rc2 (FTR, symptoms persist here with 6.12.8). + 6.13-rc2; symptoms persist here with 6.12.8. - Piggybacked onto [[https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/-/issues/11300][mesa/mesa#11300]]: - common: Hades Ⅱ, iGPU, recent kernel & Mesa, Proton Experimental, @@ -250,16 +251,17 @@ initializes successfully without me having to mess with - suggestion by @Venemo: downgrade & bisect Mesa. - Tempting, though scared of bricking graphical sessions and/or ending up with a frankensystem (intalling binaries under a - prefix is probably easy, but then keeping track of config tweaks - and cache artifacts sounds fraught). - - {{{narrator(10 false leads later)}}} + prefix: easy; keeping track of runtime config tweaks and cache + artifacts: fraught). + - {{{narrator(Ten false leads later)}}} - The factory@ announcements say Mesa was upgraded from 24.2.7 to - 24.3.0 in snapshot 20241124. The Mesa docs explain how to test - "local builds" (i.e. uninstalled; kudos![fn:mesa-builddeps]) so - gave it a shot: a freshly built 24.2.7 behaves exactly like the - current distro version (24.3.4), so no smoking gun there. + 24.3.0 [[https://lists.opensuse.org/archives/list/factory@lists.opensuse.org/message/6YXCWH4C7Z2PNP5UUWCQPH5KNI2JILYV/][in snapshot 20241124]]. The Mesa docs explain how to test + uninstalled builds (kudos for the clear + instructions![fn:mesa-builddeps]) so gave it a shot: a freshly + built 24.2.7 behaves exactly like the current distro version + (24.3.4), so no smoking gun there. -[fn:mesa-builddeps] Took some trial-and-error to get a build going: +[fn:mesa-builddeps] Took a couple of kicks to start the build engine: ~zypper source-install --build-deps-only Mesa~ did not cut it. Probably should have looked at Tumbleweed's spec file to get a matching build configuration; instead ~zypper install~'ed my way to @@ -277,13 +279,12 @@ clang-devel python3-ply rust rust-bindgen rust-cbindgen~. Configuration" when searching for "VRR", - mystery solved by ~kscreen-doctor -o~: =Vrr: incapable= 🤷 -- (FTR: chronologically, this is the point where I found that forum - post about leaving CPPC disabled to fix stuttering—see addendum Ⅰ in - the previous section. +- Found that forum post about leaving CPPC disabled to fix + stuttering—see [[*Addendum Ⅰ — CPPC Considered Harmful, apparently][addendum Ⅰ in the previous section]]. - That did not work for me, but I left it disabled at this point since - enabling it never had an effect in the first place, and I was keen - on restoring every "variable" to their original state) + No visible effect for me; left it disabled anyway from there on + since enabling it never had an effect in the first place, and I am + keen on experimenting one parameter at a time. - Looking at Steam forums, [[https://steamcommunity.com/app/1145350/discussions/1/596260472619121965/][some folks]] do report FPS drops /shortly after the update/: @@ -296,9 +297,8 @@ clang-devel python3-ply rust rust-bindgen rust-cbindgen~. - After AMD drivers & Mesa, figured I could look at vkd3d's issue tracker. [[https://github.com/doitsujin/dxvk/issues/4436][doitsujin/dxvk#4436]] and [[https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11446][ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#11446]] looked somewhat promising: - reports of lag on "KDE Tumbleweed Wayland", reported not long before - my symptoms began (November 2024)); alas, ~LD_PRELOAD=~ does not - help. + reports of lag on "KDE Tumbleweed Wayland", not long before my + symptoms began (November 2024)); alas, ~LD_PRELOAD=~ does not help. - {{{narrator(clicks through duplicates\, out of GitHub & into [[https://reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/comments/1htcxfj/system_green_screens_regularly_during_more/m5da9ey/][Reddit]])}}} @@ -341,27 +341,26 @@ clang-devel python3-ply rust rust-bindgen rust-cbindgen~. fixing "choppy performance". No effect here. Could try setting [[https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/v6.13/gpu/amdgpu/module-parameters.html#dcdebugmask-uint][other values]]… -- (FTR: chronologically, this is the point where I caved—not sure why, - I think seeing the amount of unhappy kernel noises in journalctl got - to me—and grabbed the latest BIOS from msi.com, flashed it, - restoring =amd_pstate=. See addendum Ⅱ in the previous section) +- I caved—not sure why, I think seeing the amount of unhappy kernel + noises in journalctl got to me—and grabbed the latest BIOS from + msi.com, flashed it, which restored =amd_pstate=. See [[*Addendum Ⅱ — BIOS update][addendum Ⅱ in + the previous section]]. * This is insane Selected subset of moving parts; "testability" considering ease of clean reverts: -| Part | Testability | -|--------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| -| Linux kernel | 🫣 [[https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:InstallNewerKernel][some distro documentation]]; afraid of side-effects | -| AMD drivers | 🤷 no clue; maybe inextricable from kernel? | -| Mesa | 🤔 easy to rebuild; circumspect about transient state in cache & config folders | -| Steam | 🫥 under Steam's control | -| Wine | 🫥 under Steam's control | -| Proton | 👌 as long as I stick to versions under Steam's control; have not considered GE yet | -| vkd3d-proton | 🫥 under Steam's control | -| Hades Ⅱ | 🫥 under Steam's control | +| Part | Testability | +|--------------+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------| +| Linux kernel | 🫣 [[https://en.opensuse.org/SDB:InstallNewerKernel][some distro documentation]]; afraid of side-effects | +| AMD drivers | 🤷 no clue; maybe inextricable from kernel? | +| Mesa | 🤔 easy to rebuild; circumspect about runtime state in cache & config folders | +| Steam | 🫥 under Steam's control | +| Wine | 🫥 under Steam's control | +| Proton | 👌 easy to toggle in Steam's UI; have not considered GE yet | +| vkd3d-proton | 🫥 under Steam's control | +| Hades Ⅱ | 🫥 under Steam's control | -That's looking at software packages as individual blackboxes; -config-wise, worth noting: +Config-wise, worth noting: | Part | Testability | |-----------------+---------------------------------------------------| @@ -369,9 +368,8 @@ config-wise, worth noting: | sysfs | OK; worst case: reboot & edit kernel command-line | | Plasma Renderer | OK | -[fn:amd-pstate] Always on since I updated the BIOS, so I no longer -consider it a factor. I guess I /could/ keep doing so and manually -disable it. +[fn:amd-pstate] Always on after a BIOS update, so I no longer consider +it a factor. I guess I /could/ keep doing so and manually disable it. Let's throw in: -- cgit v1.2.3