Perhaps I should post in the Manjaro forums about this issue? Or is this too Netrunner-specific? I’m not sure how compatible the two distros are.
The graphics stack, drivers and tools are the same as Manjaro so please, feel free to post in that forum if you wish, and unlike the Arch forums you won’t be discriminated against for running a derivative.
Yeah i’m waiting to get confirmed on their forums to post…
Me too, it’s been almost 12 hours I’ve registered. I don’t know what’s taking them so long…
Maybe It is Sunday where the system administrators are and they are not working today, just a thought.
I didn’t mean to sound whiny or rude. I realize that, after all, admins are volunteers and they have no obligation to solve my problems. It’s just the frustration and bewilderness after trying a lot of stuff to fix this bug. Perhaps I should leave it be for a while 
[hr]
I think I have found another workaround 
Configuring KWin to use OpenGL_ES:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/KDE#Configure_KWin_to_use_OpenGL_ES
a get a considerably more responsive system. CPU usage is not much better, and I still cannot activate hardware accel in chromium without it getting slow, but it’s a start. Danr4, maybe you’d like to try it out?
Man, I didn’t even think about this, did you still have KDE using the default software rendering settings?
System Settings > Workspace Behaviour > Desktop Effects > Advanced
Compositing Type > OpenGL X.X not xrender
QT Graphics System > Native not raster
For Intel cards I have also noticed that setting Tearing Prevention (Vsinc) to automatic doesn’t seem work right, for me Full screen repaints seems to work the best.
Here is a screen shot of my settings:
[attachment=461]
Yours may differ depending on what opengl version your graphics chipset and driver is capable of:
No, I had fiddled with advanced settings before, to get smoother effects.
I have OpenGL 2.0, but using Raster, because that’s what KDE was recommending. I’ll try native. I also had set Tearing Prevention to full screen repaints.
So, should I keep kwin_gles? It seems to be working out.
(Also, is there a way to set kwin_gles through the GUI?)
Yes, that’s fine as long as your graphics chipset and driver supports OpenGL ES.
didn’t help much. my card doesn’t support opengl 3.1 (1st gen core i)
you really need to see the sublime scrolling to see how bad it is… when scrolling up and down i get 3 second delay + tearing towards the top of the document.
OK, mine is also an older Intel, that’s why I set it to OpenGL 2.0 and native, you will also need to undo the openGL ES modifications that you made to Kwin.
posted on manjaro forums:
https://forum.manjaro.org/index.php?topic=17051.msg159358#msg159358
feel free to join
Cool, I will keep an eye on that thread just in case I have anything to add, or if there is a resolution you your issue that will help other here.
Why? So far, kwin_gles seems far more responsive than plain kwin, without losing any desktop effects functionality. Also, raster works better than native on my machine. Given the situation, I think I should stick with these settings until the bug with Xorg/mesa is fixed. At this point, the only real annoyance is high CPU activity and the fact that I can’t use hardware acceleration for chromium.
[hr]
Hmm, I noticed something else that’s odd:
mhwd -l
> 0000:00:02.0 (0300:8086:0046) Display controller Intel Corporation:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME VERSION FREEDRIVER TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-intel 2014.10.03 true PCI
video-vesa 2012.09.18 true PCIBUT:
mhwd -li
> Installed PCI configs:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NAME VERSION FREEDRIVER TYPE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
video-intel 2013.01.12 true PCI:huh: why the difference in version, especially when pacman informs me I have the latest video-intel?
sudo pacman -Ss video-intel
extra/xf86-video-intel 2.99.916-3 (xorg-drivers xorg) [installed]
X.org Intel i810/i830/i915/945G/G965+ video driversThe High CPU activity is because raster uses the CPU for rendering where as Native uses the GPU.
kwin can use the standard OpenGL rendering engine
kwin_gles uses OpenGL ES rendering engine
Your Intel chip from 2010 is not be capable of OpenGL ES, this is why raster is working better for you.
OK, hardware acceleration can be enabled in chrome/chromium by following this guide:
http://www.webupd8.org/2014/01/enable-hardware-acceleration-in-chrome.html
But I wouldn’t expect more than 420p from that old of a Intel Chip
So, my choices are faster rendering with high CPU usage or choppier rendering with low CPU usage? (Also, do I even have a dedicated GPU? My laptop has intel integrated graphics card, so isn’t the CPU handling graphics anyway?)
In any case, I was using raster before the update, and the CPU load was noticeably lower. So, my hardware, old though it is, must have some way of handling rendering. The question is, what did the update break and how can I fix it?
No it is still a separate graphics chip that was integrated onto the main board, into the CPU’s silicone or on the same dye as the CPU’ themselves.
The use of OpenGL ES (OpenGL for Embedded Systems) instead of standard OpenGL is what is causing this.
Try switching back to Kwin then enable OpenGL and native and see the difference, also that old of a Intel chip you might need to use UXA instead of SNA in the /etc/X11/mhwd.d/intel.conf file, but first try changing the Tearing Prevention (Vsinc) setting to Full screen repaints as I’ve noticed that automatic doesn’t work right on Intel chips and will cause tearing.
My wife’s laptop has a core duo with an Intel 945GM and opengl 2.0 with native rendering and setting Tearing prevention to full screen repaint, she has no tearing or artifacts and accelerated video playback in Google Chrome at 720p.
OpenGL ES was designed for Embedded Graphics like those found in Tablets, smartphones,PDA’s and video game consoles, not laptops, desktops or discrete video cards.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenGL_ES
I wasn’t using OpenGL ES before the update, I used OpenGL and kwin (NOT kwin_gles).
The performance issues appeared right after the update (1st reboot), before I switched to kwin_gles. And I only did that because it improved Desktop effect performance. So far, I’ve found no combination of settings that restores performance AND reduces the Xorg CPU load.
Are you still using the Linux 3.14 kernel series. The Xorg driver uses the Intel DRI driver from the Kernel for rendering.
I haven’t noticed any performance issues with the latest update on any of my machines and My sons computer is even older with an Intel P4 Mobile using a 915 graphics chip set.
I already did that. It gives me choppy effects. UXA doesn’t boot into X, I get black screen. Full screen repaints is what I already use.
It’s a strange issue, some things seem to use GPU properly, other hog the CPU. E.g., vlc uses GPU as far as I can tell, and I have no tearing (with TearFree and SNA in /etc/X11/mhwd.d/intel.conf). But flash is choppy, especially with hardware acceleration disabled in chromium, and even animated GIF use the CPU continually…
[hr]
Right now, I’ve booted into the 3.16 kernel. However, I saw no difference in the 3.14 one. I’ll give it another try, but not right away, I’ve limited time for tests these days.
I agree that the problem is unusual, so far I haven’t seen any other cases except me and danr4… I’m trying to think if I’ve done anything unusual prior to the update, nothing comes to mind. I’m certain that the problem appeared right after the update, though.