Stutter, tearing, and defeatism. My experience with Linux since the beginning

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
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Pretty much all video has frame stutter, low frame rate, or serious tearing in Linux for me. HTML5 video, everything Adobe Flash, MKV, MP4, AVI, Netflix, Unity, Compiz, all that GNOME stuff, OpenGL games, you name it, I've pulled out hair trying to fix or put up with. The stutter makes nothing watchable anymore.

I would have converted to Linux long ago if it was just games I couldn't play. But when I cant watch me the weekly Tek without having to boot into windows? Cumawn man... Not cool.

I'm relatively inexperienced at Linux (my impression from lurking this forum), but I've been tinkering with various distributions for quite a while. What ultimately turned me away from it every time is the graphic performance. I have installed Linux with AMD, Intel and nVidia graphic units and they all seem to suffer from this same issue, inexplicably. I have had some success with my new XPS 9343 running Ubuntu with a 5200U, but tearing is still an issue. Not the focus in this thread

My system is more than capable of handling all this, and more.
- R9 390
- i5 2500K
- 8 GB RAM @ 1666 MHz
- Dual Monitor (single for trouble shooting) @ 1080p
- Ubuntu 15.04
- Kernel 4.1
- The rest is superfluous

I'll just list the solutions I've tried for this current R9 390:

  • I've tried proprietary drivers (updates too), and X.Org server drivers. I have noticed the ones direct from the AMD site that 'say' 15.7 are actually 15.2, which I already have. (X.Org drivers can't run 2 monitors, and don't even boot Heaven....).

  • Kernel 3.19 and 4.1 tested. Maybe there's more to it than upgrading kernel and reinstalling drivers? Trying 14.04 doesn't help.

  • Tried one and two monitors interchangeably.

  • Tinkering with the HDTV modes in Catalyst

  • Tried turning on all the v blank options. I wasn't very comprehensive, because after a few checks I assumed its all on be default.

  • Fiddled with 'Tear Free' and wait for vertical refresh options. Still tearing.

  • The integrated GPU on the ol' Sandy Bridge is off in bios, and the driver is uninstalled. Also tried it with just it enabled. No fix here.

Heaven scores are about even with each OS. (5% lower on Linux, OpenGL on both OS'). Its just the insufferable stutter on Linux that is getting my goat.

How do you think I should proceed? Have a missed something? Is there a fix that every other Linux enthusiast knows... but me? Is it just me that cant watch video on Linux? Am I doomed to dual boot forever? Just a simple, "check [xyz] out, mate", would be fine. Most of the issues that I have come across while researching don't match mine.

I know it kind of sounds like defeatism, but I understand the people choose Windows over Linux now. Many don't want to spend hours researching fixes and solutions for problems non-existant on most other platforms. Still want to stick with Linux however. Its the right thing to do.

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1st try installing another desktop interface like KDE or XFCE to make sure your issues aren't with Unity or GTK.

If that doesn't work shift over to a rolling distro like: Manjaro or Sabayon and see if that resolves the issue.

None of the above works? Wait for the AMDgpu driver that will be coming out soon™.

2 Likes
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I've had the exact same experience on my R9 280X. It just ruined everything. Tearing and overall smoothness was awful. It ran smoother on the LiveCD

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How about using the on-board Intel card. Intel supports Linux with proper open source drivers. Bear in mind you will need to use the Intel drivers; not the AMD drivers.

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Changing to another desktop environment doesn't do too much to help. The tearing is a little better, but the stutter is ever present. However, I don't want to have to change to a desktop environment that I don't like. My PC should be running circles around 24 FPS movies, regardless of environment.

As for the rolling distros, I'm both hesitant to go for an Arch distribution and go without a more solid support network. The support is why I like Ubuntu. Is the AMDGPU project being rolled out on those distros? If so, it then might be worth it.

Tell me I'm wrong, and if its more complicated than that. I might try it anyway, but its quite a time investment to switch distributions.

@bnorgd My motherboard only has one display output. I want two monitors, and I also don't want the new GPU go to waste.

I'm very confused as how to proceed. But I might continue to fiddle with refresh rates and V-Sync or something...

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How does the computer behave off the live usb?

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There are a ton of non-bleeding edge distros that you can try besides Arch.

If you really want Ubuntu, try a different desktop environment (there is a tutorial here about how to do that). Unity is a resource hog. If that doesn't work, go for an Ubuntu spin-off, like Xubuntu or Lubuntu. Or try Ubuntu LTS (long term support).

Or try a different distro altogether, like opensuse (stable or tumbleweed, if you want bleeding edge). Mageia. Try Bodhi (based on Ubuntu LTS). Mint (I don't recommend it, it's got an old, old, old kernel and you have new hardware). Maybe Manjaro (this is my personal suggestion, it's very user-friendly and even has all the codecs installed out of the box).

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Yeah, thanks for outlining your opinions on the distros. Manjaro is interesting, but its Arch. I might take the plunge anyway, and see how far I can get.

However, my real question is this (I must have not made it clear):

How is changing to a bleeding edge distro going to benefit the situation? I have the newest kernel, and the newest AMD drivers.

Is there a distribution out there rolling out beta for AMDGPU? From what I've tried to find out, the only card officially supported is Tonga GPUs.

Is there a beta or other AMD driver I'm missing out on? Im on 15.20.x, the one on AMD's site is 15.20.x...

@bnorgd I could try a liveCD, but to install Ubuntu in the first place I had to disable my r9 390 and only use the Intel integrated GPU. Booting from a liveCD gives a black or flickering colour screen. Not sure if I can help that.

I think I'm just gonna install Manjaro, and see how it goes...

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Unless you compile your own kernel rolling distros are a good route for newer GPU hardware.

AMDgpu will for the most part be open source and built into the kernel. The closed stuff will be nicely packaged into catalyst. All major distros will get it.

With recommending another desktop interface was to see if compiz (unity's composter) was the issue.

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To those recommending switching distros, or getting a new kernel:

Your stuttering problems remind me of the same problems I had with my AMD card (HD7770). I used the proprietary drivers, and got absolutely horrible performance. Scrolling in a web browser was literally delayed. I switched to the open source drivers, and almost all my problem went away. I got annoying tearing, and after doing some tearing myself (;D) I went back to Windows. But then! As I was playing around with KDE on my laptop I found a "vsync" option, and I tried it and it worked. I no longer got tearing. But then I wanted to switch from KDE to a light weight setup, and got the damn tearing again. I just got a compositing... something working, called compton, that has vsync ability. With compton I no longer get tearing.

So, I say that you give the "xorg drivers" a chance again. If you can only use one monitor, then fire up a terminal and run xrandr. For me it shows me four outputs, as expected. But if it only shows you one output, and only one or two resolutions, I'm guessing that you've got kernel mode setting enabled. Catalyst (AMD's proprietary drivers) requires KMS on Arch, so I'm guessing it's no different for Ubuntu (the Catalyst drivers have been removed from Arch's official repositories because they're so incredibly slow at updating the drivers... so I'm guessing that they're no better at updating for Ubuntu). However using it with the open source drivers (the xorg drivers) only gives you the ability to use one monitor, at one resolution.

After you've installed the open source drivers, temporarily try disable KMS. When you start your system you should get a GRUB screen where you chose to start Ubuntu or Windows. Now instead of starting Ubuntu press E (as in edit), and look for a line that starts with linux, you'll probably see it end with quiet splash too. On that line (after splash, if you see it) add nomodeset, and hit CTRL + X. If you now get multiple outputs then you want to make the "nomodeset" parameter permanent. To do that run sudo nano /etc/default/grub, and look for the line GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="there are probably paramters already here, don't remove", and in its quotation marks add 'nomodeset', hit CTRL + X, and save. Then run sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg.

If the above fixes your problem with multiple outputs, but you get tearing, then get compton. First add the compton repo, update, and install compton: sudo apt-add-repository ppa:richardgv/compton && sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install compton, and run compton --backend glx --paint-on-overlay --vsync opengl-swc & (that's what works for me, I suggest you read the manual (man compton)) and see if you get tearing. The command should output something like [1] XXXX. If you get tearing, then run kill XXXX (where the X's are some numbers).

2 Likes
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I have the same GPU, and have none of those problems. But im not using the propitiatory drivers, which can have tearing without tweaking it.

In saying that, drvers are much better with the current stable upsteam software (x, mesa, linux, xf86-video-ati, etc) than with the older software ubuntu uses.

just as an example, html5 youtube runs fine, no tearing, or stuttering. hevc 10bit 1080p video runs fine (using mpv dont use vlc) without tearing or stuttering, a number of games, same results.

1 Like
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So the new kernel is released (4.2) as of 2 days ago, and I read on another thread that AMDgpu is integrated with it. But I wont get ahead of myself... Going to try out the X.Org drivers first.

@kiipa I can do all the grub editing in Ubuntu right? I don't think I need to go all the way into grub right? I'm just going to do it OS and update grub... Thanks a bunch.

EDIT Just gonna follow what you did and not be smart

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So I implemented your solution, and made sure the grub was updated and all that, but the output to xranr is the same. Only one monitor detected. Here it is...

xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 2560 x 1080, current 2560 x 1080, maximum 2560 x 1080
default connected primary 2560x1080+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   2560x1080      92.0*

BTW one is connected via display port, one DVI. Problem? I doubt it.

Gosh its like my mouse is being pulled through butter with these drivers... might as well try out compton. Although i'm not gonna stick with this if I cant get a second monitor up.

UPDATE: Compton is conflicting with Compiz. Cant get it to stop. V-Sync isn't going to help the terrible frame rate in the X-ORG drivers, though. There's big frame rate drops when there is high load.

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Maybe you have some weird power settings? What kind of load is on the CPU while idle and watch a video? Are there any settings on the monitors that could do something about it?

Sorry to ask some dumb questions, but the number of times I could have fixed something if someone just asked me one dumb question.

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@Leon_the_Loner No worries, just glad people want to help.

I will say it is running quite high, especially compared to windows. Or at least that's how I'm reading it in the system monitor. 25% overall while watching 720p YouTube. That all should be offloaded to the GPU, but looks like it isn't... However, tearing is not caused by a choked system. So I dunno.

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Around 3~5% per core is normal for me at idle with a 4690k. With a browser going it's not much more. Maybe you got a bum or broken install image?

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I checked the MD5 sum before the install, and that was fine. You really think its a simple problem like that? Because this issue isn't isolated to this install only. You think something went wrong that far back? That would make me mad if it's the case...

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There shouldn't be any problem with your install. You should never have to switch between distros, unless there are multiple reasons (for example if you'd be using Debian, and get tired of not having the latest and greatest).

Could you take a screenshot of the driver selection window? I'm not familiar with what the "xorg driver" is, it could be xf86-video-ati/-amdgpu, or just some generic one that's made to make the screen show output.

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I read that with kernel 4.2 (not stable yet on Arch) there will be support for the new Fury, and future GPU's. I'm not very read up on new hardware (still rocking an Athlon II, and a GPU I bought from a buss driver), but I guess that maybe with 4.2 you'd get better performance. No promises however. (You can use 4.2 without switching distros)

Or maybe you just have to wait a few months before AMD get their crap together :/

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Yeah, I came to that conclusion as well.

Here is the driver window:

Screenshot from 2015-09-01 15:44:29.png831x416 58.1 KB

The x.org is an open source driver. The "Unknown" is the Intel driver.

From what I've tried to find out, AMDGPU is a tool set or driver tools in the kernel, that AMD helped make, that works with the installed driver. You need 4.2 and the new driver that goes with it. So I'm not sure its as simple as installing 4.2. Its easy to install 4.2, so I could just do it. (Pretty sure it is, if its anything like installing 4.1.6)

Also, I might be wrong about AMDgpu, so corrections are welcome.