Gentoo Archives: gentoo-user

From: Allan Gottlieb <gottlieb@×××.edu>
To: gentoo-user@l.g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-user] intel HD graphics 4000 and viewing DVDs
Date: Tue, 04 Dec 2012 00:45:02
Message-Id: yu9lideejiq.fsf@nyu.edu
In Reply to: Re: [gentoo-user] intel HD graphics 4000 and viewing DVDs by Walter Dnes
1 On Sun, Dec 02 2012, Walter Dnes wrote:
2
3 > On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 04:10:30PM -0400, Allan Gottlieb wrote
4 >> I am getting a new laptop. (likely dell 6430).
5 >> The two graphics options are intel HD 4000 and nvidia NVS 5200M.
6 >> Dell is as expected suggesting the 5200M.
7 >>
8 >> I do not need 3D or fast response. Dell hinted that DVDs might not play
9 >> with the intel HD 4000. This seems weird to me as the 4000 is supposed
10 >> to be a big improvement over the 3000 and I can't believe dell or others
11 >> would have sold laptops that can't play dvds
12 >>
13 >> Any comments or experiences?
14 >
15 > 2 personal experiences...
16 >
17 > 1) I have a Dell D530, over 4 years old, that could not keep up with the
18 > slowest feed of hockey games on NHLGameCenterLive. The feed runs via
19 > Flash. This was just after I had done a fresh install, and most of the
20 > system was lowest-common-denominator i686 code from the i686 install CD.
21 > After I ran "emerge system" and "emerge world", optimised with CFLAGS...
22 >
23 > CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe"
24 >
25 > ...the machine was able to keep up stutter-free on the low-speed feed.
26 > BTW, my current CFLAGS are...
27 >
28 > CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe
29 > -fno-unwind-tables -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables"
30 >
31 > 2) I have an early ASUS Atom netbook, 2 gigs ram, with a Poulsbo GMA500.
32 > With the in-kernel GMA500 driver, it plays 720p HD from Youtube no
33 > problem. By setting "mem=1920mb" in the boot parameters, I now have it
34 > playing 1080p just fine even in Youtube's "large player", but not in
35 > fullscreen mode. If this old POS can play 1080p Youtube clips, a newer
36 > machine should easily be able to handle it.
37 >
38 > Additional comments...
39 >
40 > 1) Dell is probably thinking Windows built with lowest-common-denominator
41 > i686 code, running with full visual eye-candy. Yes, that would slow it
42 > down to a crawl.
43 >
44 > 2) Gentoo optimised to your machine has a huge advantage over any binary
45 > distro, be it Windows or linux.
46 >
47 > 3) I run ICEWM, a lightweight but powerful WM with minimal eye-candy.
48 > This allows the CPU and GPU to devote their power to doing stuff you
49 > really want/need. See my sig.
50 >
51 > 4) Use mplayer to play DVDs. It is much lighter than other popular
52 > linux players, and it can be optimised to your machine. My setup...
53 >
54 > [ebuild R ] media-video/mplayer-1.1-r1 USE="X a52 alsa dga encode
55 > gif iconv jpeg mmx mng mp3 opengl png quicktime rtmp sse sse2 ssse3
56 > theora truetype vdpau vorbis win32codecs x264 xv xvid -3dnow -3dnowext
57 > -aalib (-altivec) (-aqua) -bidi -bindist -bl -bluray -bs2b -cddb -cdio
58 > -cdparanoia -cpudetection -debug -directfb -doc -dts -dv -dvb -dvd
59 > -dvdnav -dxr3 -enca -faac -faad -fbcon -ftp -ggi -gsm -ipv6 -jack
60 > -joystick -jpeg2k -ladspa -libass -libcaca -libmpeg2 -lirc -live -lzo
61 > -mad -md5sum -mmxext -nas -network -nut -openal -osdmenu -oss -pnm
62 > -pulseaudio -pvr -radio -rar -real -rtc -samba -sdl -shm -speex -tga
63 > -toolame -tremor -twolame -unicode -v4l -vidix -xanim -xinerama
64 > -xscreensaver -xvmc -zoran" VIDEO_CARDS="-mga -s3virge -tdfx"
65 >
66 > Note... do *NOT* blindly copy my flags. Select the ones appropriate to
67 > your CPU and GPU and playback/recording needs.
68
69 Thank you walter for you thoughtful reply.
70 allan