Re: Games on Linux

Les B. Labbauf

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:20:27 -0600, ray wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:01:29 +0200, Clara wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> i bought recently a laptop computer (Asus) and i installed a linux
>> distribution (MDV 2007.1) with dual boot with windows. i wanted to play
>> with some games (ie supertuxkart or planet penguin racer) but it is
>> impossible to play because my computer seems to not "support" with memory
>> or CPU speed to play these games. i don't understand why i cannot play. do
>> i have a bad configuration, lack of drivers (nvidia, 3D ...)
>>
>> Please help me
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> Clara
>
> Assuming you have an nvidia graphics chipset, it would be my guess that
> you need to install the proprietary nvidea graphics driver - it gives much
> better performance than the default one.

You haven't told us what your setup is, CPU (SPEED), Total Memory, Video
Chipset (Is it dedicated, or shared memory, type of video chipset). That
all plays an important part. I have a Compaq R3000 that is two years old,
it plays DOOM3 quite well under Mandriva.

Clara

Les B. Labbauf wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:20:27 -0600, ray wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:01:29 +0200, Clara wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> i bought recently a laptop computer (Asus) and i installed a linux
>>> distribution (MDV 2007.1) with dual boot with windows. i wanted to play
>>> with some games (ie supertuxkart or planet penguin racer) but it is
>>> impossible to play because my computer seems to not "support" with
>>> memory or CPU speed to play these games. i don't understand why i cannot
>>> play. do i have a bad configuration, lack of drivers (nvidia, 3D ...)
>>>
>>> Please help me
>>>
>>> Thanks
>>>
>>> Clara
>>
>> Assuming you have an nvidia graphics chipset, it would be my guess that
>> you need to install the proprietary nvidea graphics driver - it gives
>> much better performance than the default one.
>
> You haven't told us what your setup is, CPU (SPEED), Total Memory, Video
> Chipset (Is it dedicated, or shared memory, type of video chipset). That
> all plays an important part. I have a Compaq R3000 that is two years old,
> it plays DOOM3 quite well under Mandriva.

it's an Asus F3JC duo T5600, 1GB memory Graphix card GeForce 7300

Jim Beard

>> On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 15:20:27 -0600, ray wrote:
>>> Assuming you have an nvidia graphics chipset, it would be my guess that
>>> you need to install the proprietary nvidea graphics driver - it gives
>>> much better performance than the default one.

Les B. Labbauf wrote:
>> You haven't told us what your setup is, CPU (SPEED), Total Memory, Video
>> Chipset (Is it dedicated, or shared memory, type of video chipset). That
>> all plays an important part. I have a Compaq R3000 that is two years old,
>> it plays DOOM3 quite well under Mandriva.

Clara
> it's an Asus F3JC duo T5600, 1GB memory Graphix card GeForce 7300

We still do not know what hard drive you have, or its speed. Still,
I think the machine should perform as you need. There are a couple of
things that deserve attention.

First, I would echo ray's suggestion. Install the kernel source code
or stripped source code for the kernel you are running. Download the
nVidia driver installer package from the nVidia website. Read the
instructions on installation found at the website, and as root install.

Second, if hard drive transfer speed is low, swap speed may be too low.
Mandriva installs with DMA transfer NOT enabled, if I remember correctly,
and the read-ahead setting may be too low.

Determine your hard drive name (/dev/hda or /dev/sda or ....) and use
hdparm -I /dev/whatever to find out what your drive is capable of.
Then run hdparm -v /dev/whatever to see what your current settings
are, with particular attention to dma and read-ahead.

man hdparm for much more information.

Cheers!

jim b.

--
UNIX is not user-unfriendly; it merely
expects users to be computer-friendly.