[Answered] Graphics Acceleration for Archi

Started by ErikR, May 16, 2020, 15:33:28 PM

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ErikR

Hi,

I am using Archi 4.7 on Gentoo Linux with an Nvidia GeeForce GTX 1050 Ti and a core I7-8700K CPU. I am using IcedTea that is based on OpenJDK. As desktop environment I run KDE.

My desktop is quite powerful yet I often experience problems with slow graphics from within Archi (and Inkscape if that matters here). In diagrams with many visible objects things are really slow and "many" is not really that many. There is quite a latency when moving objects while I never experience initial visualization of a view to consume observable time. The problem is not new, I just started to care about it.

I am looking into nailing this problem down and somehow find out how to enable OpenGL or OpenCL or some kind of graphics acceleration and this is where I start.

There are topics on Java and graphics acceleration found, they are few and quite old.

My initial question to this forum is if some kind of graphics hardware acceleration is enabled/possible to enable in Archi (for Linux), if it is known to work for anyone on any hardware conditions (e.g. works with Radeon or Intel graphics only), any software condition (it works for me on Gnome 3 , so do Inkscape) or am I just hunting for windmills here?

Cheers,
Erik








Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

I am using Archi with a rather low end laptops (one of them is based on an Intel Apollo Lake N3450) under elementary OS (based on Ubuntu LTS) and never experienced any issue with Archi, even with views containing dozens of concepts.

My feeling is that you simply have an issue with your OS configuration and you should try with a more "classic" distribution like Ubuntu. You can also check that you run and X based desktop and not a wayland one.

FWIW, Archi being based on eclipse framework, there's nothing we can do regarding graphics accelerations.

Regards,

JB
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Phil Beauvoir

Pretty much what JB said.

The Archi stack is Java -> Eclipse -> SWT -> GEF/Draw2D which is obviously slower than native. But I don't see too much lag on Windows, Mac or Linux.

Might be worth comparing different distros. And, importantly, as JB pointed out, ensure that Wayland is not enabled.
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ErikR

I just wanted to verify that someone have this working and it is worth investigating, and I conclude it is.

There is a lot of reasons why I don't bother with Ubuntu and I am used to make investigations from time to time having used Gentoo since -05 or so ;) Nor do I bother about Wayland yet and it is not enabled.

I was not aware of the GEF/Draw2D framework, that might be valuable information.

If I ever find a solution I will share.

Thanks for the response,
Erik



Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

Quote from: ErikR on May 16, 2020, 18:37:32 PM
There is a lot of reasons why I don't bother with Ubuntu and I am used to make investigations from time to time having used Gentoo since -05 or so ;)

My suggestion is not to switch to ubuntu but simply install it to see if you experience the same issue. Depending on the result you should be abe to tell if you experience an hardware or software related issue. Might be worth checking in a VM too...

Regards,

JB
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ErikR

An update to the graphical issues with Archi and some other interesting software I used, namely Inkscape.

There was a hint posted by Nate that is somehow deeply involved in the Plasma development for KDE, I think he is coordinating the plasma activites. I like to follow his blog as I have been using KDE since, well almost forever, and like to monitor the proges they make.

Nate posted a blog asking for help choosing  a new laptop (https://pointieststick.com/2020/05/17/help-me-choose-a-new-laptop/) and wrote this:
QuoteAlso, I need for it to not have an NVIDIA GPU. I have no graphical needs beyond what an integrated GPU can accomplish, and don't want to deal with Plasma-on-NVIDIA drama. Sorry, NVIDIA.

I took the hint and decided to try out another motherboard releasing the graphical power I have in my Core i7-8700K and donate my Nvidia GeeForce GTX 1050 Ti to the ones that might need it (young relatives). I now have a ASUSTeK PRIME B360M-C motherboard targeting business users and with three digital video outputs, just what I need. This is what every laptop have, it is just a bit more complicated to get it working on a desktop.

Using KDE and the Intel built in graphics I feel that Archi and Inkscape are working well. Not perfect but really good and sufficient good.

Thanks for all help and comments in this thread, it have helped out my research.

Cheers,
Erik