Re: [gentoo-user] intel HD graphics 4000 and viewing DVDs

["Walter Dnes" <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>]

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 04:10:30PM -0400, Allan Gottlieb wrote
> I am getting a new laptop. (likely dell 6430).
> The two graphics options are intel HD 4000 and nvidia NVS 5200M.
> Dell is as expected suggesting the 5200M.
> 
> I do not need 3D or fast response.  Dell hinted that DVDs might not play
> with the intel HD 4000.  This seems weird to me as the 4000 is supposed
> to be a big improvement over the 3000 and I can't believe dell or others
> would have sold laptops that can't play dvds
> 
> Any comments or experiences?

  2 personal experiences...

1) I have a Dell D530, over 4 years old, that could not keep up with the
slowest feed of hockey games on NHLGameCenterLive.  The feed runs via
Flash.  This was just after I had done a fresh install, and most of the
system was lowest-common-denominator i686 code from the i686 install CD.
After I ran "emerge system" and "emerge world", optimised with CFLAGS...

CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe"

...the machine was able to keep up stutter-free on the low-speed feed.
BTW, my current CFLAGS are...

CFLAGS="-O2 -march=native -mfpmath=sse -fomit-frame-pointer -pipe -fno-unwind-tables -fno-asynchronous-unwind-tables"

2) I have an early ASUS Atom netbook, 2 gigs ram, with a Poulsbo GMA500.
With the in-kernel GMA500 driver, it plays 720p HD from Youtube no
problem.  By setting "mem=1920mb" in the boot parameters, I now have it
playing 1080p just fine even in Youtube's "large player", but not in
fullscreen mode.  If this old POS can play 1080p Youtube clips, a newer
machine should easily be able to handle it.

  Additional comments...

1) Dell is probably thinking Windows built with lowest-common-denominator
i686 code, running with full visual eye-candy.  Yes, that would slow it
down to a crawl.

2) Gentoo optimised to your machine has a huge advantage over any binary
distro, be it Windows or linux.

3) I run ICEWM, a lightweight but powerful WM with minimal eye-candy.
This allows the CPU and GPU to devote their power to doing stuff you
really want/need.  See my sig.

4) Use mplayer to play DVDs.  It is much lighter than other popular
linux players, and it can be optimised to your machine.  My setup...

[ebuild   R    ] media-video/mplayer-1.1-r1  USE="X a52 alsa dga encode
gif iconv jpeg mmx mng mp3 opengl png quicktime rtmp sse sse2 ssse3
theora truetype vdpau vorbis win32codecs x264 xv xvid -3dnow -3dnowext
-aalib (-altivec) (-aqua) -bidi -bindist -bl -bluray -bs2b -cddb -cdio
-cdparanoia -cpudetection -debug -directfb -doc -dts -dv -dvb -dvd
-dvdnav -dxr3 -enca -faac -faad -fbcon -ftp -ggi -gsm -ipv6 -jack
-joystick -jpeg2k -ladspa -libass -libcaca -libmpeg2 -lirc -live -lzo
-mad -md5sum -mmxext -nas -network -nut -openal -osdmenu -oss -pnm
-pulseaudio -pvr -radio -rar -real -rtc -samba -sdl -shm -speex -tga
-toolame -tremor -twolame -unicode -v4l -vidix -xanim -xinerama
-xscreensaver -xvmc -zoran" VIDEO_CARDS="-mga -s3virge -tdfx"

Note... do *NOT* blindly copy my flags.  Select the ones appropriate to
your CPU and GPU and playback/recording needs.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@waltdnes.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications