Docky very slow (intel graphics, not nvidia)

[Matthew Pirocchi]

I installed GNOME Do 0.8.0 on Ubuntu 8.10 from the launchpad PPA, and it is excellent. However, the "Docky" theme is very slow, especially (but not only) when zooming. Google suggests that this is a common problem, but is usually related to Nvidia drivers (I have integrated intel graphics).

I have a Dell Inspiron 1200:
Intel Celeron M processor 1.30GHz
512MB RAM
Intel Extreme 2 Graphics with 64MB Shared Memory

While this is not a fast system, I do not think that is the problem:
-I have cairo-dock installed, and it runs extremely fast
-Even with zoom disabled, Docky is pretty choppy
See this video for an illustration:
http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=140jloj&s=5
It shows the performance of:
-Cairo-dock
-Docky with zoom enabled
-Docky with zoom disabled

I have attached a description of my hardware, using the output of this command:
sudo lshw -sanitize -html

[Jason Smith (jassmith)]

Ok to help with this we have to make docky even slower! No seriously we need a performance profile from you. First I need you to get the current bzr version installed (it contains quite a few render otpimizations). Then I need you to run "mono --profile /path/to/Do.exe > profile.txt" and run your mouse back and forth over the dock for 3 minutes or so. I know its boring but its needed.

VERY IMPORTANT

The profile.txt file wont be written until you quit docky. You must quit by using the quit action by right clicking on the Do icon or the data will be lost.

Please attach the output here.

[Jason Smith (jassmith)]

Also note that docky can take a very long time to start with the profiler running. You should make sure you have as little running on your system as possible when you do this to help with that startup time.

[Matthew Pirocchi (matthew-pirocchi)]

Here you go:

[Jason Smith (jassmith)]

Your profile reflects a very speedy render... Which is odd. I can't explain the results other than to say that cairo-dock uses glitz and docky does not. Using glitz means requiring hardware support, which we dont want to have to do.

[Inigo Montoya (ohmysac)]

I was having a similar problem with a 945 integrated intel card. I am using linux mint 6 (intrepid) which i believe installed the 2.4.1 xf86-video-intel driver. I upgraded to 2.4.3 and the problem went away. I can't narrow down what is causing this. I also tried Jaunty Alpha 6 for a time. This has GEM, DRI2 and a much newer driver. The problem presents itself there too. I never was able to make it go away with Jaunty.

[Inigo Montoya (ohmysac)]

Here's something to try, in jaunty, edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf and under the "Device" section add:

Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"

[Matthew Pirocchi (matthew-pirocchi)]

That works for me (still on intrepid). Thanks, Inigo!

[Daniel G. Taylor (danielgtaylor)]

Adding the option to Xorg's config fixes the issue for me as well. Thanks!

[Jason Smith (jassmith)]

Marking as wont fix since this has panned out to be a driver issue. Someone (me) should add this to the FAQ

[Daygan (sheerzeal)]

my issue with some apps opening slowly when using docky was also resolved after implementing Inigo Montoya's suggestion to add the greedy option to xorg.conf . of course it could have been as a result of another change that happened that I'm not aware of, but I'm at least 90% certain it was a direct result of adding the "greedy" option.

[Matthew Pirocchi (matthew-pirocchi)]

I installed the Karmic Beta, and this problem is back. Adding "greedy" is no longer an option, because the intel driver is now UXA only. Does anyone have any ideas how to fix this in UXA?

[Dario Ruellan (druellan)]

I'm in the same situation as Matthew. Used to solve this problem switching to EXA's "greedy" option, but now on Karmic is not possible.

  * Intel Mobile 945GME Express Integrated Graphic Controller (rev 03) (Asus eeePC 1000h).
  * Gnome-Do 0.8.2 using Docky.
  * Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala
  * xorg.conf -> blank.
  * Vsync disabled on compiz and DRI.

Behavior:

  * Docky animations are slow.
  * Compiz animations are clunky ONLY near Docky area (for example, small windows on the top of the screen open and close smoothly, but big or small windows near the bottom of the screen animates at 1 or 2 fps).
  * "Hiding: autohide" option did not help. Still clunky near the bottom of the screen.
  * Switching to Classic theme solves the problem (because Do´s window remains hidden).
  * Using the Classic theme, I noticed that the open and close animation did not work. Also, background area below Do´s window becomes blank just before the window popup. I can also see this using Docky, just before Do start.
  * Closing Do solves the problem.
  * CPU shows normal activity.

[Matthew Pirocchi (matthew-pirocchi)]

I have the same issue as druellan with Docky slowing down compiz animations for another applications. If I close Do, they all speed up again (it doesn't seem to matter where they are near the Docky area or not, but my screen is tiny, so everything is near Docky).

[Matthew Pirocchi (matthew-pirocchi)]

I noticed something interesting today. I tried the standalone Docky pre-alpha, and created a 2nd dock. I added 4 applets to the 2nd dock, and it was incredibly fast and smooth. As soon as I added an application launcher to the dock, it got slow and choppy again. I removed the launch, and it went back to being fast.

Of course, this was with the standalone docky, not the one in Gnome Do. But unless it does things differently, this seems to apply that the problem has something to do with the launchers (and also that it probably isn't entirely a driver bug, since it renders smoothly without the launchers).

Let me know if there's any more information I can get you.

[Bugbear5 (bugbear5)]

I noticed interest things too. I'm using standalone version of docky, intel 2.9.1 driver, Kernel 2.6.32-rc6 and Ubuntu 9.10.
Today I moved dock to left side, then it is incredibly smooth and fast! But if I moved to bottom side, it is slow again.

Dock in left/right side and dock in bottom/up side quite differently act. Is there any differences?

[Robert Dyer (psybers)]

This bug report is for Docky 1, which is a theme to GNOME Do. If you are experiencing problems with Docky 2, please report those on Docky's bug tracker and not here.

[dfme (dfme-sunrise)]

Comment #16 from Bugbear solved the issue for me. I run an atom netbook with integrated intel graphics...
cheers