Gala process >100% CPU - Intel HD drivers on laptop don't seem to work

[Pas]

Hi.!
I'm running Elementary OS on a Lenovo G50-30 with an integrated Intel HD graphics card.
The "gala" process seems to always be >100 cpu, which has been attributed by some in the graphics acceleration not being enabled.
Having updated everything either via the OS or the repository, the problem remains.
While running glxinf it shows
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x301)

On another note - You guys rock! Keep it up!

Name of display: :0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.4
server glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
    GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method,
    GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer, GLX_INTEL_swap_event
client glx vendor string: Mesa Project and SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
    GLX_ARB_create_context, GLX_ARB_create_context_profile,
    GLX_ARB_create_context_robustness, GLX_ARB_get_proc_address,
    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_visual_info,
    GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB,
    GLX_EXT_create_context_es2_profile, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer,
    GLX_MESA_multithread_makecurrent, GLX_MESA_swap_control,
    GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_OML_sync_control, GLX_SGI_make_current_read,
    GLX_SGI_swap_control, GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample,
    GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group,
    GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_INTEL_swap_event
GLX version: 1.4
GLX extensions:
    GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
    GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
    GLX_MESA_multithread_makecurrent, GLX_OML_swap_method,
    GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
    GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
OpenGL vendor string: VMware, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on llvmpipe (LLVM 0x301)
OpenGL version string: 2.1 Mesa 9.0.3
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.20
OpenGL extensions:

[Pas (tsiliasp)]

Installing the intel drivers with the appropriate repository didnt seem to work.
Neither did the "sudo X -configure".
A very similar bug had been reported in Ubuntu, where the solution seemed to create a xorg.conf file into /etc/X11. NOPE NOPE NOPE DONT DO IT. After that Luna fails to boot into any GUI, and works only in console mode.

One solution that worked was to upgrade the kernel!!
Now glxinfo shows proper GPU acceleration, and not CPU dependent.
And Gala has stopped acting strangely, with the system being smooth as butter.

If all that fails to work, there is always the option to deactivate anything using OpenGL (like Gala), as described http://www.reddit.com/r/elementaryos/comments/1mm1km/im_one_of_those_guyswith_a_gma500_god_help_me/ and check if it fixes anything.

[Sergey (revival10)]

I have the same problem with a desktop in my office:
elementary OS Freya
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz
GeForce GTX 980

[Zisu Andrei (matzipan)]

Your CPU/GPUs seem to have been very new at the release date of Ubuntu 14.04 which is at the base of Freya. Please make sure you have the 14.04 LTS Enablement Stack installed (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Kernel/LTSEnablementStack). If this still doesn't fix the issue, see if Loki does (running from a live USB drive should give you an idea if it will or not).

[Zisu Andrei (matzipan)]

Please advise on the results you get.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for elementary OS because there has been no activity for 60 days.]