Google Drive on PowerPC

[AL1630]

With the current PPC challenge going on, I though it would be fun to try and get my online schoolwork done with my PowerPC macs. I've mainly been using my iBook G4 and PBG4 1.67, and they are working well for most tasks (plus the Powerbook has a great keyboard.) However, one major issue is the heavy use of google drive in the online learning platform. Google drive runs poorly on both machines, taking several minutes to even load a document, then suffering from terrible input lag. I'm using 10.4 on the iBook and 10.5 on the PB, both with TenFourFox and foxPep tweaks. I have also tried leopard webkit on the powerbook and it gives similar results. Is there a way to make google drive/docs usable, or is it just too script heavy?

I could work around it by typing up documents in Pages or Word and uploading them, but it would be nice to make use of the docs editor.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I use a Fluid instance linked to LWK with this user agent:

Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 4.0.3; de-ch; HTC Sensation Build/IML74K) AppleWebKit/534.30 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/534.30

However, I never edit anything on the drive, I just move stuff to and fro.

 

[z970]

Can you try to see what happens without foxPEP installed? Just take prefs.js out and try again.

Install uMatrix, go to Google Drive, open up uMatrix and click the power button icon in the corner. Go to your document editor (or wherever else is the slowest), and then open back up uMatrix to see what's causing the slowdowns.

I'll bet you you'll see "99+" under the Script column.

 

[AL1630]

After removing prefs.js and loading a document, uMatrix shows a total of 20 under the "Scripts" column, 18 of which are 1st-party.

 

[z970]

What's the performance difference without foxPEP?

 

[AL1630]

It seems to be a bit slower, but that could just be me.

 

[z970]

Then it seems Google Docs is simply too heavy a webapp to be a usable experience on any browser running on such a CPU-bound OS as Tiger / Leopard.

A shame.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Then it seems Google Docs is simply too heavy a webapp to be a usable experience on any browser running on such a CPU-bound OS as Tiger / Leopard.

Here's your opportunity to prove your theory that PPC Linux utilises GPU acceleration then by comparing and contrasting....if you have a dual booting machine that is.

 

[z970]

Here's your opportunity to prove your theory that PPC Linux utilises GPU acceleration then by comparing and contrasting....if you have a dual booting machine that is.

I'm still trying to wrangle pre-2005 Open Firmware into booting from USB so that I can get one.

Trying to understand several things as I go here.

-

Eventually, a poster thread will probably be made to settle the difference, but I'm not at that point yet.

 

[Dronecatcher]

Eventually, a poster thread will probably be made to settle the difference, but I'm not at that point yet.

I can try as I did with the comparisons here and here but I feel it's not the complete picture when using a live disk.
Also, any differences aren't necessarily down to GPU leverage....isn't GLXGears meant to reveal such things?

 

[z970]

I can try as I did with the comparisons here and here but I feel it's not the complete picture when using a live disk.
Also, any differences aren't necessarily down to GPU leverage....isn't GLXGears meant to reveal such things?

To my knowledge, glxgears tests 3D acceleration.

There is also glmark2, which apparently offers deeper benching. This may or may not include 2D acceleration.

 

[sparty411]

I can try as I did with the comparisons here and here but I feel it's not the complete picture when using a live disk.
Also, any differences aren't necessarily down to GPU leverage....isn't GLXGears meant to reveal such things?

Google drive actually works pretty well for me in Ubuntu with @z970mp's prefs. I use Spiderweb on PPC. I'm under the impression that it is utilizing the GPU for webrendering, as it's unbearably slow with the stock prefs enabled.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I'm under the impression that it is utilizing the GPU for webrendering, as it's unbearably slow with the stock prefs enabled.

Comparing @eyoungren 's prefs.js might tell you whether that's the case?
I just find it hard to believe that some developer would've retrofitted ancient GPUs with this kind of acceleration under PPC Linux but still left basic stuff for certain GPUs out in the cold.
Relatively high end GPUs sitting in Quads with Ubuntu/Debian I can understand having hardware acceleration.

 

[sparty411]

Comparing @eyoungren 's prefs.js might tell you whether that's the case?
I just find it hard to believe that some developer would've retrofitted ancient GPUs with this kind of acceleration under PPC Linux but still left basic stuff for certain GPUs out in the cold.
Relatively high end GPUs sitting in Quads with Ubuntu/Debian I can understand having hardware acceleration.

I've found that you can force webrendering on any GPU that supports OpenGL 2.0 or later. I think webrendering for these older GPU's is often disabled by default because they're untested, and on <OpenGL 2.0 GPU's leaving webrendering on by default can actually make the user experience worse, as CPU load increases dramatically, as it falls back on software rasterization. Here is the output of about:support -

Graphics
Adapter Description    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
Device ID    ATI RV350
Driver Version    2.1 Mesa 18.0.5
GPU Accelerated Windows    0/1 Basic
Vendor ID    X.Org R300 Project
WebGL Renderer    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
windowLayerManagerRemote    false
AzureCanvasBackend    skia
AzureContentBackend    cairo
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend    cairo
AzureSkiaAccelerated    0

As you can see in the about:support output, my Powerbook's Mobility Radeon 9700 is supported.

 

[Dronecatcher]

As you can see in the about:support output, my Powerbook's Mobility Radeon 9700 is supported.

That's promising - maybe go to a WebGL benchmark site and see how it fares (last time I tried didn't work on OSX/TFF)

 

[z970]

I've found that you can force webrendering on any GPU that supports OpenGL 2.0 or later. I think webrendering for these older GPU's is often disabled by default because they're untested, and on <OpenGL 2.0 GPU's leaving webrendering on by default can actually make the user experience worse, as CPU load increases dramatically, as it falls back on software rasterization. Here is the output of about:support -

Graphics
Adapter Description    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
Device ID    ATI RV350
Driver Version    2.1 Mesa 18.0.5
GPU Accelerated Windows    0/1 Basic
Vendor ID    X.Org R300 Project
WebGL Renderer    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
windowLayerManagerRemote    false
AzureCanvasBackend    skia
AzureContentBackend    cairo
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend    cairo
AzureSkiaAccelerated    0

As you can see in the about:support output, my Powerbook's Mobility Radeon 9700 is supported.

WebRender is not enabled in foxPEP for that explicit reason. An OpenGL 1.5 GPU taking an unnecessary hit, while the 2.1 GPU flies is not a viable route of action.

Interesting that GPU acceleration isn't enabled. Can you confirm in about:config if layers.acceleration.force-enabled is on, along with everything else within the Rendering engine in general?

DICLAIMER: Just to be clear, WebRender and GPU acceleration are two different things. The former being another new rendering technology and the latter being utilization of the GPU to draw pages and their content.

 

[sparty411]

WebRender is not enabled in foxPEP for that explicit reason. An OpenGL 1.5 GPU taking an unnecessary hit, while the 2.1 GPU flies is not a route of action.

Interesting that GPU acceleration isn't enabled. Can you confirm in about:config if layers.acceleration.force-enabled is on, along with everything else within the Rendering engine in general?

Derp. Sorry, that was Arctic Fox. Here is spiderweb -

Graphics
Features
Compositing    OpenGL
Asynchronous Pan/Zoom    none
WebGL 1 Driver WSI Info    GLX 1.4
GLX_VENDOR(client): Mesa Project and SGI
GLX_VENDOR(server): SGI
Extensions: GLX_ARB_create_context GLX_ARB_create_context_profile GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float GLX_ARB_framebuffer_sRGB GLX_ARB_get_proc_address GLX_ARB_multisample GLX_EXT_create_context_es2_profile GLX_EXT_create_context_es_profile GLX_EXT_fbconfig_packed_float GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB GLX_EXT_import_context GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap GLX_EXT_visual_info GLX_EXT_visual_rating GLX_INTEL_swap_event GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer GLX_MESA_multithread_makecurrent GLX_MESA_query_renderer GLX_MESA_swap_control GLX_OML_swap_method GLX_OML_sync_control GLX_SGIS_multisample GLX_SGIX_fbconfig GLX_SGIX_pbuffer GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group GLX_SGI_make_current_read GLX_SGI_swap_control GLX_SGI_video_sync
WebGL 1 Driver Renderer    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
WebGL 1 Driver Version    2.1 Mesa 18.0.5
WebGL 1 Driver Extensions    GL_AMD_shader_trinary_minmax GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt3 GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt5 GL_APPLE_packed_pixels GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility GL_ARB_buffer_storage GL_ARB_clear_buffer_object GL_ARB_clip_control GL_ARB_compressed_texture_pixel_storage GL_ARB_copy_buffer GL_ARB_debug_output GL_ARB_depth_texture GL_ARB_draw_buffers GL_ARB_draw_elements_base_vertex GL_ARB_explicit_attrib_location GL_ARB_explicit_uniform_location GL_ARB_fragment_coord_conventions GL_ARB_fragment_program GL_ARB_fragment_program_shadow GL_ARB_fragment_shader GL_ARB_framebuffer_object GL_ARB_get_program_binary GL_ARB_get_texture_sub_image GL_ARB_half_float_pixel GL_ARB_half_float_vertex GL_ARB_instanced_arrays GL_ARB_internalformat_query GL_ARB_internalformat_query2 GL_ARB_invalidate_subdata GL_ARB_map_buffer_alignment GL_ARB_map_buffer_range GL_ARB_multi_bind GL_ARB_multisample GL_ARB_multitexture GL_ARB_occlusion_query GL_ARB_occlusion_query2 GL_ARB_pixel_buffer_object GL_ARB_point_parameters GL_ARB_point_sprite GL_ARB_program_interface_query GL_ARB_provoking_vertex GL_ARB_robustness GL_ARB_sampler_objects GL_ARB_separate_shader_objects GL_ARB_shader_objects GL_ARB_shading_language_100 GL_ARB_shadow GL_ARB_sync GL_ARB_texture_barrier GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp GL_ARB_texture_compression GL_ARB_texture_cube_map GL_ARB_texture_env_add GL_ARB_texture_env_combine GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 GL_ARB_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_ARB_texture_float GL_ARB_texture_mirror_clamp_to_edge GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two GL_ARB_texture_rectangle GL_ARB_texture_rg GL_ARB_texture_storage GL_ARB_transpose_matrix GL_ARB_vertex_array_bgra GL_ARB_vertex_array_object GL_ARB_vertex_attrib_binding GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object GL_ARB_vertex_program GL_ARB_vertex_shader GL_ARB_window_pos GL_ATI_blend_equation_separate GL_ATI_draw_buffers GL_ATI_fragment_shader GL_ATI_separate_stencil GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3 GL_ATI_texture_float GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once GL_EXT_abgr GL_EXT_bgra GL_EXT_blend_color GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate GL_EXT_blend_func_separate GL_EXT_blend_minmax GL_EXT_blend_subtract GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array GL_EXT_copy_texture GL_EXT_draw_range_elements GL_EXT_fog_coord GL_EXT_framebuffer_blit GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample GL_EXT_framebuffer_multisample_blit_scaled GL_EXT_framebuffer_object GL_EXT_gpu_program_parameters GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays GL_EXT_packed_depth_stencil GL_EXT_packed_pixels GL_EXT_pixel_buffer_object GL_EXT_point_parameters GL_EXT_polygon_offset GL_EXT_provoking_vertex GL_EXT_rescale_normal GL_EXT_secondary_color GL_EXT_separate_specular_color GL_EXT_shadow_funcs GL_EXT_stencil_two_side GL_EXT_stencil_wrap GL_EXT_subtexture GL_EXT_texture GL_EXT_texture3D GL_EXT_texture_compression_dxt1 GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc GL_EXT_texture_cube_map GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp GL_EXT_texture_env_add GL_EXT_texture_env_combine GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp GL_EXT_texture_object GL_EXT_texture_rectangle GL_EXT_texture_sRGB GL_EXT_texture_sRGB_decode GL_EXT_texture_snorm GL_EXT_vertex_array GL_EXT_vertex_array_bgra GL_IBM_multimode_draw_arrays GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat GL_INGR_blend_func_separate GL_KHR_context_flush_control GL_KHR_debug GL_KHR_no_error GL_MESA_pack_invert GL_MESA_texture_signed_rgba GL_MESA_window_pos GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture GL_NV_blend_square GL_NV_conditional_render GL_NV_fog_distance GL_NV_light_max_exponent GL_NV_packed_depth_stencil GL_NV_texgen_reflection GL_NV_texture_barrier GL_NV_texture_env_combine4 GL_NV_texture_rectangle GL_OES_EGL_image GL_OES_read_format GL_S3_s3tc GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp GL_SGIS_texture_lod GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays
WebGL 1 Extensions    MOZ_debug_get WEBGL_debug_renderer_info WEBGL_debug_shaders
WebGL 2 Driver WSI Info    -
WebGL 2 Driver Renderer    WebGL creation failed:
* Error during native OpenGL init.
* Error during native OpenGL init.
* Exhausted GL driver caps.
* Exhausted GL driver options.
WebGL 2 Driver Version    -
WebGL 2 Driver Extensions    -
WebGL 2 Extensions    -
Hardware H264 Decoding    No
Audio Backend    alsa
GPU #1
Active    Yes
Description    X.Org R300 Project -- ATI RV350
Vendor ID    X.Org R300 Project
Device ID    ATI RV350
Driver Version    2.1 Mesa 18.0.5
Diagnostics
AzureCanvasAccelerated    0
AzureCanvasBackend    cairo
AzureContentBackend    cairo
AzureFallbackCanvasBackend    none
CairoUseXRender    1
Decision Log
HW_COMPOSITING   
blocked by default: Acceleration blocked by platform
force_enabled by user: Force-enabled by pref
OPENGL_COMPOSITING   
force_enabled by user: Force-enabled by pref

[automerge]1586827364[/automerge]

That's promising - maybe go to a WebGL benchmark site and see how it fares (last time I tried didn't work on OSX/TFF)

Bmark HTML5 3D benchmark runs, but its absolutely abysmal.

 

[xc8]

may I ask how you are connected with the google drive? you may try webdav for example -a ligher option INHO - if its possible on your configuration