mirror of
https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode.git
synced 2025-06-23 07:53:06 +02:00
Clean up the main readme file and split some parts out
This groups development, daemon and lib parts together much better
This commit is contained in:
Marc Di Luzio
parent
98e656f9ec
commit
28243afde9
190
README.md
190
README.md
@ -6,17 +6,67 @@ GameMode was designed primarily as a stop-gap solution to problems with the Inte
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Currently GameMode includes support for optimisations including:
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* CPU governor
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* I/O priority
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* Process niceness
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* Kernel scheduler (`SCHED_ISO`)
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* Screensaver inhibiting
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* GPU performance mode (NVIDIA and AMD), GPU overclocking (NVIDIA)
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* Custom scripts
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GameMode packages are available for Ubuntu, Debian, Solus, the AUR, Gentoo, Fedora, OpenSUSE and possibly more.
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Issues with GameMode should be reported here in the issues section, and not reported to Feral directly.
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---
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## Building and installing [](https://travis-ci.org/FeralInteractive/gamemode)
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## Requesting GameMode
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*It is preferable to install GameMode with your package manager of choice, if available*. There are Ubuntu (Cosmic), Debian, Solus, AUR, Gentoo, Fedora and openSUSE packages available at the time of writing.
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For games which integrate GameMode support (see list later on), simply running the game will automatically activate GameMode.
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For others, you must manually request GameMode when running the game. This can be done by launching the game through `gamemoderun`:
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```bash
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gamemoderun ./game
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```
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Or edit the Steam launch options:
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```bash
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gamemoderun %command%
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```
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Note: for older versions of GameMode (before 1.3) use this string in place of `gamemoderun`:
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```
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LD_PRELOAD="$LD_PRELOAD:/usr/\$LIB/libgamemodeauto.so.0"
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```
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**Please note the backslash here in `\$LIB` is required.**
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---
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## Configuration
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The daemon is configured with a `gamemode.ini` file. [example/gamemode.ini](https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode/blob/master/example/gamemode.ini) is an example of what this file would look like, with explanations for all the variables.
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Config files are loaded and merged from the following directories, in order:
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1. `/usr/share/gamemode/`
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2. `/etc/`
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3. `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` or `$HOME/.config/`
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4. `$PWD`
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---
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## Apps with GameMode integration
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### Games
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The following games are known to integrate GameMode support (meaning they don't require any additional configuration to activate GameMode while running):
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* Rise of the Tomb Raider
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* Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
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* Total War: WARHAMMER II
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* DiRT 4
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### Others
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Other apps which can integrate with GameMode include:
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* GNOME Shell ([via extension](https://github.com/gicmo/gamemode-extension)) - indicates when GameMode is active in the top panel.
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---
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## Development [](https://travis-ci.org/FeralInteractive/gamemode)
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The design of GameMode has a clear-cut abstraction between the host daemon and library (`gamemoded` and `libgamemode`), and the client loaders (`libgamemodeauto` and `gamemode_client.h`) that allows for safe use without worrying about whether the daemon is installed or running. This design also means that while the host library currently relies on `systemd` for exchanging messages with the daemon, it's entirely possible to implement other internals that still work with the same clients.
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See repository subdirectories for information on each component.
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### Install Dependencies
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GameMode depends on `meson` for building and `systemd` for internal communication. This repo contains a `bootstrap.sh` script to allow for quick install to the user bus, but check `meson_options.txt` for custom settings.
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@ -60,146 +110,12 @@ cd build/
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ninja uninstall
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```
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---
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## Requesting GameMode
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For games which integrate GameMode support (see list later on), simply running the game will automatically activate GameMode.
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For others, you must manually request GameMode when running the game. This can be done by launching the game through `gamemoderun`:
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```bash
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gamemoderun ./game
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```
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Or edit the Steam launch options:
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```bash
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gamemoderun %command%
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```
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Note: for older versions of GameMode (before 1.3) use this string in place of `gamemoderun`:
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```
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LD_PRELOAD="$LD_PRELOAD:/usr/\$LIB/libgamemodeauto.so.0"
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```
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Please note the backslash here in `\$LIB` is required.
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---
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## Configuration
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The daemon can currently be configured using a `gamemode.ini` file. [gamemode.ini](https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode/blob/master/example/gamemode.ini) is an example of what this file would look like, with explanations for all the variables.
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Config files are loaded and merged from the following directories, in order:
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1. `/usr/share/gamemode/`
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2. `/etc/`
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3. `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME` or `$HOME/.config/`
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4. `$PWD`
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The file parsing uses [inih](https://github.com/benhoyt/inih).
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---
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## Features
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### Scheduling
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GameMode can leverage support for soft real time mode if the running kernel supports `SCHED_ISO` (not currently supported in upstream kernels), controlled by the `softrealtime` option. This adjusts the scheduling of the game to real time without sacrificing system stability by starving other processes.
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GameMode can adjust the nice priority of games to give them a slight IO and CPU priority over other background processes, controlled by the `renice` option. This only works if your user is permitted to adjust priorities within the limits configured by PAM. GameMode can be configured to take care of it by passing `with-pam-group=group` to the build options where `group` is a group your user needs to be part of.
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For more information, see `/etc/security/limits.conf`.
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Please take note that some games may actually run seemingly slower with `SCHED_ISO` if the game makes use of busy looping while interacting with the graphic driver. The same may happen if you apply too strong nice values. This effect is called priority inversion: Due to the high priority given to busy loops, there may be too few resources left for the graphics driver. Thus, sane defaults were chosen to not expose this effect on most systems. Part of this default is a heuristic which automatically turns off `SCHED_ISO` if GameMode detects three or less CPU cores. Your experience may change based on using GL threaded optimizations, CPU core binding (taskset), the graphic driver, or different CPU architectures. If you experience bad input latency or inconsistent FPS, try switching these configurations on or off first and report back. `SCHED_ISO` comes with a protection against this effect by falling back to normal scheduling as soon as the `SCHED_ISO` process uses more than 70% avarage across all CPU cores. This default value can be adjusted outside of the scope of GameMode (it's in `/proc/sys/kernel/iso_cpu`). This value also protects against compromising system stability, do not set it to 100% as this would turn the game into a full real time process, thus potentially starving all other OS components from CPU resources.
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### IO priority
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GameMode can adjust the I/O priority of games to benefit from reduced lag and latency when a game has to load assets on demand. This is done by default.
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### For those with overclocked CPUs
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If you have an AMD CPU and have disabled Cool'n'Quiet, or you have an Intel CPU and have disabled SpeedStep, then GameMode's governor settings will not work, as your CPU is not running with a governor. You are already getting maximum performance.
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If you are unsure, `bootstrap.sh` will warn you if your system lacks CPU governor control.
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Scripts and other features will still work.
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### GPU optimisations
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GameMode is able to automatically apply GPU performance mode changes on AMD and NVIDIA, and overclocking on NVIDIA, when activated. AMD support currently requires the `amdgpu` kernel module, and NVIDIA requires the `coolbits` extension to be enabled in the NVIDIA settings.
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It is very much encouraged for users to find out their own overclocking limits manually before venturing into configuring them in GameMode, and activating this feature in GameMode assumes you take responsibility for the effects of said overclocks.
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More information can be found in the `example/gamemode.ini` file.
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Note that both NVIDIA (GPUBoost) and AMD (Overdrive) devices and drivers already attempt to internally overclock if possible, but it is still common for enthusiasts to want to manually push the upper threshold.
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---
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## Apps with GameMode integration
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### Games
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The following games are known to integrate GameMode support (meaning they don't require any additional configuration to activate GameMode while running):
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* Rise of the Tomb Raider
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* Total War Saga: Thrones of Britannia
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* Total War: WARHAMMER II
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* DiRT 4
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### Others
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Other apps which can integrate with GameMode include:
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* GNOME Shell ([via extension](https://github.com/gicmo/gamemode-extension)) - indicates when GameMode is active in the top panel.
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---
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## Developers
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The design of GameMode has a clear-cut abstraction between the host daemon and library (`gamemoded` and `libgamemode`), and the client loaders (`libgamemodeauto` and `gamemode_client.h`) that allows for safe use without worrying about whether the daemon is installed or running. This design also means that while the host library currently relies on `systemd` for exchanging messages with the daemon, it's entirely possible to implement other internals that still work with the same clients.
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### Components
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**gamemoded** runs in the background, activates game mode on request, refcounts and also checks caller PID lifetime. Run `man gamemoded` for command line options.
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**libgamemode** is an internal library used to dispatch requests to the daemon. Note: `libgamemode` should never be linked with directly.
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**libgamemodeauto** is a simple dynamic library that automatically requests game mode when loaded. Useful to `LD_PRELOAD` into any game as needed.
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**gamemode\_client.h** is as single header lib that lets a game request game mode and handle errors.
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### Integration
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Developers can integrate the request directly into an app. Note that none of these client methods force your users to have the daemon installed or running - they will safely no-op if the host is missing.
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```C
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// Manually with error checking
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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if( gamemode_request_start() < 0 ) {
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fprintf( stderr, "gamemode request failed: %s\n", gamemode_error_string() );
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}
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/* run game... */
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gamemode_request_end(); // Not required, gamemoded can clean up after game exits
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```
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```C
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// Automatically on program start and finish
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#define GAMEMODE_AUTO
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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```
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Or, distribute `libgamemodeauto.so` and either add `-lgamemodeauto` to your linker arguments, or add it to an LD\_PRELOAD in a launch script.
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### Supervisor support
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Developers can also create apps that manage GameMode on the system, for other processes:
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```C
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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gamemode_request_start_for(gamePID);
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gamemode_request_end_for(gamePID);
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```
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This functionality can also be controlled in the config file in the `supervisor` section.
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---
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## Contributions
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### Pull Requests
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Pull requests must match with the coding style found in the `.clang-format` file, please run this before committing:
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```
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clang-format -i $(find . -name '*.[ch]' -not -path "*subprojects/*")
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```
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### Planned Features
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* Additional mode-switch plugins
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* Improved client state tracking (PID is unreliable)
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### Maintained by
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Feral Interactive
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@ -211,3 +127,5 @@ See the [contributors](https://github.com/FeralInteractive/gamemode/graphs/contr
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Copyright © 2017-2019 Feral Interactive
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GameMode is available under the terms of the BSD 3-Clause License (Revised)
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The "inih" library is distributed under the New BSD license
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49
daemon/README.md
Normal file
49
daemon/README.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
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### gamemoded
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**gamemoded** is a daemon that runs in the background, activates system and program optimisations on request, refcounts and also checks caller lifetime.
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**gamemoded** currently supports the current arguments:
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```
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Usage: gamemoded [-d] [-l] [-r] [-t] [-h] [-v]
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-r[PID], --request=[PID] Toggle gamemode for process
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When no PID given, requests gamemode and pauses
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-s[PID], --status=[PID] Query the status of gamemode for process
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When no PID given, queries the status globally
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-d, --daemonize Daemonize self after launch
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-l, --log-to-syslog Log to syslog
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-r, --test Run tests
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-h, --help Print this help
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-v, --version Print version
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```
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Run `man gamemoded` for information and options.
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---
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## Daemon Features
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### Scheduling
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GameMode can leverage support for soft real time mode if the running kernel supports `SCHED_ISO` (not currently supported in upstream kernels), controlled by the `softrealtime` option. This adjusts the scheduling of the game to real time without sacrificing system stability by starving other processes.
|
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|
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GameMode can adjust the nice priority of games to give them a slight IO and CPU priority over other background processes, controlled by the `renice` option. This only works if your user is permitted to adjust priorities within the limits configured by PAM. GameMode can be configured to take care of it by passing `with-pam-group=group` to the build options where `group` is a group your user needs to be part of.
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For more information, see `/etc/security/limits.conf`.
|
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|
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Please take note that some games may actually run seemingly slower with `SCHED_ISO` if the game makes use of busy looping while interacting with the graphic driver. The same may happen if you apply too strong nice values. This effect is called priority inversion: Due to the high priority given to busy loops, there may be too few resources left for the graphics driver. Thus, sane defaults were chosen to not expose this effect on most systems. Part of this default is a heuristic which automatically turns off `SCHED_ISO` if GameMode detects three or less CPU cores. Your experience may change based on using GL threaded optimizations, CPU core binding (taskset), the graphic driver, or different CPU architectures. If you experience bad input latency or inconsistent FPS, try switching these configurations on or off first and report back. `SCHED_ISO` comes with a protection against this effect by falling back to normal scheduling as soon as the `SCHED_ISO` process uses more than 70% avarage across all CPU cores. This default value can be adjusted outside of the scope of GameMode (it's in `/proc/sys/kernel/iso_cpu`). This value also protects against compromising system stability, do not set it to 100% as this would turn the game into a full real time process, thus potentially starving all other OS components from CPU resources.
|
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|
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### IO priority
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GameMode can adjust the I/O priority of games to benefit from reduced lag and latency when a game has to load assets on demand. This is done by default.
|
||||
|
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### For those with overclocked CPUs
|
||||
If you have an AMD CPU and have disabled Cool'n'Quiet, or you have an Intel CPU and have disabled SpeedStep, then GameMode's governor settings will not work, as your CPU is not running with a governor. You are already getting maximum performance.
|
||||
|
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If you are unsure, `bootstrap.sh` will warn you if your system lacks CPU governor control.
|
||||
|
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Scripts and other features will still work.
|
||||
|
||||
### GPU optimisations
|
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GameMode is able to automatically apply GPU performance mode changes on AMD and NVIDIA, and overclocking on NVIDIA, when activated. AMD support currently requires the `amdgpu` kernel module, and NVIDIA requires the `coolbits` extension to be enabled in the NVIDIA settings.
|
||||
|
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It is very much encouraged for users to find out their own overclocking limits manually before venturing into configuring them in GameMode, and activating this feature in GameMode assumes you take responsibility for the effects of said overclocks.
|
||||
|
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More information can be found in the `example/gamemode.ini` file.
|
||||
|
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Note that both NVIDIA (GPUBoost) and AMD (Overdrive) devices and drivers already attempt to internally overclock if possible, but it is still common for enthusiasts to want to manually push the upper threshold.
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43
lib/README.md
Normal file
43
lib/README.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
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## libgamemode
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**libgamemode** is an internal library used to dispatch requests to the daemon. Note: `libgamemode` should never be linked with directly.
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**libgamemodeauto** is a simple dynamic library that automatically requests game mode when loaded. Useful to `LD_PRELOAD` into any game as needed.
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|
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**gamemode\_client.h** is as single header lib that lets a game request game mode and handle errors.
|
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|
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### Integration
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Developers can integrate the request directly into an app. Note that none of these client methods force your users to have the daemon installed or running - they will safely no-op if the host is missing.
|
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```C
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// Manually with error checking
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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if( gamemode_request_start() < 0 ) {
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fprintf( stderr, "gamemode request failed: %s\n", gamemode_error_string() );
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}
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/* run game... */
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gamemode_request_end(); // Not required, gamemoded can clean up after game exits
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```
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```C
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// Automatically on program start and finish
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#define GAMEMODE_AUTO
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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```
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Or, distribute `libgamemodeauto.so` and either add `-lgamemodeauto` to your linker arguments, or add it to an LD\_PRELOAD in a launch script.
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### Supervisor support
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Developers can also create apps that manage GameMode on the system, for other processes:
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|
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```C
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#include "gamemode_client.h"
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gamemode_request_start_for(gamePID);
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gamemode_request_end_for(gamePID);
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```
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This functionality can also be controlled in the config file in the `supervisor` section.
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||||
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