I have been having the hardest time trying to get direct rendering enabled on this Dell Inspiron 1150.

I am using a customized version of Slackware 10.0..
By customized, I mean that I'm running kernel 2.6.8.1, and Xorg 6.8.1.

The problem is that any game requiring minimal GL support runs very slowly. glxgears reports about 100fps when I have Xorg configured to use 24-bit color, and about 200fps when I have 16-bit color.

$ glxinfo | grep rendering;glxinfo|grep string
direct rendering: No
server glx vendor string: Brian Paul
server glx version string: 1.4 Mesa 6.0.1
client glx vendor string: Brian Paul
client glx version string: 1.4 Mesa 6.0.1
OpenGL vendor string: Brian Paul
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa X11
OpenGL version string: 1.5 Mesa 6.0.1

Clearly I'm using software rendering. The thing is I've tried nearly a million things to get this thing to do hardware rendering.

$ su -c "lspci"
Password:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Host Bridge (rev 02)
00:00.1 System peripheral: Intel Corp. 855GM/GME GMCH Memory I/O Control Registers (rev 02)
00:00.3 System peripheral: Intel Corp. 855GM/GME GMCH Configuration Process Registers (rev 02)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corp. 82852/855GM Integrated Graphics Device (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #1 (rev 01)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #2 (rev 01)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB UHCI #3 (rev 01)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) USB2 EHCI Controller (rev 01)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corp. 82801BAM/CAM PCI Bridge (rev 81)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corp. 82801DBM LPC Interface Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corp. 82801DBM (ICH4) Ultra ATA Storage Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.5 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 01)
00:1f.6 Modem: Intel Corp. 82801DB (ICH4) AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 01)
02:01.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401 100Base-T (rev 01)
02:02.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM94306 802.11g (rev 03)
02:04.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCI1510 PC card Cardbus Controller

I do believe I compiled Mesa from source and installed that which started the problem up (I didn't read carefully enough to find out it would break hardware rendering).
However I read that Xorg should come with drivers that will do the hardware rendering. So I reinstalled the Xorg package, and it didn't work, so I downloaded Xorg and compiled it myself, and it still doesn't do hardware rendering.

$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
[snip]
Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.

Load "dbe" # Double buffer extension

# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection

# This loads the font modules
Load "type1"
# Load "speedo"
Load "freetype"
# Load "xtt"

# This loads the GLX module
Load "glx"
# This loads the DRI module
Load "dri"

EndSection
[snip]

Section "Device"
Identifier "Intel i810"
Driver "i810"
#VideoRam 4096
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
EndSection

[snip]

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection


Now for the interesting part...

$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log

[snip]

(II) LoadModule: "glx"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libglx.a
(II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 0.2
(II) Loading sub module "GLcore"
(II) LoadModule: "GLcore"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libGLcore.a
(II) Module GLcore: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 0.2
(II) Loading extension GLX
(II) LoadModule: "dri"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/extensions/libdri.a
(II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 0.2
(II) Loading sub module "drm"
(II) LoadModule: "drm"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/linux/libdrm.a
(II) Module drm: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 0.2
(II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
(II) LoadModule: "i810"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/i810_drv.o
(II) Module i810: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.3.0
Module class: X.Org Video Driver
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 0.7
(II) LoadModule: "mouse"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/input/mouse_drv.o
(II) Module mouse: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 0.4
(II) LoadModule: "kbd"
(II) Loading /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/input/kbd_drv.o
(II) Module kbd: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 6.8.0, module version = 1.0.0
Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 0.4
(II) I810: Driver for Intel Integrated Graphics Chipsets: i810, i810-dc100,
i810e, i815, i830M, 845G, 852GM/855GM, 865G, 915G
(II) Primary Device is: PCI 00:02:0
(--) Assigning device section with no busID to primary device
(--) Chipset 852GM/855GM found

[snip]

drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
[drm] failed to load kernel module "i915"
(II) I810(0): [drm] drmOpen failed
(EE) I810(0): [dri] DRIScreenInit failed. Disabling DRI.


one last thing

$ dmesg | grep agpgart
Linux agpgart interface v0.100 (c) Dave Jones
agpgart: Detected an Intel 855 Chipset.
agpgart: Maximum main memory to use for agp memory: 438M
agpgart: Detected 892K stolen memory.
agpgart: AGP aperture is 128M @ 0xe8000000


OK, hopefully that's enough information for you guys to help me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you,
Langsuyar

It may have to do with what you compiled into the kernel +modules. If possible post output from lsmod+relevent section of kernel config. It looks as if you compiled in the 915 modules instead of i810... It even may have to do with your modules.conf file, for some reason it wants to load 915..?

If all else fails try following this procedure for building dri from source. It worked well for me on my radeon pci card, when no x drivers or radeon drivers would work. Make sure the symlink to your kernel is correct.

http://dri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/moin.cgi/Building

Here is the lsmod

$ lsmod
Module Size Used by
snd_pcm_oss 47656 0
snd_mixer_oss 17152 3 snd_pcm_oss
ipv6 220164 10
ohci_hcd 18052 0
intel_agp 19232 1
uhci_hcd 28432 0
hw_random 4500 0
snd_intel8x0 29320 3
snd_ac97_codec 64388 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_pcm 79880 2 snd_pcm_oss,snd_intel8x0
snd_timer 19716 1 snd_pcm
snd_page_alloc 8968 2 snd_intel8x0,snd_pcm
snd_mpu401_uart 5888 1 snd_intel8x0
snd_rawmidi 19236 1 snd_mpu401_uart
snd_seq_device 6536 1 snd_rawmidi
snd 44772 11 snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_oss,snd_intel8x0,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm,snd_timer,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_rawmidi, snd_seq_device
soundcore 7008 3 snd
8250_pci 16256 0
8250 17248 1 8250_pci
serial_core 18304 1 8250
evdev 7424 0
ntfs 93780 1
ide_scsi 13700 0
scsi_mod 62268 1 ide_scsi
agpgart 27432 2 intel_agp


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is the part of the kernel config

$ cat /usr/src/linux/.config
[snip]

#
# Hardware configuration
#
CONFIG_FT_STD_FDC=y
# CONFIG_FT_MACH2 is not set
# CONFIG_FT_PROBE_FC10 is not set
# CONFIG_FT_ALT_FDC is not set
CONFIG_FT_FDC_THR=8
CONFIG_FT_FDC_MAX_RATE=2000
CONFIG_FT_ALPHA_CLOCK=0
CONFIG_AGP=m
CONFIG_AGP_ALI=m
CONFIG_AGP_ATI=m
CONFIG_AGP_AMD=m
# CONFIG_AGP_AMD64 is not set
CONFIG_AGP_INTEL=m
# CONFIG_AGP_INTEL_MCH is not set
CONFIG_AGP_NVIDIA=m
CONFIG_AGP_SIS=m
CONFIG_AGP_SWORKS=m
CONFIG_AGP_VIA=m
# CONFIG_AGP_EFFICEON is not set
CONFIG_DRM=y
# CONFIG_DRM_TDFX is not set
# CONFIG_DRM_GAMMA is not set
# CONFIG_DRM_R128 is not set
# CONFIG_DRM_RADEON is not set
CONFIG_DRM_I810=m
CONFIG_DRM_I830=m
# CONFIG_DRM_MGA is not set
# CONFIG_DRM_SIS is not set
[snip]

I don't think the kernel comes with an i915 driver.
However, I was using this source for a while for help: http://www.xiaprojects.com/www/manuali/d400/main.php
which talks about an i915 kernel module. But I don't think I ever got that to work... Maybe I did :P

Hmm well upon closer inspection, it appears you are NOT using the i810 graphics. I scanned through your lspci quickly first and didn't pick it up, but it apppears your using i855 integrated graphics.

A quick google search of your laptop model confirmed this, as your using the a socket 473 celeron capable chipset as well, which the 810 is NOT.
Anyway, this is probably totally irrelevent because you have the proper modules for this card compiled into the kernel regardless. What I suspect happened is one of two things (or even both):

1 - You compiled a 915 kernel module and now for some reason the kernel wants to load this everytime you boot. To fix this, you need to recompile your kernel modules (maybe unessacary but do it anyways) and reinstall them by doing:
2 - You need to change your xorg config to reflect that your not using i810 graphics but 855 chipset instead, this should be easy to fix through the xorgconf utility

The problem with the guide you followed is its for the 915 chipset, which is not yet supported by the kernel (while yours is). So they need to get a seperate development module and *trick* xorg into thinking it is the 810 chip. This is totally unessacary for you as xorg+kernel already have builtin support for your card.

Well I knew i was using an Intel 855 chipset, I just though i810 was the generic driver for all these:

Anyway I looked through xorgconfig and they don't even have a listing for i855, or Intel 855, or anything.

I tried recompiling my modules and reinstalling them..
Not much happened when I recompiled, Nothing seems to have changed as a result of reinstalling them either.

Langsuyar

P.S.: From the building dri website:
Right now I'll continue using i810 as I recompile DRI

Okay, now I finished doing thos instructions to recompile DRI from source, and this has
improved (???) the problem:

Now, there are no errors in Xorg.0.log:

drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
drmOpenByBusid: Searching for BusID pci:0000:00:02.0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 8, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: drmOpenMinor returns 8
drmOpenByBusid: drmGetBusid reports pci:0000:00:02.0
(II) I810(0): [drm] loaded kernel module for "i915" driver
(II) I810(0): [drm] DRM interface version 1.2
(II) I810(0): [drm] created "i915" driver at busid "pci:0000:00:02.0"
(II) I810(0): [drm] added 8192 byte SAREA at 0xe0a77000
(II) I810(0): [drm] mapped SAREA 0xe0a77000 to 0x40306000
(II) I810(0): [drm] framebuffer handle = 0xe8020000
(II) I810(0): [drm] added 1 reserved context for kernel


It's still using the i915 module though, and glxinfo still says no direct rendering etc.

Arg!
Langsuyar

The i810 and i830 driver are the two seperate drivers for intel boards.

810 supports only 810 integrated graphics. You need the 830 modules as it supports 830/845/855/865, which are intels next generation chipsets based on the socket 473 cpus (p4s). Your right though, xorg recognizes it generically as i810 in its driver section, thats why it outputs the quote you found below. However you still need to be using the 830 kernel module.

The idea of using a 915 driver for this chipset is really bizarre, it seems like an ugly hack to get more fps which/may not work. I think this is the source of your troubles. Anyway I wish I could investigate more but I need to go to class.

Well, hm.

Is there a way to tell drm to use the i830 module instead of the i915?

Recompiling it doesn't seem to help.

I'm perfectly comfortable modifying the code though, if I could just find where to do it.

Langsuyar