A Guide: Enabling 3D Acceleration in X11

GregLee · 05-23-2007, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alien_Hominid

It should be there in your system: usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri

There's no X11R6 directory any more in Xorg 7.1. The corresponding directory is /usr/lib/xorg/modules. When the xorg.conf file has "dri" in the list of modules to load, the server complains that it cannot dlopen /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/dri/radeon_dri.so. And no wonder. There's no drivers/dri/ directory at all. And the server goes on to note that AIGLX is "reverting to software rendering".

When I remove the request to load the dri module from xorg.conf, the server still complains "(EE) AIGLX: dri module not loaded", however it does not say it is reverting to software rendering. So maybe I actually have dri, and the server error messages are mistaken. I'll try to find out. (Right now, I don't have a glxinfo program -- it was inside the defunct X11R6.)

I found and compiled the ati video drivers for xorg 7.0, 7.1, and 7.2, and none of them is set up to create a dri module, and they all appear to have dri support within the driver.

gtludwig · 05-24-2007, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gustaveiras

H_TeXMeX_H, I haven't tried legacy drivers yet. Will do it tonight!

Should I expect better 3D performance in Slamd64?

Will post again later today!

Couldn't make it last night - was busy watching a soccer match and drinking a few beers!

Gonna do it tonight!

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-24-2007, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gustaveiras

H_TeXMeX_H, I haven't tried legacy drivers yet. Will do it tonight!

Should I expect better 3D performance in Slamd64?

Will post again later today!

Well, possibly. Guess we have to see.

gtludwig · 05-24-2007, 11:10 PM

ok! I burnt Slamd64 iso this morning. I plan to install it over the weekend and sure will post here the results.

I've downloaded legacy drivers (1.0-7185 and 1.0-9631) for benchmarking.

1.0-7185

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11570 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2313.803 FPS
11537 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2307.202 FPS
11577 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2315.357 FPS
11569 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2313.679 FPS
11580 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2315.988 FPS
11582 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2316.367 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

1.0-9631

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11607 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2321.400 FPS
11677 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2335.336 FPS
11697 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2339.213 FPS
11694 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2338.716 FPS
11695 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2338.934 FPS
11687 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2337.330 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

1.0-9775

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11454 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2290.677 FPS
11431 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2286.049 FPS
11481 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2296.000 FPS
11477 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2295.255 FPS
11484 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2296.789 FPS
11474 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2294.771 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

Not much difference. The 1.0-9631 is the best ranked, though.

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-25-2007, 12:31 AM

Hmmm ... well, maybe that's just the best the card can do.

gtludwig · 05-25-2007, 10:11 AM

Such an inspiring reply... darn! Anyway, thanks for the replies! Over the weekend I'll try Slamd and will post something here!

cwwilson721 · 05-25-2007, 12:22 PM

You MAY get better results w/64 bit os, do to the differing hardware on a 64bit system (Chipset optimizers, etc...)

However, most of the info I put in post 1 ought to still apply.

Let us know.

And the side by side comparisons of the different drivers is a nice addition to this thread...I might even add this discussion about the 64bit world to post 1

As I've always said, even negative results are still results.

Thanks

Zmyrgel · 05-27-2007, 04:31 AM

I use Slackware-current and I can't get the ati drivers to compile on my system. I use Thinkpad T60 with ATI mobility radeon X1400.

The error I get is

Code:

[Message] Kernel Module : Trying to install a precompiled kernel module.
[Message] Kernel Module : Precompiled kernel module version mismatched.
[Message] Kernel Module : Found kernel module build environment, generating kernel module now.
ATI module generator V 2.0
==========================
initializing...
Error:
kernel includes at /lib/modules/2.6.21.1/build/include do not match current kernel.
they are versioned as ""
instead of "2.6.21.1".
you might need to adjust your symlinks:
- /usr/include
- /usr/src/linux
[Error] Kernel Module : Failed to compile kernel module - please consult readme.

I currently use the vesa driver and it displays the correct resolution but does vesa driver support for example tv-out and video playback properly? I don't necessary need the ati drivers so I'm considering to stick with vesa if it will work.

berVi · 05-27-2007, 11:05 AM

it seems to be symlink problem

check out your /lib/modules/2.6.21.1/build symlink, where does it point to, and does the destination exist. if it does, does it have an include subfolder

maybe your kernel sources are not installed

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-27-2007, 01:19 PM

First, make sure you have the kernel source installed, then make sure the following symlinks point to the correct kernel source:

Code:

/usr/src/linux
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/source

Really, the second two are more important.

(I'll have to simply make one post, then refer everyone to in instead of saying the same thing over and over ... this will be that post.)

Zmyrgel · 05-28-2007, 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

First, make sure you have the kernel source installed, then make sure the following symlinks point to the correct kernel source:

Code:

/usr/src/linux
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/source

Really, the second two are more important.

(I'll have to simply make one post, then refer everyone to in instead of saying the same thing over and over ... this will be that post.)

Great post as this solved my issue

gtludwig · 05-28-2007, 09:29 AM

work in Slamd64 is still in progress!

As of now I can't say to the kernel to compile agpgart as module, it seems like I've a dependency issue here I can't backtrace.

Kernel is 2.6.21.1 and driver 1.0-7185 gives me this:

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11607 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2321.365 FPS
11611 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2322.004 FPS
11530 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2305.926 FPS
11611 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2322.093 FPS
11612 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2322.215 FPS
11607 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2321.255 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

driver 1.0-9631:

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11596 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2319.100 FPS
11619 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2323.619 FPS
11608 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2321.441 FPS
11553 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2310.427 FPS
11614 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2322.722 FPS
11610 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2321.962 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

driver 1.0.9775:

Code:

gtl@omicron:~$ glxgears
11365 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2272.938 FPS
11384 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2276.604 FPS
11372 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2274.381 FPS
11323 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2264.443 FPS
11383 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2276.412 FPS
11375 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2274.960 FPS

gtl@omicron:~$

This is quite similar to the FPS I got on Slackware 11 (see post #499) and, again, driver 1.0-9631 got the best performance! Work is still in progress! I'll see if I can get another video card (a better one!) to test glxgears with!

Thanks for the attention and help so far!

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-28-2007, 02:14 PM

Again, that's probably the best it can do ... I don't know of anything else that might be wrong. Also, you shouldn't compare your card to mine. Although mine is older, it is not a regular nvidia card. It is an overclocked ASUS version ... maybe I should have mentioned that

cwwilson721 · 05-28-2007, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H_TeXMeX_H

First, make sure you have the kernel source installed, then make sure the following symlinks point to the correct kernel source:

Code:

/usr/src/linux
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/build
/lib/modules/$(uname -r)/source

Really, the second two are more important.

(I'll have to simply make one post, then refer everyone to in instead of saying the same thing over and over ... this will be that post.)

Not a bad idea...
I do the same thing whenever I see anyone having any dri issues anywhere...

As for the glxgears fps...It is not a very reliable benchmark. As has been seen with ATI, it means nothing really.
As long as dri is working, it's doing everything it can within the constraints of Linux at it's current state of development.

Just wait. It should get better.

H_TeXMeX_H · 05-28-2007, 03:52 PM

I know, glxgears is not a benchmark ... maybe everyone should benchmark using cube

(it's free ... I mean you could use UT2004, or quake4 ... but not everyone has them).