LinuxQuestions.org - Tutorial: Getting the intel driver to work in gentoo.

Ok this is not a question but more or less a small tutorial to help those who have had just as much trouble or more in getting the intel driver + DRI working.

I first set:

Code:

VIDEO_CARDS="intel"

In my "/etc/make.conf" file.

Then I added "dri" to the USE variable in my "/etc/make.conf".

I then proceeded to edit my "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" and changed the line Driver = "vesa" to Driver = "intel".

Then add the lines:

Code:

Section "dri"

        Mode        0666

EndSection

To the "/etc/X11/xorg.conf".

I then proceeded to make the following changes to my kernel:

Code:



Linux Kernel Configuration: Enabling Intel KMS 

Power management and ACPI options  --->[*] ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) Support  --->

    -*-  Button

    -*-  Video

Device Drivers  --->

  Graphics support  --->

    <*> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support)

      <*> Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support

    <*> Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support)  --->

      <*> Intel I810

      <*> Intel 830M, 845G, 852GM, 855GM, 865G (i915 driver)  --->

        <*> i915 driver

[*] Enable modesetting on intel by default

I then rebuilt my kernel using:

Code:

make && make modules_install

I then copied over the new kernel into /boot:

Code:

cp arch/i386/boot/bzImage /boot/kernel-genkernel-x86-2.6.36-gentoo-r5

BEFORE REBOOTING!!!!!!!

Make sure you have the line "vga=###" removed from the kernel bootloader line in grub. This is because of a conflict between the framebuffer and the intel modsetting. This is vital otherwise you will end up with a headless computer. Quite literally.

Now reboot.

This isn't enough to make it work though. Drop down to a standard TTY and kill X (if its running).

Then issue the command:

Code:

emerge -v libdrm

Then issue the command:

Code:

emerge -v mesa

Then issue the command:

Code:

emerge -v xorg-drivers

Then issue the command:

Code:

emerge -v xorg-x11

Then issue the command:

Code:

emerge -auvND world

After waiting a LONG time, issue the command:

Code:

emerge -v xf86-video-intel

Then reboot the computer again.

If you are lucky like I was, then the X server will use the intel driver + DRI.

To check to see if "direct rendering" is working:

Code:

glxinfo | grep rendering

Should state: "direct rendering: Yes"

Note you will need "mesa-progs" to use glxinfo.

Hope I helped those who were as lost as me.