A Guide: Enabling 3D Acceleration in X11

perry · 08-04-2007, 11:52 AM

Minor problem. Running ATI 9600 on Slackware 12 with Kernel 2.6.21.5-SMP running fine. Have the latest ATI linux driver installed:

(one moment, I'll be back, some of my usb devices didn't come up on the last boot)

Back!

(Gee thats wierd, activating vesa frame buffer support in lilo.conf causes hal not to detect some of my usb devices)

Code:

# Linux bootable partition config begins
image = /boot/vmlinuz
  initrd = /boot/initrd.gz
  root = /dev/hda15
  label = slack12.0
  read-only  # Partitions should be mounted read-only for checking
#  vga=773
# Linux bootable partition config ends

my ati driver is "ati-driver-installer-8.39.4-x86.x86_64.run" and this is my xorg.conf:

Code:

# File generated by xorgconfig.
#
# Copyright 2004 The X.Org Foundation
#
# Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a
# copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"),
# to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation
# the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense,
# and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
# Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
# 
# The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
# all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
# 
# THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
# IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
# FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN NO EVENT SHALL
# The X.Org Foundation BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
# WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF
# OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
# SOFTWARE.
# 
# Except as contained in this notice, the name of The X.Org Foundation shall
# not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other
# dealings in this Software without prior written authorization from
# The X.Org Foundation.
#
# **********************************************************************
# Refer to the xorg.conf(5x) man page for details about the format of 
# this file.
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Module section -- this  section  is used to specify
# which dynamically loadable modules to load.
# **********************************************************************
#
# **********************************************************************
# Files section.  This allows default font and rgb paths to be set
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Server flags section.
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Input devices
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Core keyboard's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Core Pointer's InputDevice section
# **********************************************************************
# **********************************************************************
# Other input device sections 
# this is optional and is required only if you
# are using extended input devices.  This is for example only.  Refer
# to the xorg.conf man page for a description of the options.
# **********************************************************************
#
# Section "InputDevice" 
#    Identifier  "Mouse2"
#    Driver      "mouse"
#    Option      "Protocol"      "MouseMan"
#    Option      "Device"        "/dev/mouse2"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball"
#    Driver     "magellan"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "spaceball2"
#    Driver     "spaceorb"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/cua0"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen0"
#    Driver     "microtouch"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "1412"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "15184"
#    Option     "MinY"          "15372"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "1230"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
#
# Section "InputDevice"
#    Identifier "touchscreen1"
#    Driver     "elo2300"
#    Option     "Device"        "/dev/ttyS0"
#    Option     "MinX"          "231"
#    Option     "MaxX"          "3868"
#    Option     "MinY"          "3858"
#    Option     "MaxY"          "272"
#    Option     "ScreenNumber"  "0"
#    Option     "ReportingMode" "Scaled"
#    Option     "ButtonThreshold"       "17"
#    Option     "ButtonNumber"  "1"
#    Option     "SendCoreEvents"
# EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# Monitor section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of monitor sections may be present
# **********************************************************************
# Graphics device section
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of graphics device sections may be present
# Standard VGA Device:
# Device configured by xorgconfig:
# **********************************************************************
# Screen sections
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of screen sections may be present.  Each describes
# the configuration of a single screen.  A single specific screen section
# may be specified from the X server command line with the "-screen"
# option.
# **********************************************************************
# ServerLayout sections.
# **********************************************************************
# Any number of ServerLayout sections may be present.  Each describes
# the way multiple screens are organised.  A specific ServerLayout
# section may be specified from the X server command line with the
# "-layout" option.  In the absence of this, the first section is used.
# When now ServerLayout section is present, the first Screen section
# is used alone.
Section "DRI"
   Mode 0666
EndSection
# **********************************************************************
# DRI Section
# **********************************************************************

Section "ServerLayout"

# The Identifier line must be present
# Each Screen line specifies a Screen section name, and optionally
# the relative position of other screens.  The four names after
# primary screen name are the screens to the top, bottom, left and right
# of the primary screen.  In this example, screen 2 is located to the
# right of screen 1.
# Each InputDevice line specifies an InputDevice section name and
# optionally some options to specify the way the device is to be
# used.  Those options include "CorePointer", "CoreKeyboard" and
# "SendCoreEvents".
	Identifier     "Simple Layout"
	Screen      0  "aticonfig-Screen[0]" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
	InputDevice    "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"

# The location of the RGB database.  Note, this is the name of the
# file minus the extension (like ".txt" or ".db").  There is normally
# no need to change the default.
#    RgbPath	"/usr/share/X11/rgb"
# Multiple FontPath entries are allowed (which are concatenated together),
# as well as specifying multiple comma-separated entries in one FontPath
# command (or a combination of both methods)
# 
# 
#    FontPath   "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/local/"
# The module search path.  The default path is shown here.
#    ModulePath "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
        RgbPath	     "/usr/share/X11/rgb"  
        FontPath     "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/local"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Speedo/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/OTF/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/"
	FontPath     "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/OTF"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
        FontPath 	"/usr/share/fonts"
        FontPath 	"/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts"
EndSection

Section "Module"

# This loads the DBE extension module.
# This loads the miscellaneous extensions module, and disables
# initialisation of the XFree86-DGA extension within that module.
# This loads the font modules
#    Load        "type1"
# This loads the GLX module
	Load  "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension
	SubSection "extmod"
		Option	    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
	EndSubSection
         Load       "type1"
         Load       "speedo"
	Load  "freetype"
#    Load        "xtt"
	Load  "glx"
# This loads the DRI module
	Load  "dri"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# For most OSs the protocol can be omitted (it defaults to "Standard").
# When using XQUEUE (only for SVR3 and SVR4, but not Solaris),
# uncomment the following line.
#    Option     "Protocol"      "Xqueue"
#    Option	"Xleds"      "1 2 3"
#    Option "LeftAlt"     "Meta"
#    Option "RightAlt"    "ModeShift"
# To customise the XKB settings to suit your keyboard, modify the
# lines below (which are the defaults).  For example, for a non-U.S.
# keyboard, you will probably want to use:
#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc105"
# If you have a US Microsoft Natural keyboard, you can use:
#    Option "XkbModel"    "microsoft"
#
# Then to change the language, change the Layout setting.
# For example, a german layout can be obtained with:
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "de"
# or:
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "de"
#    Option "XkbVariant"  "nodeadkeys"
#
# If you'd like to switch the positions of your capslock and
# control keys, use:
#    Option "XkbOptions"  "ctrl:swapcaps"
# These are the default XKB settings for Xorg
#    Option "XkbRules"    "xorg"
#    Option "XkbModel"    "pc105"
#    Option "XkbLayout"   "us"
#    Option "XkbVariant"  ""
#    Option "XkbOptions"  ""
#    Option "XkbDisable"
	Identifier  "Keyboard1"
	Driver      "kbd"
	Option	    "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
# Specify which keyboard LEDs can be user-controlled (eg, with xset(1))
	Option	    "XkbRules" "xorg"
	Option	    "XkbModel" "pc105"
	Option	    "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

# Identifier and driver
#    Option "Protocol"    "PS/2"	# PS/2 Mouse
# the following line.
#    Option "Protocol"	"Xqueue"
# Mouse-speed setting for PS/2 mouse.
#    Option "Resolution"	"256"
# Baudrate and SampleRate are only for some Logitech mice. In
# almost every case these lines should be omitted.
#    Option "BaudRate"	"9600"
#    Option "SampleRate"	"150"
# Mouse wheel mapping.  Default is to map vertical wheel to buttons 4 & 5,
# horizontal wheel to buttons 6 & 7.   Change if your mouse has more than
# 3 buttons and you need to map the wheel to different button ids to avoid
# conflicts.
#    Option "ZAxisMapping"   "4 5 6 7"
# Emulate3Timeout is the timeout in milliseconds (default is 50ms)
	Identifier  "Mouse1"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option	    "Protocol" "auto"	# PS/2 Mouse
	Option	    "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
# When using XQUEUE, comment out the above two lines, and uncomment
	Option	    "Resolution" "256"
	Option	    "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
# Emulate3Buttons is an option for 2-button mice
	Option	    "Emulate3Buttons"
#    Option "Emulate3Timeout"    "50"
# ChordMiddle is an option for some 3-button Logitech mice
#    Option "ChordMiddle"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"

# HorizSync is in kHz unless units are specified.
# HorizSync may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
#    HorizSync	30-64         # multisync
#    HorizSync	31.5, 35.2    # multiple fixed sync frequencies
#    HorizSync	15-25, 30-50  # multiple ranges of sync frequencies
# VertRefresh is in Hz unless units are specified.
# VertRefresh may be a comma separated list of discrete values, or a
# comma separated list of ranges of values.
# NOTE: THE VALUES HERE ARE EXAMPLES ONLY.  REFER TO YOUR MONITOR'S
# USER MANUAL FOR THE CORRECT NUMBERS.
	Identifier   "kds"
	HorizSync    31.5 - 79.0
	VertRefresh  50.0 - 160.0
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
	Option	    "VendorName" "ATI Proprietary Driver"
	Option	    "ModelName" "Generic Autodetecting Monitor"
	Option	    "DPMS" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"

# The chipset line is optional in most cases.  It can be used to override
# the driver's chipset detection, and should not normally be specified.
#    Chipset	"generic"
# The Driver line must be present.  When using run-time loadable driver
# modules, this line instructs the server to load the specified driver
# module.  Even when not using loadable driver modules, this line
# indicates which driver should interpret the information in this section.
# The BusID line is used to specify which of possibly multiple devices
# this section is intended for.  When this line isn't present, a device
# section can only match up with the primary video device.  For PCI
# devices a line like the following could be used.  This line should not
# normally be included unless there is more than one video device
# intalled.
#    BusID      "PCI:0:10:0"
#    VideoRam	256
#    Clocks	25.2 28.3
	Identifier  "Standard VGA"
	Driver      "vga"
	VendorName  "Unknown"
	BoardName   "Unknown"
EndSection

Section "Device"

    # Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
	Identifier  "** ATI Radeon (generic)               [radeon]"
	Driver      "radeon"
	VideoRam    262144
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]"
	Driver      "fglrx"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen 1"
	Device     "** ATI Radeon (generic)               [radeon]"
	Monitor    "kds"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     8
		Modes    "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     16
		Modes    "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
		Modes    "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Screen"
	Identifier "aticonfig-Screen[0]"
	Device     "aticonfig-Device[0]"
	Monitor    "aticonfig-Monitor[0]"
	DefaultDepth     24
	SubSection "Display"
		Viewport   0 0
		Depth     24
	EndSubSection
EndSection

#Section "DRI"
#
# Access to OpenGL ICD is allowed for all users:
# Access to OpenGL ICD is restricted to a specific user group:
#    Group 100    # users
#    Mode 0660
#	Mode         0666
#EndSection

Section "Extensions"
	Option "Composite" "true"
EndSection

This is what I get while root:

Code:

root@slackware:/etc/X11# glxgears
16529 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3305.779 FPS
19448 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3889.501 FPS
19476 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3895.198 FPS

this is what I get while user:

Code:

can somebody point out to me if there is something rather simple not setup in my config?

thanks

- perry

ps.
UPDATE - It works now... for some damn reason, it just decided to start working properly.... damn it!

Code:

perry@slackware:~/Desktop$ glxgears
13777 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2754.136 FPS
19530 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3905.946 FPS
19495 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3898.999 FPS
19186 frames in 5.0 seconds = 3837.199 FPS

Eternal_Newbie · 08-04-2007, 05:19 PM

Your DRI section is commented out:

Code:

#Section "DRI"
#
# Access to OpenGL ICD is allowed for all users:
# Access to OpenGL ICD is restricted to a specific user group:
#    Group 100    # users
#    Mode 0660
#	Mode         0666
#EndSection

You want to uncomment these lines:

Code:

Section "DRI"
    Mode         0666
EndSection

duryodhan · 08-08-2007, 06:25 AM

Hey,
I had DRI working with slack11 and then I upgraded to 12. I created a new xorg.conf and started X, DRI didn't work. Then I copied over the older (Slack11) xorg.conf and startx, DRI still didn't work. I tried as root too. I am a little advanced Slackware user, so I have tried all the solutions for Slackware11, I am pretty sure this was caused by slackware 12. How do I fix this?

I am using the i810 driver for intel 915 chipset, 128MB Video onboard GMA.

Is this a common problem with Slack12?

perry · 08-08-2007, 01:06 PM

Not sure if that is going to work for you...

You might want to see if there is a special driver for that:

intellinuxgraphics

- perry

ShellyCat · 08-08-2007, 03:27 PM

This is the documentation on (Intel's?) website, though I admit it is not complete:
http://www.intellinuxgraphics.org/man.html#layout

I got mine to work using various information, including the above.
Here is my post:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...=1#post2852486

duryodhan · 08-09-2007, 09:12 PM

Hey!
I got it working simply by reinstalling the xf860-video-..-i810 package from slackware12 DVD. It seems the slackware 12 install changes the i810 driver to a symlink to the intel driver. You have to reinstall the actual i810 driver for it to work.

perry · 08-13-2007, 05:10 PM

I was running the fglx driver for my ATI 9600 card on my AMD VIA_K8 and getting my 3D hardware acceleration activating properly only 50% of the time. Took a look at the xorg.conf file and on a hunch made use of the radeon driver. Did the Ctrl-Alt-Bksp and up came the screen in 1400x1050 format. Didn't think it could do that! Moreover, ran glxgears and got 1/2 the accleration speeds that I got with the fglx driver.

Code:

perry@slackware:/mnt/maxtor/installations$ glxgears
7841 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1566.880 FPS
8120 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1620.834 FPS
8480 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1695.834 FPS

But, it works! And I suspect, it'll work reliably. I'll give this a test for a while. Along with the additional real estate, I think I can live with the slower frame rates.

Anything is better than no acceleration at all.

- Perry

cwwilson721 · 08-13-2007, 05:14 PM

Another thing to remember:

glxgears is NOT a reliable benchmark, especially between different drivers (flgrx and radeon).

I have seen where the OEM drivers give a false high reading.

The main thing is if you are happy with what you have.

Rollo69 · 08-16-2007, 09:56 PM

Ok, now that I have read the entire thread I need help ( if at all possible). I have Slack 10.2 , kernel 2.6.22.2, agpgart as module, drm as module, and sis as module. I have onboard SiS vga:
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Silicon Integrated Systems [SiS] 65x/M650/740 PCI/AGP VGA Display Adapter
lsmod:
sis_agp 13708 1
sis5513 18952 0 [permanent]
sis900 26636 0
drm 84892 1 sis

I have read my doc's and it says that the SiS 651 and couple others (exception 300 series) are dri capable. I can't do a xorgsetup but can do xorgconfig. My driver isn't listed so I had to use the generic. The 5513 is for ide and the 900 is lan. I have tried the different SiS drivers in xorgconfig but to no avail as far as loading dri. The doc's state to use Option "DRI" "boolean" but that didn't work either. I haven't seen any mention in this long, and thanks for the 3D howto and everyone's input, thread about SiS. If anyone has been able to get it working plz let me know how. Otherwise, I'll just have to get an agp NVidia card somewhere.

Thanks and keep up the good work guys!!

chefkoch · 08-17-2007, 12:44 AM

AFAIK there are currently no 3d drivers for the sis65x. I have one of those in my laptop.
sis provides an binary driver for xfree 4.1 but that's about it.

perry · 08-17-2007, 01:28 PM

Have not heard of any 3D driver for SiS mentioned on this site. Your much better off getting yourself a good deal on one of last year's ATIs or nVidia cards:

Check out what you'll pay for an ATI 9800 or GeForce 8500 here!

Last year I paid about $250.00 Canadian for mine (aka $200 U.S. then)

- Perry

perry · 08-17-2007, 01:33 PM

Look at the price difference on a single brand of video card from two companies... in the same town!

Video Cards - RADEON 9800 prices

The 9600 that I got is a really good card except as I just found out recently, does not support Composite very well. As a result I can't make use of Xfce's translucent windowing feature as good as I see it on lynuc.org.

Still for the money, the 9600 a really good card! The 3D ATI driver will support 3D renderoring but it's flaky on my system (probably something I'm doing). The radeon driver that comes with seems to do a fantastic job without DRI support (1500+ FPS as opposed to 3500+ FPS) and with the radeon driver i get more real estate at 1400x1050. Since I have a small 8 gig partition reserved for Win2k for game playing I really don't need to be fusing around with the ATI driver.

In your case, you can't go wrong with either an ATI or nVidia card if you want DRI or near DRI support.

Cheers,

- perry

Rollo69 · 08-17-2007, 07:59 PM

I appreciate the info chefkoch about sis chipset. Thank you perry for the heads up about price watch. I will definitely be keeping a watch for the nvidia card.

cwwilson721 · 08-17-2007, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by perry286226

In your case, you can't go wrong with either an ATI or nVidia card if you want DRI or near DRI support.

Cheers,

- perry

Well, that depends. Older ATI, forget about. And ATI seems to be up to their old "We don't like your kernel, Xorg version, or your nose. So we won't work" stuff again. Closed source is a pain.

If you want cheap(er), much easier to setup/use dri, go with older Nvidia or (REAL CHEAP, NOT AS FAST) Intel

mcnalu · 08-18-2007, 02:35 PM

First, thanks to all folk who've posted on this thread - been a great help.

Also, I followed/adapted instructions from here:
http://isblokken.dk/dokuwiki/doku.ph...uters:linuxati

Here's how I got it working [after a bit of trial and error]:

My system: Slackware 11, 2.6.17.13, ATI Radeon XPRESS 200M

Compiled kernel as described in the above link, selecting kernel compile options exactly as described. [2.6 kernel compile commands are a bit different though.]

After reboot I just left the agpgart module loaded, which, according to the ATI docs, means I'm using the "external" one.

Downloaded ati-driver-installer-8.40.4-x86.x86_64.run from
http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/l...ux-radeon.html
and followed the instructions [linked to from that page] for an automatic installation. Don't forget the aticonfig --initial step at the end.

Then after rebooting I started up X and had hardware 3D acceleration.
No editing of xorg.conf was needed - aticonfig did it all for me, and backed up my original one just in case.

Edit: Above is not quite true, I had to add the /dev/shm entry to /etc/fstab, then mount /dev/shm and add the lines in xorg.conf with mode 0666 to allow non-root users to use DRI. All this was described in the first post.

Very pleased now - but it's worthing noting that I did spend several hours in a state of frustration before a smile appeared on my face

Andrew