The state of xf86-video-ati

nordog · 2011-04-18 23:43:45

Today I bought the Humble Frozenbyte bundle and when trying to run one of the games I realized that 3D acceleration is no longer working on my setup. At some point in the past it did, but I have no idea how long ago that was. My system is completely up to date and kernel mode setting is working, but when e.g. issuing the command glxinfo I get the following response:

name of display: :0
Error: couldn't find RGB GLX visual or fbconfig

My chipset is the x1400 Radeon Mobility.

I'm a bit confused with how the open source ATI driver, Gallium3D, Mesa and all that other stuff relate to each other but as I understand it there is some work underway to tie all these things together. So my question is basically this: is the ATI driver in a temporary state of flux where the 3D acceleration doesn't work and will the problem resolve itself with time, or do I need to get my hands dirty?

Also, if anyone can recommend a decent entry level guide that explains all these graphics related technical terms and how they fit together I'd be very interested.

Thanks in advance

Last edited by nordog (2011-04-20 22:17:58)

jlindgren · 2011-04-18 23:51:13

It's working here (different chipset though). Check the X server log for errors?

Inxsible · 2011-04-19 00:19:11

Have you gone through the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle thread ??

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 58#p918558

Infragilis · 2011-04-19 03:05:37

I have the same problem, my graphics card charging is an ATI x1200. I searched for errors:

[root@myhost ~]# cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep WW
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 16.670] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[ 16.670] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/" does not exist.
[ 16.670] (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/".
[ 16.671] (WW) `fonts.dir' not found (or not valid) in "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/".
[ 16.829] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module vesa
[ 16.830] (WW) Warning, couldn't open module fbdev
[ 18.007] (WW) USB Optical Mouse: ignoring absolute axes.

[root@myhost ~]# cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE
[ 16.505] Current Operating System: Linux myhost 2.6.38-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Mar 30 08:47:36 CEST 2011 x86_64
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 16.697] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 16.829] (EE) Failed to load module "vesa" (module does not exist, 0)
[ 16.830] (EE) Failed to load module "fbdev" (module does not exist, 0)

nordog · 2011-04-19 08:34:05

Inxsible wrote:

Have you gone through the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle thread ??
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 58#p918558

Thanks for the suggestion, but since I cannot run any game that uses 3D acceleration, I didn't look for any game-specific troubleshooting.

Is the warning below indicating that glx will not be loaded a possible culprit?

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep WW
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    15.671] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF/" does not exist.
[    15.775] (WW) Open ACPI failed (/var/run/acpid.socket) (No such file or directory)
[    15.775] (WW) "glx" will not be loaded unless you've specified it to be loaded elsewhere.
[    16.519] (WW) RADEON(0): Option "NoDDC" is not used

and

cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE
[    15.151] Current Operating System: Linux nordog 2.6.38-ARCH #1 SMP PREEMPT Wed Mar 30 08:47:36 CEST 2011 x86_64
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    15.888] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[    17.720] (EE) Query no Synaptics: 6003C8
[    17.720] (EE) SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad Unable to query/initialize Synaptics hardware.
[    17.763] (EE) PreInit returned 11 for "SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad"

nordog · 2011-04-20 00:56:39

Ok, so I added the following to my Xorg.conf:

Section "Module"
       Load "glx"
EndSection

and now I have 3D acceleration enabled, but the performance is admittedly nothing to get excited about (~ 50 fps with glxgears - I know, not the most reliable way to benchmark, but still... kwin desktop effects didn't really work smoothly enough).

I noticed the following line in the xorg log:

"glx" will be loaded even though the default is to disable it

If 3D acceleration doesn't work unless glx is loaded, why is the default to disable it? Is it because it's being phased out and going to be replaced by something else, and if so; what?

Arch Linux

#1 2011-04-18 23:43:45

The state of xf86-video-ati

#2 2011-04-18 23:51:13

Re: The state of xf86-video-ati

#3 2011-04-19 00:19:11

Re: The state of xf86-video-ati

#4 2011-04-19 03:05:37

Re: The state of xf86-video-ati

#5 2011-04-19 08:34:05

Re: The state of xf86-video-ati

#6 2011-04-20 00:56:39

Re: The state of xf86-video-ati

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