DRI User Guide : Hardware-Specific Information and Troubleshooting
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10. Hardware-Specific Information and Troubleshooting

This section presents hardware-specific information for normal use and troubleshooting.

10.1. 3dfx Banshee, Voodoo3, Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 Series

10.1.1. Requirements

The 3dfx DRI driver requires special versions of the 3dfx Glide library. Different versions of Glide are needed for Banshee/Voodoo3 than for Voodoo4/5. The Glide libraries can be downloaded from the DRI website.

10.1.2. Configuration

Your XF86Config file's device section must specify the tdfx device. For example:

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "Voodoo3"
            VendorName  "3dfx"
            Driver      "tdfx"
        EndSection
            

Or,

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "Voodoo5"
            VendorName  "3dfx"
            Driver      "tdfx"
        EndSection
            

The Screen section should then reference the Voodoo device:

	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "Voodoo3"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 16
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

Or,

	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "Voodoo5"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 24
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       24
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

The kernel module for 3dfx hardware is named tdfx.o and should be installed in /lib/modules/2.4.x/kernel/drivers/char/drm/. It will be automatically loaded by the Xserver if needed.

The DRI 3D driver for 3dfx hardware should be in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/tdfx_dri.so. This will be automatically loaded by libGL.so.

The Voodoo5 supports 3D rendering in 16 and 32 bpp modes. When running in 32bpp mode an 8-bit stencil buffer and 24-bit Z (depth) buffer are offered. When running in 16bpp mode only a 16-bit Z (depth) buffer is offered and stencil is implemented in software.

A software-based accumulation buffer is available in both 16 and 32bpp modes.

10.1.3. Troubleshooting

10.1.4. Performance and Features

10.1.5. Known Problems

10.2. Intel i810

10.2.1. Requirements

A kernel with AGP GART support (such as Linux 2.4.x) is needed.

10.2.2. Configuration

Your XF86Config file's device section must specify the i810 device, and specify a usable amount of video ram to reserve.

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "i810"
            VendorName  "Intel"
            Driver      "i810"
	    Option	"AGPMode" "1"
	    VideoRam    10000
        EndSection
            
The Screen section should then reference the i810 device:
	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "i810"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 16
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

The kernel module for the i810 is named i810.o and should be installed in /lib/modules/2.4.x/kernel/drivers/char/drm/. It will be automatically loaded by the Xserver if needed.

The DRI 3D driver for the i810 should be in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/i810_dri.so. This will be automatically loaded by libGL.so.

10.2.3. Troubleshooting

10.2.4. Performance and Features

Basically all of the i810 features which can be exposed through OpenGL 1.2 are implemented. However, the following OpenGL features are implemented in software and will be slow:

10.3. Matrox G200 and G400

10.3.1. Requirements

A kernel with AGP GART support (such as Linux 2.4.x) is needed.

10.3.2. Configuration

Your XF86Config file's device section must specify the mga device:

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "MGA"
            VendorName  "Matrox"
            Driver      "mga"
	    Option	"AGPMode" "1"
	    VideoRam    32768
        EndSection
            
The Screen section should then reference the MGA device:
	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "MGA"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 16
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            
To use a 32bpp screen mode, use this Screen section instead:
	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "MGA"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 24
            DefaultFbBpp 32
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       24
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

The kernel module for the G200/G400 is named mga.o and should be installed in /lib/modules/2.4.x/kernel/drivers/char/drm/. It will be automatically loaded by the Xserver if needed.

The DRI 3D driver for the G200/G400 should be in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/mga_dri.so. This will be automatically loaded by libGL.so.

10.3.3. Performance and Features

Software rendering will be used under any of the following conditions:

The AGP mode may be set to 1, 2, or 4. One is used by default. Higher AGP speeds may result in unreliable performance depending on your motherboard.

Compaq has funded the implementation of AGP accelerated ReadPixels and DrawPixels in this driver. With this implementation, on a G400 drawing directly from AGP memory (exported to the client), throughput of up to 1 GB/sec has been measured.

Additionally Compaq's funding has produced several new extensions in Mesa, including one (packed_depth_stencil_MESA) which enables Read/DrawPixels functionality to operate directly on the packed 24/8 depth/stencil buffers of this hardware.

In order to access this functionality, the application must ensure that all pixel processing operations are disabled. There are in addition a fairly complex set of rules regarding which packing/unpacking modes must be used, and which data formats are supported, and alignment constraints. See the files in lib/GL/mesa/src/drv/mga/DOCS for a summary of these. The extension definitions are included in the Mesa 3.4 source distribution.

10.3.4. IRQ Assignment

There have been problems in the past with the MGA driver being very sluggish when the DRI is enabled (to the point of being unusable.) This is caused by the graphics card not having an interrupt assigned to it. The current DRI trunk will attempt to detect this condition and bail out gracefully.

The solution to the above problem is to assign an interrupt to your graphics card. This is something you must turn on in your system BIOS configuration. Please consult your system BIOS manual for instructions on how to enable an interrupt for your graphics card.

10.3.5. MGA HAL lib

MGAHALlib.a is a binary library Matrox has provided for use under Linux to expose functionality for which they can not provide documentation. (For example TV-Out requires MacroVision be enabled on the output.) This binary library also sets the pixel/memory clocks to the optimal settings for your Matrox card.

Currently the MGAHAL library is required for the G450 to work. You can download this from the driver section on Matrox's website: www.matrox.com/mga

Here modifications to the DRI build instructions which make the mga ddx driver use the MGAHAL library:

	  1.Put the following define in your host.def file
		  #define UseMatroxHal YES
	  2. Place mgaHALlib.a in the following directory
		  xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/drivers/mga/HALlib/
          

You can use DualHead on the G400/G450 DH cards by creating two device sections which both point to the same BusID. For most AGP devices the BusID will be "PCI:1:0:0". Configure your screen section as you would normally configure XFree86 4.x Multihead. It should be noted that currently the second head does not support direct rendering.

10.3.6. Known Problems

None.

10.4. ATI Rage 128

10.4.1. Requirements

A kernel with AGP GART support (such as Linux 2.4.x) is needed.

10.4.2. Configuration

Your XF86Config file's device section must specify the ati device:

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "Rage128"
            VendorName  "ATI"
            Driver      "ati"
	    Option	"AGPMode" "1"
	    Option	"UseCCEFor2D" "false"
        EndSection
            
The Screen section should then reference the Rage 128 device:
	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "Rage128"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 16
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       32
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

The kernel module for the Rage 128 is named r128.o and should be installed in /lib/modules/2.4.x/kernel/drivers/char/drm/. It will be automatically loaded by the Xserver if needed.

The DRI 3D driver for the Rage 128 should be in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/r128_dri.so. This will be automatically loaded by libGL.so.

You may also set your screen depth to 32 for 32bpp mode.

10.4.3. Performance and Features

While PCI Rage 128 based cards are supported, they do not yet support PCI GART, so they will not perform as well as their AGP counterparts.

For AGP cards, the AGP mode may be set to 1, 2, or 4. One is used by default. Higher AGP speeds may result in unreliable performance depending on your motherboard.

Note that even at 32bpp there is no alpha channel.

The following OpenGL features are implemented in software and will be slow:

10.4.4. Known Problems

If you experience stability problems you may try setting the UseCCEFor2D option to true. This will effectively disable 2D hardware acceleration. Performance will be degraded, of course.

10.5. ATI Radeon

10.5.1. Requirements

A kernel with AGP GART support (such as Linux 2.4.x) is needed.

10.5.2. Configuration

Your XF86Config file's device section must specify the ati device:

        Section "Device"
            Identifier  "Radeon"
            VendorName  "ATI"
            Driver      "ati"
	    Option	"AGPMode" "1"
        EndSection
            
The Screen section should then reference the Radeon device:
	Section "Screen"
	    Identifier  "Screen 1"
	    Device      "Radeon"
	    Monitor     "High Res Monitor"
	    DefaultDepth 16
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       16
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
	    Subsection "Display"
		Depth       32
		Modes       "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
		ViewPort    0 0
	    EndSubsection
        EndSection
            

The kernel module for the Radeon is named radeon.o and should be installed in /lib/modules/2.4.x/kernel/drivers/char/drm/. It will be automatically loaded by the Xserver if needed.

The DRI 3D driver for the Radeon should be in /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/radeon_dri.so. This will be automatically loaded by libGL.so.

You may also set your screen depth to 32 for 32bpp mode.

10.5.3. Performance and Features

While this driver supports many of the features of ATI Radeon cards, we do not yet fully support the card's TCL features. This work is progressing, but is not yet ready.

The AGP mode may be set to 1, 2, or 4. One is used by default. Higher AGP speeds may result in unreliable performance depending on your motherboard.

The following OpenGL features are implemented in software and will be slow:

The GL_EXT_texture_env_combine, GL_EXT_texture_env_add and GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 extensions are supported (or will be soon supported in the new driver based on Mesa 3.5).

We hope to implement support for the following features in the future:

10.5.4. Known Problems

Certain (early?) revisions of the AMD Irongate chipset have AGPGART problems which effect Radeon, and other graphics cards. The card may work unreliably, or not work at all. If the DRM kernel module is not loaded, the 2D Xserver may work. There's hope that this can be fixed in the future.

10.6. 3DLabs Oxygen GMX 2000

The driver for this hardware was experimental and is no longer being developed or supported.


DRI User Guide : Hardware-Specific Information and Troubleshooting
Previous: General Trouble Shooting
Next: General Limitations and Known Bugs