docs/fbdev-dri.html

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   3 <TITLE>Mesa fbdev/DRI Environment</TITLE>
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   7 <center><H1>Mesa fbdev/DRI Drivers</H1></center>
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   9
  10 <H1>1. Introduction</H1>
  11
  12 <p>
  13 The fbdev/DRI sub-project within Mesa brings hardware accelerated OpenGL
  14 rendering to the Linux fbdev environment.
  15 The X Window System / XFree86 is not needed.
  16 </p>
  17
  18 <p>
  19 Basically, the <a href="http://dri.sf.net/">DRI</a> drivers for hardware
  20 accelerated OpenGL for XFree86 have been ported to fbdev so that X is
  21 not needed.
  22 This means fbdev/DRI works in full-screen mode only.
  23 </p>
  24
  25 <p>
  26 DRI driver writers may find this simplified environment easier to work in,
  27 compared to the full XFree86/DRI environment.
  28 </p>
  29
  30 <p>
  31 Much of the work for this project has been done by Jon Smirl and
  32 Keith Whitwell.
  33 </p>
  34
  35 <p>
  36 To use fbdev/DRI, you'll need a Linux 2.4 or 2.6 kernel.
  37 </p>
  38
  39 <p>
  40 The fbdev/DRI Mesa code is in the Mesa CVS trunk (to be released as Mesa
  41 5.1 in the future).
  42 </p>
  43
  44
  45 <h1>2. Compilation</h1>
  46
  47 <p>
  48 Assuming you're starting with a fresh Mesa CVS checkout, do the following:
  49 </p>
  50 <pre>
  51    cd Mesa-newtree
  52    cp Makefile.X11 Makefile     # or use a symlink
  53    make linux-solo
  54 </pre>
  55
  56 <p>
  57 When this is finished, check the <code>Mesa-newtree/lib</code> directory
  58 to verify that the following files were made:
  59 </p>
  60
  61 <ul>
  62 <li><code>libGL.so.1.2</code> - the client-side OpenGL library
  63     (and a few symlinks to it).
  64 <li><code>libGLU.so.1.1</code> - the GLU library (and a few symlinks to it).
  65 <li><code>libglut.so.3.7</code> - the GLUT library (and a few symlinks to it).
  66 <li><code>mga_dri.so</code> - DRI driver for Matrox G200/G400 cards.
  67 <li><code>r128_dri.so</code> - DRI driver for ATI Rage 128 cards.
  68 <li><code>r200_dri.so</code> - DRI driver for ATI R200 Radeon cards.
  69 <li><code>radeon_dri.so</code> - DRI driver for original ATI Radeon cards.
  70 <li><code>fb_dri.so</code> - software-only fbdev driver.
  71 <li><code>miniglx.conf</code> - configuration file for the MiniGLX interface
  72 </ul>
  73
  74
  75 <h1>3. Using fbdev/DRI</h1>
  76
  77 <p>
  78 If XFree86 is currently running, exit/stop the X server so you're
  79 working from the console.
  80 </p>
  81
  82
  83 <h2>3.1 Kernel Modules</h2>
  84
  85 <p>
  86 You'll need to load kernel modules specific to your graphics hardware.
  87 The following kernel modules should be included with your kernel.
  88 </p>
  89
  90
  91 <p>
  92 If you have ATI Radeon/R200 hardware, run as root:
  93 </p>
  94 <pre>
  95    modprobe agpgart            # the AGP GART module
  96    modprobe radeonfb           # the Radeon fbdev driver
  97    modprobe radeon             # the Radeon DRI kernel module
  98 </pre>
  99
 100 <p>
 101 If you have ATI Rage 128 hardware, run as root:
 102 </p>
 103 <pre>
 104    modprobe agpgart            # the AGP GART module
 105    modprobe aty128fb           # the Rage 128 fbdev driver
 106    modprobe r128               # the Rage 128 DRI kernel module
 107 </pre>
 108
 109 <p>
 110 If you have Matrox G200/G400 hardware, run as root:
 111 </p>
 112 <pre>
 113    modprobe agpgart            # the AGP GART module
 114    modprobe mgafb              # the Matrox fbdev driver
 115    modprobe mga                # the Matrox DRI kernel module
 116 </pre>
 117
 118 <p>
 119 Then run <code>lsmod</code> to be sure the modules are loaded.
 120 For a Radeon card, you should see something like this:
 121 </p>
 122 <pre>
 123 Module                  Size  Used by    Not tainted
 124 radeon                110308   0  (unused)
 125 radeonfb               21900   0  (unused)
 126 agpgart                43072   1
 127 </pre>
 128
 129
 130 <h2>3.2 Configuration File</h2>
 131
 132 <p>
 133 The <code>Mesa-newtree/lib/miniglx.conf</code> file should be installed
 134 in <code>/etc/</code>.
 135 </p>
 136
 137 <p>
 138 Edit <code>/etc/miniglx.conf</code> to be sure it's set up correctly
 139 for your hardware.
 140 Comments in the file explain the options.
 141 </p>
 142
 143
 144 <h2>3.3 Running fbdev/DRI Programs</h2>
 145
 146 <p>
 147 Make sure your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable is set to the
 148 <code>Mesa-newtree/lib/</code> directory.
 149 </p>
 150
 151 <p>
 152 Change to the <code>Mesa-newtree/progs/miniglx/</code> directory and
 153 start the sample_server program in the background:
 154 </p>
 155 <pre>
 156    ./sample_server &
 157 </pre>
 158
 159 <p>
 160 Then try running the <code>miniglxtest</code> program:
 161 </p>
 162 <pre>
 163    ./miniglxtest
 164 </pre>
 165 <p>
 166 You should see a rotating quadrilateral which changes color as it rotates.
 167 It will exit automatically after a bit.
 168 </p>
 169
 170 <p>
 171 If you run other tests in the miniglx/ directory, you may want to run
 172 them from a remote shell so that you can stop them with ctrl-C.
 173 </p>
 174
 175
 176
 177 <h1>4.0 Troubleshooting</h1>
 178
 179 <p>
 180 If you try to run miniglxtest and get the following:
 181 </p>
 182 <pre>
 183    [miniglx] failed to probe chipset
 184    connect: Connection refused
 185    server connection lost
 186 </pre>
 187 <p>
 188 It means that the sample_server process is not running.
 189 </p>
 190
 191
 192
 193
 194 <h1>5.0 Programming Information</h1>
 195
 196 <p>
 197 The full OpenGL API is available with fbdev/DRI.
 198 </p>
 199
 200 <p>
 201 OpenGL/Mesa is interfaced to fbdev via the <a href="MiniGLX.html">MiniGLX</a>
 202 interface.
 203 MiniGLX is a subset of Xlib and GLX API functions which provides just
 204 enough functionality to setup OpenGL rendering and respond to simple
 205 input events.
 206 </p>
 207
 208 <p>
 209 Since MiniGLX is a subset of the usual Xlib and GLX APIs, programs written
 210 to the MiniGLX API can also be run on full Xlib/GLX implementations.
 211 This allows some degree of flexibility for software development and testing.
 212 </p>
 213
 214
 215
 216 </body>
 217 </html>