X-Git-Url: https://git.libre-soc.org/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=docs%2Ffaq.html;h=65e279aac57422da641ab61017df95c63126a1b5;hb=9cff90534389c2aad9b58ff04b1a5d624e3d0bdb;hp=89145f0cb88c128b02e99d2d1118531f7821c0b8;hpb=a376e339a5f7cb15de6c74556b1e1b219d84374a;p=mesa.git diff --git a/docs/faq.html b/docs/faq.html index 89145f0cb88..65e279aac57 100644 --- a/docs/faq.html +++ b/docs/faq.html @@ -2,12 +2,14 @@ Mesa FAQ - + + +

Mesa Frequently Asked Questions

-Last updated: 30 March 2003 +Last updated: 21 August 2006

@@ -37,14 +39,14 @@ See the OpenGL website for more information.

-Mesa 5.x supports the OpenGL 1.4 specification. +Mesa 6.x supports the OpenGL 1.5 specification.

1.2 Does Mesa support/use graphics hardware?

-Yes. Specifically, Mesa serves as the OpenGL core for the open-source -XFree86/DRI OpenGL drivers. See the DRI +Yes. Specifically, Mesa serves as the OpenGL core for the open-source DRI +drivers for XFree86/X.org. See the DRI website for more information.

@@ -53,14 +55,15 @@ the 3Dfx Glide/Voodoo driver, an old S3 driver, etc) but the DRI drivers are the modern ones.

-

1.3 What purpose does Mesa (software-based rendering) serve today?

+

1.3 What purpose does Mesa serve today?

Hardware-accelerated OpenGL implementations are available for most popular operating systems today. Still, Mesa serves at least these purposes:

-

1.4 How do I upgrade my DRI installation to use a new Mesa release?

+ +

1.4 What's the difference between"Stand-Alone" Mesa and the DRI drivers?

-You don't! A copy of the Mesa source code lives inside the XFree86/DRI source -tree and gets compiled into the individual DRI driver modules. -If you try to install Mesa over an XFree86/DRI installation, you'll lose -hardware rendering (because stand-alone Mesa's libGL.so is different than -the XFree86 libGL.so). +Stand-alone Mesa is the original incarnation of Mesa. +On systems running the X Window System it does all its rendering through +the Xlib API: +

-The DRI developers will incorporate the latest release of Mesa into the -DRI drivers when the time is right. +Alternately, Mesa acts as the core for a number of OpenGL hardware drivers +within the DRI (Direct Rendering Infrastructure): +

+ + + +

1.5 How do I upgrade my DRI installation to use a new Mesa release?

+

+This wasn't easy in the past. +Now, the DRI drivers are included in the Mesa tree and can be compiled +separately from the X server. +Just follow the Mesa compilation instructions.

-

1.5 Are there other open-source implementations of OpenGL?

+ +

1.6 Are there other open-source implementations of OpenGL?

-Yes, SGI's +Yes, SGI's OpenGL Sample Implemenation (SI) is available. The SI was written during the time that OpenGL was originally designed. Unfortunately, development of the SI has stagnated. Mesa is much more up to date with modern features and extensions.

+ +

+Vincent is +an open-source implementation of OpenGL ES for mobile devices. +

-miniGL is a subset of OpenGL -for PalmOS devices. +miniGL +is a subset of OpenGL for PalmOS devices. -TinyGL is another -subset of OpenGL. +

+TinyGL is a subset of OpenGL.

+ +

+SoftGL +is an OpenGL subset for mobile devices. +

+ +

+Chromium +isn't a conventional OpenGL implementation (it's layered upon OpenGL), +but it does export the OpenGL API. It allows tiled rendering, sort-last +rendering, etc. +

+

-There may be others but Mesa is the most popular and feature-complete. +ClosedGL is an OpenGL subset library for TI +graphing calculators.

+

+There may be other open OpenGL implementations, but Mesa is the most +popular and feature-complete. +

+ + +

@@ -127,38 +187,7 @@ has Mesa packages (like RPM or DEB) which you can easily install.

-

2.2 Running configure; make Doesn't Work

-

-Unfortunately, the GNU autoconf/automake/libtool system doesn't seem to work -too well on non GNU/Linux systems, even after installing gmake, gcc, etc. -For that reason, Mesa's old-style makefile system is still included. -The old-style system uses good old traditional Makefiles. Try the following: -

  cd Mesa-x.y.z
-  cp Makefile.X11 Makefile
-  make
-
-You'll see a list of system configurations from which to choose. -For example: -
  make linux-x86
-
-

-If you're experienced with GNU autoconf/automake/libtool and think you can help -with maintence, contact the Mesa developers. -FYI, the Mesa developers generally don't use the autoconf/automake system. -We're especially annoyed with the fact that a +5000-line script (libtool) -is needed to make shared libraries (ugh). -

- -

2.3 Mesa still doesn't compile

-

-If the old-style Makefile system doesn't work either, make sure you have -the most recent version of Mesa. -Otherwise, file a bug report or post to the Mesa3d-users mailing list. -Give as much info as possible when describing your problem. -

- - -

2.4 I get undefined symbols such as bgnpolygon, v3f, etc...

+

2.2 I get undefined symbols such as bgnpolygon, v3f, etc...

You're application is written in IRIS GL, not OpenGL. IRIS GL was the predecessor to OpenGL and is a different thing (almost) @@ -167,20 +196,20 @@ Mesa's not the solution.

-

2.5 Where is the GLUT library?

+

2.3 Where is the GLUT library?

-GLUT (OpenGL Utility Toolkit) is in the separate MesaDemos-x.y.z.tar.gz file. -If you don't already have GLUT installed, you should grab the MesaDemos -package and unpack it before compiling Mesa. +GLUT (OpenGL Utility Toolkit) is in the separate MesaGLUT-x.y.z.tar.gz file. +If you don't already have GLUT installed, you should grab the MesaGLUT +package and compile it with the rest of Mesa.

-

2.6 What's the proper place for the libraries and headers?

+

2.4 What's the proper place for the libraries and headers?

On Linux-based systems you'll want to follow the -Linux ABI -standard. +Linux ABI standard. Basically you'll want the following:

-After installing XFree86 and the DRI drivers, some of these files +After installing XFree86/X.org and the DRI drivers, some of these files may be symlinks into the /usr/X11R6/ tree.

@@ -236,7 +265,7 @@ hardware it has detected.

If your DRI-based driver isn't working, go to the -DRI website for trouble-shooting information. +DRI website for trouble-shooting information.

@@ -244,8 +273,8 @@ hardware it has detected.

Make sure the ratio of the far to near clipping planes isn't too great. Look - -here for details. + here for details.

Mesa uses a 16-bit depth buffer by default which is smaller and faster @@ -287,6 +316,19 @@ Basically, applying a translation of (0.375, 0.375, 0.0) to your coordinates will fix the problem.

+

3.6 How can I change the maximum framebuffer size in Mesa's +swrast backend?

+

+These can be overridden by using the --with-max-width and +--with-max-height options. The two need not be equal. +

+Do note that Mesa uses these values to size some internal buffers, +so increasing these sizes will cause Mesa to require additional +memory. Furthermore, increasing these limits beyond 4096 +may introduce rasterization artifacts; see the leading comments in +src/mesa/swrast/s_tritemp.h. +

+

@@ -294,13 +336,14 @@ will fix the problem.

4. Developer Questions

-

4.1 How can I contribute?

+

4.1 How can I contribute?

-First, join the Mesa3d-dev mailing list. That's where Mesa development -is discussed. -

+First, join the Mesa3d-dev +mailing list. +That's where Mesa development is discussed. +

-The +The OpenGL Specification is the bible for OpenGL implemention work. You should read it.

@@ -332,5 +375,23 @@ the archives) is a good way to get information.

+

4.3 Why isn't GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc implemented in Mesa?

+

+The specification for the extension +indicates that there are intellectual property (IP) and/or patent issues +to be dealt with. +

+

We've been unsucessful in getting a response from S3 (or whoever owns +the IP nowadays) to indicate whether or not an open source project can +implement the extension (specifically the compression/decompression +algorithms). +

+

+In the mean time, a 3rd party plug-in library is available. +

+ +