Mesa Frequently Asked Questions

-Last updated: 21 August 2006 +Last updated: 20 September 2012
@@ -28,32 +35,35 @@ Last updated: 21 August 2006 - -

1. High-level Questions and Answers

1.1 What is Mesa?

-Mesa is an open-source implementation of the OpenGL specification. +Mesa is an open-source implementation of the OpenGL specification. OpenGL is a programming library for writing interactive 3D applications. -See the OpenGL website for more +See the OpenGL website for more information.

-Mesa 6.x supports the OpenGL 1.5 specification. +Mesa 9.x supports the OpenGL 3.1 specification.

1.2 Does Mesa support/use graphics hardware?

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. -

-There have been other hardware drivers for Mesa over the years (such as -the 3Dfx Glide/Voodoo driver, an old S3 driver, etc) but the DRI drivers -are the modern ones. +drivers for X.org.

See the DRI website + for more information.
See intellinuxgraphics.org + for more information about Intel drivers.
See nouveau.freedesktop.org + for more information about Nouveau drivers.
See www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature + for more information about Radeon drivers.

1.3 What purpose does Mesa serve today?

@@ -62,7 +72,7 @@ operating systems today. Still, Mesa serves at least these purposes:

Mesa is used as the core of the open-source XFree86/X.org DRI +
Mesa is used as the core of the open-source X.org DRI hardware drivers.
Mesa is quite portable and allows OpenGL to be used on systems @@ -84,11 +94,12 @@ Still, Mesa serves at least these purposes:

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

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

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 GLX API is supported, but it's really just an emulation of the real thing. @@ -98,7 +109,6 @@ the Xlib API:
The OpenGL library, libGL.so, contains everything (the programming API, the GLX functions and all the rendering code).

Alternately, Mesa acts as the core for a number of OpenGL hardware drivers within the DRI (Direct Rendering Infrastructure): @@ -126,8 +136,7 @@ Just follow the Mesa compilation instructions.

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. @@ -135,34 +144,33 @@ Mesa is much more up to date with modern features and extensions.

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

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

-TinyGL is a subset of OpenGL. +TinyGL +is a subset of OpenGL.

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

-Chromium +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.

-ClosedGL is an OpenGL subset library for TI -graphing calculators. +ClosedGL +is an OpenGL subset library for TI graphing calculators.

@@ -176,40 +184,43 @@ popular and feature-complete.
- -

2. Compilation and Installation Problems

2.1 What's the easiest way to install Mesa?

-If you're using a Linux-based system, your distro CD most likely already +If you're using a Linux-based system, your distro CD most likely already has Mesa packages (like RPM or DEB) which you can easily install. -

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

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

2.3 Where is the GLUT library?

-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. -

+GLUT (OpenGL Utility Toolkit) is no longer in the separate MesaGLUT-x.y.z.tar.gz file. +If you don't already have GLUT installed, you should grab +freeglut. +

+ +

2.4 Where is the GLw library?

+GLw (OpenGL widget library) is now available from a separate git repository. Unless you're using very old Xt/Motif applications with OpenGL, you shouldn't need it. +

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

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

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

/usr/lib/libGL.so.1 - a symlink to libGL.so.1.xyz
/usr/lib/libGL.so.xyz - the actual OpenGL/Mesa library. xyz denotes the Mesa version number. -
/usr/lib/libGLU.so - a symlink to libGLU.so.1 -
/usr/lib/libGLU.so.1 - a symlink to libGLU.so.1.3.xyz -
/usr/lib/libGLU.so.xyz - the OpenGL Utility library. xyz denotes the Mesa -version number.

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

@@ -243,29 +250,28 @@ The GLUT header and library should go in the same directories.
- -

3. Runtime / Rendering Problems

3.1 Rendering is slow / why isn't my graphics hardware being used?

-Stand-alone Mesa (downloaded as MesaLib-x.y.z.tar.gz) doesn't have any +Stand-alone Mesa (downloaded as MesaLib-x.y.z.tar.gz) doesn't have any support for hardware acceleration (with the exception of the 3DFX Voodoo driver). -

-What you really want is a DRI or NVIDIA (or another vendor's OpenGL) driver +What you really want is a DRI or NVIDIA (or another vendor's OpenGL) driver for your particular hardware. -

-You can run the glxinfo program to learn about your OpenGL +You can run the glxinfo program to learn about your OpenGL library. Look for the GL_VENDOR and GL_RENDERER values. That will identify who's OpenGL library you're using and what sort of hardware it has detected. -

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

@@ -273,8 +279,8 @@ 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 @@ -316,21 +322,32 @@ 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. +

+

- -

4. Developer Questions

4.1 How can I contribute?

-First, join the Mesa3d-dev -mailing list. +First, join the mesa-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.

@@ -364,7 +381,7 @@ 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 +The specification for the extension indicates that there are intellectual property (IP) and/or patent issues to be dealt with.

@@ -374,11 +391,10 @@ implement the extension (specifically the compression/decompression algorithms).

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

- +

The Mesa 3D Graphics Library

Mesa Frequently Asked Questions

1. High-level Questions and Answers

1.1 What is Mesa?

1.2 Does Mesa support/use graphics hardware?

1.3 What purpose does Mesa serve today?

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

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

1.6 Are there other open-source implementations of OpenGL?

2. Compilation and Installation Problems

2.1 What's the easiest way to install Mesa?

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

2.3 Where is the GLUT library?

2.4 Where is the GLw library?

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

3. Runtime / Rendering Problems

3.1 Rendering is slow / why isn't my graphics hardware being used?

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

4. Developer Questions

4.1 How can I contribute?

4.1 How can I contribute?

4.3 Why isn't GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc implemented in Mesa?

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