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List:       gentoo-user
Subject:    Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Radeon KMS driver - what benefits?
From:       Robin Atwood <robin.atwood () attglobal ! net>
Date:       2010-11-23 12:17:47
Message-ID: 201011231917.48074.robin.atwood () attglobal ! net
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On Tuesday 23 November 2010, Robin Atwood wrote:
> On Tuesday 23 November 2010, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
> > On 11/23/2010 02:20 AM, Robin Atwood wrote:
> > > On Tuesday 23 November 2010, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
> > >> On 11/22/2010 09:40 PM, Robin Atwood wrote:
> > >>> On Tuesday 23 November 2010, Nikos Chantziaras wrote:
> > >>>> On 11/22/2010 07:02 PM, Robin Atwood wrote:
> > >>>>> I have just gone through the steps to use the Radeon KMS driver on
> > >>>>> my old laptop which has an RV350 [Mobility Radeon 9600 M10].
> > >>>>> Everything seems to work all right and I get the right "render
> > >>>>> string" from glxinfo. However, I thought it might enable
> > >>>>> compositing to work on the KDE4 desktop but there is no change.
> > >>>>> What's more, glxgears used to give about 2200 FPS but now it's 50!
> > >>>>> So have I been wasting my time?
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> You have to enable compositing yourself in System Settings.
> > >>> 
> > >>> Of course, but it didn't take.
> > >>> 
> > >>>> KMS means you're using DRI2 now, which results in a VSync'ed OpenGL
> > >>>> rendering.  Though I'd expect 60FPS because of VSync, not 50 :-P
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> One other thing you should do is to enable the "gallium" USE flag
> > >>>> and
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> re-emerge Mesa.  Then switch to the Gallium driver using:
> > >>>>      eselect mesa r300 gallium
> > >>>> 
> > >>>> Because that driver is the recommended one for your hardware (R300).
> > >>>> The classic driver should be avoided.
> > >>> 
> > >>> Thanks, I would try that, but...
> > >>> 
> > >>> # emerge -av media-libs/mesa
> > >>> 
> > >>> These are the packages that would be merged, in order:
> > >>> 
> > >>> Calculating dependencies... done!
> > >>> [ebuild     U ] x11-libs/libX11-1.4.0 [1.3.6] USE="-doc -ipv6
> > >>> -static-libs - test (-xcb%*)" 2,036 kB
> > >>> [ebuild   R   ] media-libs/mesa-7.8.2  USE="nptl pic xcb -debug
> > >>> (-gallium) - motif (-selinux)" VIDEO_CARDS="radeon -intel -mach64
> > >>> -mga -nouveau -r128 - savage -sis -svga -tdfx -via" 0 kB
> > >>> 
> > >>> I set "gallium" in /etc/make.conf but (-gallium) means the flag is
> > >>> turned off in a profile somewhere?
> > >> 
> > >> Oh, you're not on ~arch.  I assumed to much.  I don't know how that
> > >> works on old versions of the drivers and Mesa, or whether Gallium3D
> > >> was any good with old versions of Mesa.  I can only confirm that it
> > >> works on recent versions.
> > >> 
> > >> For your KDE problem, try adding/changing these in your
> > >> 
> > >> ~/.kde4/share/config/kwinrc:
> > >>     [Compositing]
> > >>     Backend=OpenGL
> > >>     CheckIsSafe=false
> > >>     DisableChecks=true
> > >>     Enabled=true
> > >>     GLDirect=true
> > >>     GLTextureFilter=1
> > >>     GLVSync=false
> > >>     OpenGLIsUnsafe=false
> > > 
> > > When I try to enable compositing KDE gives a message that it's not
> > > possible. Setting "Disable checks" also gives an error message. So I
> > > cannot see any actual benefit.
> > 
> > Try the whole thing I posted, because some of the settings do *not* have
> > a GUI button and can only be enabled/disabled by editing kwinrc.
> 
> Nah, the desktop failed to load. I am now trying mesa-7.9 from the x11
> overlay.

Mesa 7.9 allows you to use eselect to set the gallium driver but it *still* 
doesn't make any difference. OTOH, it doesn't seem to do any harm so I will 
leave the new driver in place in the hope that in the future it will improve. 
;)

-Robin
-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Robin Atwood.

"Ship me somewheres east of Suez, where the best is like the worst,
 Where there ain't no Ten Commandments an' a man can raise a thirst"
         from "Mandalay" by Rudyard Kipling
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