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Now come the variables. There are three universal things that must be done:[LIST=1][*]Load the DRI driver. Make sure this is showing:
Code:
# This loads the GLX module
Load "glx"
# This loads the DRI module
Load "dri"
This is not "universal". For example, NVidia drivers require that the dri load directive not be present (or it can be commented out).
Also, if my understanding is correct, ATI does not always require that you download the proprietary drivers. For older chipsets, I believe hardware acceleration is possible with the open source driver.
The newest ATI cards do need different drivers. Older may not. But for Nvidia, always get the newest...(Can't go too wrong there, lol)
For every chipset/hardware configuration/distro, you will ALWAYS run into exceptions. But in a general sense the info is correct.
Specific drivers may need specific settings. Specific BIOS will not let DRI work. Some drivers provide their own 3d acceleration mechanism.
So, if all else fails: READ YOUR DOCUMENTATION.
BTW, the 'universal' has been taken out, replaced with 'generally' (thanks AGAIN Shilo!!)
By no stretch of the imagination did I start this guide as the "end-all-and-do-all" for DRI in X11. It is just here mostly to get a pointer in the direction you need to go, without getting into specifics. The main drive was that a friend of mine was wondering why my paltry laptop was smoking his in the graphics department. I showed him what this thing was doing via glxgears (around 720fps), and his was only doing 115 (New ATI PCI-X video card). It got him looking, and there was no general guide anywhere.
So I thought I would start this thread as an assistance to people who didn't know that their performance could be dramatically improved with the DRI working, and how to go about it in a general way.
Again, thanks for the comments/questions. It's the best way to learn
Last edited by cwwilson721; 01-11-2006 at 12:12 PM.
I have a couple questions regarding DRI.
1. Is the video memory representing the memory on the actual card? Or is it the ammount of system memory you are going to alocate for the card?
2. I have an old Matrox Mystique PCI 4mb card, will DRI work for me?
3. What are the performance gains/benefits?
Thank you.
In my case, it's how much system ram to allocate to the video. But if your card has a discrete amount, such as 4MB on yours, do the amount for 4MB (Unless you know you can 'borrow' system memory).
As for specific performance gains, my glxgears went from 120-130 FPS to over 700.
Will it work for your card? Maybe, but you will have to try. May have to use a lower resolution/color depth tho. Try it. Won't hurt to much to do so. Just remember to have backups of your xorg.conf file, in case X will not start. And the kernel options would be different for your card than mine (Except agpgart).
Do a google search on your card and DRI. See if anyone else has been able to do so.
Google is your BEST friend.
As I said, every card/chip is different. If you don't have DRI enabled now, what do you have to lose?
Last edited by cwwilson721; 01-11-2006 at 05:13 PM.
I made the guide to help others who seem to have a problem with it. I also made it as general a possible so it maybe able to help as many as possible w/out getting into specific cards/bios/hardware (ALOT of pitfalls there).
But, go ahead and give us the script. The more, the merrier
I just installed the newest nvidia drivers on my system due to a reinstallation.
It seems that they have added a script in the newest drivers that automaticly configures your xorg.conf file. I allowed it to do that and now my direct rendering is on without running that other script. So I guess you might not need it. If you want it tho you can have it.
But it's still weird though 'cause the script I used before didn't change anything in my xorg.conf file. It only made symlinks to the proper folders.
Maybe the new nvidia driver does that to.
I just installed the newest nvidia drivers on my system due to a reinstallation.
It seems that they have added a script in the newest drivers that automaticly configures your xorg.conf file. I allowed it to do that and now my direct rendering is on without running that other script. So I guess you might not need it. If you want it tho you can have it.
But it's still weird though 'cause the script I used before didn't change anything in my xorg.conf file. It only made symlinks to the proper folders.
Maybe the new nvidia driver does that to.
That's one reason why you should try the latest drivers. Go ahead and post the script, tho. Others may still find it useful.
I also am thinking of making this a repository of the various ways to make DRI work, such as my general guide at the top of this thread, plus additions like what Synt4x_3rr0r just added.
I just figure that one place/thread to go has to be better than the 70-80 that we now have, not to mention all the crud out there on google.
Any comments on that?
I may also consolidate the various threads on my website. May make it easier to combine that way. I will *try* to give credit where credit is due, but I'm only one human with a screwy laptop!
As I've said, comments/suggestions are welcome
Last edited by cwwilson721; 01-11-2006 at 03:06 PM.
As I've already stated in this thread, I didn't know I couldn't do it. I just went ahead and did it.
I've also seen the DRI issue pop its beady little head up in other distros (I actually got some of the info from a Mepis forum). But as I ONLY use Slackware (Yeah,Pat!) , I can only comment on that.
Other distros: Be aware that the way I got DRI to work may not work for you. You may have other tools,scripts,etc., that make it easier/harder for you.
But, with that said, X11 is X11. Give it a shot.
Last edited by cwwilson721; 01-11-2006 at 03:20 PM.
OK....I reset back to init4 again, and now it works. I'm assuming a temorary lapse in one bit somewhere when it was doing that ealier. So, never mind that. Everything is back to normal.
But it irks me a little.....Having to do a Windows Fix....i.e. reboot. Anybody have any ideas on what might have happened?
Like, is there another xorg.conf type file that is used occasionally? Or a different version of something simuliar elsewhere on the system?
Last edited by cwwilson721; 01-12-2006 at 09:10 AM.
From the amount of people looking at this thread, I may have struck a deep chord in the minds of users...."How can I get my video to run faster?"
I know there are alot of success stories out there. And even more failures. What I would like to do with this thread is to make it a learning post, having both successes and failures to learn from.
Post them. I belive it will help alot of people. And, as I said, I'm going to collect them, and make a more comprehensive guide.
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