Is ATI/OpenGL acceleration working?

[Ken Siersma]

David Abrahams wrote:
> Ken Siersma <siersmak at ekkinc.com> writes:
>
>   
>> dave_abrahams wrote:
>>     
>>> direct rendering: Yes
>>>
>>>
>>>   
>>>       
>> Good.  AFAIK, that means that acceleration is working properly. 
>>
>> So I have to wonder if you have more reason to think that OpenGL is
>> not working.
>>     
>
> Well I'm watching the screensaver where you fly through a tunnel right
> now and the frame rate is seriously jerky and uneven.  Doesn't seem
> right.  This is on a 2.16 Ghz Core Duo.  I have a 500Mhz PIII laptop
> (inspiron 8100) where it looks better.
>
> Of course, this could just be due to other processes getting in the
> way, but that doesn't seem right either.
>
>   
I agree, it doesn't seem right.
>> I wouldn't say that screensavers soaking up CPU is indicative
>> of OpenGL not working properly.  Non-OpenGL screensavers take up CPU
>> too.  
>>     
>
> Of course.
>
>   
>> On machines where I can't spare CPU, I set the screensaver to
>> blank screen.
>>     
>
> I plan to do that, eventually; to save battery on my laptop...  at
> least when it's not plugged in.
>
> The screensaver is just a convenient way of seeing OpenGL do its thing.
>
>   
>> On my Radeon Mobility 9200 I was seeing FPS around 200 with
>> fgl_glxgears, but about 1000 with glxgears.  I wonder if you see
>> approximately the same ratio of FPS.  .
>>     
>
> When I run glxgears it doesn't print anything to the console, unlike
> some people whose posts I've seen.  What's up with that?
>
>   
"glxgears -printfps"
Probably an attempt to discourage use of glxgears as a benchmark.
>> Although, depending on the model of your video card, I *think* the X
>> server may be able to enable direct rendering through the use of the
>> open source radeon or ati driver (I think they are actually the same
>> nowadays).  Therefore, I'd double check that you have 'Driver "fglrx"'
>> in the "Device" section of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file. 
>>     
>
> Oh, checked and double-checked.  I put it there myself.
>
>   
Well I'm pretty much stumped then.  Unfortunately I have much more 
experience with nvidia drivers, and when stuff like this happens I 
usually turn to the NVIDIA forums.  I wonder if trying a different 
(newer?) version of the fglrx driver would make a difference.

-Ken

-- 
Ken Siersma, Software Engineer
EKK, Inc.
http://www.ekkinc.com