Is ATI/OpenGL acceleration working?

[David Abrahams]

Ken Siersma <siersmak at ekkinc.com> writes:

> 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"

I'm getting around 2656 fps, which I guess is great.  Of course,
glxglears, like fgl_glxgears, looks perfectly smooth to me.

> Probably an attempt to discourage use of glxgears as a benchmark.

Jah.

>>> 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.

Maybe.  Fortunately 3D graphics don't really matter to me as long as
my UI is snappy, so I don't think I'm going to go a-huntin' for
trouble with ATI.  I just like to have a machine where everything
works as it should.

Okay, I just fired up the screensaver on a recently-rebooted system
and now it's perfectly smooth.  Musta been other processes getting in
the way.  Thanks for wasting time with me on this one :)


-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com