intel graphics question

[superwow]

Folks,

Here I am thinking I have been running a properly configured (integrated) graphics driver, when, getting an itch to play around with xbmc again after many months of not having it, I get a message that "xbmc needs hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering. Please install an appropriate graphics driver". But wait, I thought I had proper graphics drivers in my 3.17 kernel. No?

For what it is worth, I am running this combo:

OS: VSIDO 3 savant-hakerdafo
Kernel: x86_64 Linux 3.17-1-amd64

& Monkeying at the terminal a bit gives me this:

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lspci -k | grep -iA5 vga

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 1894
   Kernel driver in use: i915
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
   Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device 1894
   Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd

This looks like the kernel should be handling graphics acceleration, but why the message from xbmc?

[dizzie]

Hi superwow.


Intel graphics is always "fun"



SNA is the default acceleration method in xf86-video-intel. If you are experience issues with SNA, try using UXA instead, which can be done by creating an X configuration file containing the following


Try add this to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf


Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   Option      "AccelMethod"  "sna"
EndSection


"UXA" (Unified Acceleration Architecture)
"SNA" (Sandybridge's New Acceleration)

So... sna if sandybridge, uxa if not

As for SNA...

The SNA acceleration method causes tearing for some people. To fix this, enable the "TearFree" option in the driver:


Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   Option      "TearFree"    "true"
EndSection

Hope this helps!

[VastOne]

^ Nice... good intel dizzie, thanks for that

[dizzie]

No problem, I just hope it helps

[superwow]

@dizzie thanks for the information.

I did as you suggested and created xorg.conf by

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sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf


and its contents are

Section "Device"
   Identifier  "Intel Graphics"
   Driver      "intel"
   Option      "AccelMethod"  "uxa"
EndSection

However, no joy. I still get the same error message when trying to run xbmc.

Any other pointers?

[dizzie]

I have..



X freeze/crash with intel driver


Some issues with X crashing, GPU hanging, or problems with X freezing, can be fixed by disabling the GPU usage with the NoAccel option:



Section "Device"
   Identifier "Intel Graphics"
   Driver "intel"
   Option "NoAccel" "True"
EndSection



Alternatively, try to disable the 3D acceleration only with the DRI option:


Section "Device"
   Identifier "Intel Graphics"
   Driver "intel"
   Option "DRI" "False"
EndSection

[superwow]

Thanks @dizzie. Xbmc continues to think there is no graphics acceleration, despite the fact that the acceleration and drivers for the Intel graphics card are active within the 3.17 kernel, as confirmed by lspci. It seems that xbmc is ?searching? for a non-kernel driver for the graphics card, and that is possibly why xbmc is failing to start.

I *think* the 3.17 kernel is supposed to have all it needs to operate my graphics card and provide graphics acceleration, without having to install a non-kernel package, such as xf86-video-intel. Is this correct?

I am not sure if I have the facts or explanation correct though. If not, please correct me. As it is, xbmc will still not even start because it seems to think there are no graphics drivers.

[dizzie]

You don't _need_ a driver for intel really, but for tweaking and hacking you do. In most cases, the Nouveau driver works fine in most cases. To my knowledge, VastOne who have a nvidia 9500 (Correct me if i'm wrong VastOne) only uses the Nouveau driver.


You can try (do a backup first) to just remove anything intel related in your xorg.conf, and see what happends.


Oh and just out of curiosity, what CPU do you have?


You might need to load the module i915 (modprobe i915?) to make intel gma behave accordingly

[superwow]

@dizzie, thanks for the help so far. But as of yet it hasn't worked, so I guess I need to read up more on graphics and the kernel.

My CPU: Intel Core i5-3317U CPU @ 2.6GHz
The computer itself is this: http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-envy-4-1030us

[dizzie]

Can you do a:

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inxi -G


and paste the output here please?

[superwow]

@dizzie, here you go.

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inxi -G

Graphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
           X.Org: 1.16.1.901 driver: intel Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A

Wild guess here, I need GLX whatnots?

[VastOne]

^ That appears to be the case...

As dizzie said, I do have a 9500 and use nouveau and it handles everything ...

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vastone@vsido:~$ inxi -Gxx
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA G96 [GeForce 9500 GT]
           bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0640
           Display Server: X.Org 1.16.1.901 driver: nouveau
           Resolution: 1920x1200@59.95hz
           GLX Renderer: Gallium 0.4 on NV96
           GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.3.2 Direct Rendering: Yes


Try this

Rename your current xorg.conf

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sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old

If you ever had nvidia or tried anything with nvidia drivers do this:

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sudo apt-get purge nvidia*

then this

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sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-intel

reboot and check again

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inxi -Gxx

[jedi]

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sudo apt-get install mesa-utils

[superwow]

@VO - I have no NVIDIA on board here. Doing as you suggested,

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sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old
sudo apt-get purge nvidia*
sudo apt-get install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-intel

now gives

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inxi -Gxx

Graphics:  Card: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166
           X.Org: 1.16.1.901 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1366x768@60.00hz
           GLX Renderer: N/A GLX Version: N/A Direct Rendering: N/A

so, does this mean the ?reinstall unloaded the intel drivers?

[hakerdefo]

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sudo apt-get install libgl1-mesa-glx libgl1-mesa-dri
After the installation finishes reboot your machine.
Cheers!!!