Compiz simply how to tell if your hardware works.

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janus
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Joined: 10/10/2010

This post was prompted by Yousef.

IF A MODERATOR OR DEVELOPER HAS OTHER INFORMATION PLEASE POST IT.

Here is a simple way to determine if your hardware is compatible with the SMALL AMOUNT of information that has been provided by various hardware providers to enable YOU to run Compiz.

The problem is this:

Trisquel is trying to maximize for three variables.

a) the FREE FROM ENCUMBERANCE software that is presently in Linux.
b) your hardware that MAY be from a company that decided to provide information to Linux.
c) your hardware that MAY NOT be from a company that decided to provide information to Linux.

It is a "given" that one cannot "maximize" for more than "one variable".

Trisquel developers have decided to "maximize" for unencumbered software.

So.

Given that.

Here is the SIMPLE WAY you can very quickly determine if you have hardware that was made by a company that has decided to try in some small way to be helpful to the Linux community.

Please open "Synaptic".

Please type into it: the word "compiz" without the quotation marks.

Please check EVERYTHING YOU SEE.

A lot of what you click will not be "necessary" but it will not "hurt" the system, it "might" be a little on the "bloated" side, but in the day of multigigabyte hard drives and two or four gig memory sticks it is CHUMP CHANGE.

Close synaptic and then RESTART the system.

When you log back on you will probably get some "updates".

Do them.

If you are asked to restart the system do so.

When you restart the system you should then go to System/System tools/Compiz Fusion Icon.

Click it and you should see a "little blue box with an arrow point up and to the left" in your panel to the bottom right.

Right click on the box, YOU WILL HAVE TO DO THIS SEVERAL TIMES.

Select Window Decorator: Emerald.
Compiz options, you can have either but it is usually "loose" bindings.
Select Window manager: emerald
Settings manager, you should at least select "wobbly windows" I recommend that you do not select other options.

Then right click and "reload window manager".

One of several things will happen.

a) if your "window" SNAPS to one corner or the other and you cannot move it then there is a "conflict" between the hardware and the compiz settings, and
DUE TO THE MULTITUDE of possible problems, it will be very hard to reconcile those.

I recommend that you close the window, go to the fusion symbol and close it, close the distro and then reboot and not to try to enable the compiz effects.

b) if your window does NOT snap to a corner and you see what you would call "normal" configuration in the BOX AROUND THE WINDOW: that is around a document or around Firefox then you have enabled the effects but your hardware does not work with it and you basically have some software running that won't hurt the system but it doesn't do anything "bad" to it except "waste" some resources.

For the MODERN system it is chump change, for an old system it might slow things and you might choose to disable compiz.

c) If you see a "box" either "around" or "on the top of" a window that is "kind of" RED.....then hey...you have compiz running!!!

You should be able to left click the top of a window and "drag" it to the left or right and it should "wobble".

AGAIN...........IF A DEVELOPER OR OTHER USER...has OTHER information for this, please POST IT.

janus

Magic Banana

I am a member!

I am a translator!

Offline
Joined: 07/24/2010

Well, if the goal is only to check whether the 3D acceleration is on it is much simpler to install mesa-utils (176 kB) and execute:
$ glxinfo | grep rendering

I guess you can also take a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log and look for the relevant information (filtering the warnings and errors).

janus
Offline
Joined: 10/10/2010

Hi Magic
As default TRisquel seems to have mesa-utils installed, I had done that and recieved:

direct rendering: yes

the rendering word is in red.

in /var/log/Xorg.0.log(new) I have: and omitted about fifty lines below the last since they are variants:

[quote]
(II) Module dbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 1.0.0
Module class: X.Org Server Extension
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 2.0
(II) Loading extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
(II) LoadModule: "glx"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
(II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 2.0
(==) AIGLX enabled
(II) Loading extension GLX
(II) LoadModule: "record"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/librecord.so
(II) Module record: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 1.13.0
Module class: X.Org Server Extension
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 2.0
(II) Loading extension RECORD
(II) LoadModule: "dri"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
(II) Module dri: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 1.0.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 2.0
(II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
(II) LoadModule: "dri2"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri2.so
(II) Module dri2: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 1.1.0
ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 2.0
(II) Loading extension DRI2
(==) Matched nouveau as autoconfigured driver 0
(==) Matched nv as autoconfigured driver 1
(==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 2
(==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 3
(==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
(II) LoadModule: "nouveau"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nouveau_drv.so
(II) Module nouveau: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 0.0.15
Module class: X.Org Video Driver
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) LoadModule: "nv"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nv_drv.so
(II) Module nv: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.3.901, module version = 2.1.15
Module class: X.Org Video Driver
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) LoadModule: "vesa"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
(II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 2.3.0
Module class: X.Org Video Driver
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
(II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 0.4.1
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) NOUVEAU driver Date: Wed Feb 10 18:43:39 2010 +0100
(II) NOUVEAU driver for NVIDIA chipset families :
RIVA TNT (NV04)
RIVA TNT2 (NV05)
GeForce 256 (NV10)
GeForce 2 (NV11, NV15)
GeForce 4MX (NV17, NV18)
GeForce 3 (NV20)
GeForce 4Ti (NV25, NV28)
GeForce FX (NV3x)
GeForce 6 (NV4x)
GeForce 7 (G7x)
GeForce 8 (G8x)
(II) NOUVEAU driver Date: Wed Feb 10 18:43:39 2010 +0100
(II) NOUVEAU driver for NVIDIA chipset families :
RIVA TNT (NV04)
RIVA TNT2 (NV05)
GeForce 256 (NV10)
GeForce 2 (NV11, NV15)
GeForce 4MX (NV17, NV18)
GeForce 3 (NV20)
GeForce 4Ti (NV25, NV28)
GeForce FX (NV3x)
GeForce 6 (NV4x)
GeForce 7 (G7x)
GeForce 8 (G8x)
(II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
(II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
(II) Primary Device is: PCI 03@00:00:0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 8, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: Searching for BusID pci:0000:03:00.0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 8, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: drmOpenMinor returns 8
drmOpenByBusid: drmGetBusid reports pci:0000:03:00.0
(II) [drm] nouveau interface version: 0.0.15
(WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa
(WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
(II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
(II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
(II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/linux/libfbdevhw.so
(II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
compiled for 1.7.6, module version = 0.0.2
ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 6.0
(II) Loading sub module "dri"
(II) LoadModule: "dri"
(II) Reloading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so
(II) NOUVEAU(0): Loaded DRI module
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 9, (OK)
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 9, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: Searching for BusID pci:0000:03:00.0
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is 9, (OK)
drmOpenByBusid: drmOpenMinor returns 9
drmOpenByBusid: drmGetBusid reports pci:0000:03:00.0
(II) [drm] DRM interface version 1.3
(II) [drm] DRM open master succeeded.
(--) NOUVEAU(0): Chipset: "NVIDIA NV43"
(II) NOUVEAU(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
(==) NOUVEAU(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(==) NOUVEAU(0): RGB weight 888
(==) NOUVEAU(0): Default visual is TrueColor

I omit about a hundred lines of variants
[/quote]

i found no errors.

janus