Re: Getting 3D graphics support out of my ATI Rage XL video chip?
On Sat, 08 Sep 2012 11:13:53 -0400, Stephen Powell wrote:
> Hello, list. I've recently installed Debian Wheezy on a "new" (to me)
> computer with an ATI Rage XL video chip. Here is an excerpt from the
> output of "lspci -nn -vv". (Line wraps have been inserted to keep well
> within the customary 80-column limit.)
(...)
> ATI 3D Rage XL or XC graphics controller detected Chip type 4752
> "GR", version 7, foundry TSMC, class 0, revision 0x00
>
> So the chip does have 3D capabilities.
Yes it has, although the VGA chipset is about 8 years (or so) old so
don't expect astonishing results :-)
> But when the X server attempts to activate 3D acceleration, I get the
> following error:
>
> [drm] failed to load kernel module "mach64"
>
> and the driver reverts to 2D acceleration only.
And you need 3D acceleration because...?
> I've done quite a bit of internet searching this morning, and it
> appears that it is, at least in theory, possible to enable 3D
> acceleration; but it is not a trivial task. Here's one link that I've
> found:
>
> http://www.allquests.com/question/1501572-4/HOWTO-enable-3d-acceleration-w-Rage-Mobility-mach64.html
I will add this one:
http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/DriTroubleshooting
> But this involves manual compilation and not using Debian packages.
I wonder why people is so reluctant about installing packages from the
outside when this involves upstream projects which are well-known and
trustworthy :-?
> From other search results, it appears that there was at one time a
> Debian package called drm-modules-source, which existed in experimental
> back in the days of Lenny, but this package appears to have disappeared.
There exists this package but not sure if it's for the same purpose :-?
http://packages.debian.org/wheezy/xserver-xorg-video-mach64
> Before I get knee-deep in this, I thought I'd ask the list if there's a
> better way. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is there a
> Debian package I can use?
After reading this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Mach64
I would avoid using the module, it does not look very stable :-/
Greetings,
--
Camaleón
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