Compiz doesn't work with an ATI rv100 board by default, unless AGPSize is set

How is it compiz's fault that your video is setup incorrectly?

Eeep, didn't mean for that to get through.... anyway, this is not a compiz problem, this is a hardware limitation that you must do custom changes to work around. There is no sane way to automate what you did and no way to check for it either.

If it's not a compiz issue, it's may be an xorg driver issue then...

And I would be pleased by an explanation on why the xorg configuration helps to work around the texture size limit.

I think it's because you have specified 16bit as depth in your xorg.conf, which saves video memory compared to 24bit. Try also without AGPSize.

Please attach Xorg.0.log from running without an xorg.conf.

>I think it's because you have specified 16bit as depth in your xorg.conf.

No, it didn't work by changing only the depth.

>Please attach Xorg.0.log from running without an xorg.conf.

I've tried and I will attach the log file. The good news is compiz works with no xorg.conf file. But:

- The default depth seems 8, which is not very nice.
- It's way slower than what I obtain with an xorg.conf file.
- The keyboard layout is US when I need FR.

Here's the log with the xorg.conf file.

> - The default depth seems 8, which is not very nice.
Looking at your log, it says 24.

> - It's way slower than what I obtain with an xorg.conf file.
Can you try AGPSize? The main difference I can spot is the GART aperture is 8 by default, while you set it to 64 and you get a lot more memory allocated for textures etc.

> - The keyboard layout is US when I need FR.
Obviously, there's no way to autodetect that :)

It would be nice if you can make a minimal xorg.conf and find out which option helps. Your xorg.conf is full of voodoo options, many of them are default anyway and some are not recommended.

>> - The default depth seems 8, which is not very nice.
>Looking at your log, it says 24.

It says 24, but my screen really looks like 8.

> > - It's way slower than what I obtain with an xorg.conf file.
>Can you try AGPSize? The main difference I can spot is the GART aperture is 8 by default, while you set it to 64 and you get a lot more memory allocated for textures etc.

I'll try that tonight.

>> - The keyboard layout is US when I need FR.
>Obviously, there's no way to autodetect that :)

We're in 2008, that should be automatic :) . I don't understand why keyboards have not evolved and don't provide their layout.

>It would be nice if you can make a minimal xorg.conf and find out which option helps. Your xorg.conf is full of voodoo options, many of them are default anyway and some are not recommended.

It's not a surprise, I've grabbed the most of them somewhere in the internet.

Thanks.

Ok. It looks like the AGPSize option is the one that makes compiz work. Here's my new xorg.conf file.

Thanks for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. In the development cycle for Intrepid there have been some vast improvements in the open source ati video driver and we could use your help testing them. Could you please download the latest Alpha CD image of Intrepid and test this particular bug just using the Live CD? You can find the latest image at http://www.ubuntu.com/testing . Your testing can help make Ubuntu and the open source ati driver even better! Thanks in advance.

The latest drivers in intrepid allow compiz to work at 1280x1024 for me. I am using the default xorg.conf generated by the "dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-org" command. Here is the lspci output for my video card:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV100 QY [Radeon 7000/VE]

Emmanuel, can you also please confirm that it works in Intrepid? Please attach your Xorg.0.log if it doesn't.

Timothy, can you please also attach your Xorg.0.log?

Sorry Tormod, I don't use this card anymore. I've changed it for a more recent one.

attaching Xorg.log.0 as requested

Thanks Timothy. The default AGP aperture is still 8MB for these cards, but it seems that the GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE (from glxinfo -l) now is sufficient anyway.

Tormod,

  Do you recommend setting the GART to 64 and the DefaultDepth to 16? I hope
you don't mind me emailing you directly, I wasn't sure whether to post this
or not since it wasn't directly related to the bug.

Timothy

>From: Tormod Volden <email address hidden>
>Reply-To: Bug 197651 <email address hidden>
>To: <email address hidden>
>Subject: [Bug 197651] Re: Compiz doesn't work with an ATI rv100 board
>bydefault, unless AGPSize is set
>Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:53:44 -0000
>
>Thanks Timothy. The default AGP aperture is still 8MB for these cards,
>but it seems that the GL_MAX_TEXTURE_SIZE (from glxinfo -l) now is
>sufficient anyway.
>
>** Changed in: xserver-xorg-video-ati (Ubuntu)
> Status: Incomplete => Fix Released
>
>--
>Compiz doesn't work with an ATI rv100 board by default, unless AGPSize is
>set
>https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/197651
>You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
>of the bug.
>
>Status in “xserver-xorg-video-ati” source package in Ubuntu: Fix
>Released
>
>Bug description:
>Binary package hint: compiz
>
>I was able to enable compiz using a RV100 ATI board, with the free radeon
>driver, by modifying the X server configuration.
>
>Before, compiz failed with the following error:
>
>Comparing resolution (1280x1024) to maximum 3D texture size (1024): Failed
>
>Now it passes (but I don't know which parameter makes it pass).
>
>Here's my current working configuration file. The result is a perfectly
>running compiz, and it runs fast as long as I use a 16 bit display. Only
>fullscreen scrolling of web pages inside epiphany are a bit slower than
>with compiz disabled, but that's acceptable.

If it works well without, I do not recommend any of these settings. Depth 16 gives you less colours, and GART 64 "steals" some memory.

A 16 bit depth makes the display much more responsive when using compiz (particularly when scrolling web pages inside epiphany).

I do recommend to try out Option "AccelMethod" "EXA". Does that help for scrolling speed?