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How to improve OpenGL performance on Red Hat Linux 7.1

Article Id

KBMW0082

Versions

All

Platforms

Linux

Author

Randy Lee

Description

Ported Visual MainWin application exhibits slow 2D and 3D performance.

Cause:

The version of Xfree that ships with Red Hat Linux 7.1 uses Indirect rendering for 2D and 3D graphics. Indirect rendering is not enabled.

Background:

Red Hat Linux 7.1 includes XFree version 4.0.3. This version of XFree uses a DRI (Direct Rendering Infrastructure) interface for 2D and 3D graphics. The DRI interface increases performance and hardware support for AGP and PCI cards. One drawback is that specific DRM (Direct Rendering Manager) drivers need to be configured properly in the kernel in order for DRI to use hardware acceleration for the graphics card and not software (indirect) rendering. Using indirect rendering can drastically decrease the performance of your UI.

Note that Redhat Linux version 6.2 includes Xfree v3.3.6, which does not include hardware acceleration with the DRI infrastructure.

Solution:

To assure maximum performance of your UI and all 2D and 3D functions, verify the correct kernel model for the graphics card is being used. To do this, enter the lsmod command as root, which lists the kernel modules that have been loaded.

Check http://dri.sourceforge.net for updated drivers for your graphics hardware.

To check whether acceleration is enabled, enter the glxinfo command. If the output states "indirect rendering", acceleration is disabled; if the output states "direct rendering", acceleration is enabled.

Enable Direct rendering for your video hardware. The Red Hat 7.1 kernel includes most DRM drivers available for video hardware. Use insmod <cardmodule> for your card type, where <cardmodule> is the card you are currently using. On some cards, such as NVIDIA cards, the manufacturer distributes their own XFree drivers with hardware acceleration enabled for Linux.


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