Game won't start

manemannen · Post by **manemannen** » January 3rd, 2008, 2:12 pm

Hi, first off - I think it's great that you support Linux. Thumbs up for you guys.

However, I am having troubles launching the game. I have experimented with the different configurations but I always get the same outcome.

If launched from terminal I get the following response when the game terminates:

Setting sound driver: Default
DRM_RADEON_TEXTURE: return = -11
offset=0xdb0f6000
image width=1024 height=1024
blit width=1024 height=1024 data=0xa9a9a200

I have libstdc++.so.5 as required.

I am running Ubuntu 2.6.15-26-386 (actually Kubuntu)

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 3rd, 2008, 6:17 pm

What video card are you using, manemannen? AIR I got the same message trying the game on a fairly old machine with a Rage Fury video card - I'm pretty sure that it's just that a card that old won't handle the textures needed for the game. You'll notice the message says "DRM_RADEON_TEXTURE;" this suggests a Radeon card is necessary.

manemannen · Post by **manemannen** » January 4th, 2008, 5:41 am

I use an older Acer 800LCi laptop with an ATI Radeon 9000 graphics card.

Btw, I tested to run the game on my workstation (with Nvidia card) and it runs without any problems (also Kubuntu).

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 4th, 2008, 11:20 am

What driver are you using, manemannen - I guess it must be the radeon or the ati free driver, since your card is not supported by the fglrx one?

At a guess, perhaps you need the fglrx driver?

micks · Post by **micks** » January 4th, 2008, 11:54 am

I just checked and the 9000 series is supported by fglrx, so it's definitely worth a shot. I have an nVidia, but according to what I've heard the fglrx has improved greatly in all respects over the last year or so.

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 4th, 2008, 1:51 pm

Yes, the fglrx driver has improved considerably recently, but current versions don't support the Radeon 9000 card, micks. The last fglrx driver that did was the 8.28.8 one, which is over 1 1/2 years old. I'm not sure that it is compatible with current kernels. Most people will just use the default ati or radeon drivers with this card.

manemannen · Post by **manemannen** » January 4th, 2008, 1:55 pm

The ATI Radeon Mobility 9000 card is not listed as supported for Linux on ATIs/AMDs site. The driver in use is listed as "ati" in xorg.conf and ATI Radeon (fglrx) in the system settings. So does this mean the fglrx driver is used although it does not support my card

?

I assume that the default ati driver is used and does not work with the game - correct? If so, is there an alternative driver that I could use?

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 4th, 2008, 4:55 pm

What do you mean by "system settings," manemannen? AFAIK there shouldn't be an fglrx driver on your system. Have you tried to install one?

AIR the drivers available for your card are the ati and radeon ones. The ati driver usually seems to be the default that Ubuntu installs.

What are the first several lines for entering glxinfo? In particular, what's the Direct Rendering line say?

manemannen · Post by **manemannen** » January 4th, 2008, 5:34 pm

With system settings I mean the application launched from the menu item (with the same name) in the KDE start panel. Anyway. I haven't installed a specific driver - I use the Ubuntu default.

Below is an excerpt from the glxinfo output;

name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_make_current_read,
GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe, GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier,
GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_MESA_swap_control, GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_OML_sync_control, GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_control,
GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group,
GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_MESA_swap_control, GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
OpenGL vendor string: Tungsten Graphics, Inc.
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI R200 20041207 AGP 1x TCL
OpenGL version string: 1.3 Mesa 6.4.1
.
.
.

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 4th, 2008, 7:37 pm

TBH that looks good, manemannen. I guess it'll have to wait for a comment from Basilisk Wrangler as to why the game won't run for you and what you might do about it.

Actually, I notice you're using a Mobility card. Might be an idea to see if you can increase the amount of RAM used for the card in your motherboard BIOS. How much RAM do you have for your system, how much is being used by the videocard and what's the maximum your videocard can use? Also, what's the size of your AGP aperture (also in BIOS)?

The fglrx control centre application shouldn't actually be available in a non-fglrx system. Might be an idea to remove it (configuration too) in Synaptic.

YouTube · Post by **BasiliskWrangler** » January 4th, 2008, 10:04 pm

I wish I had a better answer for you than acoustibop's. I have to suggest as well that the problem is insufficient video hardware and/or faulty drivers, The first thing I learned about Linux when I began using it is that ATI cards have lackluster support on Linux. I have 2 ATI cards here that I could not get the game to run on.

On that note, I have an updated Linux workstation here that I am prepping to use for full-time development, but it is having troubles with the GeForce I have installed. I can't get the game to compile at this time. <sigh> I love Linux, but hate the hit-and-miss driver quality and level of support (I just discovered as well that my Sound Blast X-Fi card has no drivers either, so I'm back to using the onboard audio.)

micks · Post by **micks** » January 4th, 2008, 10:11 pm

Whoops, sorry, the Radeon 9000 series is supported by fglrx, while Mobility Radeon 9000 is not. I wonder whether the game wouldn't be a bit too slow on that GPU even if you got it running...

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 5th, 2008, 9:14 am

Yes, but the even the Radeon 9000 is still only supported by the old 8.28.8 driver, micks, not the current versions.

The problem with the drivers (and Linux drivers in general) is not Linux: it's hardware manufacturers who refuse either to write appropriate Linux drivers for their products or to release details of their products so others can do so. At that, ATI are not that bad; they have released documentation on various cards to the Open Source community; they do write drivers for a fair range of their cards and they are starting to improve their support. It has to be said, though - could be better, particularly with regard to older cards and VIVO/AIW/TV cards.

What does seem to be happening now is that with the increase in the use of Linux desktops, more and more manufacturers (and software developers - yay Basilisk!) are realising the value/necessity of supporting their products in Linux, not just the manufacturers who actually think there's value in the Open Source movement.

Sooner or later, I think we have to reach a point where manufacturers who don't support Linux will be losing out. I can't wait...

acoustibop · Post by **acoustibop** » January 5th, 2008, 9:24 am

BasiliskWrangler wrote:I wish I had a better answer for you than acoustibop's. I have to suggest as well that the problem is insufficient video hardware and/or faulty drivers, The first thing I learned about Linux when I began using it is that ATI cards have lackluster support on Linux. I have 2 ATI cards here that I could not get the game to run on.

What cards are those, BW? And what drivers are you using for them - on what distributions(s)?

On that note, I have an updated Linux workstation here that I am prepping to use for full-time development, but it is having troubles with the GeForce I have installed. I can't get the game to compile at this time. <sigh> I love Linux, but hate the hit-and-miss driver quality and level of support (I just discovered as well that my Sound Blast X-Fi card has no drivers either, so I'm back to using the onboard audio.)

I guess support for the Sound Blaster X-Fi card has to come sometime: FWIW an Audigy Pro and a Sound Blaster Live! card work very well for me on the EMU10K1_Audigy and EMU10K1 drivers in Gutsy - installed by default.

micks · Post by **micks** » January 5th, 2008, 10:02 am

Creative Labs announced closed-source ALSA-compatible X-Fi drivers (with EAX support) sometime back in April 2007, they might have even released a beta already, so the drivers are likely "coming soon". We can only hope that hardware vendor support improves over time, just like acoustibop said.