> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 09:49:21 -0800 > From: joe <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: NVIDIA patches to run it on phoebe/rawhide kernels > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Jarod Wilson wrote: > > > > > First go 'round with UT2003 was an abysmal failure. My system is > > currently locked up, with some horrendous attempt at rendering a scene > > stuck on screen. Only the second time I've seen a Linux system > > hard-lock (can't get to a vty, can't ssh in, nada). > > Oh, no - sounds like ATI is still not an option then.
We shall see, if I can get ATI's fglrx driver working w/XFree86 4.3 (the latest build from Mike)... Anyone tried that yet? I installed the fglrx rpm, went through the fglrxconfig to generate an XF86Config file, then tried to start X and got an error message, about requiring XF86 v4.2.x (which obviously I don't have...) I assume this means they would have worked with 4.2.99, and 4.3.0 is only marginally different, but I don't know a way to force it to go ahead. I haven't had much time to look into it yet though either. Anyone got a quick fix? > I originally used voodoo3s since about 1999, > and games like q3a were buttery smooth on > linux - performance tests on the net showed > that idsoftware's 3D engine tend to have the > equivalent performance on win32 and linux - I still have one of those kicking around in an old Athlon 800 somewhere... The v3 was pretty bad-ass in its day (it was also far and away the best 3D card for a Mac for a while). > After 3dfx went under I started buying nvidia > cards - I found that RtCW worked even better > with the nvidia than it did with the voodoo - > again, it was silky smooth in linux - > > I played unreal from time to time but never > was able to get into it since the feel of it was > just kind of klunky - it was nowhere near as > smooth and responsive as q3a/rtcw - which > I attributed to it being a not very skillful port > of a pc-based program. Definitely a matter Epic's decision to use Direct3D, then port to other 3D APIs, while id's games are natively OpenGL. Far more work for Epic to do, and just about anytime you have that much to port, I guarantee the port isn't going to be anywhere near as good as the original. Like I said before, UT2003 on the exact same system, exact same settings is far and away more playable under Win XP. UT is playable, as are Q3A and RtCW (though slightly lower framerates). (This is all on a machine with a GF4Ti4600, mind you, we'll deal with the Radeon in a bit). But then note that UT2003 actually DID work (i.e., it didn't lock up the system, and the on-screen renderings looked like they do under Windows) under Linux with an nVidia card, while thus far, I haven't been able to play at all with my Radeon. But wait for me to get ATI's drivers to work before passing final judgement! > As far as ATI, I tried a radeon vl to get away > from having to mess with new driver installs > every time I upgraded the kernel - the radeon > with the dri drivers worked fairly well in q3a > and the 3D screensavers worked ok -but the > box would immediately lock up hard any time I > tried to launch RtCW - this is of course totally > unacceptable, so I yanked the ATI and sold > it to a win doze user - I popped in an nvidia > and the box has been rock solid ever since. No lockups for me outside of UT2003. I'm otherwise perfectly happy with the card thus far. > When I heard about the recent availability of > 3D support for ATI cards, I hoped the drivers > had matured, but from your account, it sounds > as though the open source ATI drivers are > unusable. I don't know about unusable yet (unless your main gig is to play UT2003). I still have to load Wolf on here and give that a go. > > There are things other than games that use 3D! And nVidia's drivers > > have better 2D also. > > That's bizarre, perhaps there is some flaw in the > configuration - I have always found the "nv" driver > to have very fast 2D performance. I give up some > of that to get the 3D support from the nvidia driver, > always - I've noticed that on TNT and GeForce 2 > cards of various types. without fail. Partially in perception, I suppose. I had the perception that they did better when I was running my monitor at 1600x1200. Plus, when the 3D screen savers kicked in, you could definitely tell! > So, unless the ATI drivers work like magic (we > are awaiting your report) it sounds like nvidia > is still the only game in town, quite literally, for > 3D linux gaming. Well, if I can just get them to work with XFree86 4.3.0, we shall see. I'm awaiting suggestions... (I'll look around myself when I get a chance, too). > Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 13:39:37 -0500 (EST) > From: "Mike A. Harris" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: NVIDIA patches to run it on phoebe/rawhide kernels > Organization: Red Hat Inc. > Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > On Tue, 11 Mar 2003, joe wrote: > > >As far as ATI, I tried a radeon vl to get away > >from having to mess with new driver installs > >every time I upgraded the kernel - the radeon > >with the dri drivers worked fairly well in q3a > >and the 3D screensavers worked ok -but the > >box would immediately lock up hard any time I > >tried to launch RtCW - this is of course totally > >unacceptable, so I yanked the ATI and sold > >it to a win doze user - I popped in an nvidia > >and the box has been rock solid ever since. > > That RTCW lockup bug has been fixed for quite a while with the > combination of our erratum kernels, and my latest X packages for > 8.0 (4.2.1). The problem doesn't show up with the demo though, > just the real game. Works fine for me on Radeon for 8 months or > more now. I'll be trying it out myself shortly. > >When I heard about the recent availability of 3D support for ATI > >cards, I hoped the drivers had matured, but from your account, > >it sounds as though the open source ATI drivers are unusable. > > That very much depends on one's perception and expectations. > If having a couple of 3D applications cause instability is > "unuseable" then there is no such thing as stable video drivers > on any OS platform. None that I've seen anyway. What is stable > for one person, is unstable for someone else. There's no > avoiding that, as software is just not perfect (nor is hardware). That's the fun of the PC hardware world. Lower prices and more choices, at the price of some combinations of things not working. That would be one of the advantages that Apple has in the world. And even they have issues! I always stick to quality parts. Pay a bit more, and you'll have less trouble. (Some of this ties into that hdparm thread... some hardware combinations just aren't very good). > >So, unless the ATI drivers work like magic (we are awaiting your > >report) it sounds like nvidia is still the only game in town, > >quite literally, for 3D linux gaming. > > That very much depends on one's perception and expectations. The > open source ATI drivers work quite well for me, and do so on > multiple CPU architectures (x86, x86_64, alpha, ia64). Mike, any idea on how to make the ATI fglrx drivers work with XF86 4.3? I REALLY don't feel like trying to back off to 4.2.99... > >That RTCW lockup bug has been fixed for quite a while with the > >combination of our erratum kernels, and my latest X packages for > >8.0 (4.2.1). The problem doesn't show up with the demo though, > >just the real game. Works fine for me on Radeon for 8 months or > >more now. > > > That's good to know - maybe I'll try another ATI > video card and see for myself then. I'll let you all know shortly about my experiences w/Wolf... > On Red Hat Linux 8.0, my system would seldom stay up for more than an hour > after installing the latest nVidia display drivers. After a short while, the > display would turn to garbage and the system would be completely locked up. > > As you might guess, I have reverted to the XFree86 nv driver, and use Windows > for games. :-( Never had a problem under 8.0 with the nvidia driver. Still wasn't as good as running under Windows though (for UT2003). :( -- Jarod Wilson, RHCE <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "A wise man once said nothing at all" -- -- Phoebe-list mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/phoebe-list
