TWITTER UPDATES

If you want to play with compositing on Fedora 8 using the Intel drivers, here's how I got it working.

• For testing, you can run a second X server on the hardware. However, you first need to disable DRI on the main X server (and not use a compositing WM on the main X server). This is done by adding Option "NoDRI" to xorg.conf. If you don't have a xorg.conf (I didn't), run system-config-display and let it write out a minimal one. Add the NoDRI option to the Device section. Next, copy xorg.conf to something like xorg-dri.conf, and re-enable DRI in the copied file. Then you can run a second X server as something like "X -config xorg-dri.conf -audit 0 -br -ac :8 -nolisten tcp vt8". Careful: if your main X server has DRI running, you won't get DRI on the new X server even though it's in the config file. So be sure the main server lacks DRI (use "glxinfo" to check).
• If you run Compiz on a server without DRI, the error is "No GLXFBConfig for default depth, this isn't going to work." You must have direct rendering enabled (check glxinfo).
• Once you enable DRI, however, Compiz will say the GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap extension is missing. To fix this, you have to set LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1 in the environment. The desktop-effects control panel that comes with Fedora sets this env variable when it runs compiz. Yes, you should have direct rendering enabled, and then you have to set LIBGL_ALWAYS_INDIRECT=1.

Goal: run Compiz in a nested X server. Or really, any X server that is not the one I'm using for real work.

List O' Failures:

1. "Screw it, just run the regular X server on another virtual console." DRI can only be used on one console at a time. Lose.
2. "Xephyr supports GLX in latest git." Latest Xephyr totally busted on 64-bit platforms. After debugging and applying lots of 64-bit fixes, still does not report GL-capable visual to glxinfo or glxgears, though it reports GLX extension. Lose.
3. "Build Xgl from git, since it isn't in Fedora." Xgl subdir on main branch of xorg/xserver is just a trap for suckers; does not build and probably never did. Discovered there is a separate Xgl branch. Requires --disable-xcsecurity or it won't build. Does not work with Fedora 8 system DRI headers or Mesa-from-git DRI headers. Docs on freedesktop.org wiki still talk about CVS, not helpful. Lose.

Anyway, about 12 hours down the tubes so far, mostly building 'xserver' over and over with a variety of config options, installed dependencies, patches, and branches, trying to get the magic combo.

Does anyone know a way to hack on a GL-based compositing manager such as Compiz in a nested X server? I didn't even try Xnest assuming there's no way it works; Xephyr has GLX and Composite but Compiz reports that the root window has the wrong visual; Xgl appears to be dead (?) and isn't in the Fedora yum repo; and Xdmx has GLX but not Composite or any of the other newer extensions.

Google reveals no suggestions (other than Xgl, which apparently worked at some point in the past). If I figure it out I'll post the answer.

After almost 9 years, today was my last day at Red Hat. I'll miss it, and all the great people there.

It's not time yet to say what I'm working on now, and may not be time for a while. In the meantime, I'll be around in all the usual places you might expect to find me.