planeshift on recent linux laptops

[Xanthan]

I'm planning on getting a new laptop-- nothing fancy.  Wondering if planeshift runs tolerably on intel i3-350m internal graphics on linux.

[LigH]

"Linux" is not the problem. But "internal intel graphics" may be ... PlaneShift is becoming a game which requires gaming hardware (like Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0 support). I would recommend a rather decent Nvidia graphic chipset.

GPUs / Graphic Chipsets: Which to avoid and why

"i3-350m" only describes the processor, but not the graphic solution. I don't know if they are related in general. If it will be a "GMA HD": That will probably be "tolerable" - provided that the drivers will support all required OpenGL functions...

[RlyDontKnow]

check wiki LigH
it appears to be an integrated GPU (CPU/GPU on one die)

by theory it supports unified shaders and opengl 2.0, so it should be able to handle it.
however I wouldn't place a bet on the driver playing it's part properly.

[LigH]

Well, I have found notebooks with i3-350M and ATI or Nvidia graphic too. Additional "mobile graphic cards" then, I would guess.

Nvidia belongs to the more reliable graphics hardware and driver combo, regarding Linux systems.

[Xanthan]

There's frustratingly little information available.  Apparently with some of the new Intel cores the graphics solution is more closely tied to the CPU, possibly even implemented on the same die.  What little info. I can find is here:

http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-integrated-graphics/

OpenGL 2.1, shader model 4.0 support.

Though the Intel processors are faster, I'm considering going with a slower AMD solution that at least has identifiable graphics cards-- generally the ATI Radeon 4250.  I'd like to know how PlaneShift does on those as well.

I'm posting this in the linux forum hoping that someone will also have a sense of how good the driver support is for linux on these recent laptops.

Xarthen

[RlyDontKnow]

the HD 4250 should do quite well.
I tried planeshift already on RHEL and arch linux with fglrx 10.x drivers on the following cards without major issues: HD 3200, HD 4200, HD 4830, HD 5770

I didn't try a HD 4250 myself, but as the HD 4200 works without any issues, I doubt there'll be any with a HD 4250

[LigH]

Hopefully the Knowledge Seekers will meet you again then, Xarthen... - There is just some more activity than usual for bookworms like us. Best wishes for a Merry Xmas.

[Xanthan]

I have a new machine!  Successfully ran PS on Windows, but no luck so far on ubuntu 10.10 beta, Maverick .  Probably due to the open source drivers, since the latest ubuntu uses X.org 1.9 which is not yet supported by ATI's drivers. 

[weltall]

opensource drivers aren't good enough for ps. lucky enough nvidia has support for 1.9 since 3 months or more

[Xanthan]

Wonderfully, there's an update and I am now running fglrx drivers.  Uninstalled and reinstalled PS, but have the same error as before:

crystalspace.pluginmgr.loadplugin:
  could not load plugin 'crystalspace.sndsys.renderer.null'
X Error of failed request:  BadValue (integer parameter out of range for operation)
  Major opcode of failed request:  130 (XFree86-VidModeExtension)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  10 (XF86VidModeSwitchToMode)
  Value in failed request:  0x4200002
  Serial number of failed request:  433
  Current serial number in output stream:  437

I'll post here and in the bugtracker if I get anywhere with this.

[weltall]

looks like a bug in drivers or better lack of support. use a different video mode.

[RlyDontKnow]

are you running fullscreen by any chance?
fullscreen resolutions are limited to the ones actually supported by your x server, i.e. not all options you can select in pslaunch will work.

[Xanthan]

Ah ha- Thanks Rly!  That was it.  The error message didn't reflect the issue.  I tried fullscreen since this laptop is only 768px vertical, and I had already had to hack the pslaunch.cfg so that the buttons weren't off the bottom of the screen.

Yay! Almost there!

Thanks, everyone.
Xarthen