A non-technical overview of the Xgl implementation, and how it relates to Compiz and the nVidia driver, has been published by Emanuele Tamponi. Interestingly, the article mentions that Compiz requires Mesa to implement the infamous GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap function; but since the new beta driver from nVidia implements said function, you can now have Compiz in 3D glory without Xgl or AIGLX (howto).
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Member since:2005-12-31
I believe(memory fuzy) that: You need EXT_Texture_from_Pixmap to run compiz and not (aiglx or Xgl)
Aiglx provides as the name says , accelerated indirect rendering and Xgl could provide EXT_Texture_from_Pixmap without the need for it to be in the driver.
nvidia driver already provided accelerated indirect rendering but didn't yet provide EXT_Texture_from_Pixmap.
Member since:2005-07-13
This is wrong, you need Xgl or AIGLX to run compiz and AIGLX needs the EXT_Texture_from_Pixmap extension to work. Xgl can use mesa for this extension but it's very slow scrolling and smooth scrolling is even worse.
Many of the compiz packages are compiled against Mesa, but I downloaded Beryl from svn and compiled it, it doesn't default to compile against Mesa anymore. I can't exactly explain the technical details, but a couple of the devs discussed it on the nv News thread announcing the beta driver and why it does not require Xgl/AIGLX.
So I've got Beryl running with the new nVidia driver, without running Xgl or enabling AIGLX. Prior to compiling Beryl, I used a patched compiz-quinn that also worked. The standard compiz-quinn did not.
The nVidia howto mentions how to determine whether the compiz package is compatible; many of the existing compiz-quinn packages will not work, but you can compile from svn or use one of the patched ones.
I'm using an ancient adapter (nVidia GeoForce2 Go/32MB) on my old laptop, and my 3d desktop is noticeably more responsive and smoother than my former Xgl/Compiz-quinn combo, though I've still got some issues with openGL performance.
Member since:
2005-11-12
Yes it is, 7.1 comes with AIGLX.
"you can now have Compiz in 3D glory without Xgl or AIGLX"
This is wrong, you need Xgl or AIGLX to run compiz and AIGLX needs the EXT_Texture_from_Pixmap extension to work. Xgl can use mesa for this extension but it's very slow scrolling and smooth scrolling is even worse.
Edited 2006-09-26 17:30