[Linux] Couldn't initialize render device

inigomontoyainigomontoya Join Date: 2013-08-31 Member: 187355Members
in Technical Support
Upon launching the game an error window pops up that says "Couldn't initialize render device". Found the log, it says OpenGL 3.1 required. I'm using the open source radeon drivers with latest mesa from git. Mesa has supported OpenGL 3.1 for some time. Is there anything I can do other than installing the binary drivers? I really don't want to do that. How is the capability of the graphics card being queried? Other games work perfectly fine.
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  • OuchOfDeathOuchOfDeath Join Date: 2013-02-04 Member: 182825Members
    edited August 2013
    Something's missing in Mesa. Nobody running Mesa has been able to get the game to work. Install FGLRX.
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  • inigomontoyainigomontoya Join Date: 2013-08-31 Member: 187355Members
    Got a little further with it using the environment variable MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.1 before launching.

    Now it says "Error: OpenGL GLEW_ARB_sampler_objects extension is required"

    mesa does support GL_ARB_sampler_objects. I think this is libglew not being able to see mesa capabilities properly.

    fglrx is not an option for me.
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  • OuchOfDeathOuchOfDeath Join Date: 2013-02-04 Member: 182825Members
    By the way do you have a fast GPU? Mesa is really slow, and the game's OpenGL renderer is also really slow.
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  • inigomontoyainigomontoya Join Date: 2013-08-31 Member: 187355Members
    Mesa has increased in performance by leaps and bounds as of late. I'm using a radeon 5850, the latest mesa from git, and a few environment variables. The framerate in TF2 is near what it is in Windows with the same graphics settings.

    Since this is the earliest iteration of a Linux version of this game I expect bugs. But, I think it's important to get mesa support working. Everything else I've ever tried to play on Linux supports it just fine. There's no reason why NS2 shouldn't.
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  • ConfusedConfused Wait. What? Join Date: 2003-01-28 Member: 12904Members, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester
    inigo, as you have noted mesa does not work. It does not support a required extension for NS2. This means that, despite your attestation that the driver has improved, it is not going to work. The fact that it runs TF2 likely means that it does not require this extension.

    Generally, the solution is to install the AMD binary drivers.

    If you chose not to install the driver the game probably isn't going to work.


    That's the long and short of it.
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