Frequently Asked Questions¶

1.1 What is Mesa?¶

Mesa is an open-source implementation of the OpenGL specification. OpenGL is a programming library for writing interactive 3D applications. See the OpenGL website for more information.

Mesa 9.x supports the OpenGL 3.1 specification.

2.1 What’s the easiest way to install Mesa?¶

If you’re using a Linux-based system, your distribution most likely already includes Mesa packages.

3.1 Rendering is slow / why isn’t my graphics hardware being used?¶

If Mesa can’t use its hardware accelerated drivers it falls back on one of its software renderers. (e.g. Softpipe or LLVMpipe)

You can run the glxinfo program to learn about your OpenGL library. Look for the OpenGL vendor and OpenGL renderer values. That will identify who’s OpenGL library with which driver you’re using and what sort of hardware it has detected.

If you’re using a hardware accelerated driver you want direct rendering: Yes.

If your DRI-based driver isn’t working, go to the DRI website for trouble-shooting information.

3.2 I’m seeing errors in depth (Z) buffering. Why?¶

Make sure the ratio of the far to near clipping planes isn’t too great. Look here for details.

Mesa uses a 16-bit depth buffer by default which is smaller and faster to clear than a 32-bit buffer but not as accurate. If you need a deeper you can modify the parameters to glXChooseVisual in your code.

3.3 Why Isn’t depth buffering working at all?¶

Be sure you’re requesting a depth buffered-visual. If you set the MESA_DEBUG environment variable it will warn you about trying to enable depth testing when you don’t have a depth buffer.

Specifically, make sure glutInitDisplayMode is being called with GLUT_DEPTH or glXChooseVisual is being called with a non-zero value for GLX_DEPTH_SIZE.

This discussion applies to stencil buffers, accumulation buffers and alpha channels too.

3.4 Why does glGetString() always return NULL?¶

Be sure you have an active/current OpenGL rendering context before calling glGetString.

3.5 GL_POINTS and GL_LINES don’t touch the right pixels¶

If you’re trying to draw a filled region by using GL_POINTS or GL_LINES and seeing holes or gaps it’s because of a float-to-int rounding problem. But this is not a bug. See Appendix H of the OpenGL Programming Guide - “OpenGL Correctness Tips”. Basically, applying a translation of (0.375, 0.375, 0.0) to your coordinates will fix the problem.

4.1 How can I contribute?¶

First, join the mesa-dev mailing list. That’s where Mesa development is discussed.

The OpenGL Specification is the bible for OpenGL implementation work. You should read it.

Most of the Mesa development work involves implementing new OpenGL extensions, writing hardware drivers (for the DRI), and code optimization.

4.2 How do I write a new device driver?¶

Unfortunately, writing a device driver isn’t easy. It requires detailed understanding of OpenGL, the Mesa code, and your target hardware/operating system. 3D graphics are not simple.

The best way to get started is to use an existing driver as your starting point. For a Gallium3D hardware driver, the r300g, r600g and the i915g are good examples.

The DRI website has more information about writing hardware drivers. The process isn’t well document because the Mesa driver interface changes over time, and we seldom have spare time for writing documentation. That being said, many people have managed to figure out the process.

Joining the appropriate mailing lists and asking questions (and searching the archives) is a good way to get information.

4.3 Why isn’t GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc implemented in Mesa?¶

Oh but it is! Prior to 2nd October 2017, the Mesa project did not include S3TC support due to intellectual property (IP) and/or patent issues around the S3TC algorithm.

As of Mesa 17.3.0, Mesa now officially supports S3TC, as the patent has expired.

In versions prior to this, a 3rd party plug-in library was required.