SL alpha client on Debian testing (etch)

Hello all.

I've been using the SL client for Windows, but I thought I'd give the Linux alpha version a go. I have a debian etch install, kernel 2.6.15, X server 6.9.0.dfsg.1-6, and the window manager I'm running is ion. Apart from a custom-built kernel, my debian installation is pretty much normal. This is what I get when I unpack and run SL:

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2006-05-18T11:39:11Z WARNING: LLDir_Linux not fully implemented!
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Marker file isn't locked.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Checking marker file for lock...
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Exec marker found: program froze on previous execution
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Marker file created.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Removing message.log
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Exiting init_marker_file().
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Last execution froze, requesting to send crash report.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z WARNING: OSMessageBox: Second Life appears to have frozen or crashed on the previous run.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z Would you like to send a crash report?
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Not sending crash report.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Opening debug file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/logs/debug_info.log
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Second Life version 1.9.0
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Local time: 2006-05-18T12:39:11 BST
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: CPU info:
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 15 model : 0 model name : Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1500MHz stepping : 10 cpu MHz : 1495.390 cache size : 256 KB fdiv_bug : no hlt_bug : no f00f_bug : no coma_bug : no fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 2 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm bogomips : 2994.00
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Memory info:
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z MemTotal: 775548 kB MemFree: 11436 kB Buffers: 92100 kB Cached: 437012 kB SwapCached: 0 kB Active: 213596 kB Inactive: 455444 kB HighTotal: 0 kB HighFree: 0 kB LowTotal: 775548 kB LowFree: 11436 kB SwapTotal: 305224 kB SwapFree: 305224 kB Dirty: 364 kB Writeback: 0 kB Mapped: 194560 kB Slab: 81680 kB CommitLimit: 692996 kB Committed_AS: 333000 kB PageTables: 1008 kB VmallocTotal: 245752 kB VmallocUsed: 22176 kB VmallocChunk: 222708 kB
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: OS info: Linux 2.6.15 #5 PREEMPT Sun Feb 12 19:44:16 GMT 2006 i686
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loading feature tables.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Using configuration file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/user_settings/settings.ini
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: LLControlGroup::loadFromFile unable to open.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: LLControlGroup::loadFromFile unable to open.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loading art table from viewerart.ini
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loading base colors from colors_base.ini
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loading user colors from colors.ini
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Default vfs data file not present, found /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Old salt: 1
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z WARNING: Bad or missing vfx index file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z WARNING: Removing old vfs data file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Renaming /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/. to /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1974444968
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Renaming /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1 to /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1974444968
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Pre-sized VFS data file to 524288000 bytes
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/index.db2.x.1974444968 and data file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/SecondLife/cache/data.db2.x.1974444968
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: VFS: Using index file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/app_settings/static_index.db2 and data file /home/stuart/SecondLife_1_9_0_21/app_settings/static_data.db2
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Initializing window...
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: createContext: creating window 800x600x32
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loading GL symbols...
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loaded OpenGL symbol 'glAlphaFunc'.

... (Snipped this because of all the symbols loaded.)

2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loaded OpenGL symbol 'glXQueryExtensionsString'.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Loaded OpenGL symbol 'glXGetProcAddressARB'.
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize mipmap generation
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize GL_EXT_paletted_texture
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize GL_NV_vertex_array_range
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize GL_NV_fence
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize separate specular color
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z INFO: Couldn't initialize anisotropic filtering
2006-05-18T11:39:11Z WARNING: Invalid control RenderUserFarClip
X Error of failed request: GLXUnsupportedPrivateRequest
Major opcode of failed request: 145 (GLX)
Minor opcode of failed request: 17 (X_GLXVendorPrivateWithReply)
Serial number of failed request: 135
Current serial number in output stream: 135
---

I've tried running as root and as a normal user, but to no avail. Anyone got any bright ideas? Thanks.

You need the proprietary drivers for your graphics card (ATI or nvidia). the nvidia ones are packaged in debian, but I have always found it easier to install the kernel headers from debian and just run the autoinstaller downloaded from nvidia.com.

You then need to change the driver used in /etc/X11/xorg.conf to nvidia (not nv)

The bold line seems to give lots of people trouble. Check the forum, searching for "RenderUserFarClip" to see how it turned out. I think there are some people who solved that.