window creation failure

Hi, I'm trying to get SL running on Ubuntu Dapper.
I downloaded the tarball, extracted it and ran ./secondlife
Then I get an error message "Window creation failure" and some messages (see below).
Any ideas?

[...]
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: Initializing window...
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: createContext, fullscreen=0 size=800x600
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: createContext: creating window 800x600x32
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: createContext: window creation failure. SDL: Couldn't find matching GLX visual
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: destroyContext begins
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: shutdownGL begins
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: SDL_QuitSS/VID begins
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: Creating a dialog because we're in windowed mode and GTK is happy.
2006-11-14T17:34:49Z INFO: QUEUED THREAD STARTING
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z INFO: Skipping quitCursors: mWindow already gone.
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z INFO: destroyContext begins
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z INFO: shutdownGL begins
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z INFO: SDL_QuitSS/VID begins
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z WARNING: LLWindowManager::create() : Error creating window.2006-11-14T17:34:52Z WARNING: Unable to create window, be sure screen is set at 32-bit color in Control Panels->Display->Settings
2006-11-14T17:34:52Z INFO: remove_marker_file()

Be sure to have your graphics driver loaded, flgx, nvidia or what not for your graphics card. Also check your xorg.conf for a 32bit frame buffer. nvidia drivers default to that, dunno about ati.

Nvidia driver in xorg.conf is 'nvidia' while the non accelerated driver is just 'nv'

Is there any way to get SL to run in 24bit mode. I have a laptop with a S3 Savage TwisterK. The card seems to only suport 24 bit mode.

I have SL running in 24 bit mode. Running Mepis 6.0 on an Acer Aspire 1362WLMi with a Geforce Go 5200.

With the Linux drivers provided with Mepis I have never been able to enable more than 24 bit without crashing X. SL actually runs more smoothly than under windows. Currently running with default Mepis legacy driver, 71.74. Previously I was using the 8x.xx series driver for 'new' cards (sorry can't be more precise), but I'm pretty sure that the 7x.xx series benchmarks better than the 8x.xx series for this card.

I also had the 'Error creating window' issue, but it seemed to resolve itself after endless reinstalling of the nvidia driver. I wish I knew what fixed it, but at 3.00am I stop being systematic!

On first installing, SL complained that it would not run at 24 bit, but after a couple of reboots it just started working.

I am getting the same error under RHEL 4 and a ATI FireGL V5200 card. I tried editing my Xorg.conf file as follows to switch from 24bit to 32bit:

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Videocard0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 32
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 32
Modes "800x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

I get this error:

(EE) fglrx(0): Weight given (000) is inconsistent with the depth (32)
(EE) fglrx(0): PreInitWeight failed
SetVBEMode failed
(EE) fglrx(0): PreInit failed

I have a feeling that my card or distro do not support 32-bit color..

Any ideas?

Thanks for all the replies. It helped me get around the error message.

My xorg.conf had set the "vesa" driver for the ATI Radeon X700 Pro. I changed that to "radeon" and SL started without the error. The "radeon" sub-driver seems to be included in the xserver-xorg-driver-ati package that I had already installed on Ubuntu.

When it started SL it was painfully slow, though, like changing view in 2-second-steps.

A depth of 32 doesn't work at all for me, it tells me that the radeon driver doesn't support 32. I guess I have to keep 24, but that shouldn't make it so slow, should it?

Edit: In my case there seems to be lot of package loss. Others on the "Linux Client alpha 1.12.3.6 available"-thread have reported slowing down, too. Maybe this should go to a seperate thread?

Anyway, here's the log:
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z INFO: START MESSAGE LOG SUMMARY
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Run time: 234.311 seconds
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Incoming:
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total bytes received: 2080425 (71.03 kbits per second)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total packets received: 6366 (27.17 packets per second)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Average packet size: 327 bytes
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total reliable packets: 3022 (47.46%)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total compressed packets: 1307 (20.53%)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total compression savings: 155332 bytes
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Avg comp packet savings: 118 ( 1.46 : 1)2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Avg overall comp savings: 24 ( 1.07 : 1)2006-11-15T10:48:40Z
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Outgoing:
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total bytes sent: 30788 ( 1.05 kbits per second)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total packets sent: 787 ( 3.36 packets per second)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Average packet size: 39 bytes
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total reliable packets: 193 (24.49%)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total compressed packets: 168 (21.32%)
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Total compression savings: 1711 bytes
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Avg comp packet savings: 10 ( 1.10 : 1)2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Avg overall comp savings: 2 ( 1.06 : 1)2006-11-15T10:48:40Z
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z SendPacket failures: 0
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Dropped packets: 997
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Resent packets: 47
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Failed reliable resends: 16
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Off-circuit rejected packets: 1
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z On-circuit invalid packets: 0
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Decoding:
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z Message Count Time Max Avg
2006-11-15T10:48:40Z END MESSAGE LOG SUMMARY

question, it didnt get answered in this thread, how do i get it to run in 24 bit?

apparently my monitor and video card cant handle 32 bit at all. is there away to change the video settings for SL itself manually?

when ever i go into xorg and change the settings from 24 bit to 32 bit, it crashes X

I have the same problem with my ATI radeon x850 pro

Here are some extracts from the soon-to-be-released README - the warning itself is a bit misleading.

Minimum requirements:
* Internet Connection: Cable or DSL
* Computer Processor: 800MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better
* Computer Memory: 256MB or better
* Linux Operating System: A reasonably modern 32-bit Linux environment
is required. If you are running a 64-bit Linux distribution, you
may need a set of 32-bit compatibility libraries.
* Video/Graphics Card:
o nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
o OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better

**NOTE**: Second Life absolutely requires you to have recent, correctly-
configured OpenGL 3D drivers for your hardware - the graphics drivers
that came with your operating system may not be good enough! See the
TROUBLESHOOTING section if you encounter problems starting Second Life.

PROBLEM 1:- Second Life fails to start up, with a warning on the console like:
'Error creating window.' or
'Unable to create window, be sure screen is set at 32-bit color' or
'SDL: Couldn't find matching GLX visual.'
SOLUTION:- Usually this indicates that your graphics card does not meet
the minimum requirements, or that your system's OpenGL 3D graphics driver is
not updated and configured correctly. If you believe that your graphics
card DOES meet the minimum requirements then you likely need to install the
official so-called 'non-free' nVidia or ATI (fglrx) graphics drivers; we
suggest one of the following options:
* Consult your Linux distribution's documentation for installing these
official drivers. For example, Ubuntu provides documentation here:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto
* If your distribution does not make it easy, then you can download the
required Linux drivers straight from your graphics card manufacturer:
- nVidia cards: http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html
- ATI cards: http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

I'm having the same problem using ubuntu... same log output... but the term xorg.conf means nothing to me... what is it and how so I change it?

xorg.conf is the config file of the X.org XServer. An XServer is the program which's responsable to provide a graphical screen on which your desktop-manager (like KDE or GNOME) and all the other graphical programms (like SecondLife and Firefox) run on)

On Ubuntu, the file is placed at
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
and can be edited with the sudoedit command:

$> sudoedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Be sure to back it up first, so you can copy back the old version in case you mess something up:

$> sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

I do not think it is enough just to change "nv" to "nvidia" I think you must also create file for link to shared library.

sudo gedit /etc/X11/XvMCConfig

Add this line to XvMCConfig which you just made

libXvMCNVIDIA_dynamic.so.1

Remember you can use pico instead of gedit or you can use vi or any text editor. This is just to make text file for you to put that line so driver can find the shared library it needs for the accel driver for NVIDIA. Remember this is after you change "nv" to "nvidia".

You also need to have the new driver installed before you change "nv" to "NVIDIA" if you do not then your Xserver will not start and you will be stuck in text mode. To fix this just change "nvidia" back to "nv" and everything will go back to normal.

Please do not give up! Just post again if you continue to have problems. The Alpha client is working very well. It took me awhile to get it going but once I did I was very impressed!

Hi, I've tried fidding around with all of the above settings, bar the nvidia ones, as I'm on an ATI x800 card. I'm running PClinuxOS (mandriva derivative) and I get the "failed to create window" error message above. I'm running the radeon fglrx drivers, which are the propietary drivers from ATI. I've tried changing my xorg.conf for 32 bit but it just gets to loading the gui and stops, which is because the proprietary driver is max 24-bit, but I'd thought I'd try. Is there any way to manually edit the start-up settings of secondlife itself, so maybe I could try and change it to 24-bit before I start running?

Thanks

I am an absolute nOOb in Ubuntu and struggled for two days to get my NVIDIA drivers to work. Eventually I found this script and it cleared up all my problems:

http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html

It updated the drivers to the latest and configured all the technical innards. I hope it does the same for you!

And to answer the person who asked about an S3 Savage: No, it's not going to work.

I am having the same window creation failure error using ubuntu 6.10

I followed the directions on the ubuntu web site to install the glx driver for my GeForce 6600 card.

I am still getting the same error.

here is the screen sections from my xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600 GT]"
Driver "nv"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "ViewSonic GT"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV43 [GeForce 6600 GT]"
Monitor "ViewSonic GT"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1600x1280" "1600x1200" "1280x1024" "1280x960" "1152x864" "1024x768" "832x624" "800x600" "720x400" "640x480"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

-----------------------------------------------------------

Also, in the ubuntu package manager, in the nvidia-glx package description is the line: To enable the driver, run "sudo nvidia-glx-config enable".

when I run that command I get this error:

Error: unable to load nvidia kernel driver! Be sure to have installed
the nvidia driver for your running kernel.

I am new to ubuntu and I don't understand what is going on here.

Can someone walk me through this please?

Thanks.

Ok, Im running Linux on a boot CD atm because my windows partition is down. I would REALLY like to play SL but im getting the Window creation error. How can I fix this if im running off the boot disk?

I get the "Window Creation Error" with a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra. I assume that my card isn't good enough, although it is a little hard to know what is "or better" given the product naming. Shame: I get 5000 FPS with it.

Hi, try running:

sudo modprobe -i nvidia

then

sudo nvidia-glx-config enable

That will ensure the driver is loaded into the kernel.

Okay, here's the deal. Back in the day, I forget when exactly, but back before the xorg fork happened, the X server configuration was changed as to represent the true number of colors displayed. 32bit color is just 24bit color padded out to 32bits, because padding it out to 32bit is often faster. After all, your CPU is 32bit. (or these days possibly 64)

You can not specify 32bit color in the general xorg config. Its invalid. The policy is, if you want "TrueColor", you tell it 24 bits, and each individual graphics driver makes its own informed decision on whether to run in packed 24bit mode or padded out 32bit mode. Some cards may be faster in 24bit mode, some are faster in 32bit. The driver makes this decision for you. And when you enter into the mix that some hardware only supports 24 and some others only 32, it was just too problematic to have the user specifying this. Things need to Just Work. (Some drivers may have a driver-specific override option, if you really think you're smarter than the driver)

So, really the "Make sure you're in 32bit color" message, at least for Linux users, should be changed to "Make sure you're in 24bit color" or "don't run me in 16-bit or 8bit color plz kthx" or maybe actually check what the color depth is rather than being what seems to be a misleading generic "It didn't work" message.

Also of note, as stated in the fglrx FAQ and whatnot, the fglrx driver only supports 24 bit color. As in the high-level "whatever is optimal for the hardware" xorg definition of 24bit. If you're using fglrx, you can't possibly get the color depth wrong.

The card is good enough, I have SL running (walking? ) with this card, too. The card I have, has 128 MB.

I use the latest NVidia drivers, on Opensuse 10.2, but it also ran on 10.0 ...

The machine is an AMD Duron at 1800 MHz with 1 GB main memory, and I get around 5 FPS in SL with many options enabled, but not all, windowed to around 1152 x 960...

5000 FPS? That is glxgears, I suppose?

JackOfSpades: Are you using a standard Knoppix CD or the SL Linux Live CD on your NVidia box?

Well I was using the Knoppix Live CD but i went ahead and installed Ubuntu on my box and SL works. Just my box is still dieing so i had to revert to an older machine of mine and play on windows.

Right you are. I forgot I had switched to 16BPP to get the 5000 glxgears FPS. Switching to 24BPS reduces this to 3500FPS, but SL runs fine. Thanks for the comment! Likewise, 128M, AGP8X, on Gentoo with latest everything.

Be sure to have 24 bits enabled by default. It won't run in 16 bits.
I changed this line in my xorg.conf

DefaultDepth 16

to

DefaultDepth 24

And it runned well.