[Paraview] Can pvserver run without X server?

[Kent Eschenberg]

Very interesting! It looks like you are right.

The important question is whether ParaView and/or VTK must make 
additional calls to use the DRI approach - is there a need to call, for 
example, something like "DRI_Initialize"? If so you'll need to figure 
out where to put those new calls.

How do you come to have a system with a graphics card but no X server?

Kent

Weiguang Guan wrote:
> Thanks for the instant responses.
> 
> I've already built Paraview with OSMesa and run it with offscreen 
> rendering option on a cluster without X.
> 
> However, I want Paraview do the rendering using GPU rather CPU as 
> rendering with GPU is about 10-20 times faster than with CPU. If DRI has 
> been adapted to provide OpenGL acceleration without an X Server running 
> (ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Rendering_Infrastructure), then 
> it is possible (theoretically at least) to avoid X server and at the 
> same time enjoy video hardware acceleration. Am I right?
> 
> Weiguang
> 
> On Wed, 14 Mar 2007, Moreland, Kenneth wrote:
> 
>> You should be able to use the OSMesa library to open a software-emulated
>> OpenGL context without connecting to an X host.  If you compile with the
>> OSMesa library and then use the offscreen command line option on the
>> client, then you can render and composite on the server without an X
>> host there.
>>
>> We have been doing that for years with ParaView 2.X.  If it does not
>> work with ParaView 3, that would be a bug.
>>
>> -Ken
>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: paraview-bounces+kmorel=sandia.gov at paraview.org
>> [mailto:paraview-
>>> bounces+kmorel=sandia.gov at paraview.org] On Behalf Of Kent Eschenberg
>>> Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2007 11:33 AM
>>> To: Weiguang Guan
>>> Cc: ParaView
>>> Subject: Re: [Paraview] Can pvserver run without X server?
>>>
>>> Weiguang Guan wrote:
>>>> Has anyone run Paraview in client/server mode where the pvserver run
>> on
>>>> a computer (or cluster) without X server running? It seems to me
>> that
>>>> DRI can let an application access video hardware directly without
>> going
>>>> through X server.
>>>
>>> I think the answer is no. When composite is off the client does the
>>> rendering and the graphics card has to be at the client. When
>> composite
>>> is on the server does the rendering but it only works through OpenGL
>> or
>>> through Mesa which emulates OpenGL.
>>>
>>> I think both must reach the graphics card through the X server. In
>> other
>>> words, the X server "owns" the graphics card and manages all access to
>> it.
>>>
>>> The last system I know of that would do what you wanted was from SGI
>>> using their GL language, the precursor to OpenGL.
>>>
>>> Kent
>>> Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center