[gradsusr] Grads 2.1.a3 - Problem plotting Intel graphic

Thu Jan 12 11:00:25 EST 2017

This problem is bad, and I want it to be resolved too. There are so many complicating factors it is difficult to figure out where to begin and it’s especially tough for me because I am not able to duplicate it. The fact that it is hardware dependent just makes it worse. I don’t think it’s a problem unique to GrADS, but I could be wrong. One way to simplify things is to use a smaller C program (like xdemo.c) that uses Cairo in the same way that GrADS does but without all the other supplib baggage.

Can you test whether my sample program xdemo.c works on all your various setups where GrADS X11 displays fail? You will have to build the Cairo library from source. Maybe the problem is simply that we are not using the very latest version of Cairo and all of its dependents, and an upgrade is all that is needed for GrADS to work on these newer systems. That would obviously be the easiest solution.

The other thing that confuses the issue is the X11 client-server interaction. I do all my work on a MacBookPro. I use xterm to open windows to access my local operating system (OSX 10.9.5) and also to ssh to remote servers (at this point, only redhat 5 and 6). The rendering is done by the X11 server on my local machine (XQuartz), not the remote systems I am connected to using ’ssh -Y’. GrADS is dynamically linked with the X11 libraries; I have no idea whether libX11 and libXext are different on OSX v. red hat 5/6 v. redhat 7 v. ubuntu v. fedora, but maybe that is the source of the problem.

The Lenovo hardware is a different beast altogether, a laptop/desktop box that has its own flavor of unix and X11 server. I know nothing about these systems; if the brand of graphics cards makes a difference then it’s a software issue at a much lower level than where GrADS is working. Do you think the display would look right if I used an xterm on my Apple laptop to ssh to a Lenovo box and ran GrADS remotely?

I am working on new releases for GrADS, where the graphics back ends for printing and display are dynamically loaded as shared objects based on user-provided arguments on startup. That would mean you could take advantage of all the other improvements since version 2.0.2 but not depend on Cairo for the display. I have to get the configuration issues ironed out before I can make it public.

I will ask my systems administrator if he can set up a RHEL7 sandbox for me, but in the meanwhile please try the things I have suggested and let me know what works/fails. It’s not called the cutting/bleeding edge for nothing!
—Jennifer

On Jan 12, 2017, at 7:37 AM, Semyon Grodsky <senya at umd.edu<mailto:senya at umd.edu>> wrote:

Here at UND/AOSC we have multiple machines running RHE7. All have the same display problem with GRADS/Cairo, which was reported to the forum about a year ago. We here just stick with the 2.0.2

--Senya

On 1/12/2017 4:22 AM, Simone Montagnani wrote:

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for the links.

My focus was on Ubuntu but this morning I made a few more tests on Fedora ( we have one Fedora 24 ) and it doesn't work on it too. I'm talking of the same hardware here ( Lenovo Thinkcentre M93 with integrated graphics ).In attach a screenshot of the grads example file plotted.

We have other servers or virtual machines that runs Centos 5.x and grads 2.1.0 works like a charm.

On one Lenovo Thinkcentre M93 with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and grads 2.1.a3 I bought an AMD Radeon R5 230 graphic card and it instantly works perfectly without any specific AMD drivers installed.If it's a specific X11 Ubuntu problem why it starts working?

I tried on the same Lenovo PC with Xubuntu 16.04 with XFCE and it doesn't work too.

Maybe it's a libcairo problem in combination with newer X11 ?
You say it's an Ubuntu problem , is there a Bug open in Ubuntu community for this ? I think it's a big issue, we have all our users  (about 50 clients) using this PC model  and we are stuck...

Best Regards,

Simone

________________________________
Da: "Jennifer M Adams" <jadams21 at gmu.edu><mailto:jadams21 at gmu.edu>
A: "GrADS Users Forum" <gradsusr at gradsusr.org><mailto:gradsusr at gradsusr.org>
Inviato: Mercoledì, 11 gennaio 2017 15:21:41
Oggetto: Re: [gradsusr] Grads 2.1.a3 - Problem plotting Intel graphic

Hi, Simone —
Please see an earlier thread on this topic: http://gradsusr.org/pipermail/gradsusr/2016-November/040443.html
The problem is with ubuntu's X11 server; as you noted it works on Fedora and CentOS. You should be fine if you use batch mode.
—Jennifer

On Jan 11, 2017, at 8:58 AM, Simone Montagnani <s.montagnani at lamma.toscana.it<mailto:s.montagnani at lamma.toscana.it>> wrote:

Hi all,

I'm posting here after days of searching and testing with no results.

I have a specific problem that seems to affect Grads 2.1.a3 ( but I think even the latest versions ).

I can reproduce it, with my specific input files like with the official grads test too.

Here are some details of my tests:

Hardware:

PC Lenovo with Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4170 CPU with integrated Intel graphics.

PC HP DC7900 ( old 2008 model with Intel graphics too )

Software:

O.S. Linux Ubuntu 16.04

Kernel 4.4 & Kernel 4.5

With and without Intel graphics update tool 2.0.2 installed

Used Grads 2.1.a3 as binary downloaded from your site or package from ubuntu 16.10 via apt pinning .

Intel update tool packages installed:

ii i965-va-driver:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 VAAPI driver for Intel G45 & HD Graphics family
ii intel-gpu-tools 1.15-1intel1 amd64 tools for debugging the Intel graphics driver
ii libcairo-gobject2:amd64 1.15.2-0intel1 amd64 Cairo 2D vector graphics library (GObject library)
ii libcairo-script-interpreter2:amd64 1.15.2-0intel1 amd64 Cairo 2D vector graphics library (script interpreter)
ii libcairo2:amd64 1.15.2-0intel1 amd64 Cairo 2D vector graphics library
ii libcairo2-dev 1.15.2-0intel1 amd64 Development files for the Cairo 2D graphics library
ii libdrm-intel1:amd64 2.4.68-1 amd64 Userspace interface to intel-specific kernel DRM services -- runtime
ii libegl1-mesa:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the EGL API -- runtime
ii libegl1-mesa-drivers:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 transitional dummy package
ii libgbm1:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 generic buffer management API -- runtime
ii libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the OpenGL API -- DRI modules
ii libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the OpenGL API -- GLX runtime
ii libglapi-mesa:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the GL API -- shared library
ii libgles1-mesa:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the OpenGL|ES 1.x API -- runtime
ii libgles2-mesa:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 free implementation of the OpenGL|ES 2.x API -- runtime
ii libosmesa6:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 Mesa Off-screen rendering extension
ii libva-drm1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- DRM runtime
ii libva-egl1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- EGL runtime
ii libva-glx1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- GLX runtime
ii libva-tpi1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- TPI runtime
ii libva-wayland1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- Wayland runtime
ii libva-x11-1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- X11 runtime
ii libva1:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- runtime
ii libwayland-egl1-mesa:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 implementation of the Wayland EGL platform -- runtime
ii libxatracker2:amd64 11.2.2-0intel1 amd64 X acceleration library -- runtime
ii va-driver-all:amd64 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API -- driver metapackage
ii vainfo 1.7.1-0intel1 amd64 Video Acceleration (VA) API for Linux -- info program

Problem:

I cannot graph correctly the image, in attach the results with model.ctl file used as a test.

With grads 2.0 no problem everything is ok in this PCs.

I think it's a Intel graphic problem, but Kernel upgrades , Intel drivers updates doesn't change anything.

Do you have any ideas?

I cannot use other distributions , I use grads without problems on various Fedora and CentOS servers, but in this case I need it to work with this Ubuntu version and hardware!

Any help is really appreciated,

Regards all

Simone

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--
Jennifer Miletta Adams
Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)
George Mason University

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--
-----------------------------------------------------------
Semyon Grodsky
University of Maryland
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
Room 2409, Atlantic Building (224)
4254 Stadium Dr.
College Park, MD 20742

Phone:  301-405-5330
Fax:    301-314-9482
E-mail: senya at atmos.umd.edu<mailto:senya at atmos.umd.edu>

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--
Jennifer Miletta Adams
Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)
George Mason University

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