How to install Sun Java Desktop System with OpenGL support on Sun Opteron workstations
Mittwoch Aug 25, 2004
Constantin wrote a blog on what you can do with our shiny new Opteron workstations, the Sun Java Workstation W1100z and W2100z. High on that list was running serious 3D applications for MCAD like PTC's ProEngineer Wildfire 2.0 on Linux.
The W1100z and W2100z currently come with out-of-the-box support for RedHat Advanced Server 3, but I wanted to have a neat integrated office desktop to run my 3D applications and decided to use the Sun Java Desktop System instead.
The machine for this excercise was a Sun Java Worstation W1100z with NVIDIA FX3000 graphics card. I did not manage to do a graphical installation with Java Desktop System for this combination (only got garbage screen), but the text interface worked fine. After one hour, three CDs were installed, the system booted sucessfully, albeit in text mode only.
Next task: Setting up the FX3000 graphics card. There are no drivers for the FX3000 included in Java Desktop System, but NVIDIA has Linux drivers on their Linux driver webpage. The Sun Java Desktop System is based on SuSE Linux, so it is very important to follow the detail step-by-step instructions decribed on the Nvidia Installer HOWTO for SuSE Linux users (which is also linked on the NVIDIA Linux driver page). First, use „yast2“ to add the „binutils“ and „kernel-source“ packages to the Java Desktop System default installation. After that, follow the instructions given in the HOWTO for SuSE Linux 8.2.
Almost done. Now consult the Readme file which is available on the NVIDIA Linux driver website and check all symbolic links. My Java Desktop System installation had „/usr/lib/libGL.so“ pointing to some MESA (an OpenGL clone) but not the original NVIDIA OpenGL driver, for example. After correcting that, OpenGL application worked with no problems. The defaults worked for me, but for those of you who want to dig further, the Readme lists literally hundreds of options for the XF86Config file to fine tune the driver.
|
|
|
|
