Hi, i'm new to the forums.

I have some experience with linux, but not Slackware what i want to change to.

Well i have a Raspberry Pi 3 with a ARM cpu.
I have read various docs about setting up this machine with Slackware.

It currently boots up, but in a PDF the person says that the MESA driver is not compatible with OpenGL and i have to REBUILD MESA wotj VC4 DRI Driver.

He gives an script to do it.

Im a little confused, where do i get MESA for Slackware.

should i put it in a make file?

Sorry for being to noob, i just want to learn.
Thanks

Hi ateneo,

I've moved this thread over to the Slackware ARM forum to gain it some exposure with LQ members who have the most relevant experience with getting Slackware and programs for it running on a Pi.

Thanks man. Sorry for the inconvinence

Not at all. I've found that Slackware persons are highly knowledgeable about the distribution and they seem to be very active on the LQ forums. Meanwhile we don't seem to see much discussion in the Newbie section, even though you are new to this situation.

I should add that based on the clip you posted, you'll need to download the source and then run that script, or series of commands to build and then install the built result. There may be better/other options for Slackware, but that's beyond my knowledge, I'm not a Slackware user.

@ateneo

The mesa package hat comes with Slackware ARM is generic, compiled to work for all ARM platforms, it'll work fine with the Raspberry too, but AFAIK it is not built with the vc4 driver. Depending on your specific needs, you can either recompile mesa on your own or use the already available (Raspberry provided) mesa package in /opt/vc.

As you haven't specified what Slackware ARM version you are using (14.2 or current), the compilation switches might vary and you should use and amend accordingly the following mesa.SlackBuild:
https://mirror.slackbuilds.org/slack...source/x/mesa/
https://mirror.slackbuilds.org/slack...source/x/mesa/
This thread might give you additional details:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...i3-4175590590/

If you are able to use the already available OpenGL powered mesa libs (point your application to use them) in /opt/vc, then you won't need to recompile anything and can live with both mesa libs on the same host, the one provided by Slackware ARM in /usr/lib and the other provided by Raspberry in /opt/vc
Should you want to recompile and tune for Raspberry Pi3 the mesa libs that are provided by Raspberry (/opt/vc), then you can follow the section related to VC-USERLAND from this thread:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...on-4175612537/

Here is what the Raspberry provided mesa lib is capable of:
https://elinux.org/Raspberry_Pi_VideoCore_APIs

Thanks very much man!!

The links for the mesa.SlackBuild from my previous post were pointing at the Slackware core X86 distribution - they are useful for grabbing the source code and patches. For using and adapting the mesa-Slackbuilds for ARM, use the scripts found here (depending on the Slackware version you're running):
ftp://ftp.arm.slackware.com/slackwar...source/x/mesa/
ftp://ftp.arm.slackware.com/slackwar...source/x/mesa/

Sorry, i'm just learning linux. Maybe putting slackware into ARM isn't the best approach to learn. I come from a FreeBSD background.

Well i have the x86 source and i have the ARM Mesa source.

How do i do to make it work? Thxs.

From my experience (an old BSD-er myself), Slackware is the closest thing you can get to BSD and due to its simplicity (Linux purity) and lack of automation, it might be the best approach to learn about Linux. Not the easiest I must admit.

There is no x86 / ARM sources, Slackware ARM is juts a port branched out from the core Slackware distribution, as all the other ARM Linux distros usually are, the Linux source code is platform independent. As advised before, grab the source code and the patches from the core Slackware repository (x86) and only take the mesa.SalckBuild from the ARM repository (it contains ARM specific directives), modify it according to your needs (add the vc4 driver and Pi3 specific compiler flags) and run it - start the build. You might want to comment out the lines from the mesa.SalckBuild that are installing mesa into the system and only look for creating the package. Once you get the package, remove the existing mesa that came with Slackware ARM and install your own generated one.
- substitute * with the actual name/version

Detailing your Slackware setup - exact version and what you're planning to do with the new mesa might help (as stated before, you might not even need to recompile it, but use the Raspberry provided one).

I switched to slack since it's the most "unix-like" linux.

Ok. It was a very stupid noob question.
Thanks for your reply.

The thing is that i got a Reaspberry PI 3. I have a 64GB microSD card Class 10, keyboard, mouse, HDMI LED Flatron E2350 monitor and network access through network tx 100 cable.

I want to set up a linux box with it.

I have installed HARD ARM KDE-current successfully in my box (I'm writing this post in it) using Xfce.

When i look at xorg.conf file it's using the VESA driver.
So i need to compile an specific driver for the Rasp 3.

* Exaga takes rtmistler off his Christmas card list.

We were all noobs once. Don't worry and don't apologise for it. You're in a great place to get help!

Slackware offers the most comprehensive learning curve of any Linux distribution. Of that there is no doubt. If you want to learn Linux then you made the best choice with Slackware.

Slackware ARM is virtually identical to Slackware x86. Apart from specific x86 and ARM required packages, they both work, look, and feel the same. If you're familiar with Slackware x86 then the ARM port will be just as familiar.

Best of luck with your endeavours. Just out of interest, why are you needing the MESA drivers?

I need those MESA Drivers right away!!!
Please!!! :-)

It looks that you're running Slackware ARM current HardFloat. I was about to suggest to use it, because it's faster by making use of the HardFloat VFP.
I've been looking at the mesa.SlackBuild, the one you apparently don't have time inspecting , and it looks like the vc4 driver is newly defined and used for the build. That means, you won't need to recompile the mesa again. - drmozes, after finishing his social sciences studies, might correct me if wrong.
ftp://ftp.arm.slackware.com/slackwar...esa.SlackBuild
- make sure your Slackware system is updated (look for mesa and update it), do not update any kernel & kernel related packages! - uncheck all the lines related, run:
- you need to enable the vc4 driver at boot time on your Rpi3. Depending on where you took your kernel, first check if you have the file: /boot/overlays/vc4-kms-v3d.dtbo
- in case you need it, an updated, clean and complete kernel you can get by following the guide here (manual installation method - raspbian_boot_stuff.tgz file):
https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:ha...rm:raspberrypi
- then, add this line to your /boot/config.txt:
- make sure you've allocated at least 128MB RAM to your GPU (again, in /boot/config.txt)
- reboot your system and start X
- inspect your X Server log file - /var/log/Xorg.0.log
- while under X - check what driver are you using by issuing:
P.S. You might want to also check the new driver:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/v...c.php?t=159853
https://github.com/raspberrypi/firmware/issues/909

1 members found this post helpful.

Yes, I gathered that. I am asking why you need the MESA drivers. For what purpose, etc.