3.9. Graphics and Display

3.9.1. Introduction

TI SOCs like AM335x, AM437x, AM57xx and AM65xx are enabled with 3D cores, capable of accelerating 3D operations with dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is based on SGX series of devices from Imagination Technologies. The graphics cores only accelerate graphics operations, and do not perform video decode operations. For video acceleration, refer to respective Technical Reference Manuals for the SOCs.

Below table lists the various TI families supported by this SDK, and the SGX core information

TI SOC Name SGX Core SGX Core Revision Max SGX Core Frequency (MHz)
AM335x SGX530 1.2.5 200
AM437x SGX530 1.2.5 200
AM57xx SGX544 1.1.6 532
AM65xx SGX544 1.1.7 450

Table: TI System on Chips, and SGX cores

Since the 3D accelerator (SGX core) is outside the ARM core, the Graphics drivers run on ARM core, and contain OS specific driver code to memory map the SGX core and program the engine from the OS running on the ARM core. The current version of SGX DDK provides OpenGLES2.0 and EGL libraries which are used by the graphics stacks in Processor SDK, such as QT5 and Wayland/Weston, Mesa-EGL based apps are currently not supported.

This Processor SDK Graphics and Display page will cover the following topics:

  • Software architecture of Graphics
  • Instructions on how to run graphics demos
  • Instructions on how to run PVR tools
  • Instructions on how to run DSS application
  • Migration Guide
  • AM3 Beagle Bone Black Board Configuration
  • SGX Debugging Tips

3.9.2. Software Architecture

The picture below shows the software architecture of Graphics in Processor SDK.

../_images/Graphic_software_stacks_psdk202.png

3.9.3. Graphics Demos Available via Matrix

The following 3D Graphics demos are available via Matrix. The table below provides a list of these demos, with a brief description.

Demo Name Details
ChameleonMan This demo shows a matrix skinned character in combination with bump mapping.
CoverFlow This is a demonstration of a coverflow style effect
ExampleUI This demo shows how to efficiently render sprites and interface elements.
Navigation This is a demonstration of how to implement rendering algorithms for Navigation software.
Kmscube This demo shows how to render and display multi-colored spinning cube

Note that some of the 3D Graphics demos are from Imagination’s PowerVR SDK.

3.9.4. Graphics Demos from Command Line

The graphics driver and userspace libraries and binaries are distributed along with the SDK.

Graphic demos can also run from command line. In order to do so, exit Weston by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace from the keyboard which connects to the EVM. Then, if the LCD screen stays in “Please wait...”, press Ctrl-Alt-F1 to go to the command line on LCD console. After that, the command line can be used from serial console, SSH console, or LCD console.

Please make sure the board is connected to at least one display before running these demos.

3.9.4.1. IMG PowerVR Demos

The Processor SDK filesystem comes packaged with example OpenGLES applications. The examples can be invoked using the below commands.

target # /usr/bin/SGX/demos/Raw/OGLES2Coverflow
target # /usr/bin/SGX/demos/Raw/OGLES2ChameleonMan
target # /usr/bin/SGX/demos/Raw/OGLES2ExampleUI
target # /usr/bin/SGX/demos/Raw/OGLES2Navigation

After you see the output on the display interface, hit q to terminate the application.

3.9.4.2. Finding Connector ID

Note: Most of the applications used in the Demos would require the user to pass a connector id. A connector id is a number that is assigned to each of the display devices connected to the system. To get the list of the display devices connected and the corresponding connector id one can use the modetest application (shipped with the file system) as mentioned below:

target #  modetest

Look for the display device for which the connector ID is required - such as HDMI, LCD etc.

Connectors:
id      encoder status          type    size (mm)       modes   encoders
4       3       connected       HDMI-A  480x270         20      3
  modes:
        name refresh (Hz) hdisp hss hse htot vdisp vss vse vtot)
  1920x1080 60 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 flags: phsync, pvsync; type: preferred, driver
...
16      15      connected       unknown 0x0             1       15
  modes:
        name refresh (Hz) hdisp hss hse htot vdisp vss vse vtot)
  800x480 60 800 1010 1040 1056 480 502 515 525 flags: nhsync, nvsync; type: preferred, driver

Usually, LCD is assigned 16 (800x480), and HDMI is assigned 4 (multiple resolutions).

3.9.4.3. Finding Plane ID

To find the Plane ID, run the modetest command:

target #  modetest

Look for the section called Planes. (Sample truncated output of the Planes section is given below)

Planes:
id      crtc    fb      CRTC x,y        x,y     gamma size
19      0       0       0,0             0,0     0
 formats: RG16 RX12 XR12 RA12 AR12 XR15 AR15 RG24 RX24 XR24 RA24 AR24 NV12 YUYV UYVY
 props:
 ...
20      0       0       0,0             0,0     0
 formats: RG16 RX12 XR12 RA12 AR12 XR15 AR15 RG24 RX24 XR24 RA24 AR24 NV12 YUYV UYVY
 props:
 ...

3.9.4.4. kmscube

Run kmscube on default display:

target # kmscube

Run kmscube on secondary display:

target # kmscube -c <connector-id>
target # kmscube -c 16 #For example, the connector id for secondary display is 16.

Run kmscube on all connected displays (LCD & HDMI):

target # kmscube -a

3.9.4.5. Wayland/Weston

The supported Wayland/Weston version brings in the multiple display support in extended desktop mode and the ability to drag-and-drop windows from one display to the other.

To launch weston, do the following:

On target console:

target # unset WAYLAND_DISPLAY

On default display:

target # weston --tty=1 --connector=<default connector-id>

On secondary display:

target # weston --tty=1 --connector=<secondary connector-id>

On all connected displays (LCD and HDMI):

target # weston --tty=1
By default, the screensaver timeout is configured to 300 seconds.

The user can change the screensaver timeout using a command line option

--idle-time=<number of seconds>

For example, to set timeout of 10 minutes and weston configured to display on all connectors, use the below command:

weston --tty=1 --idle-time=600

To disable the screen timeout and to configure weston configured to display on all connectors, use the below command:

weston --tty=1 --idle-time=0

If you face any issues with the above procedure, please refer GLSDK_FAQs#Unable_to_run_Weston_on_the_GLSDK_release for troubling shooting tips.

The filesystem comes with a preconfigured weston.ini file which will be located in

/etc/weston.ini

Running weston clients

Weston client examples can run from the command line on serial port console or SSH console. After launching weston, the user should be able to use the keyboard and the mouse for various controls.
# /usr/bin/weston-flower
# /usr/bin/weston-clickdot
# /usr/bin/weston-cliptest
# /usr/bin/weston-dnd
# /usr/bin/weston-editor
# /usr/bin/weston-eventdemo
# /usr/bin/weston-image /usr/share/weston/terminal.png
# /usr/bin/weston-resizor
# /usr/bin/weston-simple-egl
# /usr/bin/weston-simple-shm
# /usr/bin/weston-simple-touch
# /usr/bin/weston-smoke
# /usr/bin/weston-info
# /usr/bin/weston-terminal

Running multimedia with Wayland sink

The GStreamer video sink for Wayland is the waylandsink. To use this video-sink for video playback:

target # gst-launch-1.0 playbin uri=file://<path-to-file-name> video-sink=waylandsink

Exiting weston

Terminate all Weston clients before exiting Weston. If you have invoked Weston from the serial console, exit Weston by pressing Ctrl-C.

It is also possible to invoke Weston from the native console, exit Weston by using pressing Ctrl-Alt-Backspace.

IMG PowerVR Demos

3.9.5. Using the PowerVR Tools

The suite of PowerVR Tools is designed to enable rapid graphics application development. It targets a range of areas including asset exporting and optimization, PC emulation, prototyping environments, on-line and off-line performance analysis tools and many more. Please refer to https://community.imgtec.com/developers/powervr/graphics-sdk/ for additional details on the tools and detailed documentation.

The target file system includes a subset of PowerVR tools such as PVRScope and PVRTrace recorder libraries from Imagination PowerVR SDK to profile and trace SGX activities. In addition, it also includes PVRPerfServerDeveloper tool.

3.9.5.1. PVRTune

The PVRTune utility is a real-time GPU performance analysis tool. It captures hardware timing data and counters which facilitate the identification of performance bottlenecks. PVRPerfServerDeveloper should be used along with the PVRTune running on the PC to gather data on the SGX loading and activity threads. You can invoke the tool with the below command:

target # /opt/img-powervr-sdk/PVRHub/PVRPerfServer/PVRPerfServerDeveloper

3.9.5.2. PVRTrace

The PVRTrace is an OpenGL ES API recording and analysis utility. PVRTrace GUI provides off-line tools to inspect captured data, identify redundant calls, highlight costly shaders and many more. The default filesystem contains helper scripts to obtain the PVRTrace of the graphics application. This trace can then be played back on the PC using the PVRTrace Utility.

To start tracing, use the below commands as reference:

target # cp /opt/img-powervr-sdk/PVRHub/Scripts/start_tracing.sh ~/.
target # ./start_tracing.sh <log-filename> <application-to-be-traced>

Example:

target # ./start_tracing.sh westonapp weston-simple-egl

The above command will do the following:

  1. Setup the required environment for the tracing
  2. Create a directory under the current working directory called pvrtrace
  3. Launch the application specified by the user
  4. Start tracing the PVR Interactions and record the same to the log-filename

To end the tracing, user can invoke the Ctrl-C and the trace file path will be displayed.

The trace file can then be transferred to a PC and we can visualize the application using the host side PVRTrace utility. Please refer to the link at the beginning of this section for more details.

3.9.6. Running DSS application

DSS applications are omapdrm based. These will demonstrate the clone mode, extended mode, overlay window, z-order and alpha blending features. To demonstrate clone and extended mode, HDMI display must be connected to board. Application requires the supported mode information of connected displays and plane ids. One can get these information by running the modetest application in the filesystem.

target #  modetest

Running drmclone application

This displays same test pattern on both LCD and HDMI (clone). Overlay window also displayed on LCD. To test clone mode, execute the following command:

target #  drmclone -l <lcd_w>x<lcd_h> -p <plane_w>x<plane_h>:<x>+<y> -h <hdmi_w>x<hdmi_h>
e.g.: target # drmclone -l 1280x800 -p 320x240:0+0 -h 640x480

We can change position of overlay window by changing x+y values. eg. 240+120 will show @ center

Running drmextended application

This displays different test pattern on LCD and HDMI. Overlay window also displayed on LCD. To test extended mode, execute the following command:

target # drmextended -l <lcd_w>x<lcd_h> -p <plane_w>x<plane_h>:<x>+<y> -h <hdmi_w>x<hdmi_h>
e.g.: target # drmextended -l 1280x800 -p 320x240:0+0 -h 640x480

Running drmzalpha application

Z-order:

It determines, which overlay window appears on top of the other.

Range: 0 to 3
lowest value for bottom
highest value for top

Alpha Blend:

It determines transparency level of image as a result of both global alpha & pre multiplied alpha value.

Global alpha range: 0 to 255
0 - fully transparent
127 - semi transparent
255 - fully opaque

Pre multipled alpha value: 0 or 1
0 - source is not premultiply with alpha
1 - source is premultiply with alpha

To test drmzalpha, execute the following command:

target # drmzalpha -s <crtc_w>x<crtc_h> -w <plane1_id>:<z_val>:<glo_alpha>:<pre_mul_alpha> -w <plane2_id>:<z_val>:<glo_alpha>:<pre_mul_alpha>
e.g.: target # drmzalpha -s 1280x800 -w 19:1:255:1 -w 20:2:255:1

3.9.7. QT Graphics Framework

Qt is a powerful C++ toolkit for writing cross-platform graphics applications, enabling a single code base to run predictably and perform well on Windows and embedded platforms,

Please refer https://www.qt.io/ for additional details on Qt.

The PSDK target file system includes the pre-built Qt libraries under /usr/lib and a rich set of QT demo applications under /usr/share/qt5/examples. A small subset of QT demo applications such as Calculator and Animatedtiles can also be invoked through Matrix.

QT QPA

The QT5 within PSDK is prebuilt with Wayland enabled and therefore wayland-egl is the default QPA. Hence all QT applications should be run on top of Weston. To run QT application without Weston, the user can use “- platform” option to specify the desired QPA as “linuxfb” or “eglfs”.

3.9.8. GTK+ Graphics Framework

GTK+, or the GIMP Toolkit, is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces. Offering a complete set of widgets, GTK+ is suitable for projects ranging from small one-off tools to complete application suites.

Please refer https://www.gtk.org/ for additional details on GTK+.

The PSDK target file system includes the pre-built GTK+ libraries under /usr/lib for GTK+3 over Wayland support. There is also a comprenhensive GTK+3 demo application gtk3-demo under /usr/bin to demonstrate GTK+3 APIs and their usages.

3.9.9. Migration from prior releases

3.9.9.1. from Processor SDK 1.x to 2.x for AM3, AM4

The SGX driver has been enhanced to support DRM based Full Window Display in processor SDK 2.0 and the FBdev based Full Window modes are no longer supported. The System startup and most of the Graphics applications are backward-compatible except with the following changes.

Window System Libraries

The FBdev based Full Screen window systems are no longer supported:

  • libpvrPVR2D_FRONTWSEGL.so (for direct writes to FrameBuffer - FRONT mode of operation - directly writes to FrameBuffer without waiting for vsync - fastest mode of operation)
  • libpvrPVR2D_FLIPWSEGL.so (for VSync synchronised writes to Framebuffer - slower, but avoids tearing)
  • libpvrPVR2D_BLITWSEGL.so (for direct writes to back-buffer, which later gets written to *FrameBuffer with sync)

Instead the DRM based Full Screen window system are provided:

  • libpvrDRMWSEGL_FRONT.so (for direct writes to DRM FrameBuffer - FRONT mode of operation - directly writes to FrameBuffer without waiting for vsync - fastest mode of operation)
  • libpvrDRMWSEGL.so (for VSync synchronised writes to DRM Framebuffer - slower, but avoids tearing)

The window system is specified by the PVR configuration parameter WindowSystem at the PVR configuration file /etc/powervr.ini. By default, that parameter is set to libpvrDRMWSEGL_FRONT.so for nullDRM Front mode. To configure the PVR SGX to operate in nullDRM FLIP mode, edit the PVR configuration file to set the parameter WindowSystem to libpvrDRMWSEGL.so. The change will take effect when any graphic application is launched next time.

Obsolete Test Programs

The following test programs are no longer applicable and removed from the SDK file system

  • /usr/bin/sgx_blit_test
  • /usr/bin/sgx_flip_test
  • /usr/bin/sgx_render_flip_test
  • /usr/bin/sgx_render_test

3.9.9.2. from Processor SDK 2.0.0 to 2.0.x for AM4

The SGX driver has been enhanced to support DRM/WAYLAND based Multi-Window Display in processor SDK 2.0.1. The System startup and most of the Graphics applications are backward-compatible except with the following changes.

Window System Libraries

The DRM based Full Screen window systems are no longer supported:

  • libpvrDRMWSEGL_FRONT.so (for direct writes to DRM FrameBuffer - FRONT mode of operation - directly writes to FrameBuffer without waiting for vsync - fastest mode of operation)
  • libpvrDRMWSEGL.so (for VSync synchronised writes to DRM Framebuffer - slower, but avoids tearing)

Instead the DRM/WAYLAND based multi-window system are provided:

  • libpvrws_KMS.so
  • libpvrws_WAYLAND.so

The window system will be dynamically loaded by DDK based on the application use case, so that the PVR configuration parameter WindowSystem at the PVR configuration file /etc/powervr.ini is no longer used.

3.9.9.3. from Processor SDK 2.0.1 to 2.0.x for AM3/4/5

The SGX driver has been enhanced to support DRM-based Full Screen(NullDRM) and Multi-Window(Wayland) Display in processor SDK 2.0.2. The System startup and most of the Graphics applications are backward-compatible except with the following changes.

Window System Libraries

The DRM based Full Screen window system is supported:

  • libpvrDRMWSEGL.so (for VSync synchronised writes to DRM Framebuffer - slower, but avoids tearing)

The DRM/WAYLAND based multi-window systems are also provided:

  • libpvrGBMWSEGL.so
  • libpvrws_WAYLAND.so

The window system will be dynamically loaded by DDK based on the application use case, so that the PVR configuration parameter WindowSystem at the PVR configuration file /etc/powervr.ini is no longer required.

3.9.9.4. from Processor SDK 3.1 to 3.x for AM3/4/5

The QT QPA eglfs_kms, which supports multiple screens, has been enabled and used as the default eglfs platform plugin in processor SDK 3.2. To fallback to the standard single-screen eglfs plugin, issue the following instruction at the command line or add the same at the QT environment configuration file qt_env.sh at /etc/profile.d

  • export QT_QPA_EGLFS_INTEGRATION=none

3.9.10. AM3 Beagle Bone Black Board Configuration

AM335x has a HW bug, chapter 3.1.1 in the errata: “The blue and red color assignments to the LCD data pins are reversed when operating in RGB888 (24bpp) mode compared to RGB565 (16bpp) mode.” Therefore, the applications need to always use either 24 or 16 bpp modes, depending on the display HW connected to the board. The default pixel format XRGB8888 of the graphics application back ends and drivers within PSDK is not supported at the AM3 Beagle Bone Black Board where it is in 16bpp mode. To enable appropriate graphics display, make the following changes at various graphics related configuration files:

  • /etc/powervr.ini: add DefaultPixelFormat=RGB565
  • /etc/weston.ini: add gbm-format=rgb565 at section [core]
  • /etc/profile.d/qt_env.sh: add export QT_QPA_EGLFS_INTEGRATION=none

Another restriction of AM335x-based platform is that the width of display resolution must be multiple of 32. For example, 1360x768 will not work. The simple workaround is to specify the display resolution as one of the kernel boot parameters for non-Weston application and at /etc/weston.ini for Weston server. For example,

  • the following commands need to be executed at boot prompt
=> setenv optargs video=HDMI-A-1:1024x768
=> saveenv
  • add the HDMI-A configuration to /etc/weston.ini in a new “output” section, as shown below:
[output]
name=HDMI-A-1
mode=1024x768

3.9.11. SGX Debug Info

Introduction

The TI OMAP/AM/DM SGX Graphics Driver is closely tied to the environment it is running under, and the configuration it is built with. This article mentions debugging methods specific to Linux.

Baselining the current SGX driver environment

The current SGX driver environment on the target can be observed using the below script.

https://gforge.ti.com/gf/download/docmanfileversion/203/3715/gfx_check.sh

This script performs the below actions:

#!/bin/sh
echo "WSEGL settings"
cat /etc/powervr.ini
echo "------"
echo "ARM CPU information"
cat /proc/cpuinfo
echo "------"
echo "SGX driver information"
cat /proc/pvr/version
echo "------"
echo "Framebuffer settings"
fbset -i
echo "------"
echo "Rotation settings"
cat /sys/class/graphics/fb0/rotate
echo "------"
echo "Kernel Module information"
lsmod
echo "------"
echo "Boot settings"
cat /proc/cmdline
echo "------"
echo "Linux Kernel version"
uname -a

Run-time checks/configuration of the SGX driver

One can confirm whether the SGX drivers have been properly installed by checking the following

  • One should have seen the message on serial console- “Initializing the graphics driver ...” just before getting the linux command prompt.
  • lsmod shows pvrsrvkm module inserted successfully without any error messages on console.

The SGX driver can be configured at run-time on the target using a configuration file.

The optional configuration file is installed by the Processor SDK installer at,

/etc/powervr.ini

Configuration items are specified using the below syntax

KeyWord=ParamValue

Important configuration parameters are mentioned below.

WindowSystem

* WindowSystem - This configuration item controls the low level window system that the EGL implementation should hook it up. This item takes the below values

* libpvrDRMWSEGL.so (DRM-based WS for VSync synchronised writes to Framebuffer - slower, but avoids tearing)

* libpvrGBMWSEGL.so (GBM-based WS where it is up to application to perform KMS operations)

DisableHWTextureUpload

* DisableHWTextureUpload - This configuration item enables/disables the use of SGX Transfer queue hardware.
* If set to 1, uses software upload (copying from driver to SGX) of textures, rather than transfer queue (using the SGX hardware).
* Useful to rule out problems in TQ.

DefaultPixelFormat

* DefaultPixelFormat - This configuration item sets the default display pixel format.
For eg if one wants to configure the default pixel format, then edit /etc/powervr.ini to have following line
DefaultPixelFormat=ARGB8888
For AM3 Beagle Bone Black EVM
DefaultPixelFormat=RGB565

SGX Driver Failure Modes (Installation)

Unable to install the kernel modules (pvrsrvkm.ko)

1. The Linux kernel has to be built with “modules” support (make ti-sgx-ddk-km and make ti-sgx-ddk-km_install)

2. The kernel modules of the Graphics driver have to be built, after the linux kernel is built in the above manner. ie, the kernel modules need to match the kernel version that will actually run on the target.

3. If the services kernel module (pvrsrvkm.ko) does not load, it is likely because of mismatches between user mode binaries and kernel modules. If the kernel modules are built correctly as specified, post the issue on the E2E forum with the output of the gfx_check.sh script linked in earlier section.

SGX Driver Failure Modes (Run time)

Vertical Tearing/ Artifacts/ Clipping issues/ Missing objects

This could potentially be due to an incorrect usage in the OpenGL application, or point to an issue in the driver. Note that the deferred rendering mode of the SGX HW, will cause different behaviour compared to the immediate renderers found on desktops.

Please contact TI through the Linux E2E forums (https://e2e.ti.com/)

Demos are not running at required speed, How to check SGX clock rate?

If the demos are running slower than expected, check and ensure that the clock frequency set for the SGX driver is correct. This can be done by the following code in the KM kernel drivers -

File - eurasia_km/services4/system/omap/sysutils_linux.c Function - EnableSGXClocks()

You can print the SGX clock rate in debug build as below -

IMG_UINT32 rate = clk_get_rate(psSysSpecData->psSGX_FCK);
PVR_TRACE(("Sgx clock is %dMHz", HZ_TO_MHZ(rate)));

Depending on the TI platform used, this will vary from 200 to 532 MHz. Ensure that SGX is running at the right clock.

If this is right & still demos are not running with expected performance, it is needed to optimize the application, and its usage of OpenGL API.

Qt demos do not work when powerVR is enabled

1. Confirm that the GLES2 demos provided in the Graphics SDK are running properly with default SDK configuration of the window system.

  1. Confirm that kernel module (pvrsrvkm.ko) is successfully loaded.

3. Confirm with fbset command to check alpha to be non zero. If not set to appropriate value using fbset. QT supports 16, 32 bpp but expects alpha to be non zero for 32 bpp.

4. If above steps are correct, post to E2E forum with the output of the gfx_check.sh script linked in earlier section. Also attach the console log, with the below option enabled in the environment

"QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1"

Posting to E2E forum

For suggestions or recommendations or bug reports, post details of your application as below to the E2E forums (https://e2e.ti.com/), with below information:

  • Output of gfx environment baseline script available below, run on the target:

https://gforge.ti.com/gf/download/docmanfileversion/203/3715/gfx_check.sh

  • Details of UI application, as shown in below sheet.

https://gforge.ti.com/gf/download/docmanfileversion/220/3798/UI_graphics_reqs_sheet_v1.xls

These two outputs will help in debugging common issues.