[ltp] Ubuntu 8.10 w/ T60p and FireGL 5250

Richard Neill linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Sun, 02 Nov 2008 23:13:25 +0000


>>> One problem with compiz enabled is I cannot play video in either
>>> Mplayer or Totem Movie Player.  Mplayer says:
>>>
>>>    X11 error: BadAlloc (insufficient resources for operation)
>> Can you try playing the the -vo option?
>> see:  mplayer -vo help
>>
>> At a guess, you haven't enough *video* ram to support all of:
>>   - the available pixels
>>   - on both screens
>>   - in 24-bit colour
>>   - with double-buffering for 3D accel (compiz etc)
>>   - with (perhaps) more double-buffering for mplayer.
> 
> Happens with just the LCD screen (no second monitor).  -vo with x11
> works (but no full screen with x11 so not much use).  Maybe it's just xv
> related.

Do you have the video ram allocated already for the second monitor? If 
so, it may still make a difference.

> 
>>> I tried to setup Ekiga, but it keeps hanging when detecting my
>>> microphone.  I am able to record with my built-in mic -- but it's
>>> pretty low priority at this time.  I'd like to get video conferencing
>>> working, but I'd need a camera.  Not to mention friends that don't use
>>> iChat. ;)
>>
>> Are you using pulseaudio or not?
> 
> I believe so.  I sure wish I understood the audio sub-system better.
> 

Pulseaudio is weird. You may be best leaving it on, now that it has 
become so entrenched.


> 
>> Does stracing it give anything helpful;
>> launch from terminal:   strace ekiga
> 
> That's kind of brutal.  I'd have to write it to a file (how often does
> the app really need to call gettimeofday??? ;)

I've never know what is the deal with gettimeofday().  If someone can 
explain, I'd love to know. At a guess, maybe it's th shortest syscall 
needed to allow the app to sleep?

Anyway, you only need to care about the last few lines at the time when 
ekiga has stalled.

> 
> 
>> Workaround: use the oss mode (/dev/dsp). OSS compat stuff works with 
>> pratically everything. The downside is no shared access to the device 
>> from multiple programs. You can skip the Ekiga setup "druid", and then 
>> manually do the setup: don't detect the mic; tell it where to look.
> 
> Thanks, I'll give that a try.
> 


Best wishes,

Richard