Intel GMA HD and OpenGL

[maru00]

Hello,





I would like to know what's going on. Everywhere on the Internet (Intel's website, Wikipedia, etc) it says that Intel HD supports OpenGL. When I run any OpenGL-based application (tried 3D Studio Max 2011 Student Edition, game Amnesia, OpenGL tests) they crash or the graphics don't work properly.



Here is my observations:



I am using this driver downloaded from Intel website:



Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Windows 7* 64 and Windows Vista* 64 (exe)

Installs graphics driver version 15.21.5.64.2266 (8.15.10.2266) for Intel® integrated graphics.







on:



Lenovo ThinkPad - Core i3, 4GB DDR3 RAM, Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit



I downloaded OpenGL Extensions Viewer ( http://www.realtech-vr.com/glview/ ) and here is my problem: When I run "Rendering tests" Extension Viewer asks me to chose a driver:

http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/2415/wybor.jpg





If I chose "no acceleration" or "forward context" option, the tests are passed, but the only thing I see in renderer window is this:

http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/2531/noaccel.jpg





If I chose the "regular" "Intel HD graphics" driver from the list, the tests RUN JUST FINE and are passed. This means that OpenGL CAN BE RAN on my system, right?

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5052/test1zg.jpg





When I run 3DS Max with OpenGL driver selected, here's what happens:

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/7215/maxgk.jpg



BUT once every 100 runs it runs normally and viewports work fine, I can add objects and lights in OpenGL mode, so again IT IS POSSIBLE to run OpenGL in 3ds max.



My questions:

1. Why were the advanced OpenGL options removed from the new Intel HD driver?

2. Why OpenGL works only occasionally?

3. Is there a way to manually set the normal "Intel HD Graphics" display driver for all applications instead of the "no acceleration" or "forward context" drivers that probably crash them?





Help would be greatly appreciated.

I posted same thread on Intel forums but they won't answer...

[maru00]

Hmm I see this forum is as helpful as Intel's... nice.

[mhagain]

Intel graphics and OpenGL really should be a FAQ entry, but anyway, short answer is that OpenGL support on Intel is known-bad and - in general terms - unless an application is specifically coded to take account of this, it's not unreasonable to expect problems.

There are plenty of examples in the drivers section of this forum where people are having problems with Intel, and no real solutions exist.

The real solution I'm afraid is to ditch Intel and go for something with a real GPU. I know that doesn't help you because you're on a laptop, and it's a double bummer if you've just bought it and can't return it.

The only other option is that if an application has a Direct3D mode you should use that instead. Intel's D3D support is far superior to their OpenGL support (still can't touch a real GPU) and gives reliable and predictable behaviour.

[maru00]

Wow, thanks.

So this is probably why they aren't answering me at Intel's forums.

But if in all manuals and technical papers they state that Intel HD GMA supports OpenGL, then isn't this some sort of "non-compliance with the description"?

[mhagain]

Yeah, OpenGL has conformance testing which in theory should pevent this kind of thing from happening, but in practice it doesn't seem to be working (it's not so long ago that ATI hardware was also seriously troublesome). Microsoft have driver certification, and it serves a similar purpose (at least for the purposes of this discussion) but it does seem more effective.

There are also differences in the architectures which make D3D drivers simpler to write (D3D only supports what's actually on the hardware whereas OpenGL must expose the full API, a D3D driver is split in 2 and the manufacturer only provides half of it whereas the manufacturer must supply the full OpenGL driver), so if you've got a company that doesn't seem to care much about quality 3D acceleration you can what their priority is going to be.

[ZbuffeR]

That does not mean Intel D3D support is perfect (far from it), just noticeably better than GL.

[V-man]

3D Studio Max use to support 3 renderers : Heidi, OpenGL and Direct3D. By default, it chooses GL. It would probably be in Option or Preferences. Weeb search it.

[mhagain]

That does not mean Intel D3D support is perfect (far from it), just noticeably better than GL.

Quite true, and it is fair to mention that.

It's also fair to mention that OpenGL's architecture gives it advantages that D3D just cannot have, such as extensibility and better compatibility through different revisions of the API.

[maru00]

In 3DS Max Direct3D works fine except for wireframe objects so I tried OpenGL and it either crashes after startup or freezes when I add more objects to the scene.

It's sad that Intel states that GMA HD supports OpenGL well and that they don't help at their message boards.

[Leith Bade]

I'm surprised the ARB don't kick people out of OpenGL if they don't take a reasonable effort to support OpenGL and be fully compliant.

At a minimum they should ban the advertisement of a GPU stating it supports OpenGL if it is not compliant to the spec (within reason).