No OpenGL on Debian 9 + nvidia

snapd
#1

I stumbled upon a strange issue when running OpenGL snaps on Debian 9 with the proprietary nvidia driver from stretch-backports: https://github.com/solvespace/solvespace/issues/556

Apps fail to start or can’t create a GL context, with the error output being something like:

libGL error: No matching fbConfigs or visuals found
libGL error: failed to load driver: swrast

Examples: solvespace, graphics-debug-tools-bboozzoo.glxinfo

The nvidia driver is exposed just fine in /var/lib/snapd/lib[...] and the launcher scripts set up glvnd dirs and LD_LIBRARY_PATH correctly.

Does anyone have an idea or better even, run Debian 9 + nvidia without those problems?

#2
#3

That seems to refer to the microversion problem of newer nvidia drivers. The drivers in stretch backports do not have that microversion:

cat /sys/module/nvidia/version
418.74

Refreshing core and snapd to edge doesn’t help either.

A strace of solvespace: https://gist.githubusercontent.com/ppd/c995713f387d2431332154243e731fe9/raw/df21ca8184076457b9e2344bbe7779fa381e314f/solvespace-strace.txt

#4

From the strace, we see that it cannot open libGL.so.1:

user@debian:~$ stat /var/lib/snapd/lib/gl/libGL.so.1 
  File: /var/lib/snapd/lib/gl/libGL.so.1 -> /var/lib/snapd/hostfs/etc/alternatives/glx--libGL.so.1-x86_64-linux-gnu
  Size: 71        	Blocks: 0          IO Block: 4096   symbolic link
Device: 2eh/46d	Inode: 117859      Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: ( 1000/    user)
Access: 2020-03-06 15:03:26.328390265 +0000
Modify: 2020-03-06 15:03:26.328390265 +0000
Change: 2020-03-06 15:03:26.328390265 +0000
 Birth: -

user@debian:~$ stat /var/lib/snapd/hostfs/etc/alternatives/glx--libGL.so.1-x86_64-linux-gnu
  File: /var/lib/snapd/hostfs/etc/alternatives/glx--libGL.so.1-x86_64-linux-gnu -> /usr/lib/mesa-diverted/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1
  Size: 50        	Blocks: 0          IO Block: 4096   symbolic link
Device: 15h/21d	Inode: 72985       Links: 1
Access: (0777/lrwxrwxrwx)  Uid: (    0/    root)   Gid: (    0/    root)
Access: 2020-03-06 14:55:14.971436046 +0000
Modify: 2020-03-06 14:55:14.971436046 +0000
Change: 2020-03-06 14:55:14.975436047 +0000
 Birth: -

user@debian:~$ stat /usr/lib/mesa-diverted/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1
stat: cannot stat '/usr/lib/mesa-diverted/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1': No such file or directory

On Ubuntu 19.10, it works

mfederle@maxi:/var/lib/snapd/lib/gl$ readlink -f /var/lib/snapd/lib/gl/libGL.so.1 
/var/lib/snapd/hostfs/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so.1.7.0
#5

It looks like Debian is now using the alternatives system to allow multiple libGL implementations to exist with the option to switch between them. I think this will need some snapd changes in the opengl interface to allow the symlink to be followed. cc/ @jdstrand

1 Like
#6

Hi daniel!

I have the problem, that is discussed in this thread. Help me, please! :slight_smile:

What I can do to use solvespace with snap using proprietary nvidia drivers from Debian repository?
Any workaround?
Or I just have to wait updates of snap?

#7

I just installed nvidia driver 440.64 from the official installer.
Solvespace runs but with text “Unable to create a GL context” in every window.

#8

Let’s start with a bug report, I guess: https://bugs.launchpad.net/snapd/+bug/1866855

#9

Did anyone figure out how to fix this error? I’m getting exactly the same one, certain snaps will not run.

#10

It needs substantial work, as outlined in the bug report (quote: “This is a large chunk of work that we cannot commit to at this time”). @zyga was assigned to this bug, but he has left Canonical and does not work on the snap ecosystem any more.

In any case, this feature/bugfix does not seem to be a priority in the near future (again, see bug report).