Google Earth for Linux problems

[megamaced]

Hey guys.

I am getting a poor picture from Google Earth. For example, when I spin the globe around, only half of it moves and the rest stays still. This breaks up the picture completely. Also, if I place a window on top of Google Earth and then move it away again, Google Earth doesn’t bother to re-render the image.

I have difficulty zooming into locations because half of the picture stays static.

Anyone know what the problem could be? I know the Google Earth for Linux version is only a beta at this stage, but i’d have thought it’d be a little better quality?

I am running Kubuntu 6.06 and my graphics card is an integrated Intel 845G 64MB RAM

[Anti-Trend]

It could be your graphics chipset, I’m not sure. From my (albiet limited) experience, Intel video chipsets tend to have somewhat shoddy performance and features, it’s entirely possible that there’s a GL problem between the two.

My rigs are using NVidia cards and I’m amazed; even as a beta, Google Earth seems to work and look better on Linux than it does in Windows.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3095/googleearthlinux2pe.th.pnghttp://img115.imageshack.us/img115/2968/googleearthlinux19dc.th.png

It may be a toy, but it’s a cool toy and I missed it. Additionally, as opposed to Picasa which is ported using WINE libraries, Google Earth seems to be a totally native port, so the performance is exemplary.

[megamaced]

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
It could be your graphics chipset, I’m not sure. From my (albiet limited) experience, Intel video chipsets tend to have somewhat shoddy performance and features, it’s entirely possible that there’s a GL problem between the two.
[/QUOTE]

Yes you are right, Intel graphics are not the best. But still, I would have thought it be enough for Google Earth.

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
My rigs are using NVidia cards and I’m amazed; even as a beta, Google Earth seems to work and look better on Linux than it does in Windows.
[/QUOTE]

That doesn’t suprise me much The other computer I have that runs Ubuntu has an nVidia Geforce2 Ultra 64MB. I will install Google Earth on that tomorrow, see if works any better.

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
It may be a toy, but it’s a cool toy and I missed it. Additionally, as opposed to Picasa which is ported using WINE libraries, Google Earth seems to be a totally native port, so the performance is exemplary.
[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I missed it too! It’s nice to see companies such as Google taking notice of the Linux platform. I read somewhere that they fixed around 200 bugs in the WINE project when they were creating Picasa.

BTW, i’ve included a screenshot. What do you make of it?

[Anti-Trend]

[QUOTE=megamaced]
…It’s nice to see companies such as Google taking notice of the Linux platform. I read somewhere that they fixed around 200 bugs in the WINE project when they were creating Picasa.
[/QUOTE]
They should develop for Linux IMHO, since they have been reliant on the Linux community since the very beginning. I believe all 100,000+ of their servers run Linux. (Before you ask which distro, they have their own internal distro)

[QUOTE=megamaced]
BTW, i’ve included a screenshot. What do you make of it?
[/QUOTE]
It looks like either a driver issue or a GL library issue. Could you run glxinfo and post the verbosity here?

[megamaced]

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
They should develop for Linux IMHO, since they have been reliant on the Linux community since the very beginning. I believe all 100,000+ of their servers run Linux. (Before you ask which distro, they have their own internal distro)
[/QUOTE]

Well if they have their own internal distro, it shouldn’t be too hard for them to develop a desktop Linux distribution . If a company like Google made a Linux distribution, people would take note. They could be a real threat to Microsoft, and not only for web-related services.

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
It looks like either a driver issue or a GL library issue. Could you run glxinfo and post the verbosity here?
[/QUOTE]

Yeah it works fine on my Ubuntu/nVidia box

I’ll post the output of glxinfo on my Kubuntu/Intel box a bit later

BTW, did Google Earth show up in your KDE menu?

[megamaced]

Here is the output of glxinfo in full:

[CODE]name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_make_current_read,
GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe, GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier,
GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
client glx vendor string: SGI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_MESA_swap_control, GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_OML_sync_control, GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_control,
GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group,
GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_context,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_MESA_allocate_memory,
GLX_OML_swap_method, GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample,
GLX_SGIX_fbconfig
OpenGL vendor string: Tungsten Graphics, Inc
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) 845G 20050225
OpenGL version string: 1.3 Mesa 6.4.1
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_imaging, GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture,
GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
GL_ARB_texture_compression, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar, GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3,
GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_ARB_texture_rectangle,
GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_buffer_object,
GL_ARB_vertex_program, GL_ARB_window_pos, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra,
GL_EXT_blend_color, GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate,
GL_EXT_blend_func_separate, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint, GL_EXT_cull_vertex, GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array,
GL_EXT_convolution, GL_EXT_copy_texture, GL_EXT_draw_range_elements,
GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_histogram, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arrays,
GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_point_parameters, GL_EXT_polygon_offset,
GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_color,
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap, GL_EXT_subtexture,
GL_EXT_texture, GL_EXT_texture3D, GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp,
GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic,
GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias, GL_EXT_texture_object, GL_EXT_texture_rectangle,
GL_EXT_vertex_array, GL_3DFX_texture_compression_FXT1,
GL_APPLE_client_storage, GL_APPLE_packed_pixels,
GL_ATI_blend_equation_separate, GL_IBM_rasterpos_clip,
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_INGR_blend_func_separate,
GL_MESA_pack_invert, GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture, GL_MESA_window_pos,
GL_NV_blend_square, GL_NV_light_max_exponent, GL_NV_texture_rectangle,
GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_vertex_program, GL_NV_vertex_program1_1,
GL_OES_read_format, GL_SGI_color_matrix, GL_SGI_color_table,
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap, GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp,
GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp, GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays
glu version: 1.3
glu extensions:
GLU_EXT_nurbs_tessellator, GLU_EXT_object_space_tess

visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat

0x23 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x24 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x25 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x26 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x27 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x28 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x29 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x2a 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x2b 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2c 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2d 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2e 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x2f 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x30 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x31 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
0x32 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 24 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 Slow
[/CODE]

Does this give away any clues?

[Anti-Trend]

Everything looks right, but it seems from what I’ve read that most Intel chipsets have problems with Google Earth (in any OS). Sorry.

[megamaced]

Well never mind, at least I’ve got it working on my other computer.

BTW, how would i go about un-installing Google Earth?

[Anti-Trend]

If you installed Google Earth as root, it’d be something like this (as root): sh /usr/local/google-earth/uninstall If you installed it as a user, it’s probably in your home: sh ~/google-earth/uninstallBarring that, it’s a Linux app; there’s no registry. All you have to do is delete the google-earth directory and the symlinks, you’re good to go!

[megamaced]

[QUOTE=Anti-Trend]
Barring that, it’s a Linux app; there’s no registry. All you have to do is delete the google-earth directory and the symlinks, you’re good to go!
[/QUOTE]

haha, oh I can still remember the countless times i’ve had to clean the Windows registry after a bad app wouldn’t un-install fully.

The registry can become real mess in only a short amount of time. I am someone who likes their Operating System to be very clean, no pointless empty folders and such like. Windows was a nightmare on that front. It would take me ages to clean out the ‘Documents & Settings’ folder, the ‘Program Files’ folder and all those old redundant configuration files in the System folder.

With Linux, I know that all my personal settings are stored in one place - the home folder.

Anyway, thanks for the tip. I’ll try it out later

[megamaced]

[QUOTE=megamaced]
BTW, did Google Earth show up in your KDE menu?
[/QUOTE]

I’ve found a fix for this:

sudo cp /usr/local/google-earth/googleearth.desktop /usr/share/applications/