g++ allegro linking - Page 2

[John A]

Two files called liballeg.so.4.2 and liballeg-4.2.so both are under /usr/lib/
If I run it in a console with the command "sh myprogram"

Well of course THAT isn't going to work - it's only for shell scripts. But the error message makes me suspicous... usually it's just "Cannot execute binary file". Can you tell me what this command produces:

# cat myprogram

It might very well crash your system, so be ready to hit CTRL-C! ;)

Basically you should get a whole dump of random junk. If there's anything legible in there, something's definitely wrong.

If I run it by the console with the command "./myprogram" it returns nothing.

Do regular OpenGL applications run on your system? Perhaps you could download a program in binary form that's been created with Allegro to make sure that your runtime environment is good.

[Sturm]

Wow...That was weird. As you said cat crashed my system. Yes I downloaded the "demo library" that contains hundreds of binary allegro applications. None of the apps work. I have America's Army that I play quite often, it works perfectly.

[Sturm]

One more thing. When I run my compiled file as root from the terminal the whole screen goes black with a flashing underscore on the top left hand side of the screen. My whole system freezes. I thought linux never crashed!

[John A]

Wow...That was weird. As you said cat crashed my system.

:cheesy:

What cat essentially does is print out the contents of a file - in this case, the executable. Since the executable should only contain random junk, it was basically a test to make sure that you indeed had an executable. And the executable contains so much "junk", that it's easily enough to crash a system.

Yes I downloaded the "demo library" that contains hundreds of binary allegro applications. None of the apps work.

So there's obviously some kind of Linux runtime problem with Allegro.

Mods: Perhaps this thread would be better suited in the Linux forums, as this is more about system configuration than C/C++?

I thought linux never crashed!

There's no such thing as an uncrashable operating system. ;)

After reading this thread, I'm nearly convinced that you have some sort of graphics card problem. The fact that America's Army works is not enough to rule out this possibility; often OpenGL-functionality can be emulated when an app uses OpenGL directly.

[Sturm]

When I was thinking about linux, supporters of it said it could not crash! They said that supercomputers have been running linux or unix for years and have never rebooted.

Well anyway I looked at your link it seems that his problem is identical to mine! I have all the development files for my graphics card. Is openGL the problem or my graphics card libraries? I have been trying to find how to contact this guy but to no success. What kind of file should I be looking for with synaptic?

[John A]

Well, the guy in the other thread said at the very end he solved it by installing graphics drivers for his card. So I think you should do the same.

Start by finding out the exact make and model of your card - it'll likely say somewhere in the system info in Gnome/KDE. Once you have this, Google it to locate the drivers for it that you can download. If you have a NVidia/ATI card, you'll be able to download the drivers directly from the manufacturer's website.

[Sturm]

I looked under synaptic and it seems that I have the nvidia glx and nvidia glx dev. However I looked at the nvidia website to see if they had a driver for my graphics card (a geforce go 7400 256 mb). Correct me if im wrong but since I have a intel core duo 2 processor I would need an x86 nvidia driver. On there website they do not have any x86 drivers for linux only for solaris and freeBSD.

[Sturm]

Nevermind I found the nvidia x86 drivers for linux in the beta section. Why would this help? I already have a nvidia driver for my graphics card.

[John A]

Correct me if im wrong but since I have a intel core duo 2 processor I would need an x86 nvidia driver. On there website they do not have any x86 drivers for linux only for solaris and freeBSD.

Correct, you do want an x86 driver. However, on the driver page they list an archictechture named "IA32", which stands for Intel Architechture 32-bit -- which is exactly what your processor is. Download that instead.

Why would this help? I already have a nvidia driver for my graphics card.

I don't know, but the other person in the other thread solved his problem by installing new graphics card drivers, so shouldn't you do the same? ;) Besides, it's possible that the drivers are damaged or outdated and cannot be used by Allegro.

[Sturm]

I downloaded and tried to install the driver. But during the installation process it complained that I do not have a proper nvidia kernel. But I do! It then tries to compile one but to no success. I think I am at the end of the line...

[John A]

Saying "it does not compile" does not give very much information. Please post any error messages, both from compilation and any that kept you from installing the drivers.

Several other things you have failed to mention: which Linux distro are you using, and what version?

When the driver installation fails with an error message about the NVidia kernel drivers, I think that's a hint that that's likely what is wrong on your system. So keep at it, and although it feels like you're on a wild goose chase, you'll get it eventually. I've had similar experiences try to get different things working on Linux, and I end up spending hours finding a simple little fix.

You may also want to manually download the NVidia kernel for your distro.

[Sturm]

Well I decided to look into another game programming library ClanLib. Do you have any experience with this? Anyway I got it working in a couple of hours! Seems kind of strange but supposdly you can port games between "any operating system" without changing a single line of code. Thanks trying to help get allegro working. I really did learn alot.

Thanks!

[John A]

Well I decided to look into another game programming library ClanLib. Do you have any experience with this?

Nope. :)

Glad to hear ClabLib is working for you, while Allegro's problems are still unknown...

[kristiangd]

go to the directory where you extracted the source and looking allegro-config, then run it with these options

. / allegro-config - libs - shared release

and expected output like this

-L/usr/lib-Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions-lalleg-4.2.2

I think that after you know how to link it with your source.

regards