Intel Video

The following instructions are for modern Intel GPU chipsets covered by the i915 driver. See #Known working configurations.

Setup Xorg/udev

1. Run the setup-xorg-base script.
2. Install the Xorg Intel video drivers:

   apk add xf86-video-intel

3. Enable #Kernel Modesetting (KMS). Specifically, the fbcon module is necessary, or leaving Xorg (via Ctrl+Alt+F1 or quitting) will result in a black screen until the machine is power cycled. If you have already launch Xorg and don't want to experience this effect, you can modprobe fbcon while Xorg is running.

Kernel Modesetting (KMS)

To enable KMS at boot:

1. Add the i915 and fbcon modules to /etc/modules:

   $ echo i915 >> /etc/modules
   $ echo fbcon >> /etc/modules

2. Install mkinitfs:

   apk add mkinitfs

3. Enable the kms feature in the mkinitfs configuration by adding it to the features variable, e.g.,

   Contents of /etc/mkinitfs/mkinitfs.conf

   features="keymap cryptsetup kms ata base ide scsi usb virtio ext4"
4. Run mkinitfs.
5. Reboot to test the configuration.

Fixing MESA-LOADER errors

The linux-hardened kernel package places restrictions on sysfs and will prevent the MESA-LOADER from working as a normal user even if added to the video group.

See https://bugs.alpinelinux.org/issues/7265

Either switch to the linux-vanilla package or apply the grsec_sysfs_restrict=0 kernel parameter to allow normal users to access hardware acceleration on the desktop.

Known working configurations

Lenovo X1 Carbon (1st gen), sys installation

# lspci -s 02 -v
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: Lenovo Device 21f9
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 28
        Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4M]
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        I/O ports at 4000 [size=64]
        Expansion ROM at <unassigned> [disabled]
        Capabilities: [90] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit-
        Capabilities: [d0] Power Management version 2
        Capabilities: [a4] PCI Advanced Features
        Kernel driver in use: i915