This page shows the guidelines to try and fix graphics related issues with the Lumerical CAD/GUI on a supported platform. Details of Ansys current and future supported platforms can be found here. Linux installation issues can be avoided by ensuring system libraries are up to date.
Windows
- Try to remove/delete your "Lumerical product preference.ini" files as shown here.
- If the issue persists, update your computer's display/graphics device drivers with the latest drivers from your computer or graphics card manufacturer's website.
- Do Not update the display adapter drivers from the Windows Device Manager.
- After updating the device drivers, disable the vertical synchronization feature and hardware or 3D acceleration from the graphics device's bundled application.
- Edit "Shared.ini" file. Change the value for 'hpsdisplaydriver' from 'default' to 'Software' (case-sensitive). Add 'hpsdisplaydriver=Software' if this is not found.
[General]
hpsdisplaydriver=Software
- Set software rendering using the variable below and run the CAD/GUI again.
QT_OPENGL=software
Linux
- Guidelines on possible workarounds on common system and OpenGL - graphics-related issues on Linux are shown below.
Missing platform-dynamic libraries
Error: Segmentation fault on startup of "/opt/lumerical/[[verpath]]/bin/launcher" with details of the error.
Cause: Missing system libraries related to Xcb.
Possible workarounds:
- Enable QT plugin debugging and then run the Lumerical Launcher again. Or query platform-dynamic libraries directly.
export QT_DEBUG_PLUGINS=1
ldd /opt/lumerical/[[verpath]]/bin/platforms/libqxcb.so
- Install any missing libraries indicated.
- If there are black menu bars or unusual visual artifacts, set the variable below to force usage of Xcb.
export QT_QPA_PLATFORM=xcb
Notes
Lumerical applications use the Qt Platform Abstraction framework. As of 2022R2, we provide both the common Xcb platform plugin and the more experimental Wayland platform plugin. Newer Linux distributions use Wayland to compose their desktop, but may use Xcb for VNC and remote login.
Inadequate or broken OpenGL
Error: Segmentation fault on startup of "/opt/lumerical/[[verpath]]/device". Other applications may or may not work properly.
Cause: OpenGL driver of the associated X-display is inadequate.
Possible workarounds:
- Check OpenGL for your associated X-display. Run the following:
glxgears
glxinfo -B
- Ensure that "glxgears" is showing 3 rotating colored gears and working properly and "glxinfo -B" lists a compatibility profile >= 2.1 and a core profile >= 3.2.
- Edit "Shared.ini" file. Change the value for 'hpsdisplaydriver' from 'default' to 'Software' (case-sensitive). Add 'hpsdisplaydriver=Software' if this is not found.
[General]
hpsdisplaydriver=Software
- Set software rendering using the variable below and run the CAD/GUI again.
export LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1
- Otherwise, update your system and OpenGL libraries.
Notes
- The HPS display driver is always relevant to Lumerical FE-IDE (DEVICE). As of 2022R2, the HPS display driver options on Linux are 'Software' or 'GL2'. On Windows, the options are 'Software', 'GL2', or 'DX11'. When the display driver is not specified, Lumerical attempts to detect the system capabilities.
- Hardware graphics acceleration is recommended, but not required. The Mesa llvmpipe driver has provided adequate software-only OpenGL capability since version 10.0, released in November 2013. For a complete list of environment variables that may apply, see this page.
- Ensure that you have up-to-date system libraries for your installation/version of Linux.
See also
RHEL/CentOS Linux installation guide