[PLUG] Problem with Google Earth Install

Ben Koenig techkoenig at gmail.com
Tue Dec 11 16:19:42 UTC 2018


The issue you are encountering is a conflict occurring between several
different parts. With the right combination of hardware and software you
get the problem represented in your screenshot.
10 years ago this was not a thing. The Ubuntu desktop wasn't even capable
of doing that.

Tomas already did the first thing for us, he installed on a different
system, same ubuntu, same package and it worked. So I'm guessing that you
have the correct version of Google Earth AND it is compatible with Ubuntu.
So what we need to know is which graphics card you have, and which driver
it is using. I can't remember how to look this up in Ubuntu graphically so
just copy/paste the following command:

lspci | grep VGA

The output of that command will tell me what GPU you have. I'd be willing
to bet that your 10 year old optiplex is not compatible with newer render
techniques in Google Earth, but we can look that up :)
Maybe a current ubuntu user could provide the point&click method since that
would be preferrable for getting the info we need.


As for my claim about this being a common Ubuntu thing. Dude, I have
installed/configured/built/setup/maintained/supported/fixed/tested/designed/customized
and otherwise touched (directly or indirectly) over 5000 Ubuntu systems
based on 8.04, 10.04, 12.04, and 14.04 in a 5 year time-span. When I say
this is a common problem, I'm literally just looking at my entire sample
size. So that screenshot you showed us is not at all surprising to me. It
can technically occur on any distro, just more common for recent Ubuntu
versions (>12.04).


On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 8:33 PM Michael Barnes <barnmichael at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Dec 9, 2018 at 7:32 AM Ben Koenig <techkoenig at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > The problem in that screenshot may not be related to Google earth.
> >
> > It looks like an issue with the GUI rendering system. Unity uses
> > compositing (with GPU acceleration) to render all windows, but so does
> > Google Earth. So the points of failure could be any of the following:
> > 1) google earth was built improperly, or for a different version of
> Ubuntu
> > 2) your graphics driver is not installed correctly (this is common for
> > nvidia cards)
> > 3) ubuntu's desktop compositor is doing something stupid
> >
> > Rule out #1 by checking the file used to install Google Earth. Make sure
> > the ubuntu version listed by the .deb is the version you are running
> > Ruling out #2 is a bit more difficult. Maybe post your GPU brand/model
> and
> > the driver version you are using here?
> >
> > Rule out #3 by running the same Google Earth package, on the same system,
> > but a different DE. If it works on XFCE and not Unity then you know where
> > the problem is.
> > What you are seeing isn't actually that uncommon for an ubuntu-based
> > system.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> You said "What you are seeing isn't actually that uncommon for an
> ubuntu-based system." I will say that I have been running Ubuntu on my
> desktop computers for well over 10 years and have never experienced such
> behavior.
>
> Oh my, getting way out of my memory and skill level here.  I used this to
> install:
> $ sudo apt-get install google-earth-pro-stable
>
> I have no idea what file or deb version that would be. How would I find
> that out.
>
> My computer is a 10+ year old Dell Optiplex 745. How would I tell what GPU
> brand/model and
> the driver version I am using?
>
> "Rule out #3 by running the same Google Earth package, on the same system,
> but a different DE. If it works on XFCE and not Unity then you know where
> the problem is." Please forgive my ignorance, but this is pretty much Greek
> to me.
>
> While I was at one time, IMHO, fairly good with Linux, sadly, it works well
> and I have not messed with anything but use it for quite a while and my
> memory is not at all what it used to be. I'm sure I have dealt with much of
> this in the past, but CRS syndrome has its firm grip on me these days.
>
> I'm pretty good at running commands and getting answers. I just don't
> remember the commands to run.
>
> Thank you all for your patience with me.
>
> Michael
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG mailing list
> PLUG at pdxlinux.org
> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>



More information about the PLUG mailing list