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Graphical environment

Additional instructions on getting a graphical interface working
You should first make sure you have a functioning basic environment before proceeding

Caution

Graphical environments are currently experimental
They may or may not work on your device properly

Install

Follow the same steps as the basic install, then...

  1. Install the x11-repo (pkg install x11-repo)
  2. Install the required packages:
pkg install termux-x11-nightly pulseaudio virglrenderer-android
  1. Copy the android/extra/x11.sh script to termux's non-root home directory (/data/data/com.termux/files/home)
  2. Change the owner and permissions of the script

Usage

Follow the same steps as the basic usage (apart from un-mounting, of course), then...

  1. Open a separate non-root shell
  2. Run the script, should be in your home folder:
(termux) $ ./x11.sh
  1. Return to the chroot shell
  2. Export the required variables
(debian) $ export DISPLAY=":0"
(debian) $ export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR="/tmp"
(debian) $ export PULSE_SERVER="127.0.0.1"
  1. Run any X app

If you want hardware acceleration for your X apps, read below

Hardware acceleration

The x11.sh script uses the compatible ANGLE-based virgl server by default
If your device has Vulkan and has sane drivers (it's up to faith), you can try swapping it out for regular virgl and ZINK or ANGLE-based with Vulkan

Renderers

  • llvmpipe: software rendering by Mesa (slow, best compatibility) (default)
  • softpipe: software rendering by Mesa (slowest, legacy)
  • virgl (virpipe): remote 3D rendering by Mesa intended for QEMU virtual machines (slow/fast, worst compatibility)
  • zink (requires regular virgl): ???

To set which renderer is used by an app, set the GALLIUM_DRIVER env variable:

# Use llvmpipe software renderer (this is the default)
GALLIUM_DRIVER=llvmpipe glxgears -swapinterval 0 -info

# Use softpipe software renderer (not recommended)
GALLIUM_DRIVER=softpipe glxgears -swapinterval 0 -info

# Use virpipe to offload the rendering to a virgl server (recommended for older games)
GALLIUM_DRIVER=virpipe glxgears -swapinterval 0 -info

# Use zink directly
GALLIUM_DRIVER=zink glxgears -swapinterval 0 -info

Tip

Make sure to always check the renderer reported when using virgl/virpipe

Server types

There are multiple virgl servers available on termux:

  1. virgl_test_server (regular virgl)
  2. virgl_test_server_android (ANGLE-based, termux/android specific)
  3. turnip (not virgl, not a server): only for Adreno devices, see below for more information

Important

If you use the regular virgl server and your device does not support ZINK,
the virgl server will default to llvmpipe, which will be SLOWER than not using virgl at all

  • virgl using ANGLE: (used by x11.sh by default)
virgl_test_server_android --angle-gl &
  • Alternative virgl using ANGLE and Vulkan:
virgl_test_server_android --angle-vulkan &

Warning

ANGLE-based (Vulkan or not) virgl usually only has very old OpenGL versions (usually atmost OpenGL 2)
Newer versions are not guaranteed to be available, and may just crash instantly

  • Regular virgl using Vulkan via ZINK:
MESA_NO_ERROR=1 MESA_GL_VERSION_OVERRIDE=4.3COMPAT MESA_GLES_VERSION_OVERRIDE=3.2 GALLIUM_DRIVER=zink ZINK_DESCRIPTORS=lazy virgl_test_server --use-egl-surfaceless --use-gles &

Tip

If you can't use ZINK, it is recommended to just use llvmpipe (software rendering) on the chroot side (not via virgl), as it offers the best compatibility, and performance sometimes out performs ANGLE-based virgl

For more information, visit LinuxDroidMaster's notes