Glad I could help. 
If you would like some further help with housekeeping tasks just let me know.
1 Like
Ok, let’s give this a go…
2 Likes
Looking good! 
I went ahead and made the news public.
2 Likes
Last night I added DXGI 1.5 suport to Looking Glass which in some cases may improve performance substantially. As part of this the EGL renderer and DXGI capture both now also support RGB 10-bit HDR without any performance overhead. If anything it will be faster then prior.
The older DXGI API captures the desktop and then converts it to BGRA if it is not already in that format, which as it turns out many titles are not. The new API lets us bypass this conversion and take the raw frame data in it’s native format.
This locks us to requring windows 10, and I believe this new API is only available in the October 2018 update for Windows 10, it would be greaat if people could confirm. While I do not like enforcing an updated Windows install, this change is too major to ignore it’s potential benefits.
For the technical, the new API is:
6 Likes
Details of the above change are described in my latest video:
3 Likes
Good news everyone, all pending tasks holding back the Alpha 12 release have been completed! The changes between A11 and A12 are substantial and listed below. I will have A12 released within the next hour or so.
67 files changed, 6694 insertions(+), 1688 deletions(-)
Code Cleanup:
- [client] egl: move cursor code into a separate unit
- [client] egl: move fps code into a separate unit
- [client] egl: move desktop code into a separate unit
Features
- [host] Continual build integration
- [client] add switch to disable alert messages
- [client] Add OpenGL ES support (EGL)
- [client] Add YUV420 support to EGL
- [client] Add cursor rendering to EGL
- [client] Move SDL text rendering into a separate ABI
- [client] Update OpenGL renderer to use new font ABI
- [client] move FPS calculations out of OpenGL
- [client] Add FPS rendering to EGL
- [client] Add text rendering to EGL
- [client] Add splash rendering to EGL
- [client] Add alert rendering to EGL
- [client] Replicate mipmaping from OpenGL into EGL
- [client] Make EGL the default renderer
Bugs fixed:
- [client] don’t scale the mouse when in capture mode
- [client] Add support for wayland
- [host] Remove accidental usage of AVX instructions
- [host] Fix random host re-initialization crash
- [host] Fix rare cursor invisible bugs
- [client] fix early pre-connect rendering
Tuning:
- [client] Decouple host/client mouse sync
- [host] Profile DXGI
- [client] Schedule frame updates instead of using timeouts
Edit: Correction, the next release will be A12 to give some testing time before releasing B1.
8 Likes
A few minor changes have gone into git master, this is not a release notice but a notice of a commit that may improve spice cursor performance considerably. Please see:
5 Likes
I am working on some more updates to the Spice interface that will help both performance and hopefully bring spice guest agent communications (read, Clipboard Sync).
It’s slow going due to the fact that RedHat have not updated the spice protocol documentation since 2009 which is full of errors, typos and missing a ton of information about the later versions of the protocol. It’s even a “Draft” according to the title page.
I have opened a ticket to try to get some traction on this being updated over here:
I am honestly not surprised that it hasn’t been maintained however, as far as I am aware Looking Glass is the first and only third party spice client implementation to date.
2 Likes
Made some more progress today, the latest version in git now supports client to host clipboard sync for text. To make it work you will need to ensure you have the spice-agent tools installed in windows and the appopriate spicevmc device on the guest.
-device virtio-serial-pci \
-chardev spicevmc,debug=10,id=vdagent,name=vdagent \
-device virtserialport,chardev=vdagent,name=com.redhat.spice.0
3 Likes
Demo of new Clipboard Functionality:
4 Likes
Good news, as of a few minutes ago Looking Glass just got host to guest clipboard sync! I will make a demo video when I get a chance a bit later on.
2 Likes
1 Like
Just a status update. Over the past week I have been working on rewriting the host application for several reasons.
- It’s written in C++ and the rest of the project is written in C
- It require’s Microsoft VS to build it which is a pain
- It’s very windows specific
- The code is very convoluted from all the DXGI experimentation early on.
I am very pleased to announce there is a new c-host directory in the git repository. This is a pure C rewrite with DXGI support and preliminary XCA SHM support (Yes, you read that right, Linux support!)
Bug reports for the c-host will be ignored until I announce an official release!
This code is extremely new and experimental, expect bugs and missing features.
The state of DXGI is good, it works but with a few minor issues. XCA capture on the other hand requires some TLC to get it working correctly.
If you would like to build this application under windows it couldn’t be easier, simply install mingw64 and ensure your path is configured correctly, then run gmake.
Again there is ZERO support for the c-host at this time so please DO NOT open any issues for it unless they are Pull Requests to contribute code to the project.
6 Likes
Another long awaited update that will make many people happy. I have updated the project to make far better use of cmake. There are now options to enable/disable core features for people that want to build on platforms that may not have support for them.
It is now possible to disable the following features:
| Feature | cmake option | default | description |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenGL | ENABLE_OPENGL | Enabled | The Legacy OpenGL Renderer |
| EGL | ENABLE_EGL | Enabled | The modern OpenGL ES Renderer |
| X11 Clipboard | ENABLE_CB_X11 | Enabled | X11/Xorg Clipboard Integration |
For those unfamiliar with cmake, to specify these you must pass the -D switch, for example:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DENABLE_OPENGL=0 ..
make
4 Likes
New feature, Scroll Lock is now also a super/escape key for additional commands.
For now there is only additional command bound which is ScrollLock+N for the EGL renderer which increases the gain/brightness of the capture source to assist with monitors with poor brightness when playing games that are dark.
Note that I am streaming at the moment, if you would like a demo just ask in the chat box.
Edit: Two more new keybinds.
ScrollLock+F= Full Screen Toggle
ScrollLock+I = Spice KB/Mouse Input Enable Toggle
3 Likes
Still getting this ready for the Beta 1 (B1) release, today a major milestone was accomplished that has been holding this back. The option parsing, loading and saving has been overhauled to a platform agnostic interface. This has changed a few things of note for the end user:
- Some option switches have changed and/or been removed.
- The configuration file format is now a standard INI type, making it easier to get the syntax correct.
- The help output has changed to hopefully be a bit easier to search through.
Note: As usual this code is extremely new and may contain bugs and/or errors.
The old short option arguments have mostly been deprecated, some have been kept around however to make this transition a little smoother for those launching LG from scripts, etc.
The new format is as follows:
module:name=value
For example, to turn on the FPS display the argument would be:
win:showFPS=yes
If you wish to put this into a configuration file, the format would be:
[win]
showFPS = yes
Below lists the current options as they stand at the time of posting this:
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| app:configFile | -C | NULL | A file to read additional configuration from |
| app:shmFile | -f | /dev/shm/looking-glass | The path to the shared memory file |
| app:shmSize | -L | 0 | Specify the size in MB of the shared memory file (0 = detect) |
| app:renderer | -g | auto | Specify the renderer to use |
| app:license | -l | no | Show the licence for this application and then terminate |
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| win:title | Looking Glass (client) | The window title | |
| win:position | center | Initial window position at startup | |
| win:size | 1024x768 | Initial window size at startup | |
| win:autoResize | -a | no | Auto resize the window to the guest |
| win:allowResize | -n | yes | Aallow the window to be manually resized |
| win:keepAspect | -r | yes | Maintain the correct aspect ratio |
| win:borderless | -d | no | Borderless mode |
| win:fullScreen | -F | no | Launch in fullscreen borderless mode |
| win:fpsLimit | -K | 200 | Frame rate limit (0 = disable - not recommended) |
| win:showFPS | -k | no | Enable the FPS & UPS display |
| win:ignoreQuit | -Q | no | Ignore requests to quit (ie: Alt+F4) |
| win:noScreensaver | -S | no | Prevent the screensaver from starting |
| win:alerts | -q | yes | Show on screen alert messages |
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| input:grabKeyboard | -G | yes | Grab the keyboard in capture mode |
| input:escapeKey | -m | 71 = ScrollLock | Specify the escape key, see https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDLScancodeLookup for valid values |
| input:hideCursor | -M | yes | Hide the local mouse cursor |
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| spice:enable | -s | yes | Enable the built in SPICE client for input and/or clipboard support |
| spice:host | -c | 127.0.0.1 | The SPICE server host or UNIX socket |
| spice:port | -p | 5900 | The SPICE server port (0 = unix socket) |
| spice:input | yes | Use SPICE to send keyboard and mouse input events to the guest | |
| spice:clipboard | yes | Use SPICE to syncronize the clipboard contents with the guest | |
| spice:clipboardToVM | yes | Allow the clipboard to be syncronized TO the VM | |
| spice:clipboardToLocal | yes | Allow the clipboard to be syncronized FROM the VM | |
| spice:scaleCursor | -j | yes | Scale cursor input position to screen size when up/down scaled |
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| egl:vsync | no | Enable vsync |
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| opengl:mipmap | yes | Enable mipmapping | |
| opengl:vsync | yes | Enable vsync | |
| opengl:preventBuffer | yes | Prevent the driver from buffering frames | |
| opengl:amdPinnedMem | yes | Use GL_AMD_pinned_memory if it is available |
The list of options and their current values are obtainable by launching the application with the -h or --help option, for example:
./looking-glass-client -h
The following is a complete list of options accepted by this application
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| app:configFile | -C | NULL | A file to read additional configuration from |
| app:shmFile | -f | /dev/shm/looking-glass | The path to the shared memory file |
| app:shmSize | -L | 0 | Specify the size in MB of the shared memory file (0 = detect) |
| app:renderer | -g | auto | Specify the renderer to use |
| app:license | -l | no | Show the licence for this application and then terminate |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| win:title | | Looking Glass (client) | The window title |
| win:position | | center | Initial window position at startup |
| win:size | | 1024x768 | Initial window size at startup |
| win:autoResize | -a | no | Auto resize the window to the guest |
| win:allowResize | -n | yes | Aallow the window to be manually resized |
| win:keepAspect | -r | yes | Maintain the correct aspect ratio |
| win:borderless | -d | no | Borderless mode |
| win:fullScreen | -F | no | Launch in fullscreen borderless mode |
| win:fpsLimit | -K | 200 | Frame rate limit (0 = disable - not recommended) |
| win:showFPS | -k | no | Enable the FPS & UPS display |
| win:ignoreQuit | -Q | no | Ignore requests to quit (ie: Alt+F4) |
| win:noScreensaver | -S | no | Prevent the screensaver from starting |
| win:alerts | -q | yes | Show on screen alert messages |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| input:grabKeyboard | -G | yes | Grab the keyboard in capture mode |
| input:escapeKey | -m | 71 = ScrollLock | Specify the escape key, see https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDLScancodeLookup for valid values |
| input:hideCursor | -M | yes | Hide the local mouse cursor |
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| spice:enable | -s | yes | Enable the built in SPICE client for input and/or clipboard support |
| spice:host | -c | 127.0.0.1 | The SPICE server host or UNIX socket |
| spice:port | -p | 5900 | The SPICE server port (0 = unix socket) |
| spice:input | | yes | Use SPICE to send keyboard and mouse input events to the guest |
| spice:clipboard | | yes | Use SPICE to syncronize the clipboard contents with the guest |
| spice:clipboardToVM | | yes | Allow the clipboard to be syncronized TO the VM |
| spice:clipboardToLocal | | yes | Allow the clipboard to be syncronized FROM the VM |
| spice:scaleCursor | -j | yes | Scale cursor input position to screen size when up/down scaled |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|------------------------------------------|
| egl:vsync | | no | Enable vsync |
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Long | Short | Value | Description |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| opengl:mipmap | | yes | Enable mipmapping |
| opengl:vsync | | yes | Enable vsync |
| opengl:preventBuffer | | yes | Prevent the driver from buffering frames |
| opengl:amdPinnedMem | | yes | Use GL_AMD_pinned_memory if it is available |
|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
3 Likes
The c-host FINALLY has a application Icon, Tray icon and context menu 
4 Likes
Two new configurables added:
- app:cursorPollInterval
- app:framePollInterval
Prior to this update, these were hard coded to 1us, this change increases these to 1000us as their default as this should be fast enough for most use cases. This has reduced the client’s CPU consumption by about 80% in my dev configuration.
These values are simply how long to wait before checking for another update from the host if there wasn’t already an update pending.
EGL texture streaming has been updated to use persistent memory mappings which should also improve performance and help us to skip 1/2 frames if/when we start to fall behind the host. It may induce minor tearing but should provide for an overall better experience.
Another milestone reached, the host application can now be cross compiled for Windows on Linux using mingw64.
geoff@aeryn:~/Projects/LG/LookingGlass/c-host/build# cmake -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=../toolchain-mingw64.cmake -DUSE_NVFBC=1 -DNVFBC_SDK="/home/geoff/Projects/LG/NVIDIA Capture SDK" ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 8.3.0
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Performing Test COMPILER_SUPPORTS_MARCH_NATIVE
-- Performing Test COMPILER_SUPPORTS_MARCH_NATIVE - Success
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 8.3.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/x86_64-w64-mingw32-g++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
--
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/geoff/Projects/LG/LookingGlass/c-host/build
geoff@aeryn:~/Projects/LG/LookingGlass/c-host/build# make
Scanning dependencies of target lg_common
[ 5%] Building C object common/CMakeFiles/lg_common.dir/src/crash.windows.c.obj
[ 11%] Building C object common/CMakeFiles/lg_common.dir/src/stringutils.c.obj
[ 16%] Building C object common/CMakeFiles/lg_common.dir/src/stringlist.c.obj
[ 22%] Building C object common/CMakeFiles/lg_common.dir/src/option.c.obj
[ 27%] Linking C static library liblg_common.a
[ 27%] Built target lg_common
Scanning dependencies of target capture_DXGI
[ 33%] Building C object platform/Windows/capture/DXGI/CMakeFiles/capture_DXGI.dir/src/dxgi.c.obj
[ 38%] Linking C static library libcapture_DXGI.a
[ 38%] Built target capture_DXGI
Scanning dependencies of target capture_NVFBC
[ 44%] Building C object platform/Windows/capture/NVFBC/CMakeFiles/capture_NVFBC.dir/src/nvfbc.c.obj
[ 50%] Building CXX object platform/Windows/capture/NVFBC/CMakeFiles/capture_NVFBC.dir/src/wrapper.cpp.obj
[ 55%] Linking CXX static library libcapture_NVFBC.a
[ 55%] Built target capture_NVFBC
Scanning dependencies of target capture
[ 61%] Building C object platform/Windows/capture/CMakeFiles/capture.dir/__/__/__/src/capture.c.obj
[ 66%] Linking C static library libcapture.a
[ 66%] Built target capture
Scanning dependencies of target platform_Windows
[ 72%] Building C object platform/Windows/CMakeFiles/platform_Windows.dir/src/platform.c.obj
[ 77%] Building C object platform/Windows/CMakeFiles/platform_Windows.dir/src/windebug.c.obj
[ 83%] Building C object platform/Windows/CMakeFiles/platform_Windows.dir/src/mousehook.c.obj
[ 88%] Linking C static library libplatform_Windows.a
[ 88%] Built target platform_Windows
Scanning dependencies of target looking-glass-host
[ 94%] Building C object CMakeFiles/looking-glass-host.dir/src/app.c.obj
[100%] Linking C executable looking-glass-host.exe
[100%] Built target looking-glass-host
geoff@aeryn:~/Projects/LG/LookingGlass/c-host/build# ls -lah looking-glass-host.exe
-rwxr-xr-x 1 geoff geoff 745K May 22 15:33 looking-glass-host.exe
1 Like
At the request of several people I have setup a Ko-Fi account for those that would rather donate there instead of Patreon.
2 Likes