KiCad 9.0.0 OpenGL regression on Raspberry Pi 5

Software
1

I have noticed a curious regression in KiCad 9 regarding support of the OpenGL accelerated graphics on my Raspberry Pi 5.

Previous versions of KiCad allowed the use of accelerated graphics on my Raspberry Pi 5 with a 2560x1440 monitor. I can still use accelerated graphics with KiCad 6.0.11 installed from bookworm/main.

Application: KiCad

Version: 6.0.11+dfsg-1, release build

Libraries:
	wxWidgets 3.2.2
	libcurl/7.88.1 OpenSSL/3.0.15 zlib/1.2.13 brotli/1.0.9 zstd/1.5.4 libidn2/2.3.3 libpsl/0.21.2 (+libidn2/2.3.3) libssh2/1.10.0 nghttp2/1.52.0 librtmp/2.3 OpenLDAP/2.5.13

Platform: Linux 6.6.74+rpt-rpi-2712 aarch64, 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, LXDE-pi-labwc, wayland

Build Info:
	Date: Jan 26 2023 05:35:43
	wxWidgets: 3.2.1 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
	Boost: 1.74.0
	OCC: 7.6.3
	Curl: 7.87.0
	ngspice: 38
	Compiler: GCC 12.2.0 with C++ ABI 1017

Build settings:
	KICAD_USE_OCC=ON
	KICAD_SPICE=ON

I’m also fairly certain that I could use accelerated graphics with version 8.0.8 installed from bookworm-backports, but I can’t reinstall that version to test. I believe it worked since have no recollection of the error message I get when starting KiCad 9.0.0

When I installed KiCad 9.0.0 (either from bookworm-backports or Flatpak) I get an error when starting KiCad that said:

Could not use OpenGL, falling back to software rendering
Requested render buffer size is not supported

This message is repeated after any attempt to switch the display settings back from Fallback graphics to Accelerated graphics.

This is the version info from the Flatpak installation.

Application: KiCad PCB Editor aarch64 on aarch64

Version: 9.0.0, release build

Libraries:
	wxWidgets 3.2.6
	FreeType 2.13.3
	HarfBuzz 9.0.0
	FontConfig 2.15.0
	libcurl/8.11.1 OpenSSL/3.3.3 zlib/1.3.1 libidn2/2.3.7 libpsl/0.21.5 nghttp2/1.64.0

Platform: Freedesktop SDK 24.08 (Flatpak runtime), 64 bit, Little endian, wxGTK, X11, LXDE-pi-labwc, wayland
OpenGL: Broadcom, V3D 7.1.7.0, 3.1 Mesa 24.3.4 (git-769e51468b)

Build Info:
	Date: Feb 21 2025 22:29:48
	wxWidgets: 3.2.6 (wchar_t,wx containers) GTK+ 3.24
	Boost: 1.87.0
	OCC: 7.9.0
	Curl: 8.11.1
	ngspice: 44.2
	Compiler: GCC 14.2.0 with C++ ABI 1019
	KICAD_IPC_API=ON

Locale: 
	Lang: en_GB
	Enc: UTF-8
	Num: 1,234.5
	Encoded кΩ丈: D0BACEA9E4B888 (sys), D0BACEA9E4B888 (utf8)

Because the error mesage said the requested buffer size was not supported I reduced my Raspberry Pi’s output resolution from my monitor’s nominal resolution of 2560x1440 down to 1920x1080. With this reduced resolution KiCad 9 can now also run with accelerated graphics. So it seems that KiCad 9.0.0 has a different requirement for maximum screen resolution on the Raspberry Pi 5 than previous versions of KiCad. In particular, KiCad versions 6.0.11 and 8.0.8 both allowed accelerated graphics at my full resolution of 2560x1440, but KICAD 9.0.0 does not.

It would be good if KiCad 9 could be revised to support the full monitor resolution as previous versions did.

2

KiCad 9 switched to High-quality Antialiasing by default. Try switching it back.

3

That did the trick!

Setting the Accelerated graphics to Fast Antialiasing under the Common - Antialiasing options allows Accelerated graphics to be used for both schematic and PCB Display options at the full monitor resolution of 2560x1440 on my Raspberry Pi 5 with KiCad 9.0.0.

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