diff --git a/opengl/libagl/egl.cpp b/opengl/libagl/egl.cpp
index cf66be3..0762ebf 100644
--- a/opengl/libagl/egl.cpp
+++ b/opengl/libagl/egl.cpp
@@ -384,6 +384,10 @@
 
 EGLBoolean egl_window_surface_v2_t::connect() 
 {
+    // we're intending to do software rendering
+    native_window_set_usage(nativeWindow, 
+            GRALLOC_USAGE_SW_READ_OFTEN | GRALLOC_USAGE_SW_WRITE_OFTEN);
+
     // dequeue a buffer
     if (nativeWindow->dequeueBuffer(nativeWindow, &buffer) != NO_ERROR) {
         return setError(EGL_BAD_ALLOC, EGL_FALSE);