amdpcsdb customizing

[Redeeman]

Hello.

i was helping a friend debug some troubles with ATI cards on a winblows box, and in the winblows registry i found the ati section, and noticed that the options in there looks suspeciously similar to a few of those in the /etc/ati/amdpcsdb on linux with the fglrx driver.

I was wondering if some of you have had the oppertunity to try some of these options, if they improve performance? or if they dont work at all?

I myself am unable to attempt this, as i dont have an ati card in anymore(only had for test, an 3450), and i also dont have access to winblows easily.

But if anyone knows something, im very interrested in the results, there seemed to be some interrestingly looking settings.

[Redeeman]

nobody thats in a position to try this?

[Vighy]

nobody thats in a position to try this?

well I could.. and it seems interesting! but I don't have time now.

anyway do you remember where the ati section was in the registry?

[Gregor A.]

I use only the xorg.conf and after every change I restore the defaults with:

cp -av /etc/ati/amdpcsdb.default /etc/ati/amdpcsdb

I don't trust this database.

[Vighy]

I use only the xorg.conf and after every change I restore the defaults with:

cp -av /etc/ati/amdpcsdb.default /etc/ati/amdpcsdb

I don't trust this database.

But ATi does!

every time you start Xorg, the driver re-fills the /etc/ati/amdpcsdb with the settings of xorg.conf

Considering also that it's the only place where info about Anti-Aliasing, Anisotropic Filter, and so on... are placed, you need it.

It's reason is quite simple: ati devs say that they prefer use the xorg.conf for Xorg and /etc/ati/amdpcsdb for the driver. I think it's flawless.

[Porter]

I use only the xorg.conf and after every change I restore the defaults with:

cp -av /etc/ati/amdpcsdb.default /etc/ati/amdpcsdb

I don't trust this database.

You don't "trust" the database? It's not witchcraft, you know. It's just a file that stores driver settings. There's nothing particularly complex or spooky about it, as far as I can tell.

[hungerfish]

Following this http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...rsistent&num=1 article, I went and had a look:

DALObjectData0=R010000000100000000000000010000000100000000000000010000000100000000000000010000000100000000000000010000000200000000000000010000000200000000000000030000000100000002000000030000000100000002000000010000000400000000000000010000000400000000000000010000000500000000000000010000000500000000000000010000000200000000000000010000000200000000000000010000000500000000000000010000000500000000000000010000000800000000000000010000000800000000000000010000000900000000000000010000000900000000000000010000000A00000000000000010000000A00000000000000030000000900000002000000030000000900000002000000030000000800000004000000030000000800000004000000030000000900000004000000030000000900000004000000010000000A00000000000000010000000A00000000000000030000000900000002000000030000000900000002000000010000000100000000000000010000000100000000000000010000000100000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000200000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000100000000000000020000000000000002000000010000000400000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000100000000000000020000000000000004000000010000000200000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000500000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000800000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000800000000000000020000000000000001000000010000000800000000000000020000000000000002000000010000000900000000000000020000000000000002000000010000000800000000000000020000000000000004000000010000000900000000000000020000000000000004000000010000000A00000000000000000000000000000000000000010000000900000000000000020000000000000002000000

This is just one line !!!
But my god, that is very very spooky looking indeed.
I mean xorg.conf my be a pain to setup, but at least its structured cleanly and human-readable. I can't count the times I needed to go in there and fix something, but at least I could do so, from a text console.
But this database is just a mess. Oh wait, were supposed to use amdccccccccccc...isn't it great to have such a wonderful tool around?!
*Irony off*, but seriously amdccc sucks, under linux as much as under windows.

The opensource world definitely should NOT follow in those kind of footsteps when designing their sollution. IMO

[Kano]

I guess it is just a part of the driver (current variables) as binary snapshot, thats pretty easy to implement but hard to change.

[hungerfish]

That's what I thought, but if you look closely, you'll actually see its hex!?
Now I always thought the point of using hex-number representation in computers was to make the whole affair digestible to our puny human minds.
But, allas I was wrong...

[voltaic]

I appreciate the whole persistent config idea, but I do have to question whether the database approach may be completely against the Linux philosophy of KISS. I think plain-text human-readable config files are great for keeping things configurable and under the user's control. It's easier to diagnose problems that way, too. I guess this makes sense for a proprietary driver setup.