AMD Releases Open-Source R600/700 3D Code

[RealNC]

workstation is pretty much entirely a closed-source business because of the extremely high performance expectations.

That explains why they're running Linux along with a crapload of open source GNU software. Yeah, closed source ftw

[bridgman]

Yeah

It's probably obvious but when I said "high performance expectations" I was talking about the graphics subsystem where the drivers are hugely complex and proprietary drivers still have an edge.

Seriously, I think a lot of the Linux workstation users are there not because GNU/Linux is "free like speech", but rather because the "free like beer" aspect of GNU/Linux killed off most of the commercial Unix vendors so they shifted to Linux instead. Most of the workstation market is running RHEL or SLED/SLES for the commercial support so for them it's "just like Unix" and software freedom just gives them something interesting to read about on the internet.

On the other hand, those users (and the commercial Unix vendors) also drove a good chunk of the $$ investment in Linux graphics over the last 10 years, so be nice to them

[rbmorse]

How do you explain that few years ago people was repeating same myth about 1%? Linux is growing faster than before, so it's strange.

Easy, and it's not at all strange. Linux may be growing -- I see no substantiation of this oft-quoted folklore -- but even if it is, it's not growing as fast as the total number of computers in use. Ergo, market share stays where it's been for the last several years, fairly constant at just under 1%.

I'm finished with this. If you come up with some real data as opposed to wishful thinking, start a new topic.

[RealNC]

Seriously, I think a lot of the Linux workstation users are there not because GNU/Linux is "free like speech", but rather because the "free like beer" aspect of GNU/Linux killed off most of the commercial Unix vendors so they shifted to Linux instead. Most of the workstation market is running RHEL or SLED/SLES for the commercial support so for them it's "just like Unix" and software freedom just gives them something interesting to read about on the internet.

I think it's more than that. We all tend to forget a bit what "open" means. It mainly means that those corporations have access to the source and that brings some benefits, like being able to adapt the code or pay someone to adapt it (or fix it) to their needs. The romantic part of "open" is nice to read about, but we mostly care about the practical benefits. It would be nice if I could fix or pay someone to fix fglrx for me, no?

[hobbes]

Besides performance improvements, there is a old problem who persists on R500 radeon driver.

I'm using a x1600pro, with the latest radeon package on Jaunty Alpha 2.

Xorg.conf Settings:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "AGPMode" "8"
Option "EXAVSync" "1"
EndSection


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


(==) RADEON(0): Using EXA acceleration architecture
(==) RADEON(0): Not using accelerated EXA DownloadFromScreen hook
(II) RADEON(0): Setting EXA maxPitchBytes
(II) EXA(0): Offscreen pixmap area of 116195328 bytes
(II) EXA(0): Driver registered support for the following operations:
(WW) RADEON(0): Option "EXAVSync" is not used





This picture is not from my PC.

I couldn't screenshot it, but I've found this picture taken but a Windows user at guru3d that shows exactly what happens with my hardware.

So, It will (When will) be possible to get rid off this horizontal line?

KMS, GEM, DRI2 or Gallium3?

Anyone?

Thanks for reading

[NuShrike]

Phoronix: AMD Releases Open-Source R600/700 3D Code

Any chance AMD will spread the wealth eventually and provide the same sanitized support for their Imageon processors?

It's kinda dirty that AMD can on one hand provide open-source support on the PC, but then completely deny the existence and documentation of their Imageon GPUs still shipping in new phone devices including Android and Windows Mobile. Makes this release look more like a PR stunt than a real, internal, culture shift.

Maybe AMD really doesn't care about the embedded market, nor that the victor is solidifying around PowerVR with their much more generous documentation and support.

[duby229]

Besides performance improvements, there is a old problem who persists on R500 radeon driver.

I'm using a x1600pro, with the latest radeon package on Jaunty Alpha 2.

Xorg.conf Settings:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "AGPMode" "8"
Option "EXAVSync" "1"
EndSection


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


(==) RADEON(0): Using EXA acceleration architecture
(==) RADEON(0): Not using accelerated EXA DownloadFromScreen hook
(II) RADEON(0): Setting EXA maxPitchBytes
(II) EXA(0): Offscreen pixmap area of 116195328 bytes
(II) EXA(0): Driver registered support for the following operations:
(WW) RADEON(0): Option "EXAVSync" is not used



This picture is not from my PC.

I couldn't screenshot it, but I've found this picture taken but a Windows user at guru3d that shows exactly what happens with my hardware.

So, It will (When will) be possible to get rid off this horizontal line?

KMS, GEM, DRI2 or Gallium3?

Anyone?

Thanks for reading

Your not alone, I have exactly the same tearing. In addition to that I cant switch VT's. The light on the monitor turns amber, and I lose the connection to the monitor.

[bridgman]

Besides performance improvements, there is a old problem who persists on R500 radeon driver.

I'm using a x1600pro, with the latest radeon package on Jaunty Alpha 2.

<snip>

(==) RADEON(0): Using EXA acceleration architecture
(==) RADEON(0): Not using accelerated EXA DownloadFromScreen hook
(II) RADEON(0): Setting EXA maxPitchBytes
(II) EXA(0): Offscreen pixmap area of 116195328 bytes
(II) EXA(0): Driver registered support for the following operations:
(WW) RADEON(0): Option "EXAVSync" is not used

<snip>

So, It will (When will) be possible to get rid off this horizontal line?

Based on the error message, I expect the radeon code in the latest package might not be new enough. Can you get a date or commit number from your log ? The tear-free code only went in a couple of weeks ago.

Any chance AMD will spread the wealth eventually and provide the same sanitized support for their Imageon processors?

It's kinda dirty that AMD can on one hand provide open-source support on the PC, but then completely deny the existence and documentation of their Imageon GPUs still shipping in new phone devices including Android and Windows Mobile. Makes this release look more like a PR stunt than a real, internal, culture shift.

Maybe AMD really doesn't care about the embedded market, nor that the victor is solidifying around PowerVR with their much more generous documentation and support.

NuShrike, as I mentioned before AMD have announced plans to sell the Imageon division. I have asked internally about the possibility of providing open source support for the handheld products, but I don't think that is likely to happen until new owners have a chance to participate in the decision.

[agd5f]

So, It will (When will) be possible to get rid off this horizontal line?

that's called tearing. It should be gone for most users with the latest driver from ati git or the 6.9.0.91 rc release.

(WW) RADEON(0): Option "EXAVSync" is not used

Looks like your driver is too old.

[hobbes]

Based on the error message, I expect the radeon code in the latest package might not be new enough. Can you get a date or commit number from your log ? The tear-free code only went in a couple of weeks ago.

X.Org X Server 1.5.99.3
Release Date: (unreleased)
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
Build Operating System: Linux 2.6.24-15-server x86_64 Ubuntu
Current Operating System: Linux jaunty-desktop 2.6.28-4-generic #5-Ubuntu SMP Fri Dec 26 22:48:55 UTC 2008 x86_64
Build Date: 17 December 2008 03:13:46AM
xorg-server 2:1.5.99.3-0ubuntu3 (buildd@crested.buildd)
______

apt-cache policy xserver-xorg-video-radeon
xserver-xorg-video-radeon:
Instalado: 1:6.9.0+git20081003.f9826a56-0ubuntu6
Candidato: 1:6.9.0+git20081003.f9826a56-0ubuntu6
Tabela de versão:
*** 1:6.9.0+git20081003.f9826a56-0ubuntu6 0
500 http://ftp.ubuntu.com jaunty/main Packages
500 http://archive.ubuntu.com jaunty/main Packages
100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
________


full log: http://pastebin.com/m13b7c9c7

very latest packages.