Any news on ATI fglrx 8.43?

[The_Monkey_King]

Well...poop.

I'll try the 8.42 version with my GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AM2 AMD 690G HDMI Micro ATX motherboard and Fedora 7.

I'll keep you posted.

While this driver [8.42] quite promptly supports X.Org 7.3 / X server 1.4, it does not contain Linux 2.6.23 kernel support. The Linux 2.6.23 support isn't found in fglrx 8.42.3 due to issues with x86_64 support. However, we do expect that fglrx 8.43 will contain the Linux 2.6.23 kernel support.

[Michael]

Here is some other tid-bits from the review:

This release is tested for all ATI Radeon GPU products from the R300 to R600 series. This does not include support for the FireGL series, but the workstation compatibility will be introduced next month in fglrx 8.43.

Now that the fglrx driver is on its new codebase and there are a few AMDCCCLE improvements already, don't be surprised if CATALYST AI makes its debut on Linux in the very near future for enhanced performance.

The bug found in Compiz 0.3 and that's causing havoc with fglrx 8.42.3, has been resolved in Compiz 0.6. Next month in fglrx 8.43, AMD will be introducing a workaround for Compiz 0.3 support.

[Uchikoma]

Firstly, let me chime in as we wait (for a possibly long time) for 8.43.

a) It's nice to see some progress being made, especially with 8.42. 8.42 worked fairly well for me (usuable, but definitely not perfect). So, hopefully ATI/AMD continues this constant cycle of noticeable improvement and additions.

b) I would really REALLY want them to get fglrx to work with kernels with the SLUB allocator. Many Ubuntu users are unable to suspend/resume due to fglrx not playing nicely with SLUB. Furthermore, there isn't many people who want to play around with kernels (who use Ubuntu) I'm guessing.

b2) Driver stability (without compiz): Eyecandy is nice, but I'd like a driver that's stable and doesn't cause any problems in say...ETQW.

c) I like the 3D section in CCC.
d) Less importantly I'd like to see some more AIGLX stability, auto powersaving, among other things.

There. That's my thoughts on 8.42 and desires for 8.43. I would be satisfied if any of the above points were worked on. I would be pleased if more than one was worked on. If they fix it all? I'd be speechless.

It's been years, and the wait is starting to pay off.

[Christian_L]

b) I would really REALLY want them to get fglrx to work with kernels with the SLUB allocator. Many Ubuntu users are unable to suspend/resume due to fglrx not playing nicely with SLUB. Furthermore, there isn't many people who want to play around with kernels (who use Ubuntu) I'm guessing.

Count in the Fedora users on that one.

[TechMage89]

I'd like really useful 2d acceleration. Like EXA. Or better yet, glucose (although I think that's not entirely stable yet). The fact that fglrx is still XAA- only, and that it is bested in 2d performance by EVERY OTHER DRIVER on nearly every other card in existence is an embarrassment (Although I bet it could give the S3 Savage a run for its money!)

The fact that, now that nvidia and intel now have fully stable (and fast!) EXA acceleration and ati users are still stuck with an XAA implementation that doesn't even work particularly well is a serious flaw in the driver.

I would also like to see an TexturedVideo Xv implementation that doesn't give me garbage or crash programs.

I don't use 3d that much on Linux, but I would really like 2d to be stable and fast. I think that's the most elementary thing. My old dell with an nvidia geforce fx has excellent performance with the nvidia driver, but my newer computer with an x1600 is considerably slower (!) and has some annoying graphical glitches.