i'decided yesterday to try out the new exa capabilities of the new xf86-video-ati driver and started compiling the various required packages from svn: mesa, libdrm, x11-drm and xf86-video-ati. after less than an hour i was able to test the new drivers.
for the ones that would want to try it out be sure to do some things before trying it:
the first thing that needs to bedone is to blacklist the fglrx module from starting at boot pulled in from udev by adding
into the /etc/modules.conf and /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist files. after that switch the driver option in xorg.conf from fglrx to radeon and add drm as a module in the modules section of xorg.conf.
now add this line in the device section:
go to a console login, do a rmmod fglrx and then modprobe drm to see if it can load. if it loads restart xorg and you should be able to run well.
now, my experience with of more than one day of use:
1. dri was forced on since it is not supported normally on this board
2. aiglx + damage works
3. rendering doesn't work yet
4. no lockups
5. 3 times faster than fglrx 7.12
6. exa accel works as fast as xaa while exa doesn't work on fglrx 7.12
7. xine works wery well with xv, and the same does mplayer even with hd-ready resolutions (1280x720). i haven't yet tested if xine + opengloverlay will work with opengl.
8. i haven't tested any opengl stressing app since i don't have one neither games, but after i'll test compiz it will be the next step.
9. dynamicclocks works better than 7.12 atipowerplay and the board is consuming less energy about 10% more battery time on radeon than on fglrx.
10. the next steps to test will be:
a) suspend/standby
b) compiz
c) opengl stressing apps like games and similar.
overall satifsaction: 8/10.
fglrx 7.12 overall satisfaction: 7/10
so as compared to 7.12 the new xf86-video-ati is better than december fglrx. i haven't yet tested the 8.1 since i don't have yet the official ebuild in portage. i'll let you know how does it behave as soon as it gets into portage tree.
update:
a) suspend to ram doesn't seem to work right (2 tests and 2 wakeup failures), but suspend to disk works.
c) opengl apps won't start or would hang the system.
b) compiz won't surely run since opengl apps breaks so i won't do the test.
for the ones that would want to try it out be sure to do some things before trying it:
the first thing that needs to bedone is to blacklist the fglrx module from starting at boot pulled in from udev by adding
blacklist fglrx
now add this line in the device section:
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
now, my experience with of more than one day of use:
1. dri was forced on since it is not supported normally on this board
2. aiglx + damage works
3. rendering doesn't work yet
4. no lockups
5. 3 times faster than fglrx 7.12
6. exa accel works as fast as xaa while exa doesn't work on fglrx 7.12
7. xine works wery well with xv, and the same does mplayer even with hd-ready resolutions (1280x720). i haven't yet tested if xine + opengloverlay will work with opengl.
8. i haven't tested any opengl stressing app since i don't have one neither games, but after i'll test compiz it will be the next step.
9. dynamicclocks works better than 7.12 atipowerplay and the board is consuming less energy about 10% more battery time on radeon than on fglrx.
10. the next steps to test will be:
a) suspend/standby
b) compiz
c) opengl stressing apps like games and similar.
overall satifsaction: 8/10.
fglrx 7.12 overall satisfaction: 7/10
so as compared to 7.12 the new xf86-video-ati is better than december fglrx. i haven't yet tested the 8.1 since i don't have yet the official ebuild in portage. i'll let you know how does it behave as soon as it gets into portage tree.
update:
a) suspend to ram doesn't seem to work right (2 tests and 2 wakeup failures), but suspend to disk works.
c) opengl apps won't start or would hang the system.
b) compiz won't surely run since opengl apps breaks so i won't do the test.
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