Future of ATI Linux drivers

[Kano]

Don't buy this one - especially not when it is an amd system as then you have got onboard + dedicated card which will lead to problems. If you get intel + amd it would be a bit less problematic but then i would use a card from 4+ series.

[Kirurgs]

Hmm, I'm not quite sure what You mean, but that is a Mobility Radeon, which seems to be the only card on that system, check this:
http://www5.pc.ibm.com/europe/products.nsf/$wwwPartNumLookup/_NJ253xx?open&OpenDocument&epi=web_express

I'm just worried that next year 3xxx series will be legacy AMD is doing quite a job recently, but for Linux they just cut off stuff too early...
For instance, my colleague got a laptop with FireGL V5200 installed bought about the same time as me and guess what, it's not supported anymore while mine NVS140M is...

[Kirurgs]

on linux amd still work on X1900/R500 thats not legacy support thats premium support...
they only push the FGLRX out because the opensource driver are better.
3xxx will not be legacy on the linux side next Year ....
4xxx are the same code base!
R900 will be the new architecture in 1 year or later and yes most of the dev's work on r900 then..
but amd does not drop support for the R600-R800 on the linux side..

There is a note that everything before HD2xxx series are legacy and not in recent fglrx. When I search for V5200 driver it gives me 9.3 catalyst, recent one is 9.10 or so. It won't compile on 1.6.3 / 1.7.1 and 2.6.31.5...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but my colleagues card is legacy

If OSS driver would have proper 3D, I wouldn't need fglrx at all
While I'm deciding (I have like 2-3 months left or so before purchase), I'll try to gather more info together, AMD is getting better, I have 4850 in my desktop, but for laptop I need smth that will be supported at least for 2 years...

[disi]

@linux you are wrong... AMD pays Dev's for R500 work@radeon driver.

V5200 is only legacy on 'windows' and the windows port driver with the name: FGLRX=windows code recycled for linux....

pre alpfa of Ubuntu 10.04 has kernel 2.6.32+radeon3D driver...

I just tested the git 2.6.32+mesa+libdrm+xf86-video-ati and it is not that good as everyone says. I have 2xHD4770 in Crossfire and for me the best combination is:
2.6.31 (the KMS for Radeon is very slow in git 2.6.32)
libdrm-2.4.15
mesa-7.6
xf86-video-ati-6.12.4

Anyway I am not using ati-drivers since I want to see the progress they make on the opensource drivers.
When will Novell merge radeonhd with radeon driver? This is a waste of manpower...

[bridgman]

We discussed merging the drivers several times and the conclusion was that it wasn't worth the effort - there's a good chance something like the xorg state tracker (using kernel modesetting and Gallium3D) will be able to replace both drivers eventually.

[barbarbaron]

The future of ATI linux drivers :

Angry hd2x, 3x, 4x users left with no proper driver support in 2011 (or maybe as early as 2010?) who will be waiting the r600 or r600g opensource driver to improve. And those drivers and developers behind them will not be supported by AMD anymore as is the case with r300-r500 OSS drivers now. Fanboys like qaridarium may switch to upper models as their masters at AMD urge them to do so

In other words : COMPLETE OBLIVION (but no oblivion to play with)

[Silverthorn]

Never heard about the grass on the other side of the fence? It's always greener.

/hd2x user

[d80zoom]

"Everybody is asking for a bugfree driver. Tomorrow please."
"That this is not realistic doesnt matter for most of them."

As a consumer, when I spend $200.00 dollars on an ATI Radeon video card, I see that the Windows users have access to the latest drivers with complete features on a frequent basis.

As a Linux user, I do not have the same luxury. This is not right and I think that ATI and Nvidia need to up their game and put more effort into developing stable and complete drivers for the Linux community.

Why should I be punished as a Linux user, when I am paying $200.00 dollars just like the Windows people? I am paying for the Hardware and the Software that makes it work, my choice of operating system should not have anything to do with the availability of a driver that works for one platform, and not another.

[tball]

"Everybody is asking for a bugfree driver. Tomorrow please."
"That this is not realistic doesnt matter for most of them."

As a consumer, when I spend $200.00 dollars on an ATI Radeon video card, I see that the Windows users have access to the latest drivers with complete features on a frequent basis.

As a Linux user, I do not have the same luxury. This is not right and I think that ATI and Nvidia need to up their game and put more effort into developing stable and complete drivers for the Linux community.

Why should I be punished as a Linux user, when I am paying $200.00 dollars just like the Windows people? I am paying for the Hardware and the Software that makes it work, my choice of operating system should not have anything to do with the availability of a driver that works for one platform, and not another.

Well thats simple. If ~1% of ati's customers are linux users. Well then theoretically only ~1% of their developers should work on the linux version of their drivers.

Well in reality, as bridgman once said, they are spending more money on the linux driver, than the marketshare dictates.

[rbmorse]

Hey..hey...hey...none of that 1% BS. The Linux desktop market share is up to 1.02%. Don't forget it.