NVIDIA Working On New GLX Extension To Help PRIME GPU Offloading

[phoronix]

Phoronix: NVIDIA Working On New GLX Extension To Help PRIME GPU Offloading

NVIDIA has been working on a new GLX extension to help the PRIME GPU offloading situation where multiple GPU vendors are involved and thus different OpenGL driver implementations. In particular, the proposed GLX_EXT_server_vendor_select is designed to better fit in to address PRIME GPU offloading obstacles introduced by their work on the now common GLVND OpenGL Vendor Neutral Dispatch library...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NVIDIA-EXT-Vendor-Select

[lectrode]

This would be huge (and long overdue) for modern laptops with discrete graphics. I really hope they get this implemented so that we don't have to use hacky, complicated solutions with abysmal performance anymore.

[shmerl]

Why is there any need for new extensions, if Mesa already works fine with PRIME (for AMD and Intel)?

As for laptops, just stay away from Nvidia. Problem solved.

[tildearrow]

Of course, NVIDIA always goes the wrong way for things we really need.

[llukas]

Why is there any need for new extensions, if Mesa already works fine with PRIME (for AMD and Intel)?

As for laptops, just stay away from Nvidia. Problem solved.

Everybody scratching their itch. How hard is it to accept?

[shmerl]

Everybody scratching their itch. How hard is it to accept?

I don't accept that Nvidia are so incapable for years to support PRIME. They aren't amateurs, yet the result looks like complete incompetence since it still doesn't work today for their blob. I'd say completely avoiding them is the best course of action for Linux users.

[mlau]

I don't accept that Nvidia are so incapable for years to support PRIME. They aren't amateurs, yet the result looks like complete incompetence since it still doesn't work today for their blob. I'd say completely avoiding them is the best course of action for Linux users.

Maybe it's because nvidia doesn't support DRI3?

[shmerl]

Maybe it's because nvidia doesn't support DRI3?

Whatever the reason is, the result is that PRIME still doesn't work.

[ssokolow]

Whatever the reason is, the result is that PRIME still doesn't work.

Do you remember if it was DRI3 that involved kernel APIs flagged GPL-only? I seem to remember something like that.

[shmerl]

Do you remember if it was DRI3 that involved kernel APIs flagged GPL-only? I seem to remember something like that.

I vaguely remember some disagreement that Nvidia developers had with kernel maintainers who didn't want to accept certain integration due to GPL violation. But I'm not sure if it was about DRI3. All this is really quite easy for Nvidia to resolve - they can support the open kernel driver. They simply don't want to. I see it as incompetence of their higher management who can't get over their blob mentality.