AMD Publishes Open-Source HD 7000, Trinity Code

[AlbertP]

That's true. Ubuntu 12.10 will probably have open-source Radeon HD 7000 support but at the moment you're stuck with the vesa driver when running X.

[pingufunkybeat]

I remember reading something about the userspace bits also being there, but on a closer look, it seems to only affect the Trinity APUs, not the 7000 series.

If that's the case, I'll wait a bit longer.

[allquixotic]

Has anyone tested this?

I'm looking for a new card these days and GCN seems to hold more promise for performance on the open stack due to the new design (halving the gap to Catalyst was mentioned in the other thread...)

It would be nice to hear if anyone has got it working with real hardware.

It's not currently possible to "test" this, because the userspace parts of the driver aren't released yet.

The article is (as usual; what's new?) misleading: only the kernel and DDX bits are released. The really complex part -- the Gallium3d driver -- is not available in any form. According to bridgman they don't really test their initial code drop very much in-house (except for on whatever hardware they can get their hands on), and they release it pretty much when it's in a nominal releasable state -- so, with those two facts in mind, my conclusion is that the gallium3d support is somewhere between 0% and 99% complete, where "complete" is defined as "the minimal releasable quality that AMD is willing to accept before pushing the code out to the public" (which, if past releases are any indication, is not actually a viable driver for end-users until the community has spent at least 3 months with the code to fix bugs and so on).

If you want to know a more accurate estimate of how close the g3d driver is to being publicly unveiled, that's a question for bridgman. I'm not even going to wager a guess this time, because bridgman is the master of rhetoric and will make me look like an idiot regardless of what estimate I make.

TL;DR: I live on the edge when it comes to testing/using the open drivers, but even if the gallium3d code were published today, I probably wouldn't even download the code until June/July timeframe. Not worth the disappointment of "oh, X doesn't start, whee... back to Catalyst".

[pingufunkybeat]

Has anyone tested this?

I'm looking for a new card these days and GCN seems to hold more promise for performance on the open stack due to the new design (halving the gap to Catalyst was mentioned in the other thread...)

It would be nice to hear if anyone has got it working with real hardware.

[t.s.]

That must be from some customization Asus did, because my MSI Wind U270 (with AMD E-450 APU) suspended without any problem even with the 2.6 kernels, currently running 3.2.6 or 3.2.9 under Gentoo. Or it could also be from the distribution you're using? I tried various live CDs on my laptop, but I don't think I ever tried suspend on any of them.

Glad it working for you. As for the distro, IIRC, I've tried ubuntu, opensuse, archlinux. Same result: can't suspended/sleep mode and can't switch off the display.

[Ansla]

My Asus 1215B kernel 3.2.11 still can't go to sleep/ turn off the display with open source radeon driver. IIRC, my former netbook (atom) can do that with no problem ~1 year ago.

That must be from some customization Asus did, because my MSI Wind U270 (with AMD E-450 APU) suspended without any problem even with the 2.6 kernels, currently running 3.2.6 or 3.2.9 under Gentoo. Or it could also be from the distribution you're using? I tried various live CDs on my laptop, but I don't think I ever tried suspend on any of them.

[t.s.]

Yeah; the Linux AMD driver support is why I've been using Intel IGPs in my laptops for years.

Yep, for now I plan to use intel on mobile (netbook/notebook) and AMD for desktop.

re: Lack of hardware accel, are you just talking about the UVD block or something more ?

Yep, video acceleration & 3D acceleration with open source radeon driver. 3D is quite good now

Since AMD has joined the bullshit game of renaming cards into higher series this isn't true anymore. For example the HD 6550 M is a renamed HD 5650 M: it's a Redwood. And it works quite well.

Yes, true. But the power management, one important thing if we use netbook/notebook still in bad shape, IMO. My Asus 1215B kernel 3.2.11 still can't go to sleep/ turn off the display with open source radeon driver. IIRC, my former netbook (atom) can do that with no problem ~1 year ago.

[ChrisXY]

I really hope it's happy ending for us. As for me and other that have notebook using AMD HD 6xxx model, using linux + radeon open source driver is a no go. Lack Hardware Acc, lack power management, etc.

Since AMD has joined the bullshit game of renaming cards into higher series this isn't true anymore.
For example the HD 6550 M is a renamed HD 5650 M: it's a Redwood. And it works quite well.

[bridgman]

As for me and other that have notebook using AMD HD 6xxx model, using linux + radeon open source driver is a no go. Lack Hardware Acc, lack power management, etc.

re: Lack of hardware accel, are you just talking about the UVD block or something more ?

[allquixotic]

I really hope it's happy ending for us. As for me and other that have notebook using AMD HD 6xxx model, using linux + radeon open source driver is a no go. Lack Hardware Acc, lack power management, etc. Most of the time I use windows 7 on my Asus 1215B 'cause of that.

My next lappie's Intel one cause theirs better in that [HW acc, Pow. Manag.] front. Will go AMD route if they have same driver capability over Intel.

Yeah; the Linux AMD driver support is why I've been using Intel IGPs in my laptops for years.