New AMD Catalyst Beta Supports Linux 3.8, TF2 Fixes

[entropy]

The ss3 opengl speed issues are NOT linux specific, they are crossplattform, you can change the renderer to opengl on windows too (not via the menu however). The decreased speed affects nvidia as well, the flickering textures are ati only however. They can be fixed when you press alt+enter twice as soon as you are in the menu and NOT in a level, when you do it in a level you can forget everything, then it is unplayable slow.

Are you replying to me?
Who said those OpenGL bugs are Linux specific?

Edit: My point was that the "apparently" little effort of Linux-specific code provide for most of the woes.
I don't think it's little effort. At least it doesn't look like.
Ok, it could be that only two guys hacking that X11-related stuff...

[Kano]

The ss3 opengl speed issues are NOT linux specific, they are crossplattform, you can change the renderer to opengl on windows too (not via the menu however). The decreased speed affects nvidia as well, the flickering textures are ati only however. They can be fixed when you press alt+enter twice as soon as you are in the menu and NOT in a level, when you do it in a level you can forget everything, then it is unplayable slow.

[entropy]

The team working on the Linux side of Catalyst shares its code base with the Windows version.
It is not like they spend a huge amount of resources on the Linux driver. Most things OpenGL related are shared between the
supported operating systems. By spending a small amount of resources on the Linux Catalyst version they get the benefit
thousands of hours spent into the Windows version.

The majority of bug reports filed under http://ati.cchtml.com are indeed platform-specific
issues (X, VT switching, GPU switching, XVBA), not related to the shared OpenGL portion.

[Silverthorn]

That sort of brought me to a sudden realization - what if AMD didn't focus on both the open source and Catalyst drivers? By splitting up development teams for open source and closed source, that basically means half the attention for both products. Personally, I'd rather they focus all on one and not the other. I would prefer focus on the open source drivers just so they get a chance to catch up (and because they support more hardware and OGL-unrelated software), but I also prefer focus on the Catalyst drivers because those are a much shorter distance from operating head-to-head with Windows. I personally use the Catalyst drivers - aside from having to hold back my xserver version, I don't seem to get ANY problems with it. I think much of the complaining about Catalyst is from un-knowledgeable users or people who like to linger on past errors. This is a shame, considering Linux itself is suspect to those problems, so you'd think it's own users would realize this.

On the other hand, AMD could also just hire more devs, but we all know they can't afford that yet.

The team working on the Linux side of Catalyst shares its code base with the Windows version. It is not like they spend a huge amount of resources on the Linux driver. Most things OpenGL related are shared between the supported operating systems. By spending a small amount of resources on the Linux Catalyst version they get the benefit thousands of hours spent into the Windows version.

More devs would work

[schmidtbag]

Thank you, when I upgrade my vid card, I would prefer it to be an amd again.

We all know how much nvidia does to improve the open source drivers....
And although I do not use the open source drivers, for me as a Linux fan that does go a long way.

But currently judging from the steam forums, it would be an bad idea.

I am having fun with serious sam3, on Linux but I had to lower the resolution, on Linux.
( just to make clear, I am not whining over a few fps. )

That sort of brought me to a sudden realization - what if AMD didn't focus on both the open source and Catalyst drivers? By splitting up development teams for open source and closed source, that basically means half the attention for both products. Personally, I'd rather they focus all on one and not the other. I would prefer focus on the open source drivers just so they get a chance to catch up (and because they support more hardware and OGL-unrelated software), but I also prefer focus on the Catalyst drivers because those are a much shorter distance from operating head-to-head with Windows. I personally use the Catalyst drivers - aside from having to hold back my xserver version, I don't seem to get ANY problems with it. I think much of the complaining about Catalyst is from un-knowledgeable users or people who like to linger on past errors. This is a shame, considering Linux itself is suspect to those problems, so you'd think it's own users would realize this.

On the other hand, AMD could also just hire more devs, but we all know they can't afford that yet.

[Gps4l]

I think you're seeing "three years of general driver improvements where most of the improvements should benefit newer cards as well" rather than a general three year lag between HW intro and good drivers. Not sure but that is my impression from the nature of the changes.

I'm haven't been following the Catalyst / Steam forum & discussions but it does seem the forum got spammed pretty heavily over the weekend. I imagine the folks supporting the forums are digging through similar issues on other forums as well but have pinged them to make sure they are aware of the problems.

Thank you, when I upgrade my vid card, I would prefer it to be an amd again.

We all know how much nvidia does to improve the open source drivers....
And although I do not use the open source drivers, for me as a Linux fan that does go a long way.

But currently judging from the steam forums, it would be an bad idea.

I am having fun with serious sam3, on Linux but I had to lower the resolution, on Linux.
( just to make clear, I am not whining over a few fps. )

[bridgman]

The only thing I would like to see, is that when amd brings a graphics card to the market, it doesn't take them over three years to make good Linux drivers.
I have an asus hd 5750.....

...

When I first installed Linux and the catalyst driver, on this pc, I almost stopped using Linux, because I could not even use Firefox normally.
Now steam has come, and with the latest catalyst finally I do almost see no difference in firefox compared to windows.

How long is (was) the hd 5750 on the market ?

I think you're seeing "three years of general driver improvements where most of the improvements should benefit newer cards as well" rather than a general three year lag between HW intro and good drivers. Not sure but that is my impression from the nature of the changes.

I'm haven't been following the Catalyst / Steam forum & discussions but it does seem the forum got spammed pretty heavily over the weekend. I imagine the folks supporting the forums are digging through similar issues on other forums as well but have pinged them to make sure they are aware of the problems.

[Gps4l]

You might have missed the "it's not a black and white thing" portion of the text you quoted. That said, I don't think I understand what you think the answer should have been... are you suggesting we should drop workstation support and focus only on the Valve opportunity ?

The only thing I would like to see, is that when amd brings a graphics card to the market, it doesn't take them over three years to make good Linux drivers.
I have an asus hd 5750.....

Playing a game like serious sam 3 on Linux, and comparing it to ss3, on windows with directX, almost makes me cry.

There is a grass flicker bug, and its been there for months.

I build my pc all amd to support amd, I am regretting this on Linux ever since.

When I first installed Linux and the catalyst driver, on this pc, I almost stopped using Linux, because I could not even use Firefox normally.
Now steam has come, and with the latest catalyst finally I do almost see no difference in firefox compared to windows.

How long is (was) the hd 5750 on the market ?

Cpu = amd phenom II X4 at 3.2 ghz., a vid card with 1 gig of memory and a web-browser lagged like hell, you got to be kidding me.
Over three years, and still the driver is not really good.

I reported a bug, Valve pointed us to an amd forum, its now been over a month, not even one reply.

Amd really should take a look at the steam forums, and see how damage they have done to them selves.
I doubt you can find a gamer on linux, who is even considering an amd vid card.

Now as a Linux fan, I do appreciate, that amd releases code, but I lost my patience.

[molecule-eye]

What the?

What's up with this post? The AMD page shows the beta 3 drivers from 3/22. I already installed those, and these are apparently different, but they're beta 3s as well? Why not provide links to the 32/64-bit drivers, if they're different from the ones AMD officially links to? Super confusing.

[mannerov]

There is an official AMD forum for reporting bugs for steam on linux:http://devgurus.amd.com/community/steam-linux
The issue is that we had no developper posts other the lasts months (and it seems that today and yesterday a bot has filled the forum).