AMD's Catalyst Linux Driver Preparing For A World Without An X Server?

[rikkinho]

most likely not

Ok, im quite lost here.

I know Nvidia's binary drivers support EGL; that is why users can install them on a computer running Fedora 20 + GNOME and still use Gnome as their desktop without any major issues.

The Catalyst drivers, in their default downloaded packages, do not support EGL Installing them on Fedora 20 + Gnome breaks the Gnome desktop because Gnome on Fedora is now using EGL instead of normal OpenGL, but works on other desktops like KDE, ENlightment, MATE, etc.

And now, AMD has an EGL SDK as a separate package.

Does this mean that, if one were to install Catalyst and the EGL SDK, fglrx can work on Fedora 20 and its EGL-backend Gnome desktop?

most likely not, install fglrx and put it working is a pain in ass (alone)... i really like to see amd do like intel, put all work in open driver

[Sonadow]

http://devgurus.amd.com/message/1305554#1305554 they want get rid of xserver because of OpenCL. or it is one of the reasons. oh and AMD do support EGL but you need their SDK to use it. http://developer.amd.com/tools-and-s...opengl-es-sdk/ the problem is that AMD implementation of EGL is separated from their normal OpenGL implementation. IIRC it said graham seller somewhere.

Ok, im quite lost here.

I know Nvidia's binary drivers support EGL; that is why users can install them on a computer running Fedora 20 + GNOME and still use Gnome as their desktop without any major issues.

The Catalyst drivers, in their default downloaded packages, do not support EGL Installing them on Fedora 20 + Gnome breaks the Gnome desktop because Gnome on Fedora is now using EGL instead of normal OpenGL, but works on other desktops like KDE, ENlightment, MATE, etc.

And now, AMD has an EGL SDK as a separate package.

Does this mean that, if one were to install Catalyst and the EGL SDK, fglrx can work on Fedora 20 and its EGL-backend Gnome desktop?

[AnonymousCoward]

http://devgurus.amd.com/message/1305554#1305554 they want get rid of xserver because of OpenCL. or it is one of the reasons. oh and AMD do support EGL but you need their SDK to use it. http://developer.amd.com/tools-and-s...opengl-es-sdk/ the problem is that AMD implementation of EGL is separated from their normal OpenGL implementation. IIRC it said graham seller somewhere.

[Commander]

Maybe, but radeon 6000 gpus are still being sold in brand new PCs today, so it's not very fair of you to dismiss it as "old" and useless.

Just because its being sold by some obscure company does not mean its new. Calling a GPU old is nothing bad though.

[liam]

...thine enemies take thy name in vain. - Ps 139:20

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. - Deut 5:11

...and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. - Isa 52:5-6

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. Ezk 25:17

Can we vote this muthafucka up?

[charlie]

(profanity) on a bike!

...thine enemies take thy name in vain. - Ps 139:20

Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. - Deut 5:11

...and my name continually every day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. - Isa 52:5-6

And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. Ezk 25:17

[Sonadow]

So when will Catalyst support EGL?

Fedora 20's Gnome 3 desktop uses the EGL backends by default (which Catalyst doesn't), so installing Catalyst on F20 + Gnome essentially ***** up the entire desktop. Compare that to Nvidia's proprietary driver which already has EGL support and works with F20 + Gnome without any issue.

All I see here is hints of them preparing to work Catalyst to function without X, but nothing of EGL.

[smitty3268]

no fanboy here, i use what i think is better for me. i have amd cards i buy a lot of them because the price untill i buy a nvidia. r600 is good no doubt but the new apu are all RSI, for exemple i have a apu with r600 and other RSI and the new one not work well with open drivers the old one works better with opensource

Maybe, but radeon 6000 gpus are still being sold in brand new PCs today, so it's not very fair of you to dismiss it as "old" and useless.

[rikkinho]

i'm not a fanboy

The Radeon 6000 series is not that old. I've seen your posts, you're an Nvidia fanboy.

no fanboy here, i use what i think is better for me. i have amd cards i buy a lot of them because the price untill i buy a nvidia. r600 is good no doubt but the new apu are all RSI, for exemple i have a apu with r600 and other RSI and the new one not work well with open drivers the old one works better with opensource

[Michael]

It's because AMD is preparing for Android!

I haven't worked on the packaging scripts for Catalyst in years since I stopped maintaining the Fedora fglrx package scripts, but while possible this probably wouldn't be the case. There could simply be a new "Android" packaging script option and its own set of installer scripts just as there is with any distro and those scripts themselves would ignore anything X related and not require Ubuntu/SUSE/etc to offer a --NoXServer switch.