AMD Soon Might Have Out AMDGPU Support For The Original GCN GPUs

[Xen0sys]

Is the bit that's coming soon the userspace AMDGPU-PRO support for GCN < 1.2 ?

As I understand it, 16.04 already has the AMDGPU kernel space support so all that's left for those running GCN < 1.2 cards is the userspace AMDGPU-PRO support.

By soon, is this going to get rolled into the stable supplied kernel for 16.04 (4.4 IIRC) or will it only get in after a certain newer kernel version (4.x+) ?

[mannerov]

You're probably thinking "why don't you push the code for those IOCTLs upstream ?"; the answer is "if they're only used by a closed source userspace driver we can't".

Then why don't you .... make some useless demo open source program that make use of the ioctls ... ? Just trying to make things simple...

[bridgman]

Is the bit that's coming soon the userspace AMDGPU-PRO support for GCN < 1.2 ?

As I understand it, 16.04 already has the AMDGPU kernel space support so all that's left for those running GCN < 1.2 cards is the userspace AMDGPU-PRO support.

By soon, is this going to get rolled into the stable supplied kernel for 16.04 (4.4 IIRC) or will it only get in after a certain newer kernel version (4.x+) ?

What we are talking about here is kernel and userspace support for GCN 1.0 aka SI on amdgpu (with most of the work in the kernel).

The 16.04 kernel is built from source that includes CI (1.1) and VI (1.2) support but only enables VI in the build. SI and CI still use the radeon kernel driver, which is the upstream default for those HW generations.

We can't go back and update the 16.04 kernel, and 16.04.1 only gets bug fixes; earliest opportunity would be the 16.10 kernel which would be picked up by 16.04.2. That said, the hybrid driver would be able to pick it up sooner and install kernel modules with support for pre-VI parts on a stock 16.04 system.

Note that SI support in amdgpu is still "exploratory" at the moment, ie not yet plan of record.

[W.Irrkopf]

Then why don't you .... make some useless demo open source program that make use of the ioctls ... ? Just trying to make things simple...

<speculate>Maybe AMD wants to follow the spirit of open source, not just the letter?</speculate>

[nanonyme]

Then why don't you .... make some useless demo open source program that make use of the ioctls ... ? Just trying to make things simple...

Because the people who say ACK/NAK to pull requests are engineers, not lawyers

[vkrastev]

So all-open using in-distro kernel driver typically has to follow upstream-first path, hybrid driver using separately installed kernel driver does not. In principle the hybrid stack's kernel driver using KCL/DKMS can also be used with the all-open stack (giving you an easier way to install newer-than-upstream kernel drivers without having to build a new kernel) but initially we will be focusing on "hybrid stack using KCL/DKMS" and "all-open stack using the drivers from the released kernel" rather than crossing the streams at the start of the movie.

Ok,
I guess this is the explanation I was looking for.

Thanks

V.

[Mez']

Come here: https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=92258

Commented.

Hmm, so if I understand right, anything that tries to render on the dGPU just shows as a white screen (including glxgears and steam)?

With Power Management enabled, DRI3 defined in r.conf and DRI_PRIME=1 %command% : yes, it renders all white windows (no window decorations, just plain white). The system renders normally on the iGPU and I can force close the windows started with DRI_PRIME...

[vkrastev]

So all-open using in-distro kernel driver typically has to follow upstream-first path, hybrid driver using separately installed kernel driver does not. In principle the hybrid stack's kernel driver using KCL/DKMS can also be used with the all-open stack (giving you an easier way to install newer-than-upstream kernel drivers without having to build a new kernel) but initially we will be focusing on "hybrid stack using KCL/DKMS" and "all-open stack using the drivers from the released kernel" rather than crossing the streams at the start of the movie.

Ok,

I guess this is the answer I was looking for.

Thanks

V.

[Xen0sys]

What we are talking about here is kernel and userspace support for GCN 1.0 aka SI on amdgpu (with most of the work in the kernel).

The 16.04 kernel is built from source that includes CI (1.1) and VI (1.2) support but only enables VI in the build. SI and CI still use the radeon kernel driver, which is the upstream default for those HW generations.

We can't go back and update the 16.04 kernel, and 16.04.1 only gets bug fixes; earliest opportunity would be the 16.10 kernel which would be picked up by 16.04.2. That said, the hybrid driver would be able to pick it up sooner and install kernel modules with support for pre-VI parts on a stock 16.04 system.

Note that SI support in amdgpu is still "exploratory" at the moment, ie not yet plan of record.

So I guess my only chances are this Hybrid driver your referring to? Any tips/links on how to get that going? So far I'm 3/3 on games crashing and being unplayable with the stock driver for the 390x.

[blackiwid]

"But it goes in the right direction"

What would be the alternative, removing features, add bugs? Ithink going in the right direction is the minimum that can happen.