It's A Bit Easier Using Nouveau Video Acceleration

[phoronix]

Phoronix: It's A Bit Easier Using Nouveau Video Acceleration

For those looking to utilize hardware-based video acceleration for the reverse-engineered Nouveau driver on NVIDIA hardware, it's become a little bit easier setting up the system...

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=MTQxOTg

[doom_Oo7]

If you have to search the internet for a python script, get the official driver, and so on, then it's definitely not for novice users. I mean, I wouldn't seriously look at my mom and tell her : "it's easy mom ! to have fast video playback?, you just have to find out how to enable hardware? acceleration? from the open-source? driver?. first you sudo apt-get install python? (on reserve that the script works equally well with python2 / python3), then you search the official nvidia? driver? for your linux distribution?, and you run the script?, reboot and hope that you actually gain something from it".

(I put a '?' after every word my mother wouldn't understand).

[oliver]

If you have to search the internet for a python script, get the official driver, and so on, then it's definitely not for novice users. I mean, I wouldn't seriously look at my mom and tell her : "it's easy mom ! to have fast video playback?, you just have to find out how to enable hardware? acceleration? from the open-source? driver?. first you sudo apt-get install python? (on reserve that the script works equally well with python2 / python3), then you search the official nvidia? driver? for your linux distribution?, and you run the script?, reboot and hope that you actually gain something from it".

(I put a '?' after every word my mother wouldn't understand).

apt-get install nvidia-firmware-extractor

extract-nvidia-firmware

"downloading driver and extracting firmware. Done, have a nice day"

But wait, a distro could even automate that at the end of the package installation.

So what is your question again?

I mean, this is for your geeky 'users'. This will become easier automatically in time. It really is 'nice to have'.

[doom_Oo7]

So your mom uses command line ? And for instance this wouldn't be on the standard Debian repositories since it is closed source, so you would have to enable the non-free repos in synaptic.

"But wait, a distro could even automate that at the end of the package installation."
Yep, it could. But I think that the Nouveau team will have reverse-engineered the blob way before it happens.

What I want to say is that novice people coming from proprietary systems where things just work silently, can't be expected to do the steps required here.


Edit: for me, a novice is really not a "geeky" user. My mom is a novice : she's been using computers for twenty years and she still doesn't know how to copy a file or folder on ms windows.

[WorBlux]

apt-get install nvidia-firmware-extractor

extract-nvidia-firmware

"downloading driver and extracting firmware. Done, have a nice day"

But wait, a distro could even automate that at the end of the package installation.

So what is your question again?

I mean, this is for your geeky 'users'. This will become easier automatically in time. It really is 'nice to have'.

They could automate it, but they'd run into legal issue. The copying of the firmware should be done in response to an explicit action of the end user to minimize legal issues, and so that if any legal issues arise, Ubunutu would be less likely to be pulled into it.

[c117152]

I'm constantly disappointed about nVidia not open sourcing as much of their driver as possible while fracturing the few select functions of dubious licensing nature as mini-blobs and header files. This hack is a good example of what they could do it almost effortlessly if they just gave a shit. Sure it doesn't solve the GPL derivative-work clause violation. But neither does their current shim. This WILL solve many of the technical problems of a huge blob you can't augment when specs and ABIs change.

On the principle side of things, once you incorporate a binary blob into a FOSS driver, it's no longer open source. Now, sure, the Nouveau driver is probably better written then nVidia's own to exploit the Linux kernel with the new DRM and other features. But, at what point such a driver stops being a driver and starts being a wrapper?

This is the problems with good Nouveau news: They only serve to remind me how much nVidia truly sucks

[kaszak]

I'm constantly disappointed about nVidia not open sourcing as much of their driver as possible while fracturing the few select functions of dubious licensing nature as mini-blobs and header files. This hack is a good example of what they could do it almost effortlessly if they just gave a shit. Sure it doesn't solve the GPL derivative-work clause violation. But neither does their current shim. This WILL solve many of the technical problems of a huge blob you can't augment when specs and ABIs change.

On the principle side of things, once you incorporate a binary blob into a FOSS driver, it's no longer open source. Now, sure, the Nouveau driver is probably better written then nVidia's own to exploit the Linux kernel with the new DRM and other features. But, at what point such a driver stops being a driver and starts being a wrapper?

This is the problems with good Nouveau news: They only serve to remind me how much nVidia truly sucks

FYI many drivers from the kernel, including radeon drivers, do that as well, the only difference is that firmware for these is distributed with the kernel source, but these are still proprietary blobs. That's what makes running a truly free OS very difficult. And don't get me started on Broadcom and their accursed BCM43xx SSB chips.

[MuPuF]

This will become easier automatically in time. It really is 'nice to have'.

You mean, just like this package for ArchLinux that I wrote? https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/nouveau-fw

@Michael: No, testing video acceleration is now super easy for Fermi cards! Just install the arch package (or follow the easy instructions I wrote) and then run mplayer by telling it to use vdpau. How easier could it get?

Well, it still has some rendering issues from time to time, but having more testing sure will help!

[duby229]

So your mom uses command line ? And for instance this wouldn't be on the standard Debian repositories since it is closed source, so you would have to enable the non-free repos in synaptic.

"But wait, a distro could even automate that at the end of the package installation."
Yep, it could. But I think that the Nouveau team will have reverse-engineered the blob way before it happens.

What I want to say is that novice people coming from proprietary systems where things just work silently, can't be expected to do the steps required here.


Edit: for me, a novice is really not a "geeky" user. My mom is a novice : she's been using computers for twenty years and she still doesn't know how to copy a file or folder on ms windows.

You gotta start somewhere. Usually it's a good idea to start with technically minded folks. Software development isnt magic, you can't just snap your fingers and "BAM" done.

[droidhacker]

I think you can leave out the plug for the criminal nvidia crap driver...

Of course, the other option is to just install and use the proprietary NVIDIA driver where you can have complete NVIDIA video decoding support over VDPAU in a relatively bug-free manner and experiencing great system performance.