Call for Testing: Xorg Updates (20100830)

erjc · 08-31-2010, 06:11 AM

Hello all. First post.

This driver;
xf86-video-radeonhd-1.3.0-i486-3_rlw.txz
is obsolete, no longer maintained and should't be included.
It just confuses noobs who see the "HD" and think it's better or is default for their "HD" card.

All ati/radeon users should use;
xf86-video-ati-6.13.1-i486-3_rlw.txz

Also; glxgears is absolutely not a benchmark!

Thank you and goodday.
erjc

slackd · 08-31-2010, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GazL

@slackd Those glxgears frame rates look suspiciously similar to the difference I get when running glxgears with/without compositing enabled. I'm not saying that's what's happening here but it might be something to check into.

That indeed was the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by erjc

Also; glxgears is absolutely not a benchmark!
erjc

I did not know that.

mlpa · 08-31-2010, 07:39 AM

Hi, I have a question, the new Xorg update will run better with the new HD5xxx Ati cards?
This version of Xorg don't use hal anymore, right?

GazL · 08-31-2010, 07:47 AM

glxgears is not a benchmark, but it's still an indicator of performance to some extent, even if it only tells you how well glxgears runs on your system and can't be used as a comparison to anything else.

erjc · 08-31-2010, 09:26 AM

The slackware kernel.config needs to be changed from;

CONFIG_FB_RADEON=m
# CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS is not set

to;
# CONFIG_FB_RADEON is not set
CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS=y

in order to take advantage of updates in free drivers.

adamk75 · 08-31-2010, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlpa

Hi, I have a question, the new Xorg update will run better with the new HD5xxx Ati cards?

The Xorg update should support 2D modesetting on the HD5xxx cards, but 2D and 3D acceleration was only added to the driver in the past week. I can't say definitively, but I would not expect the Xorg update to be new enough to incorporate those changes.

Adam

adamk75 · 08-31-2010, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erjc

The slackware kernel.config needs to be changed from;

CONFIG_FB_RADEON=m
# CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS is not set

to;
# CONFIG_FB_RADEON is not set
CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS=y

in order to take advantage of updates in free drivers.

Bear in mind that enabling KMS will require the inclusion of firmware files that are not currently included in Slackware 13.1 and are not included in the kernel, either.

Adam

rworkman · 08-31-2010, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slackd

I used the xorg.conf i had before, do i still need it?

Nope, no xorg.conf should be needed now.

rworkman · 08-31-2010, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erjc

Hello all. First post.

This driver;
xf86-video-radeonhd-1.3.0-i486-3_rlw.txz
is obsolete, no longer maintained and should't be included.
It just confuses noobs who see the "HD" and think it's better or is default for their "HD" card.

All ati/radeon users should use;
xf86-video-ati-6.13.1-i486-3_rlw.txz

Well, in most cases, users won't be making the decision about what to use (at least not *my* target users for this thread) - they'll let Xorg's autoconfigure make that decision. That said, you're right - it is indeed obsolete, and I've now removed it from my tree. I wasn't sure whether it should still be shipped, and I intended to research that a bit, but you just kicked it higher on my TODO list

rworkman · 08-31-2010, 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erjc

The slackware kernel.config needs to be changed from;

CONFIG_FB_RADEON=m
# CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS is not set

to;
# CONFIG_FB_RADEON is not set
CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS=y

in order to take advantage of updates in free drivers.

If KMS is in use, then have FB_RADEON compiled as a module won't hurt anything. Once KMS is required for the Xorg driver, it's probably worth backing up and reconsidering whether to even ship the non-kms framebuffer modules.

rworkman · 08-31-2010, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamk75

Bear in mind that enabling KMS will require the inclusion of firmware files that are not currently included in Slackware 13.1 and are not included in the kernel, either.

That depends on the hardware in use. I wasn't aware of the potentially missing firmware for some hardware at all, since all of my ati hardware works fine with KMS enabled. Since some of you are obviously more "in the know" than I am about that, is this non-free firmware, or has it just not made it into the kernel yet (perhaps slated for 2.6.36?)?

adamk75 · 08-31-2010, 05:29 PM

I believe it's necessary for r500 and higher. I know it's necessary for r600 and higher. There are licensing issues involved, yes, though I don't know the exact details. I believe a change in license for newer firmware, combined with decisions by Linus to stop accepting more firmware into the tree, have made it so that it will never be included, at least not for the foreseeable future.

Adam

willysr · 08-31-2010, 05:58 PM

FYI, NVidia has released the official driver (256.53) that supports ABI used in XOrg 1.9.0:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...53-driver.html
http://www.nvidia.com/object/linux-d...53-driver.html

rworkman · 08-31-2010, 08:47 PM

New xterm, xf86-input-synaptics, and xf86-video-nouveau packages, as well as an updates NOTES/READ_ME file -- please be sure to have another look, especially if you have an nvidia chipset.

55020 · 09-01-2010, 04:46 AM

Quote:

testing with nouveau would be appreciated too :-)

Nouveau working fine here on an ancient 'NV5' card (TNT2) -- an acceptable replacement for 'nv'.

Quote:

I understand that you nvidia guys like your binary drivers

'Live free or die'