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AMD Sends Required Patches for Vega Support in Linux

Raevenlord

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AMD has recently sent out around a hundred patches, which amount to over 40 thousand lines of code, so as to allow developers to integrate support for its upcoming Vega GPU architecture under Linux. The new code is essential towards baking support for Vega under Linux, considering the many changes this architecture entails over AMD's current-generation Polaris 10 (soon to be rebranded, if sources are correct, to the new RX 500 series.) Also of note is the existence of seven different device IDs for Vega-based products, though this really can't be extrapolated to the amount of SKUs under the Vega banner. For now, that really is just a number.



However, these lines of code won't be enough to allow for complete support of Vega under Linux (and this support would be slated for version 4.12 of the operating system). Some more tens of thousands lines of code will be needed for DAL support. It would seem that AMD admits to a lack of resources in rewriting its code for Linux, and is thus looking for a way of sharing code between the two different driver stacks (for Windows and Linux), which would alleviate these issues. AMD would thus be looking towards abstractions. These would allow the company to write one piece of code that would apply to both operating systems - thus essentially reducing coding time in half. However, abstractions do come with a problem: these would imply huge amounts of code to be input into Linux, which would bloat an operating system known for its finesse. And this means AMD has a lot on its plate until the code needed for full Vega support is baked into Linux's mainline code. One thing has to be said, though: Linux really isn't where the money and mainstream support is. So AMD is definitely making the right business decision in putting most of its chops behind Windows.

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bug

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Faster than usual, but still to late for Ubuntu 17.04 (or the next Fedora) to pick these up. Users will still need backports :(
 
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If it's a rebranded GPU, they don't need anything special, just update HW ID's and names. RX vega however is another story, considering it's a whole new GPU...
 
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Looks they are making some money to afford more devs? lol
 

bug

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If it's a rebranded GPU, they don't need anything special, just update HW ID's and names. RX vega however is another story, considering it's a whole new GPU...
It could be as little as a single letter. If it's not in the kernel the distribution uses upon release, it will need backporting.
It's really not a biggie, but it's an extra hassle. And the precision AMD has in missing important distro releases is annoying.
 
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Faster than usual, but still to late for Ubuntu 17.04 (or the next Fedora) to pick these up. Users will still need backports :(

Cause Installing a new kernel is sooo hard?
No terminal usage nor experience really required... ukuu does it for ya ;)
 
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And people whined over Windows 10 inconveniences. With linux you apparently need whole new OS, otherwise it's all a huge mess for everyone. Ever heard of this thing called "a driver"? Windows knows it for ages and anyone can download it from vendor's webpage. Problem solved in seconds. Hm. Yeah yeah, whining over linux again. But it's hard not to when you see such laughable garbage.
 
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Looks they are making some money to afford more devs? lol

Valve has hired 4 or 5 people to help on the AMD driver, plus there are some redhat people working on it as well. The opensource drivers for AMD graphics cards are working very nice and its only getting better. They tend to be much faster than the proprietary. Also, LLVM 5.0 will be required for Vega, not sure if that will be getting backported or not as this point.
 

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Cause Installing a new kernel is sooo hard?
No terminal usage nor experience really required... ukuu does it for ya ;)
It depends on one's level of expertise. And some prefer stability and won't to enable backports repos. Like I said, it's not a show stopper, it's an annoyance.
And people whined over Windows 10 inconveniences. With linux you apparently need whole new OS, otherwise it's all a huge mess for everyone. Ever heard of this thing called "a driver"? Windows knows it for ages and anyone can download it from vendor's webpage. Problem solved in seconds. Hm. Yeah yeah, whining over linux again. But it's hard not to when you see such laughable garbage.
You don't need the whole OS, but part of the open source drivers are in the kernel. They're kernel modules, not actually built into the kernel, but they're released together. Fyi, Windows drivers also have a kernel-space component.
 
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And people whined over Windows 10 inconveniences. With linux you apparently need whole new OS, otherwise it's all a huge mess for everyone. Ever heard of this thing called "a driver"? Windows knows it for ages and anyone can download it from vendor's webpage. Problem solved in seconds. Hm. Yeah yeah, whining over linux again. But it's hard not to when you see such laughable garbage.
AMD has a proprietary driver that you can download and install just like you describe. This is only for the opensource driver (which does perform better). Try downloading and installing the nvidia driver from the website, it is a complete headache, amd side is much easier here, for specific distros. Nvidia tries to be distro agnostic, hence its more difficult to install and also why most distrobutions have it pre-packaged in their repositories. Linux isn't for everybody...nor should it be. Linux gives you complete control over your OS, which windows does not and as a result can be more difficult, but also more rewarding, depending on your perspective. Once the driver is ready and pushed into non-rolling or stable release distros, there will literally be nothing to install it will just work once you have the OS installed. Need a driver update? Just update your system and that's it.
There is also no opensource driver for Windows.
 
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There's a PLX sensor reference. Dual Vega confirmed?
 
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AMD has a proprietary driver that you can download and install just like you describe. This is only for the opensource driver (which does perform better). Try downloading and installing the nvidia driver from the website, it is a complete headache, amd side is much easier here, for specific distros. Nvidia tries to be distro agnostic, hence its more difficult to install and also why most distrobutions have it pre-packaged in their repositories. Linux isn't for everybody...nor should it be. Linux gives you complete control over your OS, which windows does not and as a result can be more difficult, but also more rewarding, depending on your perspective. Once the driver is ready and pushed into non-rolling or stable release distros, there will literally be nothing to install it will just work once you have the OS installed. Need a driver update? Just update your system and that's it.
There is also no opensource driver for Windows.

I could never get driver to install even when it said it was for that exact distro. Always used repository, because that's the only thing that even worked...
 
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I was talking about Polaris. Even if they made tiny changes to the GPU, it would not affect drivers since changes can't be that significant.
 
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And people whined over Windows 10 inconveniences. With linux you apparently need whole new OS, otherwise it's all a huge mess for everyone. Ever heard of this thing called "a driver"? Windows knows it for ages and anyone can download it from vendor's webpage. Problem solved in seconds. Hm. Yeah yeah, whining over linux again. But it's hard not to when you see such laughable garbage.

Manjaro lets you install newer kernels with a GUI, so you merely need to wait for the new kernel to be available, then go to the settings to install.
 
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And people whined over Windows 10 inconveniences. With linux you apparently need whole new OS, otherwise it's all a huge mess for everyone. Ever heard of this thing called "a driver"? Windows knows it for ages and anyone can download it from vendor's webpage. Problem solved in seconds. Hm. Yeah yeah, whining over linux again. But it's hard not to when you see such laughable garbage.

You do realize that binary drivers are impossible with a moving target kernel like linux? At least without driver source code, something manufacturers have been asked for for years and have never given. Your complaining about traits inherent to the technology.

Also, kernel != OS.
 
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I'm complaining over retarded OS design. Gotcha.

If being open source and decentralized is retarded, yeah sure. It's a case of you can't have your cake and eat it too. Freedom, or drivers. Pick.

Really, it's a case of a retarded industry refusing to release device code.
 
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