VideoCore 4 GPU Driver Added to Linux Mainline in Kernel 4.4

[fruitoftheloom]

https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kerne ... f31126396f

http://www.cnx-software.com/2015/11/17/ ... kernel-4-4


Well this is progress

[jamesh]

I saw some of Eric Anholt's stuff at Pi Towers the other day - accelerated OpenGL (not ES as I understand it, but MESA) in a X window. Bit flickery, but definitely getting there.

[PeterO]

From the comments I've read about this, this is really only the first step in getting VC4 support into the kernel. It may be a while yet before anything really useful becomes available to users.
PeterO

[ric96]

you beat me to it :p

i saw it here ate android-rpi google group forums https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic ... 6aDCR6C4dE
source commit: https://goo.gl/MT2PKs

not 3d accel yet but inching towards it

Exiting stuff realy

[ric96]

I saw some of Eric Anholt's stuff at Pi Towers the other day - accelerated OpenGL (not ES as I understand it, but MESA) in a X window. Bit flickery, but definitely getting there.

i did try a few demos as well, if you've got 45 min have a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ec3rhMjZU

[jamesh]

Demo I saw was the standard GlxGears, running over MESA using OpenGL, good frame rate as well. I was just looking over Dom's shoulder...

[ric96]

Demo I saw was the standard GlxGears, running over MESA using OpenGL, good frame rate as well. I was just looking over Dom's shoulder...

Aah... Nice. Looks like Eric's driver is going to beat Maynard in the default accelerated desktop race.

[jamesh]

Demo I saw was the standard GlxGears, running over MESA using OpenGL, good frame rate as well. I was just looking over Dom's shoulder...

Aah... Nice. Looks like Eric's driver is going to beat Maynard in the default accelerated desktop race.

Yup, Maynard development is waiting to how well this stuff works.

[ric96]

any hope of supporting glamour http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Glamor/

[joaodriessen]

Apologies for the naive questions, but does this driver mean smooth desktop environment performance for ie. gnome 3?
And of course does that mean waiting for or beyond the release of Linux kernel 4.4 - where the KMS part of the driver is scheduled to be released?

[gkreidl]

Don't expect too much.
1. the OpenGL driver is far from being ready.
2. It will support the typical 3D effects of "modern desktops", but for "normal" stuff it won't help very much (X-ORG being what it is).

[jamesh]

any hope of supporting glamour http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/Glamor/

I believe so given this recent comment from Eric Anholt on github

https://github.com/raspberrypi/linux/pu ... -157783343

[leiptrstormr]

https://wiki.freedesktop.org/dri/VC4/
status and to do list
http://sukzessiv.net/~gohai/vc4-buildbot/build/
buildbot builds
http://cgit.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa/l ... rivers/vc4
log
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= ... -Linux-4.4
What bits are in 4.4 kernel

I'm very thankful (correction) Broadcom hired Eric to do all this stuff. OpenGL ES and proprietary blobs are what Android is all about. If Linux is the primary OS for the Pi, OpenGL and open sourced drivers translate into less headaches and more usability. It's never too late!

[jamesh]

He's actually employed by Broadcom.

[expandables]

Will this driver give gpu support for chromium-browser?

[kusti8]

Will this driver give gpu support for chromium-browser?

Yes

[expandables]

Will this driver give gpu support for chromium-browser?

Yes

Awesome! Any ETA on when the driver will make it into Raspbian?
I'm guess 3 years from now is plausible.

[kusti8]

Will this driver give gpu support for chromium-browser?

Yes

Awesome! Any ETA on when the driver will make it into Raspbian?
I'm guess 3 years from now is plausible.

It's still very much a work in progress and it'll be included when it's ready, no idea when that it.

It is usable now, but there are some glitches and still unavailable features, but Chromium is accelerated, with WebGL and all.

[leiptrstormr]

but for "normal" stuff it won't help very much (X-ORG being what it is).

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If they add glamor support it should give 2d boost as well. This is (will be) a full fledged GPU driver, not some generic framebuffer. I think it's important to keep expectations in check, but this is something to be happy about.

[gkreidl]

but for "normal" stuff it won't help very much (X-ORG being what it is).

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If they add glamor support it should give 2d boost as well. This is (will be) a full fledged GPU driver, not some generic framebuffer. I think it's important to keep expectations in check, but this is something to be happy about.

Besides OpenGL, we would need a new video driver which supports it, a new mesa driver and glamor itself (not available in Raspan Jessie right now).

[jamesh]

but for "normal" stuff it won't help very much (X-ORG being what it is).

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If they add glamor support it should give 2d boost as well. This is (will be) a full fledged GPU driver, not some generic framebuffer. I think it's important to keep expectations in check, but this is something to be happy about.

Besides OpenGL, we would need a new video driver which supports it, a new mesa driver and glamor itself (not available in Raspan Jessie right now).

I think Eric's stuff has all of that in. See the link above.

[spock]

He's actually employed by Broadcom.

broadcom discontinues videocore 5 but hires someone to write an open source driver for videocore 4?

why? i don't get all of this.
i mean of course the driver will be good for us but what is in it for them?

[jdb]

He's actually employed by Broadcom.

broadcom discontinues videocore 5 but hires someone to write an open source driver for videocore 4?

why? i don't get all of this.
i mean of course the driver will be good for us but what is in it for them?

Because VC4 was the 3D core that got open-sourced. Recruiting a FLOSS developer is the most efficient way to get support for the newly opened architecture in the places that matter - namely upstream repositories.

Regarding VC5 - there are many factors in the decision that a company such as Broadcom (which has a business model based on proprietary, patented/licenced software) considers when open-sourcing an architecture. The business case for VC4 may not necessarily apply to VC5 - individual customer deals may lock the IP to a chip or have some specific implementation detail that precludes open sourcing it.

[jamesh]

He's actually employed by Broadcom.

broadcom discontinues videocore 5 but hires someone to write an open source driver for videocore 4?

why? i don't get all of this.
i mean of course the driver will be good for us but what is in it for them?

Cost of one engineer to do the VC4 OSS driver, $200k-$300k (multi year project)

Cost to develop VC5 $20M.

Numbers made up, but about the right sort of magnitude.

$200k seems a bargain for what Eric Anholt is doing - if nothing else, Broadcom get a of of publicity.

[ric96]

He's actually employed by Broadcom.

broadcom discontinues videocore 5 but hires someone to write an open source driver for videocore 4?

why? i don't get all of this.
i mean of course the driver will be good for us but what is in it for them?

Cost of one engineer to do the VC4 OSS driver, $200k-$300k (multi year project)

Cost to develop VC5 $20M.

Numbers made up, but about the right sort of magnitude.

$200k seems a bargain for what Eric Anholt is doing - if nothing else, Broadcom get a of of publicity.

Might be enough to kickstart VC5 ?