Re: Kernel update scrambles catalyst driver output

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



On Thu, Sep 23, 2010 at 8:48 AM, Peter Boy <pboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Am Mittwoch, den 22.09.2010, 11:15 +0200 schrieb Marko Vojinovic:
>> For all issues with the catalyst driver you should contact ATI (and
>> good luck with that). It's closed source, they are the only ones who
>> know how to fix it.
>
> In general you are right, but this time it seems not to be ATI but
> kernel and associated kmod and wrapper magic. As I noted in my post:
> Same ATI binary driver in combination with kernel-2.6.32.21-166 works
> just fine. Some stuff in kernel-2.6.32.21-168 introduces regression.

In most cases it is not a regression, but rather the usual kernel
API/ABI change. This requires a rebuild or and/or source code
modification to all affected kernel modules, sometimes the graphics
drivers (and in this case apparently VirtualBox kernel module, and
maybe some others as well).

The kernel does require such changes occasionally, and it is the
responsibility of third-party module suppliers to keep up and adjust
to the new API/ABI. Depending on the severity of the kernel change, it
might be enough just to recompile the module against the new kernel,
or it might require interventions at the source code level, in which
case the module providers usually push a new version of their
software.

So old modules keep working with the old kernel, but fail to be
compatible with the new one. But this is not a regression of the
kernel, but rather its rapid advancement. And it is the responsibility
of module providers to adapt to the new changes.

Now in this case, given that the catalyst driver is closed source,
only ATI folks can make any relevant changes, if source code needs to
be modified. Otherwise, rpmfusion folks can just recompile the module
against new kernel and push it as an update. The same thing happens to
closed source nVidia drivers.

With open source drivers you don't have this problem because they get
rebuilt and updated along with the new kernel, so the whole problem is
transparent to the end-user.

>> For buying ATI hardware, you have only yourself to blame. :-)
>
> Years ago I changed my Hardware from Nvidia to ATI because the free ATI
> driver supported dual monitor xinerama those times, the free nvidia
> driver did not. The ATI hardware and free driver combo worked for years
> perfectly well.
>
> ATI is not as bad as some rumour may spread.  :-)

Well, if ATI works for your needs, fine, I don't mind. But my
experience is that both open and closed source ATI drivers tend to
break quite often, compared to nVidia and Intel. That makes every ATI
graphics card unreliable from a user's perspective, and it is often a
gamble whether the latest drivers will work with any particular model
or not.

And fuurthermore, when something doesn't work with the open source
nouveau driver, the devs have a good excuse since they need to RE it.
But when something doesn't work with the open source radeon driver,
the devs have no such excuse, since all specs are (supposedly)
available. Or otherwise ATI is lying to its Linux customers.

:-)
Marko
-- 
users mailing list
users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines


[Index of Archives]     [Older Fedora Users]     [Fedora Announce]     [Fedora Package Announce]     [EPEL Announce]     [EPEL Devel]     [Fedora Magazine]     [Fedora Summer Coding]     [Fedora Laptop]     [Fedora Cloud]     [Fedora Advisory Board]     [Fedora Education]     [Fedora Security]     [Fedora Scitech]     [Fedora Robotics]     [Fedora Infrastructure]     [Fedora Websites]     [Anaconda Devel]     [Fedora Devel Java]     [Fedora Desktop]     [Fedora Fonts]     [Fedora Marketing]     [Fedora Management Tools]     [Fedora Mentors]     [Fedora Package Review]     [Fedora R Devel]     [Fedora PHP Devel]     [Kickstart]     [Fedora Music]     [Fedora Packaging]     [Fedora SELinux]     [Fedora Legal]     [Fedora Kernel]     [Fedora OCaml]     [Coolkey]     [Virtualization Tools]     [ET Management Tools]     [Yum Users]     [Yosemite News]     [Gnome Users]     [KDE Users]     [Fedora Art]     [Fedora Docs]     [Fedora Sparc]     [Libvirt Users]     [Fedora ARM]

  Powered by Linux