ubuntu-bugcontrol team mailing list archive

[Christopher Penalver <christopher.m.penalver@xxxxxxxxx>]

Tomasz Makarewicz, thank you for following up on this.

On Wed, Nov 7, 2012 at 4:15 AM, Tomasz Makarewicz <makson96@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi there,
> Maybe I will share some observations on AMD Legacy corresponding to my
> ppa (https://launchpad.net/~makson96/+archive/fglrx), which add
> support for those in Quantal. As mentioned before the latest AMD
> Catalyst Legacy (12.6 or fglrx 8.97.100.3) will not work with X-Server
> newer that 1.12 and it even require some patching before working with
> modern kernel. So my ppa is temporary solution and it probably will
> not be transferable to Raring (let's hope that by that time open
> source drivers will be good enough). To that moment I got more than 6k
> downloads of those drivers. It works for most of the users, but one
> can investigate, why it is not working for the rest. Also I have just
> updated X-Server from 1.12.3 to 1.12.4 . This solve some issues
> specific for X-Server 1.12.3:
> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1138453#p1138453 . Also
> note that I made fglrx-legacy drivers package the "lazy way". So all
> binaries were build locally and launchpad only pack them into debs.
> There was so many emails regarding those drivers, that the priority
> was to push working ones, than make them build "accordance with art".
> As it goes to the TODO list: fglrx-8 is not the best name,
> already not supporting legacy drivers. I think fglrx-legacy is less
> confusing.

I agree that fglrx-8 may not be the best name. However, fglrx-legacy
may still leave room for confusion. We may want a package naming
structure that is more granular and targeted, to further eliminate
confusion. For example:
fglrx-radeonhd-legacy

One reason for a more targeted naming structure is if one downloads
the Quantal fglrx-installer source file
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+files/fglrx-installer_9.000.orig.tar.gz
, usr/share/doc/fglrx/driverfaq.html notes specifically:
"Which AMD graphics cards can use this driver?
    The AMD Proprietary Linux driver currently supports RADEON 8500
and later, as well as FireGL 8700 and later products. We do not
currently plan to include support for any products earlier than this."

But, very few users have or would check this to find out, check AMD's
website directly, or contact AMD for an official clarification when
they are confused. Also, we may want to avoid users thinking their
even older legacy cards noted in
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Legacy/Pages/radeon_linux.aspx
are covered in any such legacy naming structure.

As well, we may want explicit and easily accessible documentation
(wiki.ubuntu.com/fglrx perhaps?!).

One reason for explicit documentation, and another reason for a more
targeted naming structure, is due to how in
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/1058040
, misinformation was temporarily spread around, which has now ceased
and been dealt with, about how Firestream and FirePro cards are Radeon
HD cards (which they are not), and how AMD explicitly supports using
the Radeon HD/Mobility Radeon HD 2000-4000 legacy 12.6 driver with
Firestream and FirePro cards (which they haven't).

What driver is explicitly supported for Firestream and FirePro cards
varies depending on the specific model, as per AMD's website. Hence,
we seem to have a series of one offs:

1) 1002:94a3 fglrx doesn't support ATI FirePro M7740 chip
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/1059655

An ambiguity exists if one goes to
http://support.amd.com/US/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx and clicks ->
Notebook Graphics -> Mobility FirePro Series -> Dell Precision M6500
(FirePro M7740 Mobility), one will notice under Operating System: how
linux is not an option. As well, if one goes to
http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx -> Product Type *
Graphics Cards - Workstation -> one will notice the Product drop down
does not include FirePro 7740 as an option. However, as per
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/previous/Pages/fire_linux.aspx
the newest linux driver that explicitly mentions ATI FirePro™ M7740
(Dell Precision M6400) is
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/previous/Pages/fire.aspx?os=Linux%20x86&rev=8.911.3.4
as per the Release Notes
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/firepro/workstation8.911.3.4.pdf .

I e-mailed AMD global customer support about fixing their website as
it's been a triage pain point for myself, and angst inducing for
others in the Ubuntu community. You can ping me for the ticket # if
interested.

2) FirePro 5700
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/1058040/comments/49
(yet to be filed separately).

An ambiguity exists if one goes to
http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx -> Workstation
Graphics -> FirePro Performance Pre-WHQL Driver -> FirePro V5700 ->
Linux x86 -> View Results and one is brought to
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/Pages/fire_linux.aspx#1 .
However, the Release Notes do not explicitly mention FirePro V5700
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/firepro/workstation8.982.8.1.pdf . As
well, if one goes to
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/previous/Pages/fire_linux.aspx
, the last driver to mention 5700 explicitly is
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/fire/previous/Pages/fire.aspx?os=Linux%20x86&rev=8.911.3.4
as per the Release Notes
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/firepro/workstation8.911.3.4.pdf . In
spite of that, as per
http://support.amd.com/us/psearch/Pages/psearch.aspx?type=2.4.3%3b2.4.5%3b2.4.7&product=2.4.7.3.3.3&contentType=GPU+Download+Detail&ostype=Linux+x86&keywords=&items=20
the newest driver available is:
AMD Proprietary Linux x86 Display Beta Driver 8.801 Beta 1/23/2011

I e-mailed AMD global customer support about fixing their website as
it's been a triage pain point for myself, and angst inducing for
others in the Ubuntu community. You can ping me for the ticket # if
interested.

3) 1002:9452 fglrx graphics broken on upgrade with AMD FireStream 9250
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/1075035

Supported in the newest Linux beta 12.11 as per
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalystSoftwareSuiteVersion1211BetaReleaseNotes.aspx
.

However, I'm being presumptuous that any fix that would be applied for
the Radeon HD/Mobility Radeon HD 12.6 legacy driver, or other solution
devised, would not apply to the one offs, and/or other card models
found not working in Quantal, and vice versa.

> The big thing is providing those drivers for Precise. Now
> both legacy and supported Precise users are using fglrx and
> fglrx-updates packages, but if that second one gets really updated it
> will screw legacy users. So the challenge here is to distinguish
> legacy users and make them use "fglrx-legacy" while rest will proceed
> with normal fglrx updates.
> Best regards,

If a wiki.ubuntu.com/fglrx documentation page existed, that would be
helpful in mitigating some of this and above mentioned confusion, and
I'm happy to help work on this if found to be fruitful. I've done what
I felt comfortable with adding conservatively into
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI but it may not
be helpful enough until at least the above mentioned website issues
are resolved.

Thank you for working on the PPA, as it worked well for my Radeon HD
3100 card in Quantal! :)

Please let me know if I could be of further assistance.

Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

--
Christopher M. Penalver
E-Mail: christopher.m.penalver@xxxxxxxxx
https://launchpad.net/~penalvch

>
> 2012/11/6 Christopher M. Penalver <christopher.m.penalver@xxxxxxxxx>:
>> Thomasz, I wanted to CC you on this e-mail as your PPA was discussed,
>> but no e-mail was listed at https://launchpad.net/~makson96 .
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Christopher Penalver <christopher.m.penalver@xxxxxxxxx>
>> Date: Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 3:27 PM
>> Subject: fglrx* Update [Re: [ubuntu-x] Fwd: fglrx-installer/fglrx-
>> installer-updates does not support xserver 1.13 Quantal metabug(s)?!]
>> To: Bryce Harrington <bryce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Cc: Ubuntu-x@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Nick Andrik <nick.andrik@xxxxxxxxx>
>>
>> Bryce, thank you for responding to my inquiry. Since my initial post,
>> much has revealed itself.
>>
>> 1) fglrx-installer not working with HD2000-4000 "legacy" cards in
>> Quantal
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/1058040
>>
>> The bottleneck issue does seem to be lack of support for
>> xserver-xorg-core 1.13 with the upstream 12.6 fglrx-legacy driver, for
>> HD2000-4000 series cards. Tomasz Makarewicz
>> https://launchpad.net/~makson96 was the one who packaged the
>> WORKAROUND PPA. However, it seems invasive as it downgrades 1.12.3,
>> and it hacks around lack of support for kernels > 3.4, as per
>> http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/legacy/Pages/legacy-
>> radeon_linux.aspx
>> . However, if a Quantal backport will be provided that does this, I'm
>> not going to complain! :)
>>
>> I'll shoot Tomasz Makarewicz a Launchpad "Contact this user" message
>> as he does not have an e-mail address registered with Launchpad in
>> order to CC him on this.
>>
>> 2) 1002:6740 Unity does not load after installing
>> fglrx-installer-updates Radeon HD 6700M Series w/ 8086:0116 Intel
>> Integrated Card
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/fglrx/+bug/1068661
>>
>> Please disregard my previous, distracting speculation on how fglrx*
>> from the Ubuntu repositories may not work with non-HD2000-4000 series
>> cards in Quantal due to lack of xserver-xorg-core 1.13 support, as the
>> following bug reports contradict this where folks use
>> fglrx-installer/fglrx-installer-updates in Quantal with
>> non-HD2000-4000 cards:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer/+bug/968265
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer-
>> updates/+bug/1068404
>>
>> As well, AMD's documentation on fglrx 12.9 noted "Ubuntu 12.10 early
>> look support" which presumably includes support for xserver-xorg-core
>> 1.13 and kernels > 3.4
>> http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst129betadriver.aspx
>> .
>>
>> 3) 1002:6760 Switchable graphics on Radeon HD 6400M not working again
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer-
>> updates/+bug/1068404
>>
>> Not intending to add work to your already stacked TODO list, but Nick
>> Andrik's (CC'ed) PPA addressed a regression for
>> xserver-xorg-video-intel from 2.20.2 and 2.20.3, whose commit is
>> http://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-
>> intel/commit/?id=05dcc5f1699ba90fc14c50882e8d4be89bc4a4f9
>> , that prevented fglrx* from working for the original reporter. A
>> potential duplicate of this is
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/fglrx-installer-
>> updates/+bug/1069199
>> .
>>
>> As I am somewhat out of my triaging comfort zone with fglrx*, I do not
>> feel comfortable marking any bugs for these packages Triaged at this
>> time. However, I've done what I felt comfortable with in terms of
>> documentation in the reports above, other fglrx* bugs I've touched,
>> and in the Ubuntu community support article for fglrx* ->
>> https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BinaryDriverHowto/ATI .
>>
>> If I can help further, please do not hesitate to ask.
>>
>> Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
>>
>> Christopher M. Penalver
>> E-Mail: christopher.m.penalver@xxxxxxxxx
>> https://launchpad.net/~penalvch