Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

AMD Overhauls Open-Source Linux Driver

Posted by Soulskill on from the added-support-for-individual-tree-leaf-motion-and-rump-physics dept.

An anonymous reader writes "AMD's open-source developer has posted an incredible set of 165 patches against the Linux kernel that provide support for a few major features to their Linux graphics driver. Namely, the open-source Radeon Linux driver now supports dynamic power management on hardware going back to the Radeon HD 2000 (R600) generation. The inability to re-clock the GPU frequencies and voltages dynamically based upon load has been a major limiting factor for open-source AMD users where laptops have been warm and there is diminished battery power. The patches also provide basic support for the AMD Radeon HD 8000 'Sea Islands' graphics processors on their open-source Linux driver."

4 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Thank God. by intermodal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My laptop ran ridiculously hot on the open-source until I got the closed-source drivers to install properly. Let's hope the fix means default installs of Ubuntu won't melt your igloo.

    --
    In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  2. Re:Good guys AMD by jkflying · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Personally, I'm excited about HUMA and what it will mean for scientific computing. The second half of this year will be exciting!

    --
    Help I am stuck in a signature factory!
  3. Most likely pulled from your butt. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    NVidia tried that and made the mistake of saying who the IP that was the roadblock was: Sun. Sun Microsystems said "There is nothing that they have of ours that we would refuse to have open sourced". NVidia's response was to clam up and let the fanbois repeat the claim for ever more.

  4. Re:Good guys AMD by Belial6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have to agree. My son's laptop with an A10 processor beats both mine and my wife's laptops with i5. They all cost about the same amount. My laptop is fine for most tasks, but fails at gaming. My son's A10 handles every game he has tried without problem. There may be some that won't run well on it, but until we find one that doesn't, anything more would be wasted money.