Linux 3.17 Kernel Released With Xbox One Controller Support

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Linux 3.17 Kernel Released With Xbox One Controller Support

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday October 5, 2014 @12:10PM from the check-it-out dept.

An anonymous reader writes The Linux 3.17 kernel was officially released today. Linux 3.17 presents a number of new features that include working open-source AMD Hawaii GPU support, an Xbox One controller driver, free-fall support for Toshiba laptops, numerous ARM updates, and other changes.

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Please explain by stair69 · 2014-10-05 12:12 · Score: 5, Interesting

Why does a driver for a game controller need to be incorporated into the kernel?
1. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:15 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  It doesn't, you can load it as a module.
2. Re:Please explain by Qzukk · 2014-10-05 12:16 · Score: 1
  
  So that people can plug the controller in and use it without having to compile their own driver?
  
  --
  If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
3. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:16 · Score: 0
  
  Mod parent up !!
4. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:17 · Score: 0
  
  Because Linux Torvolds said so?.
5. Re:Please explain by Joe_Dragon · 2014-10-05 12:17 · Score: 0
  
  so MS backs down on locking down X86 systems (as long as all uses by something from MS they look the other way)
6. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:18 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Why does a driver for a game controller need to be incorporated into the kernel?
  Because it is easier for somebody else to maintain that way, the issue is that the Linux kernel does not have a stable binary interface so you cannot just provide a driver and expect it to continue working over time. When the kernel ABI is updated any changes to it that any driver depends on needs to be reflected in every one of those drivers.
  The alternative is that every driver is hosted in its own repo somewhere else and kernel maintainers then have to pull all those drivers from the various repos and make sure they all compile when a change is made to the ABI. But the current state leads to a very bloated kernel.
7. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:18 · Score: 0
  
  As every other input device it's handled on kernel level. What's so strange about it? Do you also think handling keyboard on kernel level is strange and I should explain it further?
8. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:27 · Score: 0
  
  Uh, because it's Linux. If you want installable drivers go to Windows. Don't let the door KICK YOUR ASS!
9. Re:Please explain by skids · 2014-10-05 12:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It doesn't, you can load it as a module.
  ...or run the alternative userspace driver, which linux supports doing as well.
  What really should be the question is why can't even Microsoft, which despite their software reputation generally is well reguarded for input accessories, not present a consistent interface across different generations of controllers. It's not like there isn't an enumeration standard they could follow.
  
  --
  Someone had to do it.
10. Re:Please explain by shione · 2014-10-05 12:34 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Because the xbox controller is the de facto standard controller in windows and on steam. And Linus knows that to get Linux onto everyones desktop one of the biggest shortcomings in Linux is mainstream commercial software and games. Steam OS (which cqan be installed over linux and not just standalone) sorta fixes that so it helps if the OS already has controller support.
  What I am waiting for is when Linux has out of the box support for those $1 usb bluetooth modules. They are a bitch to get working and really needed when youre setting up Linux as a HTPC and you dont want a huge IR module hanging out of your pc.
11. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:49 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, that's great and all - but the point is that drivers for peripherals don't belong in a kernel. Its sort of stupid. Drivers for peripherals should be loaded after the fact and shouldn't require waiting for a new GNU/Linux kernel to ship before the device can be used.
12. Re:Please explain by Sam36 · 2014-10-05 13:09 · Score: 1
  
  You are either trolling or clueless...
  A kernel is an interface between software and hardware (like a game controller...)
  Any hardware driver in the linux kerel can be built in the kernel, or as a pluggable module.
13. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:10 · Score: 1
  
  Because 2000 unnecessary context switches per second are 2000 unnecessary context switches per second.
14. Re:Please explain by Chaos+Incarnate · 2014-10-05 13:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Microsoft didn't want to allow the Xbox One to accept Xbox 360 controllers, so they chose to scrap XInput support from the Xbox One controllers. That PC users can't use the controllers is just an unfortunate side-effect.
  
  --
  Benford's Corollary to Clarke's Law: "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
15. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:23 · Score: 1
  
  Xbox One Controller + Cable for Windows Brings the Console Experience to PC.
  That was announced nearly 3 weeks ago.
16. Re:Please explain by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:33 · Score: 1
  
  Because the box is a loss leader, Microsoft make their money on software and accessories, and because they don't want to ape Nintendo with their legacy ports in the Wii. If I had an N64 as well I'd have no need for two Wiimotes.
  (glad I'm not the only one who noticed the more-than-passing similarity between the Duke and the One and questioned the need for physically incompatible ports).
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
17. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:39 · Score: 0
  
  You say "side effect," I say "collateral damage."
18. Re:Please explain by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:41 · Score: 1
  
  uh... thought it had that, given that there's a (now sadly unmaintained) standard: IEE802.15.1, and that most commodity bluetooth gear is driven by chips from just one or two manufacturers (Broadcom is one, I think Ericsson might be another)
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
19. Re:Please explain by Kjella · 2014-10-05 13:45 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The problem is that you can not control a kernel driver through an ABI, it all runs as root so bad driver code can corrupt or crash everything. If you can compile and trace/fix the driver yourself that's a manageable risk, if it's just a blob you're at the vendor's mercy. And since Linux doesn't have the market share (carrot) or a big certification program (stick) that wouldn't be a very good idea. The best case scenario is when you have a low-level ABI and can put the high-level driver code in a userspace driver, that way it can't harm the rest of the system at a slight performance penalty due to the context switches.
  That does depend on the hardware complying to some low level ABI though, otherwise the kernel wouldn't know how talk to the hardware. Fortunately USB is such a thing, plug in any USB device be it a keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner, memory stick or an XBone controller and Linux has a low level kernel driver (one per USB generation I think, actually) to read/write data. That's what the alternate "xboxdrv" driver does, it reads USB events, translates them to input events and returns them to the kernel. It only works for USB though, you still need drivers to talk to PCIe devices, disk drives, network controller and whatnot else though.
  
  --
  Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
20. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 14:31 · Score: 0
  
  Some of us like low latency input.. All they're saying is that the new kernel release has updated drivers pkg'd with it. No one is stopping you from backporting if you want to.
21. Re:Please explain by HalAtWork · 2014-10-05 14:49 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Couldn't they just have a USB ID/Bluetooth ID whitelist?
  
  --
  Twinstiq, game news
22. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 15:07 · Score: 0
  
  If you had an N64 you would still need to purchase controllers for your Wii. The Wii had Gamecube ports.
  Incidentally, those ports were phased out halfway through the Wii's life and they were only supported by Gamecube games, *some* Virtual Console games, and *very few* Wii games.
23. Re:Please explain by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 15:19 · Score: 1
  
  yeah that. I could take a photo of my Wii if you like, with some sort of live indication of the date/time, and upload it to imgur?
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
24. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 17:25 · Score: 0
  
  This is not fucking informative, this is a complete evasion.
25. Re:Please explain by aliquis · 2014-10-05 17:37 · Score: 1
  
  Why do a driver for random tv-card?
  Why not? I want support for the controller. Thank you all :)
26. Re:Please explain by jones_supa · 2014-10-05 20:18 · Score: 2
  
  They are not unnecessary if they provide extra safety.
  It is like using C++ vector instead of C array. There is some performance overhead, but it is a fair price to pay for the added safety.
27. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:50 · Score: 0
  
  User-space drivers have poor performance and are generally not the place for anything that requires low-latency. User-space drivers are for things that aren't in use for extended amount of time, like USB webcams, printers and scanners.
  That said, it seems counter-intuitive to support hardware for which there is no software for it.
28. Re:Please explain by Wootery · 2014-10-06 01:19 · Score: 1
  
  Some of us like low latency input
  Is there really a difference in latency between kernel and userland drivers? As in, anywhere near the time it takes to render a frame?
29. Re:Please explain by jones_supa · 2014-10-06 02:01 · Score: 1
  
  I doubt there is.
30. Re:Please explain by NonUniqueNickname · 2014-10-06 03:09 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Why does a driver for a game controller need to be incorporated into the kernel?
  Welcome to /. Mr. Tanenbaum. Please feel free to create an account.
31. Re:Please explain by tlhIngan · 2014-10-06 03:54 · Score: 1
  
  Microsoft didn't want to allow the Xbox One to accept Xbox 360 controllers, so they chose to scrap XInput support from the Xbox One controllers. That PC users can't use the controllers is just an unfortunate side-effect.
  They didn't have to go that far, actually.
  Xbox accessories have an authentication chip that's verified during USB connect so that's all the Xbone had to do - just check to see if it's an Xbone accessory and be done with it. Likewise the 360 can do the same.
  OTOH, the controllers are supposed to be standard HID devices, it's just that you need a mapping between the axis controls (because USB HIDs are keyboards, mice and joysticks, while something with a half-dozen axes and a dozen buttons needs to have input mappings done, as well as mapping the output (the vibrators (main and impulse triggers) and LEDs), aka the Xinput mapping.
  The PS4 is worse, though. Over USB it authenticates every 30 seconds (Xbone, like the 360 only do it at connect). While first-party controllers generally are best, there are some third party ones that lose out. (Like my Delta Six gun controller).
32. Re:Please explain by ncc74656 · 2014-10-06 04:02 · Score: 2
  
  shouldn't require waiting for a new Linux kernel to ship
  
  FTFY. Even the most ardent Stallmanites don't usually try to claim credit for the kernel.
  
  --
  20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
33. Re: Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 04:21 · Score: 0
  
  Drivers are part of operating systems. Linux is monolithic kernel, that means it is full operating system itself technically.
  But linux is modular by binary level, meaning it can load and unload OS functions from memory, but once loaded, the module functions work like it was never been separated from the Kernel itself.
  Xbox one controller requires own driver instead just common joystic API, so the driver has been needed to be written for Linux.
34. Re:Please explain by Ravaldy · 2014-10-06 04:51 · Score: 1
  
  You could see it two ways
  1. They want to avoid re-use of controllers and make more money
  2. They want to ensure the experience for all Xbox One users is the same and ensure game companies can rely on the fact that the controller remains the same across the platform
  3. Both of the above
35. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 05:40 · Score: 0
  
  Not if they want to keep Datel guessing.
36. Re:Please explain by Curtman · 2014-10-06 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  Softmodded wii's can run emulators. Gamecube controllers are much better than the wiimote.
  
  Wii Homebrew
  
  The wii is still the most played console in our house.
37. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 06:04 · Score: 0
  
  That would be easier to crack?
38. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 09:53 · Score: 0
  
  Specifications are lockout mechanisms now? Good job MS, make your devices less useful, less competitive, and less attractive. That'll show 'em. Just like Sony with their proprietary memory cards.
39. Re:Please explain by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-07 09:22 · Score: 0
  
  But the current state leads to a very bloated kernel.
  No kidding. 12 years ago, you could run Linux distributions that fit on 1-3 floppy disks. Now, you'd nee a stack of 8-15 or so just to fit a moderate build size kernel. Considering how much more it's grown in the last 10 years than it did in the first 10 years, I'd say it's something to possibly be concerned about going forward.
  Doesn't sound like a big deal, especially with the hardware we're used to on desktop systems and such these days. It's not really a non-issue though, especially when you consider some of the less obvious computers that exist inside of other appliances and such.
They Needed This by rmdingler · 2014-10-05 12:14 · Score: 0

Playstation's been kicking that ass.

--
Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:19 · Score: 0, Troll

I'd say Linux has no games to play, but it actually has a lot more than Xbox One...
1. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:43 · Score: 0
  
  Sure, but they're all 15 year old games from the days when Carmack was still producing something more than hot air out of this ass.
2. Re:Linux games by shione · 2014-10-05 12:54 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  No games to play???
  http://store.steampowered.com/...
  998 games and counting
  including...
  Xcom Enemy Unknown
  Wasteland 2
  Portal 2
  Counter Strike
  Left 4 Dead 2
  DOTA 2
  TF2
  Garys Mod
  Half Life 2
  Civ 5
  Borderlands 2
  Witcher 2
  System Shock 2
  Killing Floor
  How many games does a platform have to have so it doesnt have "no games to play" ?
3. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:01 · Score: 0
  
  World of... oh what was the name of that game... it's on the tip of my tongue....
4. Re:Linux games by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:43 · Score: 1
  
  turn in your Geek card on your way out, you missed the ONE game that should have been the top of that list: Kerbal Space Program. :)
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
5. Re:Linux games by skine · 2014-10-05 14:18 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  World of... oh what was the name of that game... it's on the tip of my tongue....
  Goo?
6. Re:Linux games by pecosdave · 2014-10-05 14:26 · Score: 2
  
  I have World of Goo on nearly everything I own!
  (Wii, Phone, Linux machine, and every my work Mac and work Windows machine)
  
  --
  The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
7. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 14:36 · Score: 0
  
  world of grind craft?
8. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 15:30 · Score: 0
  
  You basically listed everything that's even halfway decent. The other 980 games are trash indie "games" like Depression Quest.
9. Re:Linux games by gman003 · 2014-10-05 15:33 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  How many games does a platform have to have so it doesn't have "no games to play" ?
  The PS3 was (and sometimes still is) widely ridiculed in gaming circles for having "no games", despite a launch lineup of 6-23 games (6JP/14US/23EU) and a current library of 796 retail games.
  As no similar critiques were lobbed against the Xb360 (1,125) or Wii (1,222), we can conclude that the number of games necessary is somewhere in the range of 800-1100, most likely 1000.
  However, your link only shows 702 games for me. Also, the above counts are of retail releases, which excludes a lot of the small indie stuff that makes up most of that list. And so we can conclude that Linux has "no games", and will continue to have "no games" for quite some time.
10. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 17:27 · Score: 1
  
  That 'ps3 has no games' thing is a meme. It's from the early days of the first generation "fat" ps3 back in 2008 or so.
11. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 18:16 · Score: 0
  
  Europa Universalis IV
  Crusader Kings II
  Kerbal Space Program
  Mount & Blade
  Shadowrun Dragonfall
  Shadowrun Returns
  Serious Sam 3
  Expeditions: Conquistador
  The Book of Unwritten Tales
  Red Orchestra
  Frozen Synapse
  Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers (stupid name, I know)
  gog.also has a few, although nowhere as many as Steam.
12. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 18:25 · Score: 0
  
  "The PS3 was (and sometimes still is) widely ridiculed in gaming circles for having "no games", despite a launch lineup of 6-23 games (6JP/14US/23EU) and a current library of 796 retail games."
  Funny. That's the reason I haven't turned my 360 on since Febuary. (And only turned it on to download some free programs I had with Gold membership up until that point for a year.)
  Meanwhile my PS3 gets almost daily use.
13. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 19:36 · Score: 0
  
  Also, even very recent games often work just fine in WINE. I'd rather have native support, but I have Steam installed as both native and under WINE, so I can run Windows-only games as well.
14. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 20:17 · Score: 0
  
  At the risk of being called a troll: a bunch of old or irrelevant or multiplatform games don't count. If you want your platform of choice to be taken seriously in most internet boards you need million sellers exclusives, preferably AAA. Also be aware of the "pc master race", as they only count mac and linux as part of PC gaming when it's convenient for their anti-console arguments, otherwise they are just Windows/MS fanboys in disguise.
15. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 21:24 · Score: 0
  
  Additionally, there are many more that can be run well enough with Wine, for example all the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games, the original Bioshock, all Stalker games, and a lot of others, including most that use OpenGL in addition to, or instead of Direct3D (e.g. those based on the id Tech 4/5 engines, like RAGE, Doom 3, Quake 4, etc.; as far as I know, the latter two also have native Linux versions, but they are not distributed on Steam).
16. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 21:26 · Score: 0
  
  Not all indie games are trash, and some are actually quite popular, as you can see it here: http://store.steampowered.com/stats/
17. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 21:50 · Score: 0
  
  At the risk of being called a troll: a bunch of old or irrelevant or multiplatform games don't count
  At least 10 of the top 20 most played games on Steam have native Linux versions, so they are hardly irrelevant. DOTA2, CS:GO, and TF2 alone have peaks of more than 1.1 million active (in-game) players combined. Some of the rest, like Skyrim, can be run well with Wine, other than lower frame rate compared to Windows.
  It is also narrow-viewed to ignore all games, many of which are good and even popular, that are not "AAA" (a term that recently often refers to console ports that treat the PC as a second class platform). Being "AAA" by itself does not guarantee a better game, or sometimes even higher sales.
18. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:17 · Score: 0
  
  "No games" is a relative measure. The Tripple had few exclusive titles at launch, especially since you could get both a Wii and a 360 for about the same price.
19. Re:Linux games by Ginger+Unicorn · 2014-10-05 22:42 · Score: 1
  
  There's another way of thinking about it. When people say there are "no games" for a system, they mean no games that they care about. If you had a system that only had the 200 top selling titles on it and nothing else, the feeling among the general population wouldn't really be that there were no games for it.
  When linux has ports of the vast majority of the top selling PC titles, then people will stop saying there are no games for it, irrespective of the size of the long tail of guff no one cares about and creative/interesting indie games that the general population haven't heard of.
  Personally I see more value in the creative/interesting indie games. Unfortunately if they're not in the public consciousness, their mean contribution drops off a cliff in terms of Linux adoption/perception as a gaming platform.
  
  --
  (1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
20. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:42 · Score: 1
  
  His point is still valid.
21. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:46 · Score: 0
  
  Being "AAA" by itself does not guarantee a better game, or sometimes even higher sales.
  Amen to that!!
22. Re:Linux games by abies · 2014-10-05 23:28 · Score: 1
  
  System Shock 2? You are serious giving it as an example of how good non-windows gaming is? Release dates from wikipedia
  August 11, 1999 (Win)
  June 18, 2013 (OS X)
  April 1, 2014 (Linux)
  15 years late exactly - as OP claimed and you tried to disprove.
  Most of the other things you mentioned are also quite old. Maybe preparing a list of 10 really good games from 2013-2014 would be better than hundreds of games from 2-15 years ago. Or maybe even better - take 20 best selling games of last 2 years and see how many of them are available under linux natively.
23. Re:Linux games by synapse7 · 2014-10-06 00:43 · Score: 2
  
  I'm actually playing through Witcher2 at the moment on Mint, and it is f00king awesome so far.
24. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 02:01 · Score: 0
  
  From that era, we also had the Meme that at least you could use your PS3, as your 360 would keep bricking itself.
25. Re:Linux games by Blaskowicz · 2014-10-06 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  At least 10 of the top 20 most played games on Steam have native Linux versions, so they are hardly irrelevant. DOTA2, CS:GO, and TF2 alone have peaks of more than 1.1 million active (in-game) players combined. Some of the rest, like Skyrim, can be run well with Wine, other than lower frame rate compared to Windows.
  The issue may be how to install the game, and how to acquire it?
  Sometimes you can run a Windows game on Wine, but you can't install it. And then maybe you need to crack the game before running it on Wine. And to try the game out, you might need warez downloads anyway.
  e.g. to run the first Serious Sam (over 10-year-old at that point) I had to boot into Windows to install it. Then it runs fine under Windows. Then it runs on linux when mounting the .iso under /mnt .. except for the graphical output which stays empty outside of menus. Maybe it'll work with a different graphics card and/or by upgrading the distro. BUT, I'd be spending money to buy new hardware without knowing if the game will work or not afterwards.
  That some new games (e.g. Starcraft II) do work under Wine is a weak argument (e.g. Blizzard is known to test games under Wine)
26. Re:Linux games by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 09:07 · Score: 0
  
  There are many games that do not run in a usable way with Wine, but those that do are still a notable addition to the library of games that can be played on Linux. If you have installation or other issues, or just want to find out if a particular application can be run at all, check the Wine AppDB. It is not uncommon that a game is broken out of the box, but some workarounds (or even a single 'winetricks' command) will fix it.
  Installer and copy protection related problems might also be less likely when using Steam or GoG.
Systemd should replace the kernel. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:27 · Score: 5, Funny

Why do we even have a Linux kernel these days?
It's late 2014, for crying out loud. It's almost 2015! We shouldn't have to deal with a Linux kernel. We should just have to install systemd and then we can have a working system.
The Linux kernel needs to go. It needs to be replaced with systemd.
1. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by DoofusOfDeath · 2014-10-05 12:41 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Why do we even have a Linux kernel these days?
  It's late 2014, for crying out loud. It's almost 2015! We shouldn't have to deal with a Linux kernel. We should just have to install systemd and then we can have a working system.
  The Linux kernel needs to go. It needs to be replaced with systemd.
  That's foolishness. Neither a kernel nor systemd is needed. My system boots straight into Emacs, and has systemd implemented in elisp.
2. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Shaman · 2014-10-05 12:50 · Score: 1
  
  /me spits out the hook
  
  --
  ...Steve
3. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 14:15 · Score: 0
  
  This sounds about right. Rock on, morons!
4. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 14:55 · Score: 0
  
  Still too much abstraction. Emacs needs to replace firmware.
5. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by gman003 · 2014-10-05 15:21 · Score: 1
  
  Look, if it's not running straight LISP at the hardware level, it's not a real computer. Who needs firmware when you have CONS?
6. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Antique+Geekmeister · 2014-10-05 16:21 · Score: 2
  
  This has actually been tried.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S...
7. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Pablopelos · 2014-10-05 18:53 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  And it can do towers of hanoi, web browsing, email, ftp, and it even includes an editor I think.
8. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:05 · Score: 1
  
  it even includes an editor I think.
  Yeah, you can run vi on it, which is the only editor you'll ever really need.
9. Re:Systemd should replace the kernel. by Blaskowicz · 2014-10-06 07:39 · Score: 1
  
  We need an emacs smartphone! Not necessarily to run emacs on it, but at least we'll have the modifier keys on or around it.
Zero G by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 12:48 · Score: 0

To hell with all the posts about xbox controller support. I've upgraded my Toshiba laptop. Which button do I press to enable this new zero gravity mode?
1. Re:Zero G by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:23 · Score: 2
  
  it's an OS-agnostic tech built in to the hard drive - the accelerometer is a basic switch that parks the head and deactivates the spindle motor if it detects excessive vibration or acceleration like during a freefall drop off a desk. You know if it's triggered when your OS complains about a delayed write failure (for some reason Windows 7 lacks the ability to send a "spinup" command to the controller), at which point you have to do a cold restart and everything's fine apart from the data that you just lost if you didn't already save it. It makes no guarantee for data integrity, it only guarantees the mitigation of risk of terminal headcrash during an impact event. Some manufacturers (Seagate, Toshiba, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and Western Digital) use variations on the theme, all platform-independent, though some OEMs such as Apple/Dell (are EuroPowerbooks still built at Dell's plant in Ireland?), Lenovo and Acer prefer to use their own accelerometers and control all aspects of physical protection through the controller interface via a custom BIOS.
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
2. Re:Zero G by jonwil · 2014-10-05 13:26 · Score: 1
  
  I cant find details of just what the kernel change was but it seems like the hardware feature is a feature to detect that the laptop is undergoing a sudden shock and shut off the hard disk (move the heads out of the way) to prevent damage to the platters.
3. Re:Zero G by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 17:36 · Score: 0
  
  Then why does it need kernel support?
4. Re:Zero G by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 20:27 · Score: 0
  
  Probably to do the spinup and log the event, maybe even try to write the data again.
5. Re:Zero G by ihtoit · 2014-10-06 00:57 · Score: 1
  
  commit 12 July: http://kernel.suse.com/cgit/ke...
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
6. Re:Zero G by jones_supa · 2014-10-06 03:11 · Score: 1
  
  The drive is not spun down, only the head is parked.
7. Re:Zero G by jones_supa · 2014-10-06 03:15 · Score: 1
  
  You know if it's triggered when your OS complains about a delayed write failure (for some reason Windows 7 lacks the ability to send a "spinup" command to the controller), at which point you have to do a cold restart and everything's fine apart from the data that you just lost if you didn't already save it.
  That is not my experience with HP 3D DriveGuard. Usually when free fall is detected, the head is parked, the HDD LED changes color, and I/O for that disk is blocked. After a couple of seconds, normal operation is restored.
8. Re:Zero G by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 11:54 · Score: 0
  
  Thanks, but I already knew what it was. I was trying to make a joke that my laptop would float away. Seems I didn't do so well.
huh by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:12 · Score: 1

...I thought Freefall was a tech built into the hard drive?
(I have a Toshiba laptop with a Toshiba HDD in it, the selling point for me was not in fact the freefall sensor but to be frank, any drop that chips a corner off the laptop case, for me, usually ends up shattering LCDs and glass platters anyway - I can only hope that the platters in the newer drives are made from tougher glass or even back to the aluminium alloy that sensible people build hard drives with (like my 8GB Travelstar that still works after 11 years and holy shit I don't want to just bin it because I have a memory chip in my phone that has twice the capacity in a package the size of my pinky nail)).

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Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
1. Re:huh by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:22 · Score: 0
  
  It is, but you need a driver to tell the OS when the freefall sensor has been activated, and possibly disable it if you're in an environment prone to repeated bumping.
2. Re:huh by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 13:53 · Score: 1
  
  yeah refer to my other post, the tech is built in to a lot of laptop drives, some OEMs use external sensors and sub-HAL triggers, Apple I think is the only one that actually offers some semblance of control (as in allows the user to turn it on and off) which also offers the opportunity to restart the drive and unpark the head without having to coldstart the entire system. My laptop which has all the bells and whistles Toshiba offers, doesn't even bother to pass the message to Windows 7 that a trigger event has occurred, any subsequent writes that need to write to platters (it's a hybrid drive under the hood with an 8GB flash) will fail with a "delayed write failed" message, and that is usually the first indication that I get that I've been hitting the keyboard like a British nanny.
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
3. Re:huh by RyuuzakiTetsuya · 2014-10-06 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  There's APIs that allow developers to tap into the accelerometer directly. Don't think it's an officially supported API, but it does mean that I can wave my MacBook around and have it make lightsaber noises with the right app :)
  
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  Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
4. Re:huh by ihtoit · 2014-10-06 01:13 · Score: 1
  
  I can see that going down well for the Star Wars #7 trailer... o.0
  
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  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
I'm shocked by DaveAtFraud · 2014-10-05 13:25 · Score: 3, Funny

Linus missed an opportunity to "adjust" the kernel version numbering scheme. This should have been released as Linux kernel 11.0.
(Sorry, couldn't resist)
Cheers,
Dave

--
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
1. Re:I'm shocked by marcello_dl · 2014-10-05 20:30 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Torvalds tried to joke and call it linux 3.18, but that broke the kernelversiond of systemd, which in turn messed the /dev tree so his printer started DDoSing his cellphone.
  All in all, a very windowsish experience.
  
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  ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
An Apparent Pre-Mature Claim of 3.17 by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 13:45 · Score: 0

Checking the change log from Linus we find:
ARM: 8179/1: kprobes-test: Fix compile error "bad immediate value for offset"
ARM: 8165/1: alignment: don't break misaligned NEON load/store
ARM: 8164/1: mm: clear SCTLR.HA instead of setting it for LPAE
The original post is apparently a pre-mature claim and unsubstantiated by facts.
z
1. Re:An Apparent Pre-Mature Claim of 3.17 by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 14:07 · Score: 0
  
  The original post is apparently a pre-mature claim and unsubstantiated by facts.
  So it's news?
2. Re:An Apparent Pre-Mature Claim of 3.17 by Lunix+Nutcase · 2014-10-05 14:46 · Score: 2
  
  A Slashdot first!
3. Re:An Apparent Pre-Mature Claim of 3.17 by ihtoit · 2014-10-05 15:12 · Score: 1
  
  not even that, it was announced on Phoronix two weeks ago. Slashdot is behind the curve - as usual. Record here shows a commit to the kernel source tree on the 13th August.
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
holysnap by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 16:29 · Score: 0

linux has xbox 360 controller support? its like a miracle... this is why linux is crap, shit like this should already be in linux
Displayport multi stream support by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 18:44 · Score: 0

Any word on displayport MST support? Could use the advantage of my two external DP connectors on my laptop docking station.
1. Re:Displayport multi stream support by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 19:52 · Score: 0
  
  Didn't make it into 3.17.
  drm-i915-mst is now merged in drm-next, so intel igpu MST support should end up in 3.18.
  Doesn't look like anyone started work on radeon mst support yet, and no one outside AMD can as there's no public information on configuring the display engine/encoders besides what's known from what radeon is currently doing.
  No idea what the state of noveau is, not following that one too closely.
Chromebook by jeek · 2014-10-05 21:46 · Score: 1

How long before Chromebooks get this support? It'd be great with my Steam/Chrubuntu setup.

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If you want to be seen, stand up. If you want to be heard, speak up. If you want to be respected, sit down and shut up.
1. Re:Chromebook by ihtoit · 2014-10-06 00:12 · Score: 1
  
  just as soon as someone wins the Google Pwn2Own prize.
  
  --
  Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
The return of support for 16-bit Windows programs? by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 22:04 · Score: 0

3.15.-- later versions (at least the ones in Ubuntu since 14.04) have lost support using wine for 16-bit Windows programs. I still use two of them, including the OED. Does anyone know if they've put that support back?
Free Fall Support by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-05 23:52 · Score: 0

I can't be the only one who got a picture of a skydiver with a laptop, followed closely by people in the space station.
Re:The return of support for 16-bit Windows progra by ihtoit · 2014-10-06 00:26 · Score: 1

I'm thinking not, the 3.14 kernel patch fixed a security issue which also broke Win16 support. They've backported it as well so downloading older kernels to try and fix Win16 support under Wine won't work. There is no word on any attempts to fix the issue in the kernel. All I can suggest is to try and get your paws on a Win9x image and install it in Virtualbox (as I've done, though I had to install it as a DOS exec because APM platforms do weird things to modern processors - like cause them to wall it - and run a CPU idler which frees clock cycles from the VM back to the host. It's a crazy situation, but solvable). I'd offer you a copy of my MS-DOS 6.22-based Win95OSR2 image but Microsoft would have a fit...

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Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
Re:The return of support for 16-bit Windows progra by raxx7 · 2014-10-06 01:14 · Score: 1

You can also try and install DOS + Win 3.1 under VirtualBox or under DOSBOX.
Re:The return of support for 16-bit Windows progra by Anonymous Coward · 2014-10-06 01:27 · Score: 0

Is it still broken? Perhaps you could try to test the patches proposed at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1096725 and report the results to the bug report, likely the changes were lost due to nobody confirming if they work or not.
Re:The return of support for 16-bit Windows progra by ihtoit · 2014-10-06 01:28 · Score: 1

This too, but you'll still need CPUIdle or similar or you'll end up with a completely locked system. APM *does not* play nice.

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Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
AMD Hawaii support, you say? by Wootery · 2014-10-06 05:29 · Score: 1

working open-source AMD Hawaii GPU support
I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking that's much more front-page-worthy than Xbox 'One' controller support.
Phoronix reports performance to be generally satisfactory (which, given the context, is pretty damn good).
Re:The return of support for 16-bit Windows progra by Blaskowicz · 2014-10-06 08:04 · Score: 1

It's sad. Just a few days ago I stumbled upon a site about old win16 (Windows 1.0 and 2.0!) which has links to a collection of Windows 3.1 games too.
In particular I found out about a "lost" microsoft game : when Windows 3.1 came out, Reversi was left out but they actually made an updated version of it that looks like a Windows 3.1 game!
http://members.chello.at/theod...
The worst/best thing about it is that it's actually useful to have that game around. I have a gnome 3 version of Reversi (Iagno 3.8.2) which always end up locking itself with 100% CPU at one point. And Win16 Reversi is challenging on "beginner".
Rather than old Windows I think I would try to run old Linux in a VM, such as debian squeeze (got extended to five years of support)