Re: drm changes and updating to 12.0

On Sun, Nov 4, 2018 at 10:52 PM Kevin Oberman <rkoberman_at_gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sun, Nov 4, 2018 at 12:15 PM Niclas Zeising <zeising_at_freebsd.org>
> wrote:
>
> > On 11/4/18 8:29 PM, Robert Huff wrote:
> > >
> > >       I have a set of older machines (e.g. AMD Phenom II, Radeon HD3300
> > > gpu) which will be updated from 11.<smallnum> to 12.0 once 12 is out
> > > and the initial round of bugs are squashed.
> > >       One system is being done now, to allow time to catch any major
> > > problems and then plan the update process.
> > >       Looking at src/UPDATING, the only thing I don't understand is the
> > > whole drm-kmod change.  Is there an authoritative write-up on what's
> > > going on, how to choose the right drivers for my hardware, and how to
> > > do this from source without forcing a fresh install?
> > >
> >
> > We are working on better documentation for this, but the main highlights
> > are:  In most cases graphics/drm-kmod should suffice, especially on
> > somewhat modern hardware.  You can also install any of the drm-*-kmod
> > ports directly, if you want a specific version.  In general graphics
> > hardware older than from 2013 requires drm-legacy-kmod instead.
> > drm-kmod will also install drm-legacy-kmod on i386.
> >
> > The same drivers in drm-legacy-kmod is also available in base on 12, so
> > you can use the base drivers.  This is deprecated however, and not the
> > case for 13-CURRENT.
> >
> > You can install the drivers either from pkg, if you are using the
> > GENERIC kernel, or build from ports if you have a customized kernel or
> > if you are tracking for instance 12-STABLE or 13-CURRENT.
> >
> > If you are using drm-legacy-kmod or the base driver with AMD graphics
> > cards you might also need to install xf86-video-ati-legacy rather than
> > xf86-video-ati.
> >
> > Regards
> > --
> > Niclas Zeising
>
>
> I'm curious where 2013 comes from. I know that Intel Sandy Bridge graphics
> is supported with VAAPI acceleration by drm-stable-kmod, since it i working
> on the system I am using to send this message. I bought it in 2011, the
> year Sandy Bridge was introduced to production products.
>
> In general, when in doubt, I'd try drm-stable-kmod for questionable devices
> and fall back to drm-legacy-kmod it it fails. If y0ou use ports, I'd build
> both paskages to make it easier to recover if drm-stable-kmod fails. Also,
> be sure to make the proper adjustments to /etc/rc.conf as per the package
> message.
>

2013 is "five year old hardware or newer". It's a number I pulled out of
the air when trying to nail down the group in describing who should use
what. Giving code names would also work. Sandy Bridge and newer, though, is
confusing to people.  I'd use 2011 as the release date for Sandy Bridge,
but then what about the AMD other GPUs?

If there's a better way to message what's supported, I'm all ears.

Warner