AMD state they will support Vulkan on Linux in an upcoming amdgpu driver, not ready yet

Well, AMDGPU will hit the kernel in a usable state in autumn, if things are going well. Let's face it, that's a bummer.

I too hoped for an intermediate Catalyst release with the Vulkan bits enabled. Just to show some initial support. From a PR perspective that's close to a desaster, imho. I'm a long-term loyal AMD user, btw. But that's just didappointing.

I appreciate all the open-source efforts and AMDGPU seems like a very clever idea. However, providing a good Vulkan driver on release feels like a one-time chance to help the brand when it comes to Linux. A missed opportunity. :/


Last edited by sub on 16 February 2016 at 9:43 pm UTC

Well, AMDGPU will hit the kernel in a usable state in autumn, if things are going well.

Where did they give an ETA? Such a huge time until a usable Vulkan driver for AMD sounds pretty bad.

Well, AMDGPU will hit the kernel in a usable state in autumn, if things are going well.

Where did they give an ETA? Such a huge time until a usable Vulkan driver for AMD sounds pretty bad.

I stand corrected, but AMDGPU is WIP and still requires stuff that will be merged at the very earliest in Linux 4.6. If they fail to get the patches accepted, it might take even longer. So they didn't give any ETA but the progress on AMDGPU gives us some hints.

Well, AMDGPU will hit the kernel in a usable state in autumn, if things are going well.

Where did they give an ETA? Such a huge time until a usable Vulkan driver for AMD sounds pretty bad.

That's just realistic time frame. If everything works out, you will get AMD drivers with Vulkan support in autumn distro releases anyway.

It's a missed chance, for sure. But there isn't much use for a Vulkan-capable driver yet anyway. I'm not sure AMD will be on time here, though.
For me, personally, all that matters is if they'll be able to get it in in time for my next GPU. Which is autumn at the very soonest.

It's a missed chance, for sure. But there isn't much use for a Vulkan-capable driver yet anyway. I'm not sure AMD will be on time here, though.
For me, personally, all that matters is if they'll be able to get it in in time for my next GPU. Which is autumn at the very soonest.

Isn't that important to get it right, you know? What's point of Vulkan driver which underperforms?

Did anyone saw their video featuring the Linux logo as big as Windows :
View video on youtube.com


Last edited by Nyamiou on 17 February 2016 at 12:26 am UTC

Did anyone saw their video featuring the Linux logo as big as Windows :
View video on youtube.com

If only a large image of the Linux logo was all it took to mean actual proper on-time Linux support. Sadly, that's not the case. Nvidia parades their technologies on Ubuntu when doing live conferences. Slapping a logo into a video can be done by any vendor.

Right now, those of us with AMD cards have once again nothing but vague promises that something will come sometime in the future. That future driver may not even support pre-GCN 1.2 cards, which is very bad at this point. It feels like things are deteriorating rapidly right now.

First the Crimson driver let down, now this. I cannot hold onto my 390 with confidence anymore.

Did anyone saw their video featuring the Linux logo as big as Windows :
View video on youtube.com

If only a large image of the Linux logo was all it took to mean actual proper on-time Linux support. Sadly, that's not the case. Nvidia parades their technologies on Ubuntu when doing live conferences. Slapping a logo into a video can be done by any vendor.

Right now, those of us with AMD cards have once again nothing but vague promises that something will come sometime in the future. That future driver may not even support pre-GCN 1.2 cards, which is very bad at this point. It feels like things are deteriorating rapidly right now.

First the Crimson driver let down, now this. I cannot hold onto my 390 with confidence anymore.

Can you AMD supporters cut the drama for once? When AMD gets criticized objectively for having performance issues, it's Nvidia who's guilty (and sometime it is, but not for everything). Now AMD is bad because they take their time with getting their own turf in order.

It's tiresome.

I really do hope this doesn't turn into OpenGL all over again with such extensions, but only time will tell.

Oh, that we'll certainly see. The same as the windows drivers offer features not being in DirectX (in example the NVidia HarWorks). That are selling points for the hardware vendors, patented things to get into games, make games look better on their hardware and getting their logo into the loading screens.


Last edited by STiAT on 17 February 2016 at 10:37 am UTC

Can you AMD supporters cut the drama for once? When AMD gets criticized objectively for having performance issues, it's Nvidia who's guilty (and sometime it is, but not for everything). Now AMD is bad because they take their time with getting their own turf in order.

It's tiresome.

I see it the same way, it's not as if we had a dozen of games available making direct use of Vulkan yet. Actually, we don't even have one yet, and will have one in the next few days.

Developers won't care too much, since Linux won't be their focus platform right now when they're developing games, so it will very likely be okay if AMD releases later.

And it's certainly not as if we'll see a HUGE performance boost right away anyway. My guess is, that there will be a lot of optimization in the engines and drivers over the coming year, as it has been with DirectX12 where certain driver releases pushed performance of some games for up to almost 50 %.


Last edited by STiAT on 17 February 2016 at 10:43 am UTC

I really do hope this doesn't turn into OpenGL all over again with such extensions, but only time will tell.

Oh, that we'll certainly see. The same as the windows drivers offer features not being in DirectX (in example the NVidia HarWorks). That are selling points for the hardware vendors, patented things to get into games, make games look better on their hardware and getting their logo into the loading screens.

Nvidia HairWorks aren't drivers, but shader libraries which offer developers not to write their own libraries for drawing fur/hair (in this case). They are optimized and generate code which works perfectly with Nvidia drivers...big surprise.

AMD did a write thing starting their own libraries and open sourcing them (they are now compatible with DirectX, but I expect OpenGL/Vulkan variants to land sooner or later). In long term I see more usefulness from such software, as being open source encourages developers to share and improve such relatively generic techniques used by everyone. Nvidia however have complete devs attention at this moment, and when devs want to cut corners, obviously Nvidia deals are very tempting. AMD have lot of homework to do before fortune turns to their side.


Last edited by Pecisk on 17 February 2016 at 10:50 am UTC

And this is why when I buy the wife and I new laptops in a couple of months, I will go out of my way to get something with an NVIDIA graphics card... It's a little more expensive (okay, a lot more expensive...), but thus far AMD's support of Linux graphics cards has been appalling (all of the laptops we've had over the last fifteen years or so have had AMD graphics cards), and the fact that they can't get their s#&t in one sock to be ready for the Vulkan launch is just ridiculous!

NVIDIA's (official) drivers may be proprietary - but at least they're putting effort into making the Linux experience a better one!

I um-ed and ah-ed about going AMD again because it's so much cheaper and we're on a pretty tight budget... But we've given AMD a second chance, and a third, forth, fifth and sixth - it's time to look to a company that actually appreciates Linux-based operating systems.

Can you AMD supporters cut the drama for once? When AMD gets criticized objectively for having performance issues, it's Nvidia who's guilty (and sometime it is, but not for everything). Now AMD is bad because they take their time with getting their own turf in order.

It's tiresome.

I think you've got the wrong idea about my post. My sole issue right now is with AMD, not with Nvidia. With AMD not being here right now, despite saying they would have a day-one proprietary driver for Linux yet not delivering showcases they have not put any plans into motion with a proper deadline.

We now have only Nvidia and Intel with Vulkan drivers for Linux. Guess what that means? Developers targeting our platforms will only test on those hardware. This time AMD itself is the one that has put itself outside of developers reach without a doubt. Several months down the line, everyone will be prepped for support for Nvidia and Intel on Linux, but not AMD. Time matters here.

This excuse about always giving AMD time is one that I've heard for the past eight years. No more.

It truly is shameful that AMD's code is in the heart of Vulkan but, as expected, they're not ready with the driver.

Here it's estimated as "a number of weeks". No idea what that calculation is based on though.


Last edited by Shmerl on 18 February 2016 at 10:57 pm UTC

I think you've got the wrong idea about my post. My sole issue right now is with AMD, not with Nvidia. With AMD not being here right now, despite saying they would have a day-one proprietary driver for Linux yet not delivering showcases they have not put any plans into motion with a proper deadline.

Hi Sabun,

Just curious, when/where did we say that we would have a day-one proprietary driver with Linux ?

Thanks,
John