Valve developers have done a lot of work over the years to improve AMD GPUs on Linux, and continue to do so with the Steam Deck using AMD and it seems like they're now getting stuck into NVIDIA too.
Specifically for NVK, the open source Vulkan NVIDIA driver in Mesa which has seen a lot of focus recently on bringing up performance. Now though it's getting improved so that Gamescope can properly run on it too, which will be really useful.
Posting on X (formerly Twitter) Valve developer Pierre-Loup Griffais mentioned:
The two patches noted from developer Mohamed Ahmed are a Mesa Merge Request for get the Vulkan extensions VK_EXT_image_drm_format_modifier support hooked up. And then a change for Nouveau that notes it "Allows PTE kind and tile mode on BO create with VM_BIND, as well as adds a GETPARAM to indicate this change. This is needed to support modifiers in NVK and ensure correctness when dealing with the nouveau GL driver."
Bigger version of the attached image from the post above:
pleasereadthemanual May 6
NathanaelKStottlemyer May 6
Quoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerWait. Why? Is valve...? Why are they doing this? Is something with nvidia in the works or is it steamos?
They do fix things up for Intel and Nvidia also, the main focus originally was on AMd hardware for obvious reasons but it makes sense to get it working on as much hardware as possible, especially if they eventually release SteamOS for general use. I think I read recently Nvidia are looking to support NVK more going forward.
Last edited by lejimster on 6 May 2024 at 1:58 pm UTC
Quoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerWait. Why? Is valve...? Why are they doing this? Is something with nvidia in the works or is it steamos?Flirting with Nvidia to keep AMD on their toes?
Quoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerWait. Why? Is valve...? Why are they doing this? Is something with nvidia in the works or is it steamos?
I'm guessing since steam has become one of the defacto game store platforms and the steamdeck is working at some point they will want to expand their footprint. If they release an open source OS that can run on a ton of hardware they can become the Google + Android bundle of the gaming community. I mean think about it, almost every game ends up on steam now unless it's console only. On top of that every sale nets valve a commission, the more hardware their software works with the more cash they make.
As a boon everyone is sick of advertisements and M$ now wants to put junk on their os so people are switching to Linux or contemplating it. First guy to the party with the solution usually wins unless they get greedy and anger the people using it.
Quoting: whizseQuoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerWait. Why? Is valve...? Why are they doing this? Is something with nvidia in the works or is it steamos?Flirting with Nvidia to keep AMD on their toes?
Could be. I'm sure Valve would like to have options for any future hardware developments.
Quoting: NathanaelKStottlemyerWait. Why? Is valve...? Why are they doing this? Is something with nvidia in the works or is it steamos?Why not? They want Linux to be a viable platform, and most Steam users have an Nvidia GPU by a huge margin. Open source allows them to improve things directly. They poached Pierre-Loup Griffais from the Nvidia Linux driver team, so it's not like they don't have the expertise.
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