Linux Kernel and Linux Foundation
-
Alyssa Rosenzweig: Dissecting the Apple M1 GPU, part II
The bulk of the new code is responsible for constructing the various command buffers and descriptors resident in shared memory, used to control the GPU’s behaviour. Any state accessible from Metal corresponds to bits in these buffers, so understanding them will be the next major task. So far, I have focused less on the content and more on the connections between them. In particular, the structures contain pointers to one another, sometimes nested multiple layers deep. The bring-up process for the project’s triangle provides a bird’s eye view of how all these disparate pieces in memory fit together.
As an example, the application-provided vertex data are in their own buffers. An internal table in yet another buffer points each of these vertex buffers. That internal table is passed directly as input to the vertex shader, specified in another buffer. That description of the vertex shader, including the address of the code in executable memory, is pointed to by another buffer, itself referenced from the main command buffer, which is referenced by a handle in the IOKit call to submit a command buffer. Whew!
In other words, the demo code is not yet intended to demonstrate an understanding of the fine-grained details of the command buffers, but rather to demonstrate there is “nothing missing”. Since GPU virtual addresses change from run to run, the demo validates that all of the pointers required are identified and can be relocated freely in memory using our own (trivial) allocator. As there is a bit of “magic” around memory and command buffer allocation on macOS, having this code working at an early stage gives peace of mind going forward.
-
Apple M1 Open-Source GPU Bring-Up Sees An Early Triangle
The open-source/Linux Apple M1 work continues to be quite busy this week... The latest is Alyssa Rosenzweig who has been working on reverse-engineering the M1 graphics processor has been able to write some early and primitive code for rendering a triangle.
Alyssa Rosenzweig of Panfrost fame has been working to reverse engineer the Apple M1 graphics as part of the Asahi Linux effort with developer Marcan.
-
Linux 5.12 Set To See Support For The Nintendo 64 - Phoronix
It's taken nearly twenty five years but the mainline Linux kernel this year will be able to boot on the Nintendo 64 game console... It's looking like the Nintendo 64 support will be merged with the upcoming Linux 5.12 kernel.
Back on Christmas we wrote about a new Linux kernel port to the Nintendo 64. The port was done by longtime open-source developer Lauri Kasanen and done for his own personal satisfaction with being unsure if there would be any interest in having the code upstreamed into the Linux kernel.
-
Implementing a performance boosting algorithm in Coccinelle
Last year, from June to September, I worked on the kernel development tool Coccinelle under Collabora. I implemented a performance boosting algorithm for one of Coccinelle's use cases. Here's a look at this work.
What is Coccinelle?
Coccinelle is a tool used to refactor C source code. It's used for development in the Linux Kernel. You write an abstract patch (called a Semantic patch in Coccinelle terms), basically to remove a few lines of code and add some, to make a tree-wide change.
-
Blacks In Technology Partners With The Linux Foundation To Offer $100,000 Worth Of Scholarships
-
Linux Foundation Launches Open Source Management Training Series
The training courses are aimed at helping executives, managers, and software developers “understand and articulate the basic concepts for building effective open source practices within their organization. It is also helpful for a leadership audience responsible for setting up effective program management of open source in their organization,” the website states.
- Login or register to post comments
- Printer-friendly version
- 2664 reads
- PDF version
More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
digiKam 7.7.0 is releasedAfter three months of active maintenance and another bug triage, the digiKam team is proud to present version 7.7.0 of its open source digital photo manager. See below the list of most important features coming with this release. |
Dilution and Misuse of the "Linux" Brand
|
Samsung, Red Hat to Work on Linux Drivers for Future TechThe metaverse is expected to uproot system design as we know it, and Samsung is one of many hardware vendors re-imagining data center infrastructure in preparation for a parallel 3D world. Samsung is working on new memory technologies that provide faster bandwidth inside hardware for data to travel between CPUs, storage and other computing resources. The company also announced it was partnering with Red Hat to ensure these technologies have Linux compatibility. |
today's howtos
|
On scholarships...
Linux Foundation and Blacks In Technology Foundation open up 200 scholarships for open-source certifications