Intel Linux Graphics

Intel 2011Q4 graphics package provides open source graphics drivers for the masses.

Features:

• Components:
• Kernel: Linux 3.1 release
• 3D driver: mesa 7.11.2 release
• 2D driver: xf86-video-intel 2.17.0 release
• Libdrm: libdrm-2.4.27 release
• Libva: libva-1.0.15 release
• Vaapi-driver-intel: vaapi-driver-intel-1.0.15 release
• (xserver-1.11.1 is tested with this stack)
• Kernel:
• Frame Buffer Compression is now enabled for Gen6 onwards (in other words, starting with Sandy Bridge). It can be enabled manually on other graphics cards by using the i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 kernel parameter.
• RC6 is disabled by default on all generations of graphics cards, and can be enabled via the i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 kernel parameter. Enablement of rc6 results in significant power usage improvements. The drawbacks are occasional stability issues on some systems with VTd enabled.
• Semaphores are not enabled by default on all generation of graphics cards. Enablement of semaphores solves several stability issues on Ivy Bridge graphics cards, such as GPU hangs, and improved stability and performance on Sandy Bridge generation of graphics cards. The drawbacks are occasional stability issues on some systems with VTd enabled. Semaphores can be enabled manualy via the i915.semaphores=1 kernel parameter.
• Significant performance improvements are expected due to usage of LLC cache for Sandy Bridge and newer graphics cards.
• Additional debugging and fine-tuning variables exposed in the debugfs.
• Improved support for Display Port, HDMI, LVDS and SDVO outputs.
• 3D Driver:
• Stability and performance fixes, such as GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge in OpenArena, GPU hangs in Civilization 4, PlaneShift, Minecraft, Neverwinter Nights, 3DMMES, fixed skybox errors in Quake4 and FEAR on Gen5 architecture onwards, improved compliance with conformance tests
• improved GLES v1 support, full compliance with GLES v2 on Sandy Bridge architecture.
• improved support for separate stencil buffers handling and EGL support on Ivy Bridge architecture.
• Additionally, several GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge generation of cards were related to the enablement of semaphores in kernel driver. Please make sure that you use i915.semaphores=1 kernel parameter if you observe GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge.
• 2D Driver:
• Stability fixes for UXA backend, such as GPU hangs on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, proper pixmap allocation for XV, fixes for text rendering issues, fix for video rendering issues.
• Many improvements in the SNA backend. Note that SNA backend is still considered experimental.
• Misc stability fixes.
• Libdrm:
• API changes required by Mesa master.
• Misc fixes.
• Libva and vaapi-driver-intel:
• Intel driver for VAAPI was split and moved into its own repository (vaapi/intel-driver).
• Fixes for VC-1 and MPEG2 decoding.
• Misc fixes.
• Major known issues:
• S4 suspend-resume may fail on some machines unless 'nomodeset' kernel parameter is used (bug#35648, bug#40241)
• Ivy Bridge: "missed IRQ" appears in many tests (bug#38862)
• GPU hangs for some 3D games unless 'i915.semaphores=1' kernel parameter is used (bug#42696, bug#40564, bug#41353)
• eDP connectivity presents some issues on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge platforms (bug#38527, bug#41991) Those issues should be fixed with the release of Linux Kernel 3.2.
• Validation hardware:
• This release was validated on the following hardware, and part of the test results are published at here...
• Ivy Bridge
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 3000 (Core i7 2720QM, Core i7 2630QM, Core i5 2520M, Core i5 2500K)
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 2000 (Core i7 2600)
• Intel0 HD Graphics (Core i5 670, Core i5 520M)
• GMA 3150 (Atom N450)
• GM45
• G45
• GM965
• G33

What is new in this release:

• RC6 support for Sandy Bridge and Ivy bridge, support for Ivy Bridge GT2 server, general performance improvements and many bug fixes. Experimental support for the new SNA and Glamor 2D acceleration architectures.
• Kernel:
• RC6 support is enabled by default on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, which will result in power savings and some performance improvements.
• Ivy Bridge GT2 server is now supported by the driver.
• Many bug fixes in the display code.
• Support for more video modes, including interlaced modes.
• General performance improvements.
• 2D Driver:
• Many bug fixes and stability improvements.
• Optional support for the new SNA and Glamor acceleration architectures. SNA is a continuation of the traditional model and tries to exploit the full limits of the available hardware, allowing great performance improvements. Glamor is an alternative that implements the 2D functionality using the OpenGL 3D library. Support for these new architectures is still considered experimental, so they need to be compiled and enabled through the xorg.conf option "AccelMethod".
• 3D Driver:
• The Mesa driver includes a big number of bug fixes, resulting in stability improvements for the OpenGL 3.0 support added in the previous release.
• Major known issues:
• It is known that some of the new video modes supported might not work on some monitors.
• Validation hardware:
• This release was validated on the following hardware, and part of the test results are published at here:
• Ivy Bridge HD Graphics 4000 (Core i7 3770K)
• Ivy Bridge HD Graphics 2500 (Core i5 3550)
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 3000 (Core i7 2720QM, Core i7 2630QM, Core i7 2600K, Core i5 2500K)
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 2000 (Core i7 2400S)
• Intel0 HD Graphics (Core i5 670, Core i5 520M)
• GMA 3150 (Atom N450)
• GM45
• G45
• GM965
• G33