GMA 3650 aka. PowerVR sgx545 and Linux

[idata]

Hello,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems there is absolutely no support for Intel GMA 3650 chipsets on Linux ?

There's a lot of similarities with the GMA500 case, a few years ago for which there is still only very poor

drivers under Linux. The GMA500 was also a chipset from PowerVR painted with Intel colors.

Will it be the same fiasco with this GMA series ?

Or maybe I missed something ?

By the way, I tryed to ask the developpers of PowerVR drivers and they told me to ask Intel support.

[idata]

It's really good that there is a MeeGo/Yocto driver for sgx545, that means Intel is very close to satisfy all Linux users and enable this fantastic hardware be used with no OS boundaries.

The reason why this driver doesn't solve the problem is that extracting it from MeeGo/Yocto doesn't make it work in other Linux distributions (not because Linux is bad, but due to the fact that it's strictly aligned with MeeGo's kernel and Xorg versions). In this form it's unusable outside MeeGo/Yocto.

It seems really like a few steps forward and we all are happy sgx545 users.

[powerarmour]

Thanks ARabbani for pointing out the obvious, much appreciated...

[idata]

@INTEL: I really feel ashamed of choosing to use cedar trail. I was very happy to get cedar trail netbook which could play even 1080p videos and consumed so less power as a reward in an Olympiad. If i had known that cedar trail doesn't have linux drivers, I'd have chosen not to accept the Prize and would have bought a tablet instead of using this useless piece of brick. Is it necessary to use closed source software to enjoy 1080p video? the answer is no. I'd have better chosen and ARM powered tablet or even AMD powered cheap laptops. I am even planning to throw away this brick for whatever price i get, IF YOU DON'T PROVIDE FULL LINUX GRAPHICS SUPPORT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE and buy a tablet made by a local company which at least runs android and has Mali-400 GPU. At least i don't have to worry about 1080p playback. And it also sports Android 4.0.3 which is really good.

[idata]

Utkarsh Anand wrote:

I am even planning to throw away this brick for whatever price i get, IF YOU DON'T PROVIDE FULL LINUX GRAPHICS SUPPORT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

I'm afraid this kind of blackmail won't work 😉 However I understand your frustration. But on the other hand, why don't you use MeeGo? It's netbook, not a media center after all.

[idata]

We are using MeeGo as a last resort.... But having this driver in open-source lets us choose the linux distro we want. You guys are taking away our ability to choose.

[idata]

Come on Intel - fix this already!

I thought you had improved your linux driver handling after the gma 500 failure. Apparently not. By the looks of the lack of replies from Intel reps here I guess the only user feedback that will help is to make sure not to buy intel products in the future.

For others who plan to run Ubuntu on a computer with GMA 3650 then do check out this thread for updates

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1953734 http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1953734

[powerarmour]

Great to see the effort that's already being put into Ubuntu and the upstream Linux Kernel, and we shouldn't be too far away from some sort of decent working 2D driver hopefully.

But it would be nice if Intel commented themselves, it's all well and good burying heads in the sands in the hopes that over time the problem will go away, but it's us users yet again that have been given the shaft when it comes to support for PowerVR based hardware. Even a 'Yes we are listening, but no support, because we can't be bothered' would actually help in some ways, at least then folks would know where they stand.

Wouldn't be the ideal solution for customers though, once bitten (GMA 500), twice shy (GMA 3600/3650), three times never...

[idata]

I bought a Intel desktop board DN2800MT which has the atom n2800 chip and GMA3650/PowerVR sgx545 graphics, I am terribly disappointed that no proper linux drivers are readily available.

Having been a loyal buyer of intel products, this shakes my confidence in Intel and it's brands and will force me to look for products comparable to intel that do support linux. The leading chip maker in the world can't put pressure on their suppliers (PowerVR) to provide a driver for linux? Come on!

Pissed off customer!

Sly

[idata]

Same situation : I bought the DN2800MT to make a mini-itx HTPC without graphic card, on linux. I thought Intel was good with drivers for linux, but on this GMA 3600/3650, you are really bad.

[idata]

I wish I would have read this before I ordered a D2700DC motherboard. I feel like I've got egg on my face now. I guess this is what refunds are for.

[idata]

@ 1st. I have don´t know what a sh~~t this D2700DC is. I have buy it because i have @ last update from Laptop 4GB Ram / 320 GB HD + 4 GB SSD Mini PCi-E . ok it´s cheap and the Performance @ 10W from Dualcore Atom let me Think to build a "Windows 8 Social/Media-Center" Touch-Display @ Wall and HDMI to TV- You can Use the System and make the Kino on TV-Screen.

BUT THERE IS NO WIN 8 Driver

(Windows 8 works fine but no Display driver)

- Windows 7 X64 no Support

- Windows 7 x32 Grafik-trouble YOU NOW.

The Grafik-Chip Inside ist from PowerVR MBX family graphics from 2004 !!!

Sorry Intel this Board is trash. if i build a car with Power from Porsche we don´t make Weels from a

carriage.

We need now better Driver to care the Power from CPU to GPU.

Sorry for my English, have a nice Day from Germany.

on this

[idata]

jose Kiefer wrote:

BUT THERE IS NO WIN 8 Driver

(Windows 8 works fine but no Display driver)

Sorry, this thread is about Linux support, not Windows one. I'm sure it's just a matter of time when Win8 is supported, contrary to Linux.

Intel, come on, please respond, anything. Respect your customers who are not worse than ones who use Windows. Or you really think they are? I know Intel reps read this thread, why do you show us the middle finger?

[idata]

I seriously start to doubt that...Intel GMA 3600 with drivers only for Win 7 and even in Windows 7 they dont work decently....soooo do you really think Win Xp drivers will come good? Even Win8...LET ALONE linux...

[powerarmour]

Tomek wrote:

I know Intel reps read this thread, why do you show us the middle finger?

It appears so.

[idata]

I am totally not satisfied with Power SGX545. Intel needs to stop ignoring us and focus on their community.

[idata]

I am waiting for Intel to release the Linux driver for the GMA 3600.

[idata]

It looks like there will be no Linux support for GMA 3600. Rumor has it, the Cedar Trail chip is phased out:

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-cedarview-atom-d2700-processor,15516.html http://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-cedarview-atom-d2700-processor,15516.html

Meanwhile, there is another interesting rumor about yet another famous market player loosing a huge chip order for no Linux support:

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTEyNTE http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTEyNTE

Perhaps Intel should look and learn some lessons, at least for a future version of their Atom (or whatever) chip.

[powerarmour]

drifter wrote:

...the Cedar Trail chip is phased out

But not yet, not this year anyway, Valley View is unlikely to be ready before 2013. So there is a good 6 months left yet for Intel to keep burying their heads in the sand regarding Cedar Trail Linux support.

[idata]

I owned an Intel D2700MUD board, so I know what I am talking about: It was Cedartrail, but it had no frequency ladder support and ran full tilt all the Time. So, it definitely needed a fan. This Cedartrail board that I am using to write this reply has a working frequency ladder and idles at 798 megacycles per second when not doing full-screen video, meaning, much, much cooler.

[idata]

There may be hope: http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/hard-news-10026461/asus-loads-linux-on-new-eeepc-10026497/ http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/hard-news-10026461/asus-loads-linux-on-new-eeepc-10026497/

"Asus are about to launch an 11.6" screen notebook loaded with Ubuntu 12.04. Part of the continuance of the popular EeePC line, the 1225C uses the latest generation dual core Intel Cedar Trail mobile processor and will be available with either a 1.6 Ghz N2600 or a 1.86 Ghz N2800 cpu,"

I don't think Asus would release a Linux notebook with crippled Cedar Trail CPUs, so it may pressure Intel to supply a Linux driver, or even develop a drive in-house. Let us pray.

[idata]

There is an alternative: Download MeeGo, store its file system somewhere as an archive, and copy out the kernel, modules, xorg, and associated powervr libraries into a compatible Linux system like slackware and possibly Ubuntu, which has been known to start up with a foreign kernel without crashing.