Linux Kernel and Graphics Work: Booting, Zink, and PanCSF
-
Boot time: choose your kernel loading address carefully
When the compressed and uncompressed kernel images overlap At least on ARM32, there seems to be many working addresses where the compressed kernel can be loaded in RAM.
-
Mike Blumenkrantz: Buffered
Convenience
A lot has been made of VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer, also known as “sane descriptor handling”. It’s an extension that revolutionizes how descriptors can be managed not only in brevity of code but in performance.
That’s why
ZINK_DESCRIPTORS=db
is now the default wherever it’s supported.Gains
But what does this gain zink (and other users), other than being completely undebuggable if anything were to break*?
* It won’t, trust me.One nicety of descriptor buffers is performance. By swapping out descriptor templates for buffers, it removes a layer of indirection from the descriptor update path, which reduces CPU overhead by a small amount. By avoiding the need to bind different descriptor sets, GPU synchronization can also be reduced.
In zink terms, you’ll likely notice a small FPS increase in cases that were extremely CPU-bound (e.g., Tomb Raider).
-
PanCSF: A new DRM driver for Mali CSF-based GPUs
A look into the new job-scheduling model with Mali GPUs, their support in the new PanCSF DRM driver, and what it means as the rest of the ecosystem also moves to firmware-assisted scheduling.
Update:
-
X-Plane 12 now uses the open source Zink driver to help Plugins
Well, this is certainly fun to see. X-Plane 12 now makes use of the open source Zink driver, for doing OpenGL over Vulkan.
As Zink developer Mike Blumenkrantz mentioned in their blog post "Zink has been commercialized" and they sound very happy about that. Zink is now a driver that "runs real games in production for real, existing people". A pretty impressive milestone for the project.
Original:
-
Mike Blumenkrantz: Monumental
[AIRPLANE NOISES]
It finally happened.
Zink has been commercialized.
What does this mean, you ask? Well, look no further than this juicy X-Plane announcement.
That’s right, after months and decades of waiting, the testing and debugging is over, and Zink is now a gaming driver that runs real games in production for real, existing people. Who play games. At full speed.