MX Linux Forum

We're adding Mesa 19.2.1, libva 2.5.0, and updated xorg Intel and AMD video drivers to the test repo in an effort to support the newer hardware that's coming out. Since that has broken hardware va-api video acceleration in the past, I've also rebuilt ffmpeg 4.2.1, mpv, VLC, Kodi, QMPlay2, and a new Handbrake 1.3.0 for the test repo against these newer libraries to keep va-api working, and it's been successful in preserving va-api on my systems. So if mpv, VLC, and the others are already working just fine for you already, there is little reason to upgrade to the test repo version, since they are basically the same releases.

Stevo wrote: Thu Nov 14, 2019 4:08 pm We're adding Mesa 19.2.1, libva 2.5.0, and updated xorg Intel and AMD video drivers to the test repo in an effort to support the newer hardware that's coming out. Since that has broken hardware va-api video acceleration in the past, I've also rebuilt ffmpeg 4.2.1, mpv, VLC, Kodi, QMPlay2, and a new Handbrake 1.3.0 for the test repo against these newer libraries to keep va-api working, and it's been successful in preserving va-api on my systems. So if mpv, VLC, and the others are already working just fine for you already, there is little reason to upgrade to the test repo version, since they are basically the same releases.

if I update MESA, will the other automatically update or do I need to update t hem manually?

Good question! I sidestepped that by just putting all the debs I had built into my local-apt-repository and then updating and upgrading with MX Updater.

My belief is that since the main repo ffmpeg, vlc, mpv, etc. depend on Mesa versions that are ">=", a new Mesa would not pull in a newer libva and the multimedia players. Maybe va-api will keep working if all you upgrade is Mesa, but I think the newer libva also supports newer hardware, and that meant rebuilding all those players to keep it working.

But I think that if you upgrade the players, they will pull in the newer libraries

I'll have to do some testing in Virtual Box to test what gets pulled in. I can't test va-api there, and I'm not also sure if the Mesa i386 libraries will get updated on amd64 if you have those installed for Wine or Steam support. They did from my local-apt-repo, but that doesn't block automatic upgrades like the test repo.

how can I tell if the va-api acceleration is broken?

edit: ok I think i figured it out. working here before I updated libva and vlc. not sure about ffmpeg

@Stevo

The GOD of shader compilers known as ACO shader compiler for Linux has gotten quite stable lately. Any chance we can get MESA-ACO in the MX repositories as well please? The reviews are showing a HUGE performance improvement.

Wow, this is awesome. Been running a new Ryzen 3600 on MX since July (beautifully), but have been biding my time on the possibility of a Navi addition -- this opens the door quite a bit wider. MESA-ACO would be incredible.

Can you guys provide some links on this and how to enable it for Debian builds?

We are moving the newer driver stack and players built against it to a new section in the main repo, but don't enable it just yet until we finish testing it.

It might be a tad too early for ACO in the package manager, but I really wouldn't know, lol.

ACO will be the standard Amd shader COmpiler (is that why its called ACO?) in mesa within a few months though.

So, I was just thinking that for the few of us experimenting with mesa-aco that it would be nice to see it as something we can install via the package manager as opposed to using PPA's such as Ernst Sjöstrands PPA via Launchpad. It is expected that Valves ACO compiler could make Windows games run better on Linux than it does on Windows and that would drastically change the landscape for Linux as a whole. In fact, in the next year or two I suspect Linux will experience a influx of millions of users all thanks to ACO and with even better GPU drivers on Linux. It's the whole reason I am here trying to learn Linux gaming and to get an early start on the movement, although I feel very late.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/ ... rged.15048
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= ... s-RADV-ACO

Here was Valves announcement posted back in July of this year asking us to help test it. https://steamcommunity.com/games/221410 ... 9636894200

I wouldn't know what other links to provide to be honest. But I do believe you have to have mesa 19.3 and above for ACO to work, or something along those lines. All I'm asking is for the MX developers to become aware of it please and to consider making it easier for us newbies to MX to be able to install it. Thank you for the consideration.

EDIT: More links I just found.
https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/mesa-aco-git
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= ... -okt&num=1
https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gaming/c ... _mesa_aco/
https://github.com/daniel-schuermann/mesa

Per this article Valve's ACO, wich stands for AMD COmpiler, was merged into MESA 19.3 in September, and 19.3 will be released as stable in December, so I think you guys are a bit premature. After MESA 19.3 is available and stable would be a better time to ask about the possibility of adding it to one of the MX repos. (Remember too, the packaging team is still catching up on adding missing and requested packages to the MX-19 repos as 19 was released only a month ago.)

Yeah, that's why I said it might be too early as well. BUT with that said, it is and has been extremely stable and been ready for consumers since September. So it is not too early for us consumers to test as it stands. I would like to test it, but I don't know how to install it outside of the Package Manager myself.

https://youtu.be/fm_mzPBnWB0

I just tried upgrading Handbrake through MXPI to the testing version 1.3. That was a road to nowhere, says I already have the newest version 1.2.2 in the console output and MXPI still lists Handbrake as upgradeable.

OK, scratch that. I rebooted the VM i was using to test the installation and it failed to run any of the packaging tools. I used the terminal to see what was causing it, sudo synaptic and it gave me a xapian::DatabaseCorruptError message, so I rebuilt the xapian database and all the package installers opened fine. Update came in for MXPI package list, ran and updated handbrake just fine.

Had I jumped the gun or was the xapian database at fault? I guess it was the xapian database because the VM was quite sluggish, taking far too long to complete the install process, but after the reboot, fix update and subsequent upgrade, I guess I'll never know.

We put the 1.3.0 Handbrake I built against vanilla Buster in the test repo, and then another build I did against the "AHS" updates in the "ahs" section, in an effort to avoid breaking its va-pai hardware acceleration, which is rather fragile. So if you have left the new "ahs" section enabled, which which is what I would do if you've added it and upgraded everything from it already, it should show up as "handbrake_1.3.0-1~mx19+2ahs".
We're already getting requests to do further updates of Mesa and friends in that section, but I'm going to hold off for at least a couple weeks, or perhaps put those in the test repo instead.

I realize I didn't announce here about the new "ahs" section that we moved the new mesa and friends to (Advanced Hardware Support) to make them easier to upgrade. You just need to add that "ahs" (no quotes) to the main MX repo URL in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list file, after the "non-free", either in a GUI like Synaptic or manually, such as
update apt, then check out the upgrades.

Since they seem to be working well, eventually those or newer versions will be default for a MX 19 point release, and we can still put new builds in the test repo before moving them to ahs.

Stevo wrote: Mon Nov 25, 2019 4:33 pm I realize I didn't announce here about the new "ahs" section that we moved the new mesa and friends to (Advanced Hardware Support) to make them easier to upgrade. You just need to add that "ahs" (no quotes) to the main MX repo URL in the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list file, after the "non-free", either in a GUI like Synaptic or manually, such as

Code: Select all

sudo fpad /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list

update apt, then check out the upgrades.

Since they seem to be working well, eventually those or newer versions will be default for a MX 19 point release, and we can still put new builds in the test repo before moving them to ahs.

An mx-system upgrade I had a couple days ago added lines to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list for the "ahs" repo (commented out though)
You can enable it using MX Repo Manager or Synaptic.

Thanks, I didn't check that. 64-bit users that want to test them out in a Live session can check out the respin I did with those packages and the backported Debian 5.3.9 kernel here: https://archive.org/details/mx19x64updated

though the ahs section didn't exist at the time.