cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Archives Discussions

dr_mario
Journeyman III

Android x86 GPU driver legality and general porting questions

Ever since I tried Android x86 operating system (from android-x86.org), there is a problem with it working on GCN-based video cards, I figured I am on my own in this regard (already downloading the source code - it's MASSIVE), so I'd probably have to package up the proprietary GPU driver (in this case AMD Catalyst 15.7) as a last resort since Gallium-r600g has problem with GCN cards (as in BAD graphics lags, the OS itself wasn't particularly responsive either so different driver is necessary - my workstation has Radeon R9-270 video card, by the way). As for legality question, would it be okay if it's for private use (it stays on my computer) as per agreements? Or is there a catch?

Nevertheless, if it's okay to port this driver into the alternative Linux distro (eg. Android x86 - in this case, Android-x64 Lollipop 5.1.1), I should add new configuration file for Linux userland services like with other drivers such as Gallium and Nouveau, correct?

0 Likes
1 Solution
jtrudeau
Staff

Welcome dr.mario​, you've been white listed.

I don't know that I can answer the specific question. I recommend you read the license. We're not lawyers here. Having said that.... my __opinions__ based on my reading.

I'm not sure what you mean by "package up" the Catalyst driver. If you mean redistribute it, that violates the license, which says "You may not:... distribute, publish" etc.

Being proprietary, you cannot reverse engineer, decompile, etc. So IMHO you cannot port the Catalyst driver.

Using it for your own purposes on your own machine,  typically that's fine. That's what we provide it for - your personal use on AMD hardware. But, read the license.

Hope this helps.

View solution in original post

0 Likes
2 Replies
jtrudeau
Staff

Welcome dr.mario​, you've been white listed.

I don't know that I can answer the specific question. I recommend you read the license. We're not lawyers here. Having said that.... my __opinions__ based on my reading.

I'm not sure what you mean by "package up" the Catalyst driver. If you mean redistribute it, that violates the license, which says "You may not:... distribute, publish" etc.

Being proprietary, you cannot reverse engineer, decompile, etc. So IMHO you cannot port the Catalyst driver.

Using it for your own purposes on your own machine,  typically that's fine. That's what we provide it for - your personal use on AMD hardware. But, read the license.

Hope this helps.

0 Likes

Thanks, that was the answer I was looking for, I understand the license restriction, it's for private use (eg. Android app development and test, and OpenCL app analysis). I'd have to find FOSS driver which works the best with GCN shaders (ie. the Gallium driver expect in-order graphics shaders, so it's more of lagfest on the recent card) if it's more of a public release due to restrictions outlined in the agreement. Also, I'd not modify the source codes of the driver itself, it'd cause problems, instead add the configuration file to bind the blob files during compilation, like usual with other Linux distro.

0 Likes