New video driver for Asahi with Apple Silicon M1/M2

Sunspark

For those of you who don't already know, Asahi is a Linux distro with a Fedora base that runs in a separate partition on Apple silicon and is easy to install.

There is a new video driver that has started supporting games. It's OpenCL conformant, Vulkan, OpenGL, etc.

https://asahilinux.org/2024/10/aaa-gaming-on-asahi-linux/

Might be worth taking a look at it if you have a M1/M2 CPU.

WhisperingWind

Sunspark

I installed Asahi Linux earlier, and it has dithering, which can be turned off in macOS using Stillcolor. After a brief look at the Apple Silicon kernel module code, I didn't find any reference to dithering. As a result, addressing this issue requires reverse engineering the related functionality in macOS, which could be quite challenging.

Sunspark

Interesting, it sounds like you're saying that the issue is deeper than the software level.

I wonder if they can be communicated with on this.. maybe they know something that they just haven't seen fit to focus on yet.

But otherwise, the performance was ok?

WhisperingWind

I read a thread on Reddit where someone from the Asahi Linux community asked about dithering. To my surprise, they received a rather rude response from one of the OS developers: https://www.reddit.com/r/AsahiLinux/comments/18uhy37/disable_temporal_dithering/

But otherwise, the performance was ok?

I worked in the OS for a couple of hours and didn't notice any problems. However, I didn't run anything resource-intensive.

Interesting, it sounds like you're saying that the issue is deeper than the software level.

I think that at the kernel level, communication with the video controller is needed (this is just a hypothesis, I don't have exact knowledge about this) to disable dithering, which is enabled by default.

JTL

WhisperingWind I think that at the kernel level, communication with the video controller is needed (this is just a hypothesis, I don't have exact knowledge about this) to disable dithering, which is enabled by default.

I don't know specifically about dithering, but many functions related to display output are offloaded to an external chip known as the DCP, and I think the OS driver just sets certain registers, otherwise it is seemingly opaque to the running OS.

JTL

WhisperingWind I read a thread on Reddit where someone from the Asahi Linux community asked about dithering. To my surprise, they received a rather rude response from one of the OS developers

Not criticizing anyone specifically, but as I've alluded to in the past, good luck having anyone at "big tech companies" involved with research and development of products to care about this issue unless they're either really bored and have nothing else to do (lol), they experience it themselves and need a solution OR you have empirical evidence of the "cause and effect" that can be quantified. Realistically I think to get any traction regarding this issue we need the latter alongside the right connections (in terms of people), and not relying on vague "feelings" without the unclear "cause and effect" which leads to this issue being dismissed out of hand. This is an open source project but I think the same analogy applies here.

WhisperingWind

JTL

Unfortunately, this is true not only for big tech companies but also for some small businesses. Since money is made from the larger part of the audience, the smaller part is usually ignored because its contribution to the overall profit increase is insignificant, while the time costs can be substantial.

I can say from experience that when a new feature is proposed for development, the first question from stakeholders is: what is the audience reach and how much money will it bring in?

This is an open source project but I think the same analogy applies here.

In projects where the product is offered for free, the time and resources spent on development can indeed be viewed as a cost. However, these projects often have different goals and revenue models compared to traditional businesses. But minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency are common goals in any organization. Usually, a larger audience reach leads to greater efficiency. From this point of view, similar projects can also be incorporated into the "commercial model".

JTL

WhisperingWind In projects where the product is offered for free, the time and resources spent on development can indeed be viewed as a cost. However, these projects often have different goals and revenue models compared to traditional businesses. But minimizing costs and maximizing efficiency are common goals in any organization. Usually, a larger audience reach leads to greater efficiency. From this point of view, similar projects can also be incorporated into the "commercial model".

Agreed. So if you want any hope of potential progress, figure how to quantify what is wrong, find a sympathetic ear of someone who is either involved with the project or understands the underlying technical issues, and collaborate with them. Never said this was going to be easy.

bluetail

I did talk with marcan about this, since my screens connected to the m1 mac look horrible.
He wanted evidence, which I couldn't provide.
Lossless capture card, macro-lens […]

It feels like:
Fine grained net all over, little dots everywhere (similar to those printed gigantic posters but you see dots up close)
When moving the head, the feeling of vertical bars is there.

I cannot remember that any macOS version did properly handle this.
I think, the issue is that my Display receives a Signal of lesser inherent Qualities.

In any case, I have seen this in ARM based architectures.
E.g Raspberry Pi 4.

I have only a guess - which is that this is a GPU based difference.
remember https://www.eizoglobal.com/support/compatibility/pc/mac/apple-m1/

By now I have shipped my m1 mac for a sale inquiry to get money.