Raspberry Pi 4 takes a trip to Vulkan, sharpens 3D vision
- Reference: 1659522545
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/08/03/pi_4_vulkan/
- Source link:
It's quite the achievement [1]both for the diminutive computer and [2]Igalia , the company which has collaborated with the Raspberry Pi team on the open source Vulkan driver for the Raspberry Pi 4 GPU.
[3]
Click to enlarge
The driver [4]reached Vulkan 1.0 conformance as 2020 drew to a close, also for the Pi 4 Model B, before [5]ticking the 1.2 conformance box last week.
Does this mean users can fire up their Pi and scratch that first person shooter itch? Not without some legwork.
Igalia said: "All the changes required for this have already been merged in the upstream v3dv Mesa driver and will eventually be available in future Raspberry Pi OS updates," meaning that getting the code up and running is not for the faint hearted.
[6]
The current release of Mesa is 22.1.3 and the new code is unlikely to show up until 22.2. This means a bit of legwork will be needed for early adopters. If one was curious exactly how much legwork, Liz Upton commented "You'll need a clean install of Mesa from GitHub, and then you'll need to do some high-pitched screaming."
[7]
[8]
We're not sure about the screaming bit, but it did take more than one attempt for this writer to cobble together something that worked (using [9]KonstaKANG.com's port of LineageOS for the Pi 4 .)
[10]x86 Raspberry Pi Desktop is a great way to revive an old PC
[11]The Raspberry Pi Pico goes wireless with the $6 W
[12]Thunderbird is coming to Android – in K-9 Mail form
[13]AWS sent edgy appliance to the ISS and it worked – just like all the other computers up there
We asked Eben Upton when the technology would show up in the Raspberry Pi OS and will update this article with his response. Commenting on his original post, he wrote: "Right now desktop compositing is handled by Glamor, which sits on top of OpenGL, not Vulkan," and added, "The best examples of 'real world' applications for Vulkan on Raspberry Pi today are games running on Android/Lineage."
More Linux-heads on Steam
Gaming-wise the timing is prescient. In Valve's latest [14]Steam hardware and software survey , Linux had crept up to a 1.23 percent market share. Still in the territory of a rounding error when compared to the mighty 97.03 percent of Windows, but closing on the 1.74 percent of macOS.
While the Pi 4 won't be troubling the mightiest of hardware rigs any time soon, the figures do show a steadily growing interest in Linux as a gaming platform. Vulkan 1.2 conformance for the Pi 4 will do that interest no harm. ®
Updated to add on 3 August:
Eben Upton got in touch regarding when the new functionality might turn up in the Raspberry Pi OS: "We do tend to pull forward Mesa releases," he said, "rather than waiting two years for them to show up in the next major Debian release. Probably too late for September's release, so I'm guessing end of the year."
As for where the technology might go, he told us: "It's useful as a more efficient back end for the various standard game engines (notably Unreal)" and noted that the team had been using UE4 examples as a target for Vulkan optimization. Studios investing in bringing games to the platform is a different kettle of fish, "but it's good to have the underpinnings in place."
Moving forward to conformance with the 1.3 standards, Upton said: "We're working towards it: it's a case of grinding away at the pile of unimplemented extensions which go from optional to mandatory in 1.3." He told us he wasn't aware of any blockers on the Pi 4 platform but admitted "Eventually we'll run out of luck and have to wait for a future platform, but not yet."
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Finally, Upton commented on the supply situation and when things might start to ease-up. "Definitely not before the first quarter of 2023," he said. "We're seeing some softening in the component market (parts that had insane 104-week lead times coming back down to high but not insane lead times like 35 weeks), but you need every part on your BOM to get to this state before you can really start to recover."
The company has been able to keep OEM customers supplied and kept some units aside for consumers via its Approved Reseller network, "but it's not an ideal situation."
Get our [16]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/vulkan-update-version-1-2-conformance-for-raspberry-pi-4/
[2] https://www.igalia.com/2022/08/01/Igalia's-Vulkan-driver-for-Raspberry-Pi-4-computers-achieves-1.2-conformance.html
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2019/06/21/pi_4.jpg
[4] https://www.khronos.org/conformance/adopters/conformant-products#submission_530
[5] https://www.khronos.org/conformance/adopters/conformant-products#submission_700
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yuqbtud0nRpOJYWTVgTrqQAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yuqbtud0nRpOJYWTVgTrqQAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[9] https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS19/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/11/raspberry_pi_desktop_update/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/30/pi_pico_w/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/15/thunderbird_is_coming_to_android/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/24/aws_snowcone_iss/
[14] https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam
[15] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yuqbtud0nRpOJYWTVgTrqQAAAEk&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
If's on it's way along with your new Atari* and Phantom console.
* The Atari did ship... finally! Also, from wikipedia: "In 2020, Atari launched its decentralized cryptocurrency Atari Token"
Atari has crypto!! How much are they not worth?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari
Invisible
Since you can't buy it anywhere, then what's the point even talking about it. To wind people up?
Re: Invisible
Some of us actually have one, ordered when they were new and available.
No. I'm not telling you where I live!
Re: Invisible
I've just got the 8GB version but I did have to get my brother to buy it physically from the shop in Cambridge and bring it back to Devon when he came back for a holiday!
Re: Invisible
They are available to buy, as I write this 4B is available in Spain and the Netherlands. Loads of CM4 in Germany. Last week 4B were available in Sweden, UK and US. And there are loads already in the hands of people who purchased them. I have half a dozen.
What's more pertinent is that Vulkan isn't really being used on anything Pi apart from one Lineage OS build. On linux it's strictly a developer thing at the moment. It will take a while.
Re: Invisible
When you say you already have half a dozen, did you buy them in the last six months or when the R4 first came out?
I bought two back when they were at RRP. One for me and one for my programming class kids to mess around with.
Re: Invisible
Some before the shortage and some since. All official resellers, RRP. I dont use scalpers, no need.
I also received a Google coral accelerator last week after having it on back order for 10 months. It’s not just Raspberry Pi affected.
Re: Invisible
What's more pertinent is that Vulkan isn't really being used on anything Pi apart from one Lineage OS build.
Maybe it's because it doesn't fall within my field of experience or my needs but I have never understood the excitement for having it, the resources and time which are being invested in getting it.
I am sure it will be nice to have but it's not clear how it will benefit me.
To: CEO, RASPBERRY PI FOUNDATION
Bcc: CEO, Raspberry Pi (Trading) Limited
Bcc: To management AND the trustees of the board, UK.
Dear Sir/Madam,
We know that Raspberry Pi Foundation and its products developed in the UK via Raspberry Pi (Trading) Limited and manufactured in the UK and elsewhere and sold to distributors , suppliers and places across the world. The main aim of it being to help more young people understand and get into computing and advance education of adults and children, particularly in the field of computers, computer science and related subjects.
But with each iteration of your products and the current situation in the UK and the world regarding chip production and backorders, There may be a significant impact on your production and this may have impacted the supply and demand and your need to significantly increase prices even though being a non-profit organization.
This does not mean that you should let unscrupulous traders resell your products on popular online market or e-commerce platforms worldwide for a 200% markup on the price. It sort of has bought to the seeker a moral dilemma if they should purchase it or not ? And who profits from the 200% markup on your product when you yourself do not? And what this money spends to purchase the goods goes to ? Possibly to what purpose ? Are the intentions for pure profit ? Does selling Razberi pi sold for a 200% markup become the new narcotics industry ? to make profit off a naive organization in the UK with an intent that was once pure and now has become something like the of a cocaine producing farmer ?
It is understood that you may not have much control over the reseller market, but you may have to introspect what your purpose to release these products were and why are these products being marked up so much and is this a supply and demand problem that will get resolved in the near future ?
As an organization you do may need to take further steps and now it seems your products are not being used for the way basic functions it may have been indented to and unacceptably the demand has grown and the usage has been commercialized off your organizations back , people seem to be also using your products for solutions and services , and making profit off them that may outweigh your organization good intentions.
We fail to understand your organization not taking a proper response to such mal- intended ways that undermine the vision of the products. Rather you may look at normal businesses and how they sell for profit and how they pay tax on their earnings that in turn contributes to the UK economy.
As an organization you have failed miserably to address the fact that though you may be non profit and may not be paying tax in the UK while your employees may be taxed etc. But your products seem to have been marked up 200% by cartels taking shape in the free market. Even paying 10% tax on 200% would still be a profit where ever your products have been sold on such platforms in worldwide markets.
This brings a dilemma to the consumer as to why they should buy your products? or even support your products . With every tom dick harry expecting to buy your product and to sell it with a 200% percent markup , and your organization making revenue out of undisclosed circumstances with the current rate of inflation in the UK and worldwide to the various worldly circumstances. You may say that do not support such people ?
We hope you though your staff and resource available to your Raspberry Pi (Trading) Limited will conducts a proper review of reselling at more profit on such online platforms worldwide and review as to how products you sell and stocked at distributors are scalped, horded and resold worldwide at such enormous profit online and also inform such trading platforms to halt such sales.
We hope the management and the trustees of your both organizations will open their eyes and minds and look deep and take actions to bring matters under control in an already fragmented and fragile world circumstance.
The End.
What all this (Trading) crap? They haven’t used that name since November 2021.
Raspberry Pi foundation are the non profit bit, they do education - not necessarily on Raspberry pi computers.
As I understand it, Raspberry Pi Ltd are doing all they can to minimise the scalper market, but they don’t have control of world markets. They are also between a rock and a hard place with regard to commercial clients who support livelihoods and hobbyists having to wait a bit longer.
Whining doesn’t help at all.
> Bcc: CEO, Raspberry Pi (Trading) Limited
Raspberry Pi (Trading) Limited became Raspberry Pi Ltd some time ago and have since acquired the "Raspberry Pi" trademark and taken on the brand name.
"Raspberry Pi" now is something very different to what "Raspberry Pi" was. Raspberry Pi Ltd contributes very little to Raspberry Pi Foundation income even though they benefit hugely from having their money making commercial company still perceived by many as being a charitable concern and some sort of 'mom and pop' start-up.
It is a business, just like any other.
Tut!
Sounds good, but I'm still waiting for the avalanche of emails that I signed up for promising to "mail me when we have some in stock". That was so long I decided to just not bother. And yes, I've heard of the geolocator thing, and no, for the last time I don't want a frigging Raspberry Pi Pico W, with or without wireless . FFS.
Scalpers (on Amazon and Yahoo shopping) here in Japan are charging up to 250 dollars for a R4B 4Gb model! At those prices I have a selection of all in one mini PCs I could buy..
Absolutely ridiculous prices.
If I don't have the device here to see this magical 3D ability, does the ability even exist?
Honestly I think the one feature of the Raspberry Pi I'm longing for is availability. Every time I've had a few quid to buy one, all my usual haunts have been empty. Rinse repeat for 12 months at least now (although that is on and off).