[Discuss] Thinkpad T60p and Kubuntu

[David Bronaugh]

Alan W. Irwin wrote:
> On 2007-10-12 14:57-0700 Chris Hennessy wrote:
>
>> In particular I am concerned with the ATI FireGL graphics
>>
>>
>> I run Mandriva 2007.1 (upgrading to 2008 soon) and I have (when it 
>> gets back
>> from RMA) an ATI card.  If you don't want to do much 3d games then you
>> should be fine with either of the drivers.  If you want to do 3D then 
>> things
>> will most likely be a huge PITA until the next version of the fglrx
>> proprietary drivers that are due anyday now.  The good thing is most 
>> of the
>> specs are open now and if things are mostly supported now, they will be
>> soon.   (crossing fingers)
>
> I have just researched ATI 3D capability, and apparently the r200 
> series has
> had open 2D/3D specs for a long time now with a corresponding x.org 
> device,
> and the r500 series and up have open 2D specs (just released with an
> experimental x.org 2D devie) and a promise of complete 3D specs soon.  
> It is
> unlikely ATI are going to bother with releasing specs for the older 
> r300 and
> r400 series because they are in the business of selling new stuff.
You're probably correct. However, there's existing opensource support 
(reverse engineered) for Radeon r300 and r400 based stuff. It 
kinda-sorta works, at worst; at best, it seems to largely behave.

Whether ATI will release open specs is anyone's guess; my money is with 
yours, on "No".
> So if you
> don't like binary blob X.org devices, you should avoid ATI r300 and r400
> series video chipsets, and your best current 3D ATI choice is an 
> r200-based
> chipset (they still sell them).  Also, an r500 or higher based video 
> chipset
> might be a good 3D bet for the future.
>
> If you look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATI_FireGL and hover over the
> links, most of those cards lie in the proprietary valley of death between
> the r200 and r500 so watch out.

The T60p contains a Radeon Mobility M66, which is basicaly an X1700 - an 
r520 core based device. So it's all good for future open source driver 
support, by the looks of it. Also, I believe avivo currently supports 
such devices, even if it is dead-ended.

The new driver is called "radeonhd", and it looks like the developers of 
it are making fairly rapid progress.

David