Valve, creators of the latest Steam Deck handheld to be released this year, is funding new continuous integration (CI) testing of Mesa commits and Radeon driver testing. This information is welcome for Linux users but also for Steam Deck players.
Mesa Receives Additional Funding from Valve for Further Testing of Radeon Linux “Steam Deck” Graphics Driver
Charlie Turner, a programming consultant for Igalia, created a merge request today on FreeDesktop’s Mesa site for more additional dEQP runners. Igalia is an open source consulting agency “specialized in the growth of innovative projects and solutions”. The request shows Valve’s involvement in overseeing subsequent testing of AMD Radeon Linux drivers. Valve uses Radeon graphics in its system, and it would be fitting if Valve wanted to make sure its new handheld was as compatible as possible.
The dEQP runners, or drawElements quality program, integrate tests for many graphics APIs, including OpenGL ES, EGL, and Vulkan. Graphics API testing has been crucial for Mesa continuous integration testing to secure unstable commits that do not reach Mesa main to downgrade OpenGL/Vulkan Graphics API actions.
The statement below was Turner’s explanation of Valve’s request for further testing on Freedesktop.
This series proposes to add more bare metal racers from EQP, sponsored by Valve. For now, runners are conditioned by user selection (similar to how freedreno’s restricted traces work), as there aren’t enough machines to hit the execution targets required to be included in the pipelines automatic pre-melting. There is nothing secret about the test loads, the restriction is purely practical for now and any interested user can request access from the runners.
A trail series will add trail test runners to the CI, using a similar approach to the above.
Mesa’s CI tests for the AMD Radeon Linux graphics driver showed restraint by the number of hardware systems they engaged, including those capable of testing new Mesa fusion requests and creating fixes immediately. Valve’s support will help move the process along by detecting other issues efficiently and effectively. This process allows for efficiency without slowing down the creation of patches that may still be waiting to be tested before releasing the driver publicly.
Valve’s new CI bare metal runners are entirely Radeon-based, so naturally the company is asking for further testing. Especially since Valve’s direction with the new Steam Deck gaming system, featuring AMD Radeon graphics, includes open-source drivers that focus on RADV Vulkan work. Ongoing testing now includes Navi and Navi 2 systems, Kabini, Stoney, Polaris, Vega and Renoir series.
Source: Phoronix, Freedesktop.org
