drm-kmod kills FreeBSD

[Polytropon]

On Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:31:10 -0500, Robert Huff wrote:
> Kurt Hackenberg <kh at panix.com> :
> 
> >   Robert Huff wrote:
> >   
> >   > 	To do what they do, drm-kmods and gpu-firmware-kmod burrow
> >   > _deep_ into the kernel; everything needs to be _perfectly_ in
> >   > sync or ... <hairball!>
> >   
> >   They are part of the kernel, literally kernel
> >   modules. Distributing them as ports/packages was expedient, a
> >   quick hack. I think they should somehow be distributed as part of
> >   the kernel.
> 
> 	I would be OK with that _if_ there was single drm module; or, at
> the least, _much_ greater clarity about which module goes with a
> particular chipset.

With the upcoming solution to have "pkg base" on FreeBSD, i. e.,
everything will be packaged and distributed via pkg (cf. Linux
packaging: "the kernel is a package"), the problem will probably
go away. It's just important that a precompiled package works
with the kernel currently running, so building from source is
not needed. However, making the graphics drivers become a part
of the kernel ("kernel package"), just like sound drivers or
network drivers are part of the kernel, would definitely be
a welcome idea (even though it should not interfere with using
FreeBSD for non-desktop systems not requiring graphics support,
so making it somehow optional to _load_ them would be nice).



> 	(On my to-do list is upgrading one system from a Radeon HD 3300
> to something (AMD) that uses GCN.  After weeks of research I
> think\\\\\hope I've found the right answer ....)

It's either amdgpu or radeondrm. ;-)



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...