Phoronix

ASRock NetTop ION 330

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:46:06 CDT

Over the years we have looked at dozens of ASRock motherboards, and as we have noted in recent reviews, over the past year or so they have really ramped up their efforts on providing feature-rich motherboards while still delivering them at very low prices, as they have long been known for their budget status. Two recent motherboards we had looked at that illustrate this trend is the M3A780GXH/128M and the X58 SuperComputer, both of which motherboards had bolstered a nice set of features, were priced well, and carried other unique advantages. ASRock has not only been focusing upon driving innovation into their motherboards, but now other products too. In conjunction with Pegatron Corp, ASRock has released its first Atom-based nettop computer. We have our hands on this new ASRock NetTop ION 330 product and to say the least it is a wonderful system using Intel's Atom processor with NVIDIA's ION platform.

KDE 4.3.0 RC2 Brings Fewer Changes

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:59:51 CDT

Just a week after the release of the KDE 4.3 release candidate, a second release candidate has emerged from the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit. KDE 4.3 Release Candidate 2 incorporates fewer changes than earlier development releases, as development winds down for the final release of KDE 4.3.0 later this month. The KDE 4.3.0 RC2 announcement can be read at KDE.org...

AMD Publishes New SB Register, Programming Docs

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:47:59 CDT

While most of the time getting new documentation out of AMD is for their ATI graphics processors, today they have pushed out four documents that amount to several hundred pages of information covering their latest Southbridges. The AMD SB700/710/750 chipsets are now well documented in these NDA-free programming guides that also cover the registers for this hardware. Over at AMD Developer Central is the AMD SB700/710/750 Register Reference Guide, AMD SB700/710/750 BIOS Developer’s Guide, AMD SB700/710/750 Register Programming Requirements, and lastly is the AMD SB710 Databook. Sure, programming guides and register descriptions for a southbridge is not nearly as exciting as for the latest ATI GPU, but this information is what the CoreBoot developers (the same ones working on Flashrom) have been after for a while...

The Future Of EGL On Linux With Mesa, Eagle

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:37:00 CDT

Kristian Høgsberg, the Red Hat developer largely responsible for DRI2 and various other X.Org innovations, had started the Wayland display server project last year to leverage new technologies like kernel mode-setting and the Graphics Execution Manager. While there is not much to report on with Wayland since our last update, one of the components used by Wayland is Eagle, another Kristian Høgsberg project. Eagle is a small loader for DRI drivers to use EGL, the Khronos interface for between their APIs (OpenGL, OpenVG, etc...) and the underlying window system...

Moblin 2.0 To Not Run X Server As Root

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:56:02 CDT

Intel's Arjan van de Ven has fired off an email letting us know that Moblin 2.0 will have its X Server running without root privileges. The first feature of their new "Moblin Secure X project" is to integrate NRX technology, which we take to mean "No-Root X" and is described as "NRX is a set of OS changes and patches that makes it possible to no longer run the X server as the privileged 'root' user." Just last week we reported on a root-less X Server nearing reality. Traditionally the X Server has been run as root so that it can communicate directly with the graphics hardware, but with the mainlining of kernel mode-setting, it's now easily possible to run the X Server without root privileges...

Will The X.Org 7.5 Release Schedule Be Met?

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:26:40 CDT

While the X Server is a very critical component to the Linux desktop and free software ecosystem, the X.Org project has had problems with delivering releases on time. Almost any X Server / X.Org release from recent times can be looked at and generally there were multiple delays in getting that release out that often spanned multiple months...

Early Linux 2.6.31 Kernel Benchmarks

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:33:26 CDT

The Linux 2.6.31 kernel is still under active development until it is released later this quarter, but the merge window is closed and most of the work going on is to address bugs and other regressions within this massive code-base. Some of the key additions to the Linux 2.6.31 kernel include many graphics-related advancements (merging of the TTM memory manager, Radeon kernel mode-setting, Intel DisplayPort, etc), an ALSA driver for the Creative X-Fi, initial USB 3.0 support, file-system improvements, and much more. To see how the general system performance has been impacted by the new Linux kernel that is in development, we have a few benchmarks today.

X Server 1.6.2 Gets Released

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 22:12:46 CDT

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VLC Media Player Reaches Version 1.0

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:51:14 CDT

For those of you that use VLC as your media player of choice or those looking for a new media player, head on over to VideoLAN.org as version 1.0.0 of this growingly popular free software application has been released. VLC 1.0.0 has support for live recording, new HD codecs (including Blu-ray and AES3), new formats, new encoders, and many other new features...

Unigine Game Engine Continues To Advance

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 09:35:42 CDT

The Unigine Engine, which is an impressive multi-platform game that hasn't really been widely used in any games yet but does offer some very impressive tech demos (via the Phoronix Test Suite), continues to advance and pick up new features. As we have shared earlier, the company behind Unigine is working on a new game that will run on Linux, which is not too surprising when considering the fact that the company is very Linux friendly. Their Sanctuary and Islands technology demos/benchmarks have been impressive but lately they have been working on new physics support and many other improvements...

Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 "Sandtorg" Beta 2

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:37:52 CDT

Almost a month after the release of Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 Beta 1, the second beta release for Sandtorg is now available. With being less than a month away from the final release of Phoronix Test Suite 2.0, this second beta serves largely to address bugs and other outstanding issues, but there are also a few new additions too. Phoronix Test Suite 2.0 Beta 2 has improvements to its GTK2 GUI, new Phoronix Global improvements, the introduction of a OverrideTestOptions XML tag for test suites, support for TOTAL_LOOP_TIME and TOTAL_LOOP_COUNT environmental variables, and two new commands...

Will AMD's XvBA Beat Out NVIDIA's VDPAU?

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:15:53 CDT

Going back to last year we have exclusively been reporting on AMD's new HD video decoding interface, which is called XvBA. This interface for use with UVD2 GPUs is properly known as X-Video Bitstream Acceleration, which we have already described at length...

Intel Gets Working On Moorestown Linux Support

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:08:09 CDT

Later this year or early next year Intel will be introducing Moorestown, which is a code-name we have known going back to 2007 and is their next-generation CPU platform for Mobile Internet Devices. Intel's Moorestown is an SoC design and is expected to be used within smart-phones, in addition to MIDs...

Lian Li PC-A05N

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:05:57 CDT

Besides SilverStone, Cooler Master, and Antec, another leading computer enclosure manufacturer is Lian Li, which is a brand well known among computer enthusiasts for building some of the best and most unique computer cases that have ever hit the markets. One of the most recent products introduced by Lian Li is the PC-A05N, which may be sized very small, but has a unique layout with its back-to-front design. Rather than pulling air into the chassis from the front and exhausting it at the rear, the Lian Li PC-A05N is designed to pull in the fresh air from the back of the ATX chassis and then the exhaust is at the front, which Lian Li engineers claim will deliver dramatically better performance.

Linus Issues Independence Day 2.6.31-rc2 Kernel

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:07:58 CDT

For those of you not out celebrating the Independence Day / 4th of July in America, there is a new release candidate for the Linux 2.6.31 kernel that is now ready for testing. In this second release candidate there is a new DRM pull bringing various fixes and improvements, including Intel DisplayPort support for hardware with such new connectors. Beyond updates to the kernel side of the Linux graphics stack, Linux 2.6.31-rc2 brings performance counters to new architectures, large architecture updates for MIPS and PowerPC, a large intel-iommu merge, and various other changes...

Yo Frankie Game Gets Updated, Version 1.1

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 12:12:50 CDT

Yo Frankie, the open-source video game that was developed around the Blender modeling software, has received its first major update after reaching version 1.0 some seven months ago. New in Yo Frankie! v1.1 are three new maps (thanks to a map design competition), various game improvements, updated game logic based upon Blender 2.49, improved frame-rate performance, various clean-ups, and there is now a loading screen to appear between levels. Some of the Yo Frankie! game clean-ups include the Blender3D files, materials, textures, and unfinished game levels. This new version of Yo Frankie! is available for a free download on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows platforms from their project web-site...

Wine 1.1.25 Brings Improved Memory Management

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:58:44 CDT

In their bi-weekly tradition, the developers behind Wine have pushed out a new development release for this popular and important open-source project. Wine 1.1.25 is the newest development release and it has quite a few translation updates, support for various Unicode file encodings in Notepad, improved memory management, desktop menus are now cleared up automatically, the start of a windowscodecs DLL implementation, and of course various bug fixes...

Open-Source ATI R600/700 3D Driver Almost Working

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:30:17 CDT

AMD's John Bridgman has shared that the open-source R600/700 3D driver for Linux is becoming usable, slowly but surely. Months after releasing documentation, a programmer's guide, and sample code, their Mesa driver is beginning to do useful things -- more so than just rendering simple triangles. The ATI R600/700 3D driver is derived from the Radeon driver rewrite and is currently living in a branch off of Mesa...

Fluendo Releases Its Own Linux DVD Player

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:26:10 CDT

Fluendo, the company that's largely behind G-Streamer and produces legal audio/video codecs for Linux, has now launched its own DVD player solution for Linux. Fluendo's new DVD player software is, of course, built upon the G-Streamer framework...

An Interview With A Linux Game Porter

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:09 CDT

Recently on our forums, Frank Earl (who goes by the synonym Svartalf), has been seeking the input of Linux gamers as to what games they would like to see ported to Linux. Frank has been working for Linux Game Publishing for a few years porting various titles to Linux and has done work independently on bringing new software from Windows to Linux. Frank was overwhelmed by the response on our forums and it has even led to new Linux games with many other possible ports being looked into. To get his view as where Linux gaming is currently at, he has answered a few of our questions about Linux game porting, Linux gaming in general, and other questions that may be of interest to gamers and Linux enthusiasts.

NVIDIA Issues An Open-Source Driver Update

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:01:56 CDT

NVIDIA's Aaron Plattner has just announced the release of the xf86-video-nv 2.1.14 driver, but does it have anything in store? Not really. The NVIDIA open-source X.Org driver update brings support for a couple of new ASICs, fixed mode-setting for some NVIDIA GPUs, and other fixes, but nothing too exciting.....

A Root-less X Server Nears Reality

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:31:26 CDT

One of the benefits of moving the different graphics hardware drivers over to using kernel mode-setting, an in-kernel GPU memory manager (whether it be GEM or TTM), and other newer X innovations is the possibility of now running the X Server without root privileges. By doing so, this of course improves the security since this very large chunk of code is no longer running with all of these high-privileged rights. Due to now living in a KMS-enabled world, at least on the Intel and ATI side (the NVIDIA side is still slowly but surely coming via Nouveau), it's rather easy to get the X Server running without any special rights...

KDE 4.3.0 Release Candidate Goes Wild

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:22:10 CDT

With KDE 4.3 being scheduled for release later this month, Sebastian Kügler on the behalf of the KDE developers around the world has announced the KDE 4.3.0 release candidate. KDE 4.3 RC1 further polishes and completes the K Desktop Environment 4 with the integration of many new Linux desktop technologies, new KWin effects, improvements across the board, and many bug fixes in KDE4 packages. The KDE 4.3 RC1 announcement with the extensive change-log is available from KDE.org...

Razer Salmosa Gaming Mouse

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:15 CDT

Razer has long been known as a manufacturer of high-end gaming mice with such prestigious products as the Copperhead, DeathAdder, and most recently the Lachesis. Razer has also expanded to offer other products such as the Barracuda Sound Card, Tarantula Keyboard, and the Piranha Gaming Headset. Razer's products generally do not come cheap, however, recently they have begun offering lower cost products such as the Arctosa Keyboard, which is still built and designed well but is a step-down from their flagship product lines. Most recently, Razer has now further entered the entry-level gaming mouse product with the introduction of the Salmosa, which is a sub-$40 USD but still promises high precision with its 3G infrared sensor.

PHP 5.3.0 Released With Namespaces & More

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:02:13 CDT

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As It Stands, Ubuntu Has No Issues With Mono

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:22:07 CDT

On behalf of Canonical and the Ubuntu Technical Board, Scott James Remnant has issued a position statement surrounding Mono, the open-source project that provides a C# compiler for Linux (along with other operating systems) and other components for a free software .NET stack. However, the legality of Mono is frequently a key concern to free software advocates considering patents and other intellectual property that's owned by Microsoft...

ATI's X.Org DDX Driver Gets KMS Ready

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:39:20 CDT

With the forthcoming Linux 2.6.31 kernel there is finally Radeon kernel mode-setting support so that those running ATI graphics cards on Linux will be able to experience a cleaner boot process, faster VT switching, improved security, and other overdue features for Linux. Using kernel mode-setting with ATI Radeon hardware will require a supported kernel that is built with the appropriate kernel configuration options. In addition, an updated DDX driver is also necessary so it realizes the kernel is handling the mode-setting process...

VirtualBox 3.0 Released With SMP, Improved Graphics

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:28:28 CDT

VirtualBox 3.0 has been in beta for less than a month, but Sun Microsystems has now decided to officially release this major update to their virtualization software. Most notably, VirtualBox 3.0 finally brings support for SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) to guest operating systems...