[Tutorial] Ubuntu MATE 16.04 VC4 3D acceleration

MOP · 16 May 2016 16:03

Notice: The experimental vc4 driver is still not stable, but you can feel free to give a try.

Based on [Tutorial] - Activate OpenGL driver.
And then all steps are as follows:

Write the MATE 15.10 image to the SD card, suggest above 8GB.
Expand the partition of SD card to whole space.
Follow the instructions and Install the MATE 15.10.
After installation, you need to upgrade the kernel. Connect to the internet, open the MATE terminal and type the command
sudo rpi-update
To enable the vc4 DTB, type the command.
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
Add this line in the file.
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
Replace the origin frame buffer setting.
sudo mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.bak
Reboot your RPi.
Now you have a vc4-enabled desktop, but the libraries are legacy. Open GL will not work, we need to upgrade it to 16.04.
Connect to the internet, open the MATE terminal, type the command.
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
After upgrading, type the command.
sudo apt-get do-release-upgrade
It will cost much time, taste a coffee to wait. If it asking you to keep configuration of the /etc/gnome/defaults.list, say Y.
If it asking you to remove the obsolete packages, say Y.
Now all you have done, reboot your pi.
Enjoy your vc4-enabled MATE 16.04.

Tips:
If you went to go back FB 2D, comment the line in the config.txt
#dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d

Testing:

1.glmark2 or glmark2-es2 scores: 9x~12x ---- The benchmark will be segment fault in the end.

2.glxgears 5x FPS -- It less than the FB 2D (8x FPS)!

3.glxspheres (from VirtualGL) 2x FPS -- It is greater than than FB 2D (1 FPS).

Note:
The RPi3 does NOT support.