Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Open source graphics drivers get a boost with Mesa 20.2.0 out now

By - | Views: 26,113

The latest and greatest in open source graphics drivers has released with Mesa 20.2.0, although you should wait on it if you're after a stable experience.

As always, the Mesa team suggest waiting on at least the first bug fix release with Mesa 20.2.1 which is usually out within a few weeks. Developer Dylan Baker who announced the new release mentioned to expect some more regular releases for the 20.2 series, as they're back from a long vacation.

What's new? Lots, as always. Support for new Vulkan extensions, added support for new GPUs including initial work done for AMD's upcoming RDNA 2 noted as "gfx10.3", expanded GLES 3.2 and OpenGL 4.5 support for LLVMpipe, lots of work on the Panfrost driver for Mali GPUs. You can find some release notes for Mesa 20.2.0 here.

One of the big items this release is for AMD, as the ACO shader compiler announced by Valve has now been switched on as the default for the RADV Vulkan driver although you can still set a debug option to go back to LLVM. This means that you should see smoother gameplay overall with modern AMD GPUs when using Vulkan, and perhaps better overall framerates too. If you want a little more info about ACO, you can see this previous article with the highlights and video from the recent XDC 2020 conference.

Need to learn more about Mesa drivers? See the official site.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
30 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
11 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

scaine Sep 29, 2020
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
I thought ACO needed a specific kernel to work? Or was that fsync?
Avehicle7887 Sep 29, 2020
Quoting: scaineI thought ACO needed a specific kernel to work? Or was that fsync?

If you can compile the kernel yourself, adding fsync is just 1 patch away: https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg/blob/e95ea2a75d489bbd5eb402fcf402e9d42d2e1b5c/linux58-tkg/linux58-tkg-patches/0007-v5.8-fsync.patch
ShinyaOsen Sep 29, 2020
Quoting: Avehicle7887
Quoting: scaineI thought ACO needed a specific kernel to work? Or was that fsync?

If you can compile the kernel yourself, adding fsync is just 1 patch away: https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg/blob/e95ea2a75d489bbd5eb402fcf402e9d42d2e1b5c/linux58-tkg/linux58-tkg-patches/0007-v5.8-fsync.patch

Xanmod and Liquorix kernels include the patch as well
kneekoo Sep 29, 2020
Are there any chances for this release to get in Ubuntu 20.04.x at some point?
dr_jekyll Sep 29, 2020
Quoting: kneekooAre there any chances for this release to get in Ubuntu 20.04.x at some point?

Well afaik (no ubuntu user) they update some core packages in circles of six months.
But you likely can find it in some PPA or special Repo.
Just search a bit.
X6205 Sep 29, 2020
I am sure that Ubuntu 20.04.2 will have it with HW enablement stack from 20.10. That includes 20.10 kernel and other drivers. Maybe even Mesa 20.3. But that is still at least 6 months away. But there is no need to wait, just use some 3rd party repository and you are done. I recommend the one from Valve employee :)
https://launchpad.net/~kisak/+archive/ubuntu/kisak-mesa
 sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:kisak/kisak-mesa && sudo apt update && sudo apt dist-upgrade


Last edited by X6205 on 29 September 2020 at 3:01 pm UTC
kneekoo Sep 29, 2020
Yeah, I already use that PPA, but I was hoping we'd get it officially. You're right, this does look more like a 20.10 release. Will it make it to the HWE stack for 20.04 users? Hopefully. I'm fine with trustworthy PPAs, but I'm happier with having as few as possible. :)


Last edited by kneekoo on 29 September 2020 at 9:41 pm UTC
Shmerl Sep 29, 2020
Quoting: Avehicle7887If you can compile the kernel yourself, adding fsync is just 1 patch away: https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg/blob/e95ea2a75d489bbd5eb402fcf402e9d42d2e1b5c/linux58-tkg/linux58-tkg-patches/0007-v5.8-fsync.patch

How is the progress of accepting that upstream?


Last edited by Shmerl on 29 September 2020 at 10:00 pm UTC
Shmerl Sep 29, 2020
Debian experimental got Mesa 20.2.0: https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/mesa
Avehicle7887 Sep 30, 2020
Quoting: Shmerl
Quoting: Avehicle7887If you can compile the kernel yourself, adding fsync is just 1 patch away: https://github.com/Frogging-Family/linux-tkg/blob/e95ea2a75d489bbd5eb402fcf402e9d42d2e1b5c/linux58-tkg/linux58-tkg-patches/0007-v5.8-fsync.patch

How is the progress of accepting that upstream?

Last I read about it were those articles:

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Syscall-User-Redirection-V4
https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Futex2-System-Call-RFC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.