nixos/doc: update the status of Intel Graphics (#365448)

2024-12-18 13:13:15 +01:00
parent a98c720fb6 63f2d160a6
commit 73b7d3bf3e
4 changed files with 25 additions and 80 deletions
@@ -116,48 +116,34 @@ using lightdm for a user `alice`:

 ## Intel Graphics drivers {#sec-x11--graphics-cards-intel}

-There are two choices for Intel Graphics drivers in X.org: `modesetting`
-(included in the xorg-server itself) and `intel` (provided by the
-package xf86-video-intel).
-
-The default and recommended is `modesetting`. It is a generic driver
-which uses the kernel [mode
-setting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_setting) (KMS) mechanism. It
+The default and recommended driver for Intel Graphics in X.org is `modesetting`
+(included in the xorg-server package itself).
+This is a generic driver which uses the kernel [mode
+setting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_setting) (KMS) mechanism, it
 supports Glamor (2D graphics acceleration via OpenGL) and is actively
-maintained but may perform worse in some cases (like in old chipsets).
+maintained, it may perform worse in some cases (like in old chipsets).

-The second driver, `intel`, is specific to Intel GPUs, but not
-recommended by most distributions: it lacks several modern features (for
-example, it doesn't support Glamor) and the package hasn't been
-officially updated since 2015.
+::: {.note}
+The `modesetting` driver doesn't currently provide a `TearFree` option (this
+will become available in an upcoming X.org release), So, without using a
+compositor (for example, see [](#opt-services.picom.enable)) you will
+experience screen tearing.
+:::

-The results vary depending on the hardware, so you may have to try both
-drivers. Use the option
-[](#opt-services.xserver.videoDrivers)
-to set one. The recommended configuration for modern systems is:
-
-```nix
-{
-  services.xserver.videoDrivers = [ "modesetting" ];
-}
-```
-
-If you experience screen tearing no matter what, this configuration was
-reported to resolve the issue:
+There also used to be a second driver, `intel` (provided by the
+xf86-video-intel package), specific to older Intel iGPUs from generation 2 to
+9.
+This driver hasn't been maintained in years and was removed in NixOS 24.11
+after it stopped working. If you chipset is too old to be supported by
+`modesetting` and have no other choice you may try an unsupported NixOS version
+(reportedly working up to NixOS 24.05) and set

 ```nix
 {
  services.xserver.videoDrivers = [ "intel" ];
-  services.xserver.deviceSection = ''
-    Option "DRI" "2"
-    Option "TearFree" "true"
-  '';
 }
 ```

-Note that this will likely downgrade the performance compared to
-`modesetting` or `intel` with DRI 3 (default).
-
 ## Proprietary NVIDIA drivers {#sec-x11-graphics-cards-nvidia}

 NVIDIA provides a proprietary driver for its graphics cards that has
@@ -229,6 +229,9 @@

 - The NVIDIA driver no longer defaults to the proprietary kernel module with versions >= 560. You will need to manually set `hardware.nvidia.open` to select the proprietary or open modules.

+- The `intel` driver for the X server (`services.xserver.videoDrives = [ "intel" ]`) is no longer functional due to incompatibilities with the latest Mesa version.
+  All users are strongly encouraged to switch to the generic `modesetting` driver (the default one) whenever possible, for more information see the manual chapter on [Intel Graphics](#sec-x11--graphics-cards-intel) and issue [#342763](https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/342763).
+
 - The `(buildPythonPackage { ... }).override` and `(buildPythonPackage { ... }).overrideDerivation` attributes is now deprecated and removed in favour of `overridePythonAttrs` and `lib.overrideDerivation`.
  This change does not affect the override interface of most Python packages, as [`<pkg>.override`](https://nixos.org/manual/nixpkgs/unstable/#sec-pkg-override) provided by `callPackage` shadows such a locally-defined `override` attribute.
  The `<pkg>.overrideDerivation` attribute of Python packages called with `callPackage` will also remain available after this change.
@@ -1020,26 +1020,10 @@ self: super:
    meta = attrs.meta // { mainProgram = "xinit"; };
  });

-  xf86videointel = super.xf86videointel.overrideAttrs (attrs: {
-    # the update script only works with released tarballs :-/
-    name = "xf86-video-intel-2021-01-15";
-    src = fetchFromGitLab {
-      domain = "gitlab.freedesktop.org";
-      group = "xorg";
-      owner = "driver";
-      repo = "xf86-video-intel";
-      rev = "31486f40f8e8f8923ca0799aea84b58799754564";
-      sha256 = "sha256-nqT9VZDb2kAC72ot9UCdwEkM1uuP9NriJePulzrdZlM=";
-    };
-    buildInputs = attrs.buildInputs ++ [ xorg.libXScrnSaver xorg.libXv xorg.pixman xorg.utilmacros ];
-    nativeBuildInputs = attrs.nativeBuildInputs ++ [autoreconfHook ];
-    configureFlags = [ "--with-default-dri=3" "--enable-tools" ];
-    patches = [ ./use_crocus_and_iris.patch ];
-
-    meta = attrs.meta // {
-      platforms = ["i686-linux" "x86_64-linux"];
-    };
-  });
+  xf86videointel = throw ''
+    xf86videointel has been removed as the package is unmaintained and the driver is no longer functional.
+    Please remove "intel" from `services.xserver.videoDrivers` and switch to the "modesetting" driver.
+  ''; # Added 2024-12-16;

  xf86videoopenchrome = super.xf86videoopenchrome.overrideAttrs (attrs: {
    buildInputs = attrs.buildInputs ++ [ xorg.libXv ];
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
--- a/src/uxa/intel_dri.c
-+++ b/src/uxa/intel_dri.c
-@@ -1540,8 +1540,10 @@
- 			return has_i830_dri() ? "i830" : "i915";
- 		else if (INTEL_INFO(intel)->gen < 040)
- 			return "i915";
-+		else if (INTEL_INFO(intel)->gen < 0100)
-+			return "crocus";
- 		else
-			return "i965";
-+			return "iris";
- 	}
- 
- 	return s;
--- a/src/sna/sna_dri2.c
-+++ b/src/sna/sna_dri2.c
-@@ -3707,8 +3707,10 @@
- 			return has_i830_dri() ? "i830" : "i915";
- 		else if (sna->kgem.gen < 040)
- 			return "i915";
-+		else if (sna->kgem.gen < 0100)
-+			return "crocus";
- 		else
-			return "i965";
-+			return "iris";
- 	}
- 
- 	return s;