Does Ubuntu include support for the Intel GMA 500?

Question

I would like to know if the new open-source video driver included in kernel 3.0.x for the Intel GMA 500 will be included by default in the kernel that will be shipped in Oneiric Ocelot.

The driver support of this GFX chipset has always been poor and mainly community-driven, now finally we have a KMS open-source driver, written by kernel hackers, and actually included in staging kernel repo.

If there is any kind of testing needed there is a mega-thread on Ubuntu Forums with hundreds of users ready to test everything.

Solution 1

Alan Cox from Intel is actively developing gma500 driver drivers/staging/gma500/ to become part of official kernel. You can follow his progress at lkml.

Update: The lkml post provides the status update. The driver should get out of staging into mainstream kernel-3.2. The biggest issue that it doesn't use hardware acceleration neither 2D, nor 3D, nor Video yet.

Update (2012/04/20): 12.04 LTS should have support for psb_gfx according to UbuntuWiki.

Update (2012/05/03): Instructions about how to make it working properly on 12.04 LTS are available from bodhi.zazen blog post.

Solution 2

Ubuntu 11.10 will ship with Linux 3.0 kernel which will be released in early august.

I couldn't find anything to suggest that this new gma500 driver was merged into 3.0 but I did find a suggestion against it. Other than that it seems that this new driver is still heavily in development.

Comments

[Alvar]

You don't need to sign a post with your name, since it's already linked to your account. BTW it's in the FAQ! :)

[mikewhatever]

Allan Cox no longer works for Intel: 1, 2.