components

Kernel: Linux 3.1 release
3D driver: mesa 7.11.2 release
2D driver: xf86-video-intel 2.17.0 release
Libdrm: libdrm-2.4.27 release
Libva: libva-1.0.15 release
Vaapi-driver-intel: vaapi-driver-intel-1.0.15 release
(xserver-1.11.1 is tested with this stack)

Check Download page for where to get the source git tree.

Highlighted new features

Kernel

• Frame Buffer Compression is now enabled for Gen6 onwards (in other words, starting with Sandy Bridge). It can be enabled manually on other graphics cards by using the i915.i915_enable_fbc=1 kernel parameter.
• RC6 is disabled by default on all generations of graphics cards, and can be enabled via the i915.i915_enable_rc6=1 kernel parameter. Enablement of rc6 results in significant power usage improvements. The drawbacks are occasional stability issues on some systems with VTd enabled.
• Semaphores are not enabled by default on all generation of graphics cards. Enablement of semaphores solves several stability issues on Ivy Bridge graphics cards, such as GPU hangs, and improved stability and performance on Sandy Bridge generation of graphics cards. The drawbacks are occasional stability issues on some systems with VTd enabled. Semaphores can be enabled manualy via the i915.semaphores=1 kernel parameter.
• Significant performance improvements are expected due to usage of LLC cache for Sandy Bridge and newer graphics cards.
• Additional debugging and fine-tuning variables exposed in the debugfs.
• Improved support for Display Port, HDMI, LVDS and SDVO outputs.

3D Driver

• Stability and performance fixes, such as GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge in OpenArena, GPU hangs in Civilization 4, PlaneShift, Minecraft, Neverwinter Nights, 3DMMES, fixed skybox errors in Quake4 and FEAR on Gen5 architecture onwards, improved compliance with conformance tests
• improved GLES v1 support, improved compatibility with GLES v2 on Sandy Bridge architecture.
• improved support for separate stencil buffers handling and EGL support on Ivy Bridge architecture.
• Additionally, several GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge generation of cards were related to the enablement of semaphores in kernel driver. Please make sure that you use i915.semaphores=1 kernel parameter if you observe GPU hangs on Ivy Bridge.

2D Driver

• Stability fixes for UXA backend, such as GPU hangs on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, proper pixmap allocation for XV, fixes for text rendering issues, fix for video rendering issues.
• Many improvements in the SNA backend. Note that SNA backend is still considered experimental.
• Misc stability fixes.

Libdrm

• API changes required by Mesa master.
• Misc fixes.

Libva and vaapi-driver-intel

• Intel driver for VAAPI was split and moved into its own repository (vaapi/intel-driver).
• Fixes for VC-1 and MPEG2 decoding.
• Misc fixes.

Major known issues

• S4 suspend-resume may fail on some machines unless 'nomodeset' kernel parameter is used (bug#35648, bug#40241)
• Ivy Bridge: "missed IRQ" appears in many tests (bug#38862)
• GPU hangs for some 3D games unless 'i915.semaphores=1' kernel parameter is used (bug#42696, bug#40564, bug#41353)
• eDP connectivity presents some issues on Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge platforms (bug#38527, bug#41991) Those issues should be fixed with the release of Linux Kernel 3.2.

Validation hardware

This release was validated on the following hardware, and part of the test results are published at here:

• Ivy Bridge
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 3000 (Core i7 2720QM, Core i7 2630QM, Core i5 2520M, Core i5 2500K)
• Sandy Bridge HD Graphics 2000 (Core i7 2600)
• Intel® HD Graphics (Core i5 670, Core i5 520M)
• GMA 3150 (Atom N450)
• GM45
• G45
• GM965
• G33