Would you pre-order Enhancer Software 2.3 to get Virtio-GPU ?

Poll as per title:
Would you pre-order Enhancer Software 2.3 to get Virtio-GPU ?
and any updates up to the final release, etc.

https://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-10-00031-EN.html

To be associated with a small donation to the following program created by @Walkero if you have AmigaOS 4.1 licenses

https://ko-fi.com/post/Kyvos-is-publicly-released-O5O41IEMRO

Not least
@Balaton
clearly the one who started it. I hope there's a way to repay him for his work.
I imagine he's in contact with the entire team.

https://zero.eik.bme.hu/~balaton/qemu/amiga/index.html

@ADMIN
Okay, if it seems relevant, feel free to edit it

@white
Answer YES

Hi White,

What is Virtio-GPU, and what is it for?

In any case, yes, I will pre-order Enhancer Software 2.3 for my X5000. I don't use Qemu yet.

@skynet
The question is fair and well-posed.
I'll leave you the link, which I'll also add to the previous post.
Obviously, since you have an X5000, you shouldn't need the Virtio-GPU driver, as you yourself said.
But in case you decide to use QEMU for some reason.
Here's the link:

https://www.amiga-news.de/en/news/AN-2023-10-00031-EN.html

and the features of the 0.5 beta version of Virtio-GPU

Enhancer 2.3, Virtio GPU driver: In his talk (YouTube video), Trevor Dickinson described the history of A-EON's hardware developments, announced a new Enhancer version 2.3 for probably before Christmas, and introduced the Virtio GPU driver for Picasso96: a virtual GPU for use with emulators like QEMU and virtual machines (KVMs), developed for A-EON by Hans der Ruiter.

Features:

Looks like a regular PCI device
Passes graphics commands through the host operating systems graphics drivers
Provides 32-bit display support
High resolution
Fast - no need to emulate hardware registers
Virtio GPU has 3D and video decoding hardware acceleration - WIP

Virtio GPU driver current status:

Fully working framebuffer driver, with 8, 16, and 32-bit modes
Hardware accelerated mouse pointer
DDC/EDID working, so automatically gets available screen-modes
High resolution
Fast - no need to emulate hardware registers
Virtio GPU has 3D and video decoding hardware acceleration - WIP
Version 0.5 has just been released
Very usable as-is

in this regard it would also be interesting to see how it works
Personally, for me, compositing and 2D acceleration are enough to use the "Workbench" well.

But only those who are testing it can do this.
To see if it's fast etc.

I certainly don't pretend to use Blender

In practice, it would be nice to see how it works, of course.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Obviously, it's a matter of personal taste.
For example, I won't buy " Solid Snake Eater " for PS5 because it isn't dubbed in Italian.
I'll wait for the price to drop, even significantly.


And yet, Italy is the FOURTH COUNTRY in Europe for video game sales ( 2.4 billion euros ), but Italian dubbing is generally difficult to find in games
And video game companies don't seem to understand this.

@white

Thank you for this thread.

One thing is not clear for me.

Is the virtio-gpu driver working with all graphics card or you should need a specific card to work with.

As example my laptop have an intel iris gpu, while my desktop have a nvidia 2070.

Thank you

kr
Davide

@AmigaBlitter

It works with any graphics card. VirtioGPU pipes graphics commands through to the host OS' drivers.

@white
A lot has happened since v0.5. 2D hardware acceleration is done, including compositing. I gave a presentation remotely at AmiWest 2024 about VirtioGPU, including why it's taken so long.

Since AmiWest hardware acceleration also works on Windows, albeit with some minor glitches (VirGL for Windows is a WIP, as-is Virtio in general).

Hans

@AmigaBlitter

I can't help you with this; the idea behind this topic was to find out if the pre-ordered Enhancer Software 2.3 package included a free Virtio-GPU.
In this case, only those who are using it can contribute to this topic and answer your question.
Which is clearly my question too.

@Hans

Great news!!

Why don't you create a survey like is sometimes done for other topics so we can get an idea of who is planning to pre-order
Enhancer Software 2.3 with the Virtio-GPU driver included ?

( I imagine €100 euro, might be a reasonable price. )

Also because I think I'll be dead in a few years

Thanks

i would rather just pay for it on its own

@NinjaCyborg

Hans,
it's doing its job, not distributing it.

@AmigaKit
You should give an answer just to understand how you intend to carry this project forward for us users.

For drivers and software, €100 seems fair to me, not to mention the fact that updates will be available later.( Enhancer Software 2.3 )

If, however, the project for this is different and tied to Linux hardware, then it would be nice to better understand what it's all about.

One final point: I hope the license is valid for my children or heirs

Or, as in (Grim Fandango), at least a ticket with a stick to help you on your way to the afterlife

@AmigaKit
I'm joking, I hope you don't mind

No, only separately

See exactly if this driver should be sold separately. Virtio-GPU has nothing to do with Enhancer Software 2.3, which was developed for real machines.

It is a standalone product that was developed specifically for Qemu/AmigaOs4.1. But apparently AmigaKit doesn't want to make any money, otherwise they would have done so long ago and released this driver.

To be clear I'd happily pay for some kind of 'OS4 emulation edition' containing say, both a OS4 sam license for QEmu and a classic license for use with winuae/qemu, and virtio driver.

It seems to be money is being left on the table here, by people who happily charge for software they don't own, but seem reluctant to charge for software they do.

It must be taken into account that:
Balaton
Hans
AmigaKit
and others have worked on it.

They've tested, tested, written code, etc.
I appreciate this.

Of course, making a driver available for Beta versions would be helpful.

Paying for it is fair.

The other arguments in the AmigaOS field are now old news.
There was also a project on AROS on VM with a driver similar to this Virtio-GPU. I don't know if it has any relevance to this work that's been done.

But it certainly deserves a fee.

The fee is to understand what users want and what AmigaKit wants to do.

Of course, if it's released in six months,
for me it's already too late, because at that point it's better to release a paid Beta version and then improve it.

Only the current driver?
0.5 for example

Okay, one price,

When further improvements arrive, another price.
There are many options.

For me, it's simple.

Nothing changes.
Now you pay a price for the Beta so we can start using it.

Based on subsequent updates, you pay based on new features.
With the account created, etc.

I repeat, there are many options.

When I have to pay 100 euros to some imbeciles for Metal Gear Solid which is not spoken in Italian but only subtitled in Italian.
I prefer to give them for something I like.

It doesn't seem to have anything to offer me, as X5000 owner. Maybe in the future when emulation again creates a superior experience to real hardware.

For now however,I would pre-pay for enhancer 2.3.

@livebyfaith74

Quote:

Of course, it has nothing to offer users of real machines, but they should think a little further ahead here...

Developing/testing on a virtual/emulated machine under real conditions is much easier, and not only that, for events you no longer have to take your bulky X5000 with you, but can show everything on a laptop or even smaller computers (MacMini).

Users who like to use AmigaOS 4.1 but are not willing to spend a lot of money could also benefit from it. Qemu/AmigaOS 4.1 gave me the reason to finally get my X5000, and yes, it makes me feel good... but these machines are simply too expensive for the masses.

@Maijestro

I agree with you. It was emulation in WinUAE that first let me try OS4.1 as well. And eventually got me to purchase real hardware. I am convinced that if more Amiga users get to try OS4.1, the more will want to use it regularly and even buy better hardware to do so.

But we need to have good software solutions as well to allow users to get all or most of their daily needs met in OS4.

@white

I'd prefer to buy the driver as an independent product. And not on pre-order.

@trixie

Thanks for your opinion,
the community isn't very large and we're all adults.

I'm glad so many of us are expressing our opinions.

But I'd like to hear from:

@AmigaKit

All that's missing is your comment on this matter, just to clarify.
For me, a driver that supports 32-bit composite is a long-overdue dream come true.

And I'm writing to you here because I'd like to know what your plans are for this driver.
Whatever they are, I understand that they can be made based on potential profit.
But your input would be appreciated.

I'd appreciate your response, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

@white

where’s the survey?

@328gts

the survey is this Topic

I wanted to see if

@Hans created it like for other topics.
But I saw that it was not created.