[Liverpool] Atom Cedar Trail Linux compatibility

[Sebastian Arcus]

Hi David,

I'm not sure there is any direct relation between the two - and their 
support status under Linux. Cedar Trail - if my understanding is correct 
- is actually one generation before Clover Trail. And in a way, they 
live in "parallel" universes - as "N" series Atoms (which Cedar Trail 
are) tend to be aimed at regular netbooks, while "Z" series atoms (which 
Clover Trail are) were aimed in the past at MID's (although a limited 
number showed up in some netbook models) - and in the future they seem 
to be aimed at tablets and smartphones.

The thing with Cedar Trail (N2100, N2600, N2800 - which you can buy 
right now in notebooks) is that they don't use an actual Intel GPU - but 
one designed by PowerVR. And although Intel contributes to the kernel 
development, the same can't be said about PowerVR. That is why the Intel 
GMA500 (which was actually a PowerVR design) - which was bundled with 
the old Intel Atom Z6xx series - has never had proper support under Linux.

When it comes to Clover Trail (which consists of the Intel Atom Z27xx 
series) - things seem to be a bit more complicated - as it seems that 
the architecture of the entire CPU is under question when it comes to 
support under Linux. Add to that the fact that these Atoms seem to be 
built into devices without a traditional BIOS (like the few Intel 
powered smartphones already on the market) - and the issue of support 
under Linux seems to become further complex.

Sebastian



On 15/10/12 18:07, David Hughes wrote:
> Hi Sebastian,
>
> Thanks for that, very interesting. Is this related to the Clover Trail
> chip which Intel said wouldn't work with Linux (but confusingly, which
> they're apparently now saying will work with Linux:
> http://www.zdnet.com/intels-new-clover-trail-chip-will-support-android-and-linux-7000004451/
> )
>
> I've always been under the impression that it's sensible to wait until a
> particular bit of hardware has been around for a while before expecting
> it to be supported by the kernel; although given that Intel are heavily
> involved with kernel development these days (they contributed some 6.2%
> of new code to the kernel in 2011) I suppose this isn't as important as
> it once was.
>
> (It's kind of academic for me - I can't afford a top of the range laptop
> anyway at the moment!)
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
> On 15/10/12 09:27, Sebastian Arcus wrote:
>> Just a quick note for anybody who is not aware of this yet. The
>> (relatively) new Intel Atom Cedar platform - containing the N2800, N2600
>> or N2100 CPU's don't have adequate support under Linux. This is not due
>> to the processing cores themselves, but due to the graphics chip (which
>> is physically integrated on the processor, if memory serves).
>>
>> The graphics core - which is the GMA3600/GMA3650, is a PowerVR core -
>> not a real Intel one. The story is similar to the GMA500 which was
>> integrated with the Intel Atom Z6xx series - and never quite got
>> anywhere proper in terms of support under Linux - although some people
>> have got it to work, of sorts.
>>
>> Intel seems to have released some drivers for this chip (from what I can
>> tell, binary stuff) - and there are some reports of people who have
>> gotten them to sort of work - but apparently with a lot of problems.
>> I've seen some mentions that there might be a proper driver in
>> development in the kernel for these chips - but I wouldn't hold my
>> breath as PowerVR have never cooperated in releasing the specs.
>>
>> I just thought I'd post this here, in case anybody is considering buying
>> one of these newer netbooks - as their performance otherwise (compared
>> to older models) is rather good.
>>
>> Here are some links with extra info:
>>
>> https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=144445
>>
>> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1953734&page=2
>>
>>
>>
>> Sebastian
>>
>
>
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