I wrote* a modern Linux driver that supports ultrawide resolutions, higher refresh, and faster performance than the original driver(s) on this cheap HDMI only variant server GPU.
I created it because I wanted my Nvidia GPUs to be compute only, and needed a cheap and small display GPU to run X11. I bought this GPU on AliExpress, after learning it had Linux support. It does, but kernel 5.x series and the sm750 driver in modern Linux only supports the older VGA/DVI variants.
Rather than send it back or throw it away, I decided to vibe code a new driver with new features, to make it usable for day to day desktop use. I've a little bit of a background in low level graphics so also added a cool little magic ordered dither (a pretty good one I think!) I devised myself, called "bbdither", and a few hacks to get 2560x1080 at 75hz on a device only officially documented as capable of up to 1920x1200 at 60hz, and PCI-E 1x speed.
Oh nice. I have a little PCIe/VGA one that I use for truenas and it's a bit flaky but I love that it's basically free from a PCIe perspective (just toss it off _any_ root). These are super useful and there are even m.2 variants.
16 * 1024 * 1024 / 1920 / 1080 = 8.0909, so you have enough VRAM for double-buffered 24-bit 1080p, with a bit to spare. For pure software rendering, that's good enough!
It doesn't really do much in the way of processing (https://www.siliconmotion.com/download/3PS/a/SM750_PB_EN_201...); it's pretty much just a dumb framebuffer. You can wire it up to output over an HDMI connector, but with the features it supports you're really just getting a single-link DVI signal.
It is just an old school 2D style card, with some (shape) primitives acceleration (unused), two logical controllers (no idea why), but has DMA (used) and a hardware cursor (also used). There's no onboard audio either.
It's pretty much a GPU for rack mount servers that require occasional log in.
It's exactly what I was looking for desktop work, it runs cinnamon fairly well, and won't clash with my Nvidia setup :)
I agree but these things are only about $25 USD.
Arguably an older Nvidia GPU is a better investment at this price if you just want basic desktop use. Unfortunately if I did that, the old Nvidia drivers wouldn't support my newer Nvidia Blackwell hardware.
Possibly, but in order to be safe for everyone, reviewers may want me to remove features that allow the driver to achieve the non-standard performance. There's a lot of hoops to jump through :)
How did they react to it being vibe coded? Were they pragmatic about it, as Linus recently suggested
I have like 4 drivers to upstream myself, plus a couple of patches here and there. Quality is good and they're tested, and while I understand the code and how things work low level, I wouldn't be able to write them myself.
I wrote* a modern Linux driver that supports ultrawide resolutions, higher refresh, and faster performance than the original driver(s) on this cheap HDMI only variant server GPU.
I created it because I wanted my Nvidia GPUs to be compute only, and needed a cheap and small display GPU to run X11. I bought this GPU on AliExpress, after learning it had Linux support. It does, but kernel 5.x series and the sm750 driver in modern Linux only supports the older VGA/DVI variants.
Rather than send it back or throw it away, I decided to vibe code a new driver with new features, to make it usable for day to day desktop use. I've a little bit of a background in low level graphics so also added a cool little magic ordered dither (a pretty good one I think!) I devised myself, called "bbdither", and a few hacks to get 2560x1080 at 75hz on a device only officially documented as capable of up to 1920x1200 at 60hz, and PCI-E 1x speed.
Screenshots here: https://github.com/KodeMunkie/sm750hdmifb#screenshots
If you try it out, be careful - read the project disclaimer :)
*Vibe coded, as mentioned in Hackernews comments here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49415282
Oh nice. I have a little PCIe/VGA one that I use for truenas and it's a bit flaky but I love that it's basically free from a PCIe perspective (just toss it off _any_ root). These are super useful and there are even m.2 variants.
Ah you mean this https://www.pcworld.com/article/393815/the-asrock-rack-m2-vg...
That one is VGA so I think the original upstream driver should support it.
looks cool, and thanks for being upfront about the LLM-assisted part. It seems like a genuine project with a lot of time put into it!
> Vibe coded, as mentioned in Hackernews comments here
In other words, you didn't make a thing. Don't claim credit in that case.
A GPU with HDMI and 16MB of VRAM is a very strange combination.
16 * 1024 * 1024 / 1920 / 1080 = 8.0909, so you have enough VRAM for double-buffered 24-bit 1080p, with a bit to spare. For pure software rendering, that's good enough!
It doesn't really do much in the way of processing (https://www.siliconmotion.com/download/3PS/a/SM750_PB_EN_201...); it's pretty much just a dumb framebuffer. You can wire it up to output over an HDMI connector, but with the features it supports you're really just getting a single-link DVI signal.
It is just an old school 2D style card, with some (shape) primitives acceleration (unused), two logical controllers (no idea why), but has DMA (used) and a hardware cursor (also used). There's no onboard audio either. It's pretty much a GPU for rack mount servers that require occasional log in. It's exactly what I was looking for desktop work, it runs cinnamon fairly well, and won't clash with my Nvidia setup :)
two logical controllers (no idea why)
For dual-monitor versions?
I agree but these things are only about $25 USD. Arguably an older Nvidia GPU is a better investment at this price if you just want basic desktop use. Unfortunately if I did that, the old Nvidia drivers wouldn't support my newer Nvidia Blackwell hardware.
old nvidia cards are pretty terrible actually on linux due to the proprietary drivers not working on mainline kernel after ~6.6
Maybe an LLM can also assist with modifying the Nvidia driver appropriately.
3840 x 2160[px] x 24[bit/px] / 8[bit/byte] = 24883200[bytes]
^ / 1024^2[bytes/MB] = 23.73[MB]
Will you upstream it?
Possibly, but in order to be safe for everyone, reviewers may want me to remove features that allow the driver to achieve the non-standard performance. There's a lot of hoops to jump through :)
How did they react to it being vibe coded? Were they pragmatic about it, as Linus recently suggested
I have like 4 drivers to upstream myself, plus a couple of patches here and there. Quality is good and they're tested, and while I understand the code and how things work low level, I wouldn't be able to write them myself.