Mesa 26.0-rc2 Brings Critical Driver Fixes for AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel GPUs

Mesa 26.0-rc2 is now available, delivering the second release candidate for this quarter's major update to open-source OpenGL and Vulkan drivers. Following last week's feature freeze and the initial Mesa 26.0-rc1 release, this update focuses exclusively on bug fixes that have accumulated over the past week.

AMD Radeon Graphics Improvements

The AMD driver stack receives several important fixes in this release candidate. The ACO compiler, which handles shader compilation for modern AMD GPUs, includes multiple stability improvements that should reduce crashes and rendering artifacts in demanding applications.

Game compatibility sees notable enhancements with a specific workaround for Strange Brigade when using Vulkan rendering through the RADV driver. Additionally, Crysis 2 and Crysis 3 Remastered now have a DriConf workaround for RADV, addressing rendering issues that affected these classic titles.

For developers working with video applications, the RADV Vulkan Video implementation gains a more reliable method for computing tile sizes, which should improve video playback performance and reduce artifacts. The release also includes maintenance fixes for the legacy R600 Gallium3D driver, ensuring continued support for older AMD hardware.

Intel Graphics Stability Enhancements

Intel GPU users benefit from several targeted fixes in Mesa 26.0-rc2. A critical fix addresses old Elkhart Lake intrinsics handling, resolving compatibility issues with certain Intel integrated graphics processors.

The Intel Iris Gallium3D driver and ANV Vulkan driver both receive stability improvements, addressing various edge cases that could lead to crashes or rendering problems. Additionally, fixes for assertions in the MSAA (Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing) code on Xe3 graphics hardware should improve stability in applications that heavily utilize anti-aliasing techniques.

NVIDIA NVK Driver Adjustments

For NVIDIA GPU users running the open-source NVK Vulkan driver, this release temporarily disables large pages functionality. This conservative approach prioritizes stability over potential performance gains, as the large pages implementation may have introduced instability in certain scenarios. The release also includes other minor fixes to improve overall driver reliability.

Other Driver Updates

Several other open-source graphics drivers receive attention in this release candidate. The Venus driver, which handles NVIDIA GPU acceleration on Linux through the VirtIO GPU protocol, includes various small fixes. Freedreno, the driver for Qualcomm Adreno GPUs commonly found in Android devices, also sees improvements. PanVK, the open-source Vulkan driver for ARM Mali GPUs, and the PowerVR driver both receive maintenance updates to address reported issues.

What's Next for Mesa 26.0

With Mesa 26.0-rc2 now available, the development team will evaluate whether additional release candidates are needed before declaring the update stable. The final Mesa 26.0 release is expected in February, though the exact timing depends on the stability of subsequent release candidates and the resolution of any remaining issues.

The Mesa 26.0 series promises significant new features and performance optimizations beyond these bug fixes, including support for new Vulkan extensions and various rendering improvements. However, those enhancements are already locked in from the feature freeze, with this release candidate cycle focusing purely on polish and stability.

Users interested in testing these fixes can obtain Mesa 26.0-rc2 from their distribution's testing repositories or compile it from source. As with any release candidate, stability may vary, and users should exercise caution when deploying these drivers in production environments.