My university has handed over a LG-H850 (LG G5) with a Adreno 530 GPU to me. This GPU should support Vulkan. I've tried out the newest Vulkan SDK ("adrenosdkvulkanv1.02.zip"), but it seems the examples do not work. I'm not completly sure, but it seems there's also no possibility to upgrade to Android N Preview. It also seems, that the "libvulkan.so" doesn't get automatically included into the APK. The LG G5 device runs Android 6.0.1 on it.
My Questions:
Is there any solution to run Vulkan applications on this device?
Do I need to upgrade to Android N?
@mhfeldma, I'm wondering about that too, will rephrase it: Does any ES 3.2 enabled v145 GITs automatically comes with Vulkan support?
@ChristianL, currently you don't get Vulkan support on G5's released drivers, though they're currently testing LGE dev build of Android 7.0 which comes with es3.2 enabled [email protected] (GIT@I561b940e76) that potentially might have it. Anyway you could use AIDA64 app /devices section and gpuinfo's vulkancapsviewer to check if your hardware have Vulkan supported driver
Hi !
I don't work for Qualcomm, and I'm speaking as developer.
You have to wait until your device manufacturer roll out the Android N / Nougat update. If you find a way to upgrade your device to N, please let me know ;)
But there are other ways to have Vulkan and OpenGL ES 3.2 on Android Devices, not exactly for LG G5:
1) By using Nexus devices rolled in Android beta program ( https://www.google.com/android/beta ). You'll receive Android N Beta update via OTA. On Android N you have the Java support for OpenGL ES 3.2 throught android.opengl.GLES32 class. Vulkan is available with NDK, afaik.
2) or, get a NVidia device, as Shield Tablet K1 or Shield Android TV, running Android 6.0 Mashmellow. Just update and run. ( https://developer.nvidia.com/vulkan-android ). Both OpenGL ES 3.2 and Vulkan are available through NDK only.
I have both Nexus Player and Nexus 5X. First one is very cheap, but a bit hard to find today. But runs Vulkan nicely.
..just to add, Vulkan support is much more that just an OS update. If the GPU hardware itself cannot support the Vulkan then all you have is an up to date OS with the latest drivers for the hardware feature the device can support. Meaning, if the GPU is not Vulkan capable, then no Android update will ever make it Vulkan capable. However, if the GPU is capable of support Vulkan features, then its like Alessandro posted, you have to wait for an update. Its really simple to find out if the device is capable of support Vulkan by viewing its specification.
Additionally the SS Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge have Vulkan support now on Android M. Other devices w/Adreno 530 GPU should support it, but will need to wait for updates that include driver updates.
I used Qualcomm drivers patch that was made available for the Nexus 6 on my Moto Maxx, which is on android 6.0.1. It is now running OpenGL ES 3.2, the Graphical performance improved, but the stability is not 100%. I think it has to do with the blobs that conjoin the CPU to the GPU. Unfortunately, the Moto Maxx will no longer officially supported by Motorola. So I'll be stopped.
Existing Adreno 4xx and 5xx GPUs will have support for Vulkan, which is not exposed until Android N, so you will need to wait until your carrier and manufacturer updates your phone. As mentioned earlier, LG currently has G5 Nougat builds in soak testing in Korea, so it should make its way to your variant fairly quickly.
Where did you get the information that Adreno 4xx devices support Vulkan ? They are not advertised as such even on Qualcomm's website so unless you have some insider information I would be careful with comments like that so as not to cause additional confusion to readers of this post. As posted above, upgrading to a newer Android version does NOT magically grant your GPU new powers or ability. Its highly probable that the Adreno 4xx family could support Vulkan, but whether or not Qualcomm will add driver support is another issue...something no Android upgrade is going to change.
As per the announcement from Qualcomm of Adreno 530 supporting the Vulkan API, "Qualcomm Technologies is also planning Vulkan support for upcoming Adreno 5xx series GPUs as well as existing Adreno 4xx series GPUs". In addition, both the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, with Adreno 418 and 420 respectively, support Vulkan, so it would be expected for the non-Nexus Adreno 4xx devices to do the same.
Please see their announcement here for more information: https://www.qualcomm.com/news/releases/2016/02/17/qualcomm-announces-vul...
..my apologies..Thanks for the clarification, as that one flew right over my head ( the announcement that is ).
"Initial specifications stated that Vulkan will work on hardware that currently supports OpenGL ES 3.1 or OpenGL 4.X and up." https://www.khronos.org/assets/uploads/developers/library/overview/vulkan-overview.pdf
I believe all major GPU makers are fully commited to support Vulkan. There is a nice table with current support to VUlkan here, including Qualcomm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulkan_(API)#Compatibility
About supporting Vulkan on Android 6.0, afaik only NVidia shield K1 and Android TV (X1 / X2) does it, with latest OTA. http://www.androidcentral.com/nvidia-shield-tablet-k1-android-601-update-brings-vulkan-graphics-api-support