OpenCL Requirements for Newbies on Linux

Hi Guys,

I am totally new to OpenCL and GPU Programming. I am working on my Thesis which is Ray Tracing with GLSL and OpenCL. I also want to realise this project with Qt in C/C++. I tried some OpenCL Tutorials on my Laptop with Win 7 but somehow it never worked under Visual Studio, even after visiting different forums. Another Problem is also that under Windows the interoperability between OpenCL and GLSL in Qt doesn’t work. Thats why i am changing my operating system to linux and i heard that developing under linux is easier. My Laptop uses two GPUs, the Intel GPU and a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650. Under Windows it is always switching between them when the power cable is connected or not. So here is my question. Can Somebody recommend me something like a development requirement for my Project? I mean, what kind of drivers should i use or is there a possibility that in linux i can still switch between those two GPU or do i have to choose my primary GPU? What kind of Linux Distribution should i take? Or does somebody know a good site where i can find the answers to my questions? I am asking these kind of Questions because i am really frustrated that not even some OpenCL Tutorials doesn’t work after 2-3 Weeks of Research on my Laptop.

Thanks beforehand.

There are a few different ways to go about this.

First and foremost is choosing a Linux distro that suits your experience. If you have no experience with Linux I would recommend an Ubuntu install to start you off. You will have to do a bit of searching to find which driver you should use for the GPU cards installed in your system, and minimally I would choose just one to work with (Ati card in my preference). You will have to download developer packages for basically anything you will be working with, and make sure your compilers are up to date.

Next is finding the developer kit for OpenCL to use on your system. Checking against the list of supported cards on AMD’s site should help you know if your system can do this or not. Just search for AMD OpenCL download and check on those pages since I can’t provide the link due to forum restrictions.

You’ll have to do a bit of reading in the downloaded files to learn how to install it, but with enough googling and reading the installation instructions, and even without prior linux experience, you should be able to get there. You will also have to make the libraries searchable by your system so that you can include header files without too much worry.

From there you have an abundance of examples that come with the SDK and a few good tutorials online that should help you along the way. I know this post is old, but I hope it helps someone!