MdiEx V3.6

MdiEx v3.6

MdiEx v3.6 is a new major update focused on expanding Xclipse support, improving package structure and updating the internal Vulkan layer stack.

This release keeps the MdiEx multi-package model, but now covers more Samsung Exynos/Xclipse targets, including:

• Exynos 1480 / Xclipse 530
• Exynos 1580 / Xclipse 540
• Exynos 1680 / Xclipse 550
• Exynos 2200 / Xclipse 920
• Exynos 2400 / Xclipse 940
• Exynos 2500 / Xclipse 950
• Exynos 2600 / Xclipse 960
• Native/System Vulkan package

Main changes

Layer Helix v1.3.0

MdiEx now includes Layer Helix v1.3.0 as the main Vulkan layer base.

Layer Helix is used for:

• pipeline/cache behavior
• safer Vulkan layer handling
• texture/upload optimization paths
• Xclipse-focused compatibility tweaks
• cleaner layer organization
• better base for future MdiEx updates

The layer is included as:

• libLayer_Helix.so
• VkLayer_helix.json
• VK_LAYER_HELIX

NRAMV v1.5.0

NRAMV has been updated to v1.5.0.

NRAMV is included to help reduce memory pressure during heavy emulation workloads, especially in long sessions or games/emulators that tend to increase RAM usage over time.

Included as:

• libnramv.so

The default profile is set to MEDIUM, with automatic profile handling enabled.

MdiEx Core

This release introduces MdiEx Core inside the packages.

Included as:

• libMdiex_Core.so

MdiEx Core acts as an internal bridge/policy layer for the package structure, helping keep Helix, NRAMV and driver metadata organized in a cleaner way.

Package variants

This release includes the following packages:

• MdiEx_1480_v3.6
• MdiEx_1580_v3.6
• MdiEx_1680_v3.6
• MdiEx_2200_v3.6
• MdiEx_2400_v3.6
• MdiEx_2500_v3.6
• MdiEx_2600_v3.6
• MdiEx_Nativo_v3.6

Notes

This release does not promise a direct FPS increase in every game or emulator.

The main goals are:

• broader Xclipse support
• better Vulkan package organization
• updated Layer Helix base
• updated NRAMV base
• improved memory behavior under pressure
• cleaner metadata
• better compatibility with driver import systems
• more stable structure for future versions

Performance and compatibility may vary depending on device, Android version, emulator, game, thermal state and Vulkan driver behavior.

Recommended testing

If you test this release, please report:

• device model
• package used
• emulator or app used
• game tested
• whether it opened or not
• approximate FPS
• RAM usage, if possible
• screenshots or logs if an error happens

Useful testing targets include:

• Winlator
• GameNative
• Eden / Yuzu-based emulators
• long emulation sessions
• heavy Vulkan games
• games with shader compilation stutter
• games that previously failed to import custom driver packages

MdiEx 2200 V2.5

MdiEx 2200 v2.5

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, introducing expanded BCN compatibility behavior, relaxed dispatch handling and rebuilt binaries across the full package.

What’s New

Xclipse 960 BCN Native Support — added native BCN handling support targeting newer Xclipse 960 GPU environments, reducing the need for forced texture emulation paths on supported hardware.

Relaxed Dispatch Mode — aggressive dispatch validation behavior from previous releases has been replaced with a more relaxed dispatch model intended to improve compatibility and reduce unnecessary command handling failures.

Updated ExynosTools Configuration — force_bcn_emulation, strict_dispatch and drop_on_missing_commandbuffer_map have been reverted to disabled state to better match the new relaxed BCN and dispatch behavior.

Full Binary Rebuild — all Vulkan layers, renderer libraries and related binaries were rebuilt for this release cycle.

Development Notes

This release represents a transition away from heavily forced compatibility behavior toward a more native and flexible dispatch model.

Current development remains focused on the Samsung Xclipse 920 driver branch due to better game compatibility compared to newer Xclipse variants.

Winlator Ludashi 2.8.2 is currently recommended.
Ludashi 3.0 may present global color inversion issues with the Xclipse 920 driver.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher

Credits

Samsung
Soula / JHINZUO — ExynosTools and Vortek fixes
Bruno — Vortek
Álvaro — E2600 BCn

MdiEx 2200 V2.2

MdiEx 2200 v2.2

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, introducing a dedicated Vortek Vulkan layer focused on BC4/BC5 texture decode handling for improved compatibility in Winlator environments.

What’s New

New Vulkan Layer: VK_LAYER_VORTEK_XCLIPSE — Vortek has been restructured from a helper renderer library into a standalone Vulkan layer (libVkLayer_VortekXclipse.so) focused on BC4/BC5 upload decode handling.

BC4/BC5 Decode Step 4 — the new layer introduces an updated decode path specialized for BC4 and BC5 compressed textures, extending the previous generic BCn compatibility behavior.

Optional Layer Control — the Vortek layer can now be disabled independently using:

DISABLE_VORTEK_XCLIPSE_LAYER=1

Development Notes

The jump from package version 5 to 13 reflects multiple unpublished internal revisions and compatibility experiments between v2.0 and v2.2.

Current development remains focused on the Samsung Xclipse 920 driver branch due to better game compatibility compared to newer Xclipse variants.

Winlator Ludashi 2.8.2 is currently recommended.
Ludashi 3.0 may present global color inversion issues with the Xclipse 920 driver.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher

Credits

Samsung
Soula / JHINZUO — ExynosTools + Vortek Fix
Bruno — Vortek
Álvaro

MdiEx 2200 V2.0

MdiEx 2200 v2.0

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, combining previous compatibility and stability improvements into a unified release focused on Winlator, DXVK and VKD3D environments.

What’s New

RDR2 Fix Reintegrated — the driver version now combines both the RDR2 compatibility changes and the Vortek BCn FD Deadlock Fix into a single package, restoring the rendering and startup adjustments introduced in v1.2.

Aggressive ExynosTools Configuration Restored — force_bcn_emulation, strict_dispatch and drop_on_missing_commandbuffer_map have been re-enabled. These settings are now considered stable enough to use alongside the Vortek deadlock fix developed by Soula.

Unified Compatibility Build — v2.0 merges the stability improvements from v1.8 with the aggressive compatibility behavior from v1.2, creating a more complete experimental build for demanding DX11 and DX12 titles.

Compatibility Notes

Current development remains focused on the Samsung Xclipse 920 driver branch due to better game compatibility compared to newer Xclipse variants.

Winlator Ludashi 2.8.2 is currently recommended.
Ludashi 3.0 may present global color inversion issues with the Xclipse 920 driver.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher
MdiEx 2200 v2.0

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, combining previous compatibility and stability improvements into a unified release focused on Winlator, DXVK and VKD3D environments.

What’s New

RDR2 Fix Reintegrated — the driver version now combines both the RDR2 compatibility changes and the Vortek BCn FD Deadlock Fix into a single package, restoring the rendering and startup adjustments introduced in v1.2.

Aggressive ExynosTools Configuration Restored — force_bcn_emulation, strict_dispatch and drop_on_missing_commandbuffer_map have been re-enabled. These settings are now considered stable enough to use alongside the Vortek deadlock fix developed by Soula.

Unified Compatibility Build — v2.0 merges the stability improvements from v1.8 with the aggressive compatibility behavior from v1.2, creating a more complete experimental build for demanding DX11 and DX12 titles.

Compatibility Notes

Current development remains focused on the Samsung Xclipse 920 driver branch due to better game compatibility compared to newer Xclipse variants.

Winlator Ludashi 2.8.2 is currently recommended.
Ludashi 3.0 may present global color inversion issues with the Xclipse 920 driver.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher

Credits

Samsung
Soula / JHINZUO — ExynosTools
Bruno — Mesa3D / Vortek
Álvaro

MdiEx 2200 V1.8

MdiEx 2200 v1.8

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, focused on improved BCn stability and compatibility in Winlator environments.

What’s New

Vortek BCn FD Deadlock Fix — updated libvortekrenderer.so with a fix developed by Soula (ExynosTools) to resolve a file descriptor deadlock issue that could cause rendering freezes and stalls during BCn operations.

ExynosTools Configuration Reverted — force_bcn_emulation, strict_dispatch and drop_on_missing_commandbuffer_map have been reverted to their default disabled state, as the Vortek-side fix resolves the underlying issue without requiring aggressive compatibility overrides.

Compatibility Notes

Current development is focused on the Samsung Xclipse 920 driver branch due to better game compatibility compared to newer Xclipse variants.

Winlator Ludashi 2.8.2 is currently recommended.
Ludashi 3.0 may present global color inversion issues with the Xclipse 920 driver.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher

Credits

Samsung
Soula — ExynosTools
Bruno — Mesa3D / Vortek
Álvaro

MdiEx V1.0

MdiEx 2200, 2400, 2600 V1

Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22's, S23 Fe, S24's and S26's devices using Samsung Xclipse 9x0 GPUs, bundled with ExynosTools BCn support layer for improved compatibility and texture handling in Winlator environments.

Components

Xclipse 920, 940, 960 — base Vulkan driver
ExynosTools 3.1 BCN Layer — BCn texture interception and emulation layer

Usage

Add the environment variable:

VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_EXYNOSTOOLS_bcn

Requirements

Android 10 (API 29) or higher

Credits
Samsung
ExynosTools

MdiEx 2200 V2.4

MdiEx 2200 v2.4

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs, formalizing the combined use of both ExynosTools and Vortek Vulkan layers for BCn and BC4/BC5 compatibility handling.

What’s New

Official Dual-Layer Configuration — VK_LAYER_VORTEK_XCLIPSE is now officially intended to run together with VK_LAYER_EXYNOSTOOLS_bcn.

Updated environment variable:

VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_EXYNOSTOOLS_bcn:VK_LAYER_VORTEK_XCLIPSE

Updated Driver Identification — the driver version string now reflects the integrated BC4/BC5 upload decode behavior provided by the Vortek layer.

Development Notes

All core binaries and configuration files remain functionally identical to v2.2.
This release mainly formalizes the required Vulkan layer chain for correct operation.

Requirements

Android 14 (API 34) or higher

Credits

Samsung
Soula / JHINZUO — ExynosTools
Bruno — Vortek
Álvaro

MdiEx 2200 V1.2

MdiEx 2200 v1.2

Updated Vulkan driver package for Galaxy S22 devices using Samsung Xclipse 920 GPUs.

What’s New

Integrated Vortek BCn Release Candidate — added libvortekrenderer.so, bringing BCn handling components from the Mesa3D/Vortek project.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Fix — driver version updated with compatibility adjustments and ExynosTools layer changes focused on improving RDR2 startup and rendering behavior.

Forced BCn Emulation Enabled — force_bcn_emulation is now enabled by default, allowing compressed texture support without manual configuration.

Stricter Dispatch Handling — strict_dispatch and drop_on_missing_commandbuffer_map are now enabled to improve stability and reduce silent crashes.

Minimum Requirements Updated

Android 14 (API 34) or higher is now required.
Previous versions supported Android 10 (API 29)+.

Credits

Samsung
ExynosTools
Bruno
Álvaro

MdiEx V3.2

MdiEx v3.2

MdiEx v3.2 is a major update focused on structure, compatibility and stability for Samsung Xclipse Vulkan drivers.

This release keeps the multi-variant package model from v3.0, with separate builds for Exynos 2200, Exynos 2400, Exynos 2600 and Native/System Vulkan.

The main change in v3.2 is the updated internal layer stack, now using Layer Helix v1.2.0 together with NRamV v1.4.2. Vortek builds were also updated and now follow the same v3.2 base structure.

What changed Layer Helix v1.2.0

MdiEx v3.2 now uses Layer Helix as the main Vulkan layer base.

Layer Helix replaces the older layer/cache structure with a cleaner and more maintainable implementation focused on:

pipeline cache behavior cache warmup texture upload optimization compressed texture handling render-pass heuristics reduced stutter in supported scenarios better long-session behavior cleaner Vulkan layer organization

This gives MdiEx a better base for future updates and makes the package structure easier to maintain.

NRamV v1.4.2

NRamV has been updated to v1.4.2.

NRamV is used to help reduce memory pressure during heavy emulation workloads, especially in games and emulators that tend to increase RAM usage over time.

It is included in the package as:

libnramv.so

The goal is not to force aggressive memory cleanup, but to improve behavior under pressure and help keep sessions more stable.

Vortek integration updated

The Vortek variants have been updated to follow the v3.2 structure.

The integration was adjusted to improve compatibility with loaders and package import systems.

The main metadata changes are:

Vortek is now loaded through layerLibrary the Vulkan layer name is now defined through layerName meta.json was simplified for better loader compatibility overly nested fields were removed to avoid import issues the package structure is now more direct and easier to parse

The functional structure now follows:

libraryName layerLibrary layerName nramv layers, when supported

This should improve package recognition and reduce issues where the driver is detected but rejected as invalid.

Package variants

This release includes standard MdiEx builds and Vortek builds.

Standard builds MdiEx_2200_v3.2 MdiEx_2400_v3.2 MdiEx_2600_v3.2 MdiEx_Nativo_v3.2 Vortek builds MdiEx_2200_Vortek_v3.2 MdiEx_2400_Vortek_v3.2 MdiEx_2600_Vortek_v3.2 MdiEx_Nativo_Vortek_v3.2 Recommended testing information

If you test this release, please report:

device model package used emulator or app used game tested whether it opened or not approximate FPS RAM usage, if possible screenshots or logs if an error happens

Useful testing targets include:

Winlator GameNative Eden / Yuzu-based emulators heavy games long sessions games with shader compilation stutter games that previously failed to import the package Notes

This release does not promise a direct FPS increase.

The main goals are:

better cache behavior reduced stutter in supported cases improved memory behavior better Vulkan layer organization improved loader compatibility more stable package structure cleaner base for future versions

Performance and compatibility may vary depending on the device, Android version, emulator, game, thermal state and Vulkan driver behavior.

MdiEx V3.0

v3.0

The biggest release to date marks a significant architectural shift across the board. Every package now ships NRAMV (libnramv.so), a new RAM management library that operates alongside the Vulkan layer to actively monitor and respond to memory pressure. NRAMV runs with auto profiling enabled by default (MEDIUM profile), tracking PSI memory events, GPU (SGPU) load, and flushing on Vulkan trim signals, giving the driver a much tighter feedback loop with the system's actual memory state.

The release also introduces a two-track model for the first time. Packages are now split between LayerCache and Vortek variants, letting users choose based on their needs.

LayerCache builds replace the previous ExynosTools/Vortek stack entirely with a new libVkLayer_Cache.so layer at iteration 9, built on the Soula base. This track prioritizes pipeline cache efficiency and is the recommended default for most users.

Vortek builds carry forward Step 25 with an updated binary, now fully integrated with NRAMV via nramv_integration settings embedded in the layer config. These builds retain the full BCn interception stack, depth override, and custom dispatch flags introduced in v2.8.

v3.0 is also the first multi-chip release, expanding support beyond the Exynos 2200 to cover 2400, 2600, and a Native variant (no bundled driver, for devices that already have a compatible Vulkan driver installed). Each chip gets both a LayerCache and a Vortek build, resulting in 8 packages total.