raymac46 Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 You may recall when I got my AMD R7 360 video card last year I couldn't get it to work with the FOSS driver on Linux Mint 17 and kernel 3.19. The kernel didn't recognize the card's ID. I switched to fglrx and things have been OK, but I thought maybe a newer kernel would let me get back to the Radeon open source driver. Linux Mint has a 4.2 kernel available so I installed it but after a reboot I got a Busybox shell and no way to input anything. I thought maybe the 4.2 kernel didn't like fglrx so I rebooted in 3.19 and switched to the FOSS video driver. Reboot in 4.2 and same Busybox issue. Reboot in 3.19 and now Xorg is borked and I have a CLI but no video. So I'm in a world of hurt. I reinstall fglrx from the CLI and reboot in 3.19 and I'm back to normal, so I purge the 4.2 kernel from my system. If it ain't broke... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Odd....Perhaps the card isn't support by the kernel anymore. I do remember reading that they were purging old drivers from the newer kernel releases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted May 20, 2016 Share Posted May 20, 2016 Odd....Perhaps the card isn't support by the kernel anymore. I do remember reading that they were purging old drivers from the newer kernel releases. I read the same thing. What version of Mint is 17.3 based on? Or maybe it's just a kernel issue, updating to the newest kernel? http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2016/03/ubuntu-drops-amd-catalyst-fglrx-driver-16-04 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 Mint 17.3 is based on Mint 17 which in turn is based on Ubuntu 14.04. Originally it had kernel 3.16 and it's updated now to 3.19. This is not really an old card. It was released in June 2015. It supports GCN 1.1 What I take away from all this: Linux Mint is a nice stable distro if you stick to the defaults and don't try to do anything geeky. I shouldn't mess with a main Linux PC that other people use and expect to work properly. I have plenty of junkers to experiment on. Much as I am an AMD fanboi I cannot really recommend an AMD video card right now. For a couple of years AMD was leading the race in open source drivers but right now their Linux software is under heavy development as they switch from fglrx to amdgpu. Eventually amgpu will be the sole AMD Linux driver but it'll be a bumpy road for year or so. It's a pity because the R7 360 is a really nice piece of hardware - cheap, compact, made by Sapphire who know a thing or two about AMD, supports GL 4.5. I am going to be very cautious about upgrading to LM 18 until I see where this whole kernel-AMD thing is going. Ubuntu isn't supporting AMD proprietary drivers in their latest release and no doubt LM 18 will be based on 16.04. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 20, 2016 Author Share Posted May 20, 2016 (edited) A bit of research on Phoronix and I found out that there are currently 3 AMD drivers out there: radeon (open source) supports cards that are legacy (before GCN 1.0) fglrx (proprietary) supports all cards later than HD5000 on older kernels before 4.X but will be deprecated for GCN cards. amdgpu supports GCN 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 on 4.X kernels. This is the open source driver of the future, just like Intel drivers. My card is GCN 1.1 and so amdgpu should be my driver of choice on kernel 4.X. There's only one problem - AMD hasn't got it working yet. That doesn't stop the 4.X kernel from choosing it as default because my card is in the GCN series. I can't use radeon because the kernel won't let me. I can't use fglrx because AMD doesn't support it. So right now I cannot run a 4.X kernel with my AMD card. I can't run radeon on the older 3.X kernels either because my card is too new for them and isn't recognixed, although here fglrx still works. I have to stick with it and use a 3.x kernel. Does this sound a little bit like catch 22 to you? Do you see why right at the moment Nvidia or Intel is your best Linux solution? Edited May 20, 2016 by raymac46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 ironically, that is why I ditched nVidia for AMD/ATI cards a few years back. i guess these things move in cycles don't they? Once I learned that the opensource driver worked as well as the proprietary driver (for ME at least), I switched to that too. Thought I was in the sweet spot with an opensource driver on an ATI card. Perhaps for the time being only... I've been looking at Intel GPUs...they seem to be linux-friendly for quite some time now. I like to vote with my wallet. Glad I don't have to vote yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 My Linux desktop runs with an A8-5600K AMD APU and I used the open source driver successfully for years. When I had a chance to get an actual discrete card at a good price - and it featured the newer GCN technology - I thought I would future proof my rig a bit. The CPU is plenty powerful; enough for Linux. I went from 256 to 768 stream processors, got a huge boost in WebGL performance. I did not expect that I wouldn't be able to run the FOSS driver though. I think once AMD gets its act together and backports the amdgpu driver to GCN 1.0 and 1.1 I'll be fine. I just hope this happens fairly soon so I'll be OK with a 4.X kernel. Intel is always a fine Linux choice if you don't need a lot of 3D processing power. They have been open source forever except for that darn GMA500 Poulsbro video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 Well this is interesting. Apparently AMD and Ubuntu have been working together and the FOSS amdgpu driver is working on Kernel 4.4 on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS. At least it is for GCN 1.1 and 1.2 cards. Right now I have put the Ubuntu ISO on a thumbdrive, booted my recalcitrant rig with it and Voila! it works. Posting this note from it now. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu-1604-amd&num=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 And here I am back in Linux Mint and the fglrx driver. Well it looks as if I just stick with this stable old distro for a while AMD will get everything sorted out. Since LM18 will be based on Ubuntu 16.04 eventually I'm pretty sure I'll be back where I want to be - using the newest AMD FOSS driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 My Linux desktop runs with an A8-5600K AMD APU and I used the open source driver successfully for years. When I had a chance to get an actual discrete card at a good price - and it featured the newer GCN technology - I thought I would future proof my rig a bit. The CPU is plenty powerful; enough for Linux. I went from 256 to 768 stream processors, got a huge boost in WebGL performance. I did not expect that I wouldn't be able to run the FOSS driver though. I think once AMD gets its act together and backports the amdgpu driver to GCN 1.0 and 1.1 I'll be fine. I just hope this happens fairly soon so I'll be OK with a 4.X kernel. Intel is always a fine Linux choice if you don't need a lot of 3D processing power. They have been open source forever except for that darn GMA500 Poulsbro video. I curse you Ray, for even mentioning that GPU that should no longer be uttered in linux land, and shall remain nameless in my eyes....simply THAT chip! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 Yes every time I have graphics card trouble I remind myself that at least I'm not dealing with THAT chip. I have one on an old Atom netbook in my museum. To be fair, Intel's codesmiths did come up with a 2D driver that gives you the full resolution THAT chip is capable of delivering. It's in the kernel now so at least you can run most low tech DEs that don't need much in the way of 3D acceleration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhbell Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Hello Ray I am still running my 10 year old computer that I built in 2006 with a AMD 64 CPU and a old ATI Radeon 4200 I believe. I run Mint 17.3 and have used the Exton 4.4 kernel and he has now compiled a 4.6.0 for ubuntu which should work in mint. You might want to give it a look. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 29, 2016 Author Share Posted May 29, 2016 Thanks Mel. I think I'll stick with tried and true old 3.19 until LM itself updates. I have had big time issues with the latest kernels on live ISOs with these new AMD cards. My LM 17.3 install gets used by other family members so I don't need any trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedon James Posted May 29, 2016 Share Posted May 29, 2016 Probably a smart move Ray....at least for now. The newest 4.6 kernel has improved supported for the AMD DRM drivers, with improvements for REMOVING proprietary drivers, but no mention of improved support for INSTALLATION. Getting there, but not quite yet! Exton, OTOH, is known for taking linux kernels, and applying all kinds of existing patches/improvements to make a "super kernel". I don't use them, but I am aware of them. Looks like Exton's kernel has what you want....if you were an nVidia user! Nothing about AMD/ATI though... http://www.exton.se/?p=846 Patience, my friend! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 There is so much that has to break your way to use a more recent AMD card with the open source amdgpu driver: You have to have the right kernel - probably 4.6 would be best. You have to have a GCN 1.2 or (maybe) GCN 1.1 card. GCN 1.0 is still a work in progress. You have to have the latest Xorg probably 1.18 You have to be able to boot the ISO without stalling or black screen. If all this works you can probably install the distro. The only one that's working for me so far is Ubuntu 16.04. And I'm not talking bleeding edge video here. My R7 360 is a respin of a card that came out in 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymac46 Posted June 8, 2016 Author Share Posted June 8, 2016 Well I followed a howto and finally got the Manjaro ISO to boot on my AMD based desktop. Add xdriver=vesa and modprobe.blacklist=amdgpu to boot options. That gets you past the Plymouth screen and then the system halts. switch to TTY and log in. edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/90-mhwd.conf and replace "vesa" with "radeon" modprobe radeon startx This banishes amdgpu and reinstalls the radeon driver which works with kernel 4.4. And this was just to get the ISO booted. Apparently when kernel 4.6 is mainstream this will all be sorted out and amdgpu will work out of the box with GCN 1.1 graphics cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
securitybreach Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Good deal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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