Use AMDGPU instead of Radeon

[milomak]

Out of interest do you use pulse or alsa?

[Sajjad Kabir Joy]

The upstream Debian kernel is now up to 4.17.3 in Sid, so I'm backporting that to MX 17 Linux on a vanilla Stretch pbuilder. Mesa 18.X can also be backported to Stretch, but that requires more backports first, notably the "heavy" build of the llvm-6.0 toolchain. But llvm-6.0 is already in stretch-backports, so a lot of the heavy lifting is done.

That's really great!

[Sajjad Kabir Joy]

Out of interest do you use pulse or alsa?

PulseAudio.

[stevepusser]

OK, the Stretch backport of the Sid upstream 4.17.3 kernel is done. Besides the adaption to use gcc-6, which stretch-backports also does, I also bumped the kernel context switch frequency from 250 to 1000 Hz, so this one is not as good for server use as the standard Debian builds, but maybe better for desktops. DKMS packages from stretch-backports may be required if your vanilla versions' builds fail.

Instructions:


As root, add the repo:

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echo 'deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/stevenpusser:/kernel-backports/Debian_9.0/ /' > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:stevenpusser:kernel-backports.list

As a regular user, download the repo key:

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rm -f Release.key && wget -nv https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:stevenpusser:kernel-backports/Debian_9.0/Release.key -O Release.key

As root, add the key and update the apt database:

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apt-key add - < Release.key
apt-get update

The new kernel packages are now available to you, but won't be seen as upgrades of any packages, just like the backported kernel in stretch-backports. So you'll have to search for 4.17 linux packages that are now available.

[Wheelerof4te]

Using the latest 4.17.9 kernel, I have only enabled amdgpu driver on compile time (radeon is disabled) for my R5 330m GCN 1.0 card.

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./inxi -G
Graphics:
  Card-1: Intel HD Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Card-2: AMD Sun XT [Radeon HD 8670A/8670M/8690M / R5 M330 / M430] 
  driver: amdgpu v: kernel 
  Display: wayland server: X.Org 1.19.2 driver: amdgpu 
  resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Broadwell GT1 v: 4.5 Mesa 13.0.6 

It displays Gallium 0.4 AMD HAINAN as an OpenGL string for R5 330m. Some errors about loading the correct firmware on boot, most likely nothing important.
So far, it worked good. But I had to switch to Wayland because rendering on Totem and friends is abysmal using Xorg (same thing as with linux 4.14).
0.A.D plays nicely, maybe even a bit faster.

[milomak]

Using the latest 4.17.9 kernel, I have only enabled amdgpu driver on compile time (radeon is disabled) for my R5 330m GCN 1.0 card.

Code: Select all

./inxi -G
Graphics:
  Card-1: Intel HD Graphics driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Card-2: AMD Sun XT [Radeon HD 8670A/8670M/8690M / R5 M330 / M430] 
  driver: amdgpu v: kernel 
  Display: wayland server: X.Org 1.19.2 driver: amdgpu 
  resolution: 1366x768~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Broadwell GT1 v: 4.5 Mesa 13.0.6 

It displays Gallium 0.4 AMD HAINAN as an OpenGL string for R5 330m. Some errors about loading the correct firmware on boot, most likely nothing important.
So far, it worked good. But I had to switch to Wayland because rendering on Totem and friends is abysmal using Xorg (same thing as with linux 4.14).
0.A.D plays nicely, maybe even a bit faster.

isn't this going to be a similar issue as nvidia cards that are based on intel but need optirun/optimus to specifically use the dedicated nvidia driver?

i ask because i see card 1 as intel and card 2 as amd. or is amdgpu meant to have figured a way to switch between the two when needed?

i ask because on the nvidia cards where card 1 is intel and card 2 in nvidia, as far as i know an outside solution (optirun/optimus) still needs to be run.

sorry for not answering your question directly.

[Wheelerof4te]

^AMD+Intel hybrid cards use kernel switcheroo and PRIME tachnology for switching. You can use the terminal command DRI_PRIME=1 foo (where foo is the program command) to manualy switch to a dedicated card.
GNOME as of 3.24 can switch to dedicated AMD card using a right-click menu option on a program icon. Intel card is always used by default, and there is no automatic, dynamic switching yet.