AMD A-8 3850 / Raedon HD 6550D graphics deteriorating

[BRB]

I'm have an LMDE system running Cinnamon on an AMD A8-3850 processor, which includes Raedon HD 6550D video ("Beavercreek"). I'm using the proprietary ATI video drivers.

It works well enough; however, there are some glitches.

First, hover boxes (the small box that pops up when you hover over a link/command) are always black on black, so are not of any use.

Second, after time (particularly after suspend/resume), the graphics start deteriorating. The most obvious impact of this is losing characters in the taskbar or menu. For example, the system menu, instead of saying:

Code: Select all

All Applications
Accessories
Education
Games
Graphics

Will instead show up like this:

Code: Select all

Al    pli   tion
  ces   ori
E  ca  on
 am s
 ra h c

e.g, letters missing. Unlike the hover box, this only happens after a suspend/resume. The dropping letters only affects the system menu and the taskbar/window titles, it doesn't affect the text within individual applications. The hover issue happens everywhere.

Any ideas, or is this just a limitation of the current support for this video card?

I've tried to take screenshots, but, bizarrely, when I try (using the Menu, Accessories, Screenshot app), it takes a screenshot of the screen as it appeared 10-20 minutes earlier.

Thanks, BRB

[bigj231]

Have you tried the latest proprietary drivers form AMD's site?

[austin.texas]

I am interested in this question because I have a similar system -
I also have an LMDE system running Cinnamon on an A8-3870 processor, which includes Radeon HD 6550D
I would suggest the proprietary driver (Catalyst) http://www2.ati.com/relnotes/Catalyst_1 ... taller.pdf
A temporary solution for when it starts messing up is to click on the up arrow ^ in your "System Tray" (right corner of your screen) and choose "Troubleshoot" then "Restart Cinnamon"
I have better graphics after installing the 3.4.0-030400-generic x86_64 Kernel.

[bigj231]

Another (easier) way to restart cinnamon is to press [ALT]+[F2] and then type "r"

[joslynlara]

The LMDE system works similarly like Cinnamon on an A8-3870 processor. The Linux Mint version works with similar kind of processors as like Radeon HD 6550D. Thanks for sharing more about proprietary drivers.

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