Update AMD FGLRX Driver via Apt Pinning - GUIDE

[jamaica]

In this guide, I will show you a way to update the AMD FGLRX driver, also known as the Catalyst driver, via apt from the Debian unstable repository.

Be warned, that this can make your system unstable.

First we had to add the unstable repository to apt, to be able to query it for packages. Open a terminal and type the following:

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sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-unstable.list

Add this to the file:

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deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free

If you want, you can set another Debian mirror like ftp.de.debian.org etc.

The next step is to configure the pinning for the new repository. Type the following command in the terminal to create a new preference file for apt:

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sudo nano /etc/apt/preferences.d/debian-unstable.pref

Add the following lines to the preference file:

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Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 400

Now we can update the local package list via

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sudo apt-get update

After the package list got updated, we install the new fglrx drivers from the Debian unstable repository with the following command:

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sudo apt-get install -t unstable fglrx-driver fglrx-atieventsd fglrx-modules-dkms fglrx-source fglrx-control libgl1-fglrx-glx-i386 libfglrx-amdxvba1 libfglrx-amdxvba1:i386 libgl1-fglrx-glx xvba-va-driver amd-libopencl1 amd-opencl-icd

This will also update/install the i386 packages needed for some games and steam and also installs the xvba-va-driver.

[Zyzz]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thx.

[horigo]

Yes me too that's what i was looking for.
Thanks

[Somelauw]

I followed your steps, but after rebooting and querying which driver I'm currently using I got:

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% lspci -nnk | grep -i vga -A3 | grep 'in use'
	Kernel driver in use: i915

which is the same driver as I was using before.

I'm using kernel version:

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3.16-6.dmz.1-liquorix-amd64

My graphics card is a Radeon HD8670M.

So why isn't it using the Radeon drivers?

[jamaica]

Maybe it's because the HD8670M is used in a hybrid system with an Intel integrated GPU. As I don't have any experience with this kind of setup, you need to ask someone else on how to set this up.