LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

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foobrizio

LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

Hi everyone,
I have a bad linux experience with my girlfriend's laptop and its devilish AMD graphic card. This Asus laptop mounts an AMD Radeon HD 6320.

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$ lspci | grep VGA

00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 6320]
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series]
I had very bad issues with this graphic card with Manjaro distro (I chose that distro because I am an Archlinux user, and Manjaro is very similar to it...but I had to give up trying to solve these problems...you can see the topic https://forum.manjaro.org/t/cant-make-x ... k/51609/23 ). Now I decided to switch to LinuxMint, since I installed it in her brother's laptop too, but this VGA seems to be slightly compatible with every Linux distro, as I had to run the LiveCD in compatibility mode.

Now I installed it, but I preventively added "nomodeset" into kernel parameters (editing /etc/default/grub) because otherwise LinuxMint doesn't start.
I ask LinuxMint's community to help me in the installation of the right VGA drivers for my situation, so I can give to my girlfriend a fully operable Linux Mint installation, with a high resolution screen and decent graphic performances. Right now, the distro is freshly installed (I installed it 2 hours ago using LinuxMint "Tara" - MATE (64 bit) iso).
I didn't install or update any package yet, didn't modify anything except that line in /etc/default/grub.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
richyrich

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by richyrich »

Sorry . . None! :shock:

AMD have dropped linux support for your graphics card. The ati/radeon open source drivers are the only drivers available.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

I didn't have many expectations. Can you write me a tutorial to do a clean installation of this open drivers?
richyrich

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by richyrich »

Lets take a look at your current drivers. Please copy the complete output from this terminal command, and paste it back here in a reply.

inxi -Gx
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

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$inxi -Gx

Graphics:         Card-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 6320] bus-ID: 00:01.0
                  Card-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series] bus-ID: 01:00.0
                  Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) driver: vesa Resolution: 1024x768@0.00hz
                  OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 6.0, 128 bits)
                  version: 3.3 Mesa 18.0.0-rc5 Direct Render: Yes
I would appreciate if you could send me a pm to indicate me the package name to install fpaste in LinuxMint or a similar service, as I am not used to LinuxMint repositories.
Last edited by foobrizio on Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
richyrich

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by richyrich »

Ooops ! :shock: I forgot to add the hyphen before the Gx . . then I edited my reply before you got to see it, sorry.

inxi -Gx
Last edited by richyrich on Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

I have just edited my previous post
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Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by Moem »

foobrizio wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:45 pm I would appreciate if you could send me a pm to indicate me the package name to install fpaste in LinuxMint or a similar service
Not to be unwelcoming, but as a general rule: asked in the forums means answered in the forums. That way, the answer may benefit others, too.
Image

If your issue is solved, kindly indicate that by editing the first post in the topic, and adding [SOLVED] to the title. Thanks!
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

Moem wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:50 pm Not to be unwelcoming, but as a general rule: asked in the forums means answered in the forums. That way, the answer may benefit others, too.
I know and I agree with this rule...but I asked a pm only because the installation of fpaste has nothing to do with the main argument of this topic.I don't want to make this topic messy with different arguments.
richyrich

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by richyrich »

Apologies, on call and was called away . . Try this: apt install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-radeon
And a reboot would probably be a good idea. :)
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

richyrich wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:17 pm Apologies
Do not be worried, it wasn't that big annoyance :lol:


richyrich wrote: Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:17 pm Try this: apt install --reinstall xserver-xorg-video-ati xserver-xorg-video-radeon
And a reboot would probably be a good idea. :)
I did it and rebooted..nothing happened.
Then I remembered of that "nomodeset" line into /etc/default/grub that would have nullified this installation, so I removed, updated grub and rebooted again.
Linux Mint freezes on boot, exactly as it was happening with the LiveCD (this is a similar image to the one that I see, https://www.linuxmint.com/tmp/clem/comm ... 7/bad2.png). Now I'm using again a liveCD in order to change that line again...maybe I should write something else instead of "nomodeset" to make ati drivers work?
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

I tried to add "radeon.modeset=1" instead of "nomodeset" on kernel parameters, but it was a failure, and LinuxMint keeps getting stuck during boot.
It seems I can't make it start without adding "nomodeset". Honestly I don't know if it means that I'm using VGA driver or not.
See these 3 outputs:

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$lspci -k | grep -EA2 'VGA|3D'

00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Wrestler [Radeon HD 6320]
             Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Wrestler [Radeon HD 6320]
             Kernel modules: radeon
--
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series]
             Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Radeon HD 6470M
             Kernel modules: radeon



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$lsmod | grep radeon
(it's empty)


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$sudo modprobe radeon
modprobe: ERROR: could not insert 'radeon': Invalid argument


So it seems that the radeon module still isn't loaded. I don't know how to fix it
Citizen229

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by Citizen229 »

Since no one has asked... what cpu is in that machine? The output showing a mobile gpu as well as non-mobile gpu leads me to suspect you have an older APU laptop + GPU. Since the open source are installed by default as well as what load on live medium, I am leaning towards one of the graphics devices not being disabled. (VIA the BIOS). Causing conflict. Or your are set to on chip via BIOS, and you are only making things worse by working on the GPU. They both use the same driver. So fiddling with the drivers(and whatnot) will corrupt both.

My solution: 1) force specific card use in bios
2) fresh install 18.3 its more stable than 19
3) once ok in 18.3, move to 19. 19 may be part of the problem so 18.3 as a stable baseline is a good start.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

Citizen229 wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:53 am what cpu is in that machine?
It's an AMD E-450 APU. What is the problem with this processor?
Citizen229 wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:53 am My solution: 1) force specific card use in bios
I can't do anything related to graphics from the BIOS. There isn't any option that allows me to do that, so I think that my only solution is installing the 18.3 version, hoping that it will solve the problem.
Citizen229

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by Citizen229 »

You may have to create login credentials in the bios to get that option.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

Citizen229 wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:51 pm You may have to create login credentials in the bios to get that option.

Nope, I created an administrator password to use before entering BIOS, but there are no significative changes
Citizen229 wrote: Thu Jul 12, 2018 9:53 am 2) fresh install 18.3 its more stable than 19
3) once ok in 18.3, move to 19. 19 may be part of the problem so 18.3 as a stable baseline is a good start.
I had to start 18.3 liveCD in compatibility mode because it was freezing at boot, exactly as 19 version. Are you sure that this version will solve the problem? The start doesn't seem so good
Last edited by foobrizio on Fri Jul 13, 2018 6:21 am, edited 3 times in total.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

I confirm. I installed Linux Mint 18.3 and I have the same problems as before.
I still have to start Linux Mint with nomodeset in kernel parameters
Citizen229

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by Citizen229 »

Do not HAVE to use 18. Sometimes its nice to work with something not quite so new.

You original post says every distro you have tried fails. I have mint 18 on my friends E300 laptop. Its slower than peanut butter, cause that thing is a vintage Walmart special. But it did install correctly first time.

With multiple distros failing, this leads me to believe a hardware issue more than software.
Citizen229

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by Citizen229 »

Ok I have spent my morning drinking coffee and web browsing this issue.

Its appears AMD making a new drivers stack has obsoleted this type of hardware as well. The old FGLRX drivers were handled differently than what is being done now. Now everything is done at the kernal level. Before was not, which is why the FGLRX drivers could take over. Now FGLRX is not an option. Without the option to disbable one of the 2 devices in BIOS, booting with nomodset and having ultralow performance is the only option. Any distro will fail since their root is the basic kernal.
In THEORY one could work some command line magic, and force the kernal to disable one graphics device. If this was doable, then I suspect FGLRX drivers would have been ported over long ago.

I spent 2 hours web searching this. I may be wrong, but that is the summation i concluded. It could be forced to work, but I will not recommend a potential bricking situation. The laptop is not mine, nor yours.
foobrizio

Re: LinuxMint fresh installation - which graphic driver should I install?

Post by foobrizio »

I'm not able to do any command line magic, unfortunately. I was thinking about finding an old distro, with the old kernel, and avoid every kind of update about kernel and graphic drivers. Could it be a solution?
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