LMDE 6 & RX 7800 XT compatibility

[daliboi]

Hi all,

New to the forums, but have been running LMDE 6 since last year. I recently bought an RX 7800 XT as an upgrade from a 6700 XT. Would it be possible to utilize this within LMDE 6? If so, what changes would I have to make in order for it to work? Thanks!

[Hoser Rob]

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/7800xt- ... n/201689/2

[MiZoG]

It is nowadays -as of summer 2024 - theoretically possible to enjoy full support for an RX 7000 series card on Debian stable

α. Get latest debian kernel from backports

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports linux-image-amd64 

Optionally add linux-headers-amd64 to the above command

β. Get latest AMD Graphics firmware from backports

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports firmware-amd-graphics

γ. Get an updated mesa stack from backports. This is new. You used to be stuck with old mesa drivers that were never getting any updates on Debian Stable. At the moment there is no specific metapackage that I know of but they say on Debian forum that installing a package belonging to the newer stack will pull all dependencies and that makes sense to me. So...

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports mesa-va-drivers

Note 1: LMDE6 is not meant for servers, production machines etc, has an approximately 2-year life cycle, therefore having a system based on backports, which does not come with LTS support, is not a biggie.

Note 2: Take a timeshift snapshot before trying anything.

[daliboi]

It is nowadays -as of summer 2024 - theoretically possible to enjoy full support for an RX 7000 series card on Debian stable

α. Get latest debian kernel from backports

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports linux-image-amd64 

Optionally add linux-headers-amd64 to the above command

β. Get latest AMD Graphics firmware from backports

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports firmware-amd-graphics

γ. Get an updated mesa stack from backports. This is new. You used to be stuck with old mesa drivers that were never getting any updates on Debian Stable. At the moment there is no specific metapackage that I know of but they say on Debian forum that installing a package belonging to the newer stack will pull all dependencies and that makes sense to me. So...

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -t bookworm-backports mesa-va-drivers

Note 1: LMDE6 is not meant for servers, production machines etc, has an approximately 2-year life cycle, therefore having a system based on backports, which does not come with LTS support, is not a biggie.

Note 2: Take a timeshift snapshot before trying anything.

Thanks for this! I ran the commands, everything installed no problem. However upon installing the card, I get the errors being displayed upon first boot of that specific kernal.

[FAILED] Failed to start unbound.service - Unbound DNS server.
[FAILED] Failed to start unbound.service - Unbound DNS server.
[FAILED] Failed to start unbound.service - Unbound DNS server.
[FAILED] Failed to start unbound.service - Unbound DNS server.
[FAILED] Failed to start lightdm.service - Light Display Manager.

Would this be due to a faulty card or is there perhaps other dependencies I'm missing?

[daliboi]

Quick update, I started looking up the errors themselves. The DNS thing was a red herring, and found that the main culprit is the Light Display Manager, which is obviously what controls the display. After getting everything set to troubleshoot it via the lightdm --test-mode --debug in TTY, it booted without any issues.

Possible culprit? I have a dual monitor setup and only plugged one monitor in. It was then able to boot without issue. After a quick "confused" moment, I plugged in my other monitor and that came up without issue too. Currently typing this with the new GPU installed. I'm gonna reboot to see if the issue gets recreated and report back.

[daliboi]

After a reboot, I had a display and was able to log in. However upon launching a game I use for benchmarking (Cyberpunk 2077), the display started to freeze and then my monitor went to black. I believe the issue may be due to a faulty card. Going to try to exchange it for the same GPU line but a different manufacturer. Will report back.

[daliboi]

Exchanging for a new card seems to have done the trick. Fault this issue up to a loss in the silicon lottery. Thanks for the help!