AMD/ATI owners read this before upgrading to 16.04

I do not run AMD, but I did find this. Guess its still in beta unless someone knows better.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-GPU-PRO-Linux-Beta-Driver–Release-Notes.aspx

And thats too long without updates.

I tracked down the lack of updates to the fact I am using 15.10 which is no longer supported. Is that correct?

Thats correct :slight_smile: It had a nine month life cycle.

Seems I’m caught between the devil and deep blue sea :frowning: as I have an
AMD A8-7600 Radeon R7, 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G.
Ubuntu 15.10 Wily
Kernel 4.2.0-42-generic (#49-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 28 21:26:26 UTC 2016)
GCC 5.2.1 (x86_64-linux-gnu)
Xorg 1.17.2 (12 November 2015 05:33:29PM)

I’ve used sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
and have updated the files I was informed that needed changing.

I just wonder what the other users in this thread have done, did they staying put with what version they have now - with the potential risks of not getting updates, gone to Debian or Arch, or invested in a NVidia GPU?

Or should I stop worrying (you can tell I am an ex windows user!).

What are the options for rolling back to a previous version aka 15.04 or 14.04 as both have several years support left in them?

I have an AMD ATI R7200. Upon finding the proprietary driver not being available in 16.04, I was initially very disappointed. Particularly so, given that pre-16.04 the opensource driver was pretty rubbish. That is to say, it had a very limited set of resolutions available and also the colour used to always look a bit “washed-out”. Most crucially, it did not utilise the open GL capacity of the GPU, which is essential for effective compositing and the reduction of screen tear when playing games or movies.

However, the Linux world seems to have upped its game with the AMD open source driver in 16.04 as a consequence of the propriety one not being available. The selection of resolutions is large, the colours are now bright and vibrant and, most important of all, GPU hardware compositing works.

Of course, all of the above is based on my own personal experiences. But, I thought I would share them, for what they’re worth.

I had a go with 16.04. broke the installation in terminal and reverted back to 15.10, to find Grub was dead, ran boot repair and that said it couldn’t fix the problem, however I got the efi boot to work. Left it at midnight and came back to it tonight, where the dpi changed on its own… :frowning:
So fresh install of 15.10 and followed the instructions for deleteing everything off the drive and hey presto, Steam works, I have Additional Drivers that work (had none in 16.04).
Steam has just finished downloading the games the kids play and I have a fully patched (well till time ran out) 15.10.

I’ll keep an eye out for the new AMD Drivers

In the end everything seems fine, even though where I work, we were all given 6mths notice as they are closing the site down and shipping it up to York. If anyone is local to the M6/M1/A14 interchanges and need a hard working administrator (30+ yrs service) drop me a line :smirk:

Sad to hear about the job situation Sidknee. Been there myself in the past and its no joke. Keep your chin up mate. I hope you get fixed up soon.

I’ve just spied this on another Forum - has anyone tried it?

reviews seems a bit mixed,
As nothing wants to update on 15.10 any more including Firefox which is stuck on v47 and the dreaded Flash! I’m slightly concerned these things are updated for a reason and not being able to update is a reason - I suppose I could revert back to 15.04, if I could find a copy to download that is (found one here http://ftp.yzu.edu.tw/linux/ubuntu-cdimage/ubuntu-mate/15.04/ ) on the Mate website. Just hope the AMD Drivers and Updates to Firefox et al work!

Well as 15.04 was no longer supported, went back to 14.04. Big mistake for Steam does not work in 14.04 or rather the AMD Prop driver does open Steam but refuses to play any games, running x-org driver results in an error and does not start steam. so I’m back on 15.10. Not overly happy with the situation.
Steam is working
I can’t get ff49 to install
The new lash player won’t install either.
software updater give me the choice of 16.04, which I’ve tried.

I’m not aware of another Distro that supports the AMD APU…
Windows or Nvidia GPU, both cost roughly the same and look like the alternative choice, which is something I didn’t want to do :frowning:

Tried again & success. Mate 14.04 working perfectly! :joy:

Except Ubuntu in their wisdom no longer support the Kernel in 14.04 and advise me to take the Xenial one that doesn’t work with AMD GPU’s. Tried the AMD hybrid driver and that will not install. So I guess I need an Nvidia GPU and PSU (Current one is a 250watt model FSP250–60H) at some point in the next couple of years.

They actually do (if you mean kernel 3.13).
See https://wiki.ubuntu.com/1404_HWE_EOL

I read that article. I didn’t understand why I should go backwards to Kernel 3.13. Is that still receiving software & security updates? Will using it affect the Fglrx driver?

There are a couple of decent NVidia GPUs that do not require extra power besides what the PCI-Express slot itself provides (GTX 750 / 750ti / some variants of the 950) so those might even work with your present power supply.

Maximuscore - that is interesting, NVidia state a 300w PSU is needed for a GTX 750TI, yet flicking through Ebuyer they say 400w on nearly every version on they sell and all need a seperate power supply to the GPU. The PSU is a FSP250-50. & rest of the PC is an AMD a8 7600 R7

In that case I’d probably get a new PSU anyway. Depending on what else is in the system it might not be enough for stable operation.

My son thinks the same, just need to find £150 for both :frowning: PC is the Ebuyer model Zoostorm 7260-3017.

I’ll leave the Kernel for now, once AMD & Ubuntu start working together again to produce a working fglrx driver then will upgrade to 16.04 or what ever.

Update. I have upgraded to 16.04 and unlike in previous times, I appear to have everything working, using the Beta driver from AMD.
PC is a little slower at startup, but hey it’s working and no complaints from the Unturned & War Thunder player either!
Success! :grin::grinning:

3 Likes

How did you install the beat driver, if you would be so kind…ATI user here

Hi @smartnoise,

the beta driver is (should only be) used for Ubuntu 14.04!:

http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-linux-beta-driver.aspx

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!.