Question Which Linux graphics driver package for LInux Mint?

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mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
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Which GPU do you have? I've used an R9 380X and an RX 6700XT and it has happily and automatically used the amdgpu driver.
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
27,466
11,777
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Since Mint is built off of Ubuntu, I'd go with the Ubuntu package.

But if you have an older card that might be considered "legacy" by AMD standards, like you describe in your Phenom II upgrade thread, some default driver might already be included in your Mint install (and those packages listed above may not have official support for an older card)
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
19,922
14,166
136
If you get up a terminal and type in:

lshw -c video

It lists a bunch of stuff but the useful bit is driver=... (where ... equals driver name). Mine says amdgpu there.
 
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S'renne

S'renne

Member
Oct 30, 2022
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Glo. said:
You do not need Linux drivers, you have MESA, which is Open Source driver stack for Intel and AMD GPUs, and has everything it needs. And it is already in Mint.
Click to expand...
Too used to Windows where the drivers have to be end user installed lol all AMD/Intel cards run off Mesa in the kernel
 
J

jamesdsimone

Senior member
Dec 21, 2015
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S'renne said:
Too used to Windows where the drivers have to be end user installed lol all AMD/Intel cards run off Mesa in the kernel
Click to expand...
I'm not worried about gaming I want to make sure I'm getting hardware support for 4k video. I have an old computer that is running one of my TV's. I just upgraded from a Phenom II 720 tri core to a 980 quad core. It currently had a 5850 1GB. It can't handle 4k video it gets blocky and freezes so trying to see if I can fix that. I can replace the video card if that will help.
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
27,466
11,777
136
jamesdsimone said:
I'm not worried about gaming I want to make sure I'm getting hardware support for 4k video. I have an old computer that is running one of my TV's. I just upgraded from a Phenom II 720 tri core to a 980 quad core. It currently had a 5850 1GB. It can't handle 4k video it gets blocky and freezes so trying to see if I can fix that. I can replace the video card if that will help.
Click to expand...
I have a feeling you could be fighting a losing battle to get such support: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/phenom-ii-955-cant-handle-4k-videos.1536828/
 
H

Hitman928

Diamond Member
Apr 15, 2012
6,608
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jamesdsimone said:
Most players are supposed to have GPU support which is why I'm asking. I have a 7970 I can try if a faster GPU would help.
Click to expand...

I don't think a 7970 will help you with 4K video either. You'll need something a bit newer, especially if you're trying to play newer codecs. You're probably better off getting something like a 1050Ti on the cheap if you can.
 
J

jamesdsimone

Senior member
Dec 21, 2015
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Hitman928 said:
I don't think a 7970 will help you with 4K video either. You'll need something a bit newer, especially if you're trying to play newer codecs. You're probably better off getting something like a 1050Ti on the cheap if you can.
Click to expand...
That's just what I have on hand.
 
Glo.

Glo.

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2015
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You should try the 7970, and you do not need the driver packages. Mesa has Feature parity with separate driver packages for Linux. So if it isn't working on Mesa drivers - it will not work with Radeon Software.

Written on PC with Fedora 38 and RX 6500 XT.

:p
 
D

doobydo

Junior Member
Jan 21, 2024
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0
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Glo. said:
You do not need Linux drivers, you have MESA, which is Open Source driver stack for Intel and AMD GPUs, and has everything it needs. And it is already in Mint.
Click to expand...
It depends? Usually, that's true but sometimes, some software requires some proprietary components - and thus, it's advised (on occasion) to have the 'pro' (amdgpu pro) aka closed - driver on top of the open one.

If he needed it, then a Linux Mint user might want to use the Ubuntu-based (configured for Ubuntu) one?
 
Glo.

Glo.

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2015
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doobydo said:
It depends? Usually, that's true but sometimes, some software requires some proprietary components - and thus, it's advised (on occasion) to have the 'pro' (amdgpu pro) aka closed - driver on top of the open one.

If he needed it, then a Linux Mint user might want to use the Ubuntu-based (configured for Ubuntu) one?
Click to expand...
Any Ubuntu based distro can use software stacks for Ubuntu. Mint is Ubuntu based - so the answer is yes.
 
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doobydo

Junior Member
Jan 21, 2024
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BFG10K said:
Most of the time Windows downloads & installs drivers automatically, including the GPU. I use GPO to block this.
Click to expand...
Really? That's not my experience - not if you want a specific version....right?

In Linux - for gaming - if you have an AMD gpu - you should have an open source driver pre-installed - as it's 'baked' into the kernel' as they say - but, if you do things outside gaming - my point was, you might have to install some closed/proprietary software and components.
Also, there's Mesa like someone said - each distro can have different versions.

I would suggest this 'system' or method is still different than Windows. In Windows, you go to the AMD website and download the driver (and I assume, the Adrenalin suite program?). Since Linux Mint & LMDE - are 'older' distros - meaning older software - you sometimes need to update a version that is connected or related to the video drivers to get certain software to work (ROCm, Mesa etc.) - but, for gaming, it's usually simpler.

Mint and Ubuntu usually have 'wikis' or how-tos regarding video drivers - if you need to do something extra or you can check out their related forums.
 
mikeymikec

mikeymikec

Lifer
May 19, 2011
19,922
14,166
136
doobydo said:
I would suggest this 'system' or method is still different than Windows. In Windows, you go to the AMD website and download the driver (and I assume, the Adrenalin suite program?).
Click to expand...

I do clean installs of Windows 10/11 all the time. If you connect a clean install of Windows to the Internet, chances are it will auto-install all/most of your drivers for you including GPU. I say "chances are", but for example I can't remember the last time I had to chase down say an Intel HD Graphics driver for an older machine myself.

It does it to an extent that's downright irritating in my experience: If I install say an AMD GPU driver with the machine connected to the Internet, Windows will often reinstall its older Windows Update-sourced driver automatically which breaks the AMD Adrenaline software and the software needs reinstalling again. My workaround for this is to install the driver without an Internet connection then reconnect the Internet after rebooting. For some reason this avoids the auto install scenario.

In theory I'd use BFG10K's suggestion but if there was say a security vulnerability in a driver and WU (at least for most people, ie. people who aren't knowledgeable about Windows) rightly updates it with a patched driver, that IMO is a good thing (whether it does do that is a good question!). If I was still a full-time Windows user (on my own machine) I probably would disable auto driver installs/updates.
 
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BFG10K

BFG10K

Lifer
Aug 14, 2000
22,709
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doobydo said:
That's not my experience - not if you want a specific version....right?
Click to expand...
You'll get whatever version's on Windows Update. For most people that's fine but I don't want my GPU drivers updated whenever it decides.

For my NUC that's perfect because I don't want to deal with any drivers, I just want everything to work out of the box, and it does.
 
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