[SOLVED] AMD FirePro W2100 on Dell PowerEdge T430 with Ubuntu 14.04

kmkocot · 02-24-2016, 11:25 AM

Hi all,

I have two new Dell PowerEdge T430 servers that I want to use as workstations. The on-board graphics card is very weak so I wanted to add video cards. I opted for the AMD FirePro W2100 because the manufacturer says that it is compatible with linux and the price is right. I'm having tons of problems, though.

When I popped the video card in and booted into a fresh Ubuntu install with updates (with my Dell P2715Q monitor plugged into it via display port cable), it wasn't communicating with the video card (the monitor gives a message about nothing being plugged into the display port). I've tried a couple different cables too. If I check out "Additional drivers," it lists "Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]: Unknown. This device is using the recommended driver. Using X.Org X server - AMD/ATI display driver wrapper from xserver-xorg-video-ati (open source, tested). Here's the contents of my /var/log/Xorg.0.log file:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/15188784/

Then I tried to use the proprietary drivers. Additional Software listed both fglrx and fglrx-updates. I tried both but the monitor didn't resopnd and when I restated the computer, after I entered my password it just re-loaded the log-in screen (as described here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2273776&page=2 and elsewhere). The only solution anyone seems to have found for this problem is to not use fglrx and revert to the FOSS drivers, but as described above they aren't working for me. I've also tried installing them (on a separate clean reformat) using apt-get and by downloading from the manufacturer with the same results.

Can anyone help me get these cards working? Alternatively, I'm willing to accept defeat if anyone can recommend a decent PCI express 3 video card with display ports that works well with Ubuntu 14.04+.

Thanks!
Kevin

ardvark71 · 02-24-2016, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmkocot

Alternatively, I'm willing to accept defeat if anyone can recommend a decent PCI express 3 video card with display ports that works well with Ubuntu 14.04+.

Hi Kevin...

Just as a suggestion, Nvidia Geforce cards are well supported in Linux. While I can't completely guarantee it will will work with your system, here is one example. It's not an extreme gaming card and it's not the best out there in terms of benchmarks but if you're on a budget, hopefully it should do nicely if you're just needing for more basic uses.

Out of curiosity, what is the output for...

Code:

lspci -nnk | grep VGA -A 12

And the video portion of this command only...

Code:

dmesg

Regards...

kmkocot · 02-24-2016, 02:16 PM

Hi ardvark71,

Thanks for your response and advice!

The command

Code:

lspci -nnk | grep VGA -A 12

returns the following:

Code:

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Oland GL [FirePro W2100] [1002:6608]
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:2120]
03:00.1 Audio device [0403]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7700/7800 Series] [1002:aab0]
	Subsystem: Hewlett-Packard Company Device [103c:aab0]
05:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe Switch [PS] [1912:001d]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
06:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe Switch [PS] [1912:001d]
	Kernel driver in use: pcieport
07:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe-PCI Bridge [PPB] [1912:001a]
08:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Matrox Electronics Systems Ltd. G200eR2 [102b:0534] (rev 01)
	Subsystem: Dell Device [1028:063b]
0a:00.0 RAID bus controller [0104]: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID SAS-3 3008 [Fury] [1000:005f] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Dell PERC H330 Adapter [1028:1f44]
	Kernel driver in use: megaraid_sas
7f:08.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f80] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f80]
7f:08.2 Performance counters [1101]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f32] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f32]
	Kernel driver in use: hswep_uncore
7f:08.3 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f83] (rev 02)
	Subsystem: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 0 [8086:2f83]
7f:09.0 System peripheral [0880]: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v3/Xeon E5 v3/Core i7 QPI Link 1 [8086:2f90] (rev 02)

dmesg returns the following relevant lines:

Code:

[    0.651404] ACPI: Enabled 2 GPEs in block 00 to 3F
[    0.651611] vgaarb: device added: PCI:0000:03:00.0,decodes=io+mem,owns=none,locks=none
[    0.651759] vgaarb: setting as boot device: PCI:0000:08:00.0
[    0.651760] vgaarb: device added: PCI:0000:08:00.0,decodes=io+mem,owns=io+mem,locks=none
[    0.651762] vgaarb: loaded
[    0.651763] vgaarb: bridge control possible 0000:08:00.0
[    0.651763] vgaarb: bridge control possible 0000:03:00.0

Here's the complete output of dmesg on pastebin in case I missed something important:
http://paste.ubuntu.com/15190506/

Thanks again!
Kevin

jefro · 02-25-2016, 08:39 PM

Just a question.

Did Dell sell that model with the ability to upgrade video. They were selling servers who's bios wouldn't let you use the add on video for a long time. Not sure they still do that but might check.

seasons · 02-26-2016, 03:17 PM

The Xorg log shows the integrated graphics is still being initialized by the BIOS and that is what the system is trying to use. Try disabling it in the BIOS/UEFI ("Integrated Devices" menu, "Embedded Video Controller")

Quote:

Did Dell sell that model with the ability to upgrade video.

The manual refers to installing/removing add-in GPU's in the x16 slots. It also refers to SLI setups, so my guess is that expansion GPU cards are supported on this model, unless it's strictly talking about using GPU's for compute tasks instead of driving displays.

kmkocot · 02-26-2016, 04:41 PM

That did it! Thank you so much seasons. I was scared to disable the on-board video card but that did it.

Best,
Kevin

ardvark71 · 02-26-2016, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmkocot

That did it! Thank you so much seasons. I was scared to disable the on-board video card but that did it.

Glad that took care of it. If you would, please mark this thread as "SOLVED" by clicking on "Thread Tools" directly above your initial post. Thanks!

Regards...