Debian compatible graphics cards

ObsoleteMan · 03-15-2024, 08:21 PM

Hello,
Does anyone know of a listing of Debian compatible graphics cards or cards that will work with Linux in general.
Thanks,
ObsoleteMan

Timothy Miller · 03-15-2024, 08:22 PM

Basically anything released by Intel or AMD will work, but try to avoid that absolutely newest of either since the drivers are often...less than wonderful.

mrmazda · 03-15-2024, 09:12 PM

The problem with NVidia cards is NVidia only recently started providing specifications necessary for FOSS driver developers to write drivers fully capable of supporting all NVidia functionality, which means they perform less well than they could for those using entirely FOSS software. Since it only just started, it only applies to the newest NVidia models. NVidia didn't make the provision retroactive to older models. OTOH, NVidia's drivers are proprietary, non-FOSS, making their users dependent on the whim of NVidia to keep them compatible with kernel development. They constantly lag to varying extent, which complicates the normal process of keeping a system up-to-date.

Most NVidia GPUs can work with FOSS drivers, but their sub-par performance can't justify their premium cost.

Both AMD and Intel participate directly in FOSS driver development for their products.

Another point to consider is many laptops are provided with two GPUs, typically one from Intel and another from NVidia, termed "Optimus", but sometimes it's AMD+NVidia or Intel+AMD. Any of these result in more complicated maintenance, and very commonly difficulty in initial installation. To keep life its simplest, stick to one GPU from AMD or Intel a minimum of 6 months or more old, to give bleeding edge hardware users time to find all the bugs the developers must fix.

frankbell · 03-15-2024, 09:14 PM

Basically, what Timothy Miller said. I been fortunate enough to have been able to purchase native Linux computers for the last decade or so, and every one of them has been Intel inside.

A web search for "linux compatible graphics cards" will turn up a number of articles and reviews.

brianL · 03-16-2024, 09:42 AM

Using GTX 1050 Ti with Nvidia driver 545.29.06, no problems. Nouveau driver isn't too bad, either.

ObsoleteMan · 03-16-2024, 07:39 PM

Thank you for your replies.
I'm fleshing out a HP EliteDesk 800 G2 SFF barebones. So far it's got Debian 12.4, kernal 6.1.0-18, KDE Plasma wayland, an i5 6600 processor and 16GB RAM. I put an AMD Radeon R5 340X 2GB GDDR3 PCIe graphics card into it and the max scrreen resolution is 1024 x 768 through the DVI 24+5 port. The monitor says to increase resolution to 1440 x 900. When I use the VGA port the resolution is 1440 x 900. I tried another GPU and it's back to 1024 x 768.
Eventually, there will be 2 displays. Does anyone have ideas on how to get 1440 x 900 resolution from the GPU? How can I determine what driver goes with what GPU?
Thanks in advance.

Here is the lspci:
michael@debian:~$ su
Password:
root@debian:/home/michael# lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v5/E3-1500 v5/6th Gen Core Processor Host Bridge/DRAM Registers (rev 07)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 530 (rev 06)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family USB 3.0 xHCI Controller (rev 31)
00:14.2 Signal processing controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Thermal Subsystem (rev 31)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 31)
00:16.3 Serial controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family KT Redirection (rev 31)
00:17.0 SATA controller: Intel Corporation Q170/Q150/B150/H170/H110/Z170/CM236 Chipset SATA Controller [AHCI Mode] (rev 31)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #6 (rev f1)
00:1c.6 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #7 (rev f1)
00:1d.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #9 (rev f1)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation Q170 Chipset LPC/eSPI Controller (rev 31)
00:1f.2 Memory controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family Power Management Controller (rev 31)
00:1f.3 Audio device: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller (rev 31)
00:1f.4 SMBus: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family SMBus (rev 31)
00:1f.6 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Connection (2) I219-LM (rev 31)
03:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Oland XT [Radeon HD 8670 / R5 340X OEM / R7 250/350/350X OEM] (rev 83)
03:00.1 Audio device: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Oland/Hainan/Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7000 Series]

mrmazda · 03-17-2024, 01:39 AM

You should be able to get exactly the right resolution from two displays with that Radeon automatically, as long as the right firmware and drivers are installed. I have a Radeon that differs little from yours:

Code:

# dpkg-query -W | egrep 'mwar|g-video'
alsa-firmware-loaders   1.2.5-3
firmware-amd-graphics   20230210-5
firmware-linux-free     20200122-1
firmware-sof-signed     2.2.4-1
# inxi -GSaz --vs --zl --hostname
inxi 3.3.33-00 (2024-02-06)
System:
  Host: fi965 Kernel: 6.1.0-18-amd64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc
    v: 12.2.0 clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: ro
    root=LABEL=<filter> net.ifnames=0 ipv6.disable=1 noresume
    plymouth.enable=0 radeon.si_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 consoleblank=0
    mitigations=auto
  Desktop: TDE (Trinity) v: R14.1.1 tk: Qt v: 3.5.0 wm: Twin v: 3.0
    with: kicker vt: 7 dm: 1: TDM 2: XDM Distro: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Oland [Radeon HD 8570 / R5 430 OEM R7 240/340 Radeon 520 OEM]
    vendor: Dell driver: amdgpu v: kernel alternate: radeon arch: GCN-1
    code: Southern Islands process: TSMC 28nm built: 2011-20 pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports:
    active: DP-1,DVI-I-1 empty: none bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6611
    class-ID: 0300 temp: 52.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: Twin v: 3.0 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x2490 s-dpi: 120 s-size: 541x527mm (21.30x20.75")
    s-diag: 755mm (29.73")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: primary,bottom model: Acer K272HUL serial: <filter>
    built: 2018 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2
    size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 2560x1440 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: DVI-I-1 pos: top model: Dell P2213 serial: <filter> built: 2012
    res: 1680x1050 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 473x296mm (18.62x11.65")
    diag: 558mm (22") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1680x1050 min: 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: radeonsi surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: amd mesa v: 22.3.6 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
    direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon R7 200 Series (oland LLVM 15.0.6
    DRM 3.49 6.1.0-18-amd64) device-ID: 1002:6611 memory: 1000 MiB unified: no

Note the kernel cmdline parameters I have in Grub, which I have bolded. They are required to ensure use of the amdgpu kernel device module, rather than the older radeon. Officially, the amdgpu module for our GPUs is "experimental". It may be that you haven't installed the required firmware-amd-graphics. If you wish to use the amdgpu display driver you need xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu installed. If you wish to use the radeon display driver, then you need xserver-xorg-video-radeon installed. The modesetting display driver, not separately packaged, is the upstream display driver default that is supposed to work with either of the kernel modules, so requires neither xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu nor xserver-xorg-video-radeon. If you wish use of the radeon display driver, you need the kernel cmdline options I use switched from 0 and 1 to 1 and 0 to make it clear which you wish loaded. Also, your PC BIOS may need adjustment to ensure the discrete GPU is used rather than the Intel CPU's integrated GPU. Finally, you must connect the displays to the ports on your radeon, not those on the motherboard.

To be clear in summary:

available, applicable kernel device modules (drivers) suitable are provided with each kernel, and named amdgpu and radeon
required GPU device firmware for Oland and kin is provided by firmware-amd-graphics
available, applicable X display drivers suitable are three:
1. modesetting (default; not separately packaged)
2. radeon, inexplicably provided by both xserver-xorg-video-ati and xserver-xorg-video-radeon (either will suffice)
3. amdgpu, provided by xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu

The complication of choices here only applies to two generations of Radeons. Yours and my Olands are GCN#1. The other is GCN#2. Setup is simpler for both older and newer Radeons.

ObsoleteMan · 03-17-2024, 09:32 PM

A lot of good info. I'll give it a go and keep posted. How did you get the verbage from the bootloader?

Germany_chris · 03-18-2024, 08:09 AM

People have been reporting numerous issues with NVIDIA and Wayland even with the 550 driver that was supposed to fix those issues

friendlysalmon8827 · 03-20-2024, 11:03 PM

As far as I can remember there was only really one time at which even dared to contemplate using the proprietary NVidia drivers under Li on a computer that was a birthday gift aimed at my desire to play games like Age of Empires 1 and II as well as the Unreal tournament series of title a games of the early 200s.

Since then I've tried my darnedest to avoid NVidia card like they are the plague.

We would all benefit a great deal if the OP would go into greater detail about the glitch or problems that they are exasperating via a look into the requisite log files either via the code blocks feature provided here on LQ or a third party service like pastebin.com.

ObsoleteMan · 03-21-2024, 07:07 PM

I followed the suggestions and am still stuck at 1024 x 768 resolution. I've tried the other PCI slot and it's the same. The only other thing I can think is the DVI-1 24+5 to VGA adapter is somehow limiting the screen resolution. For what it's worth, here's the log:

17:29:16 gnome-logs: Error retrieving the sender timestamps: Cannot assign requested address
17:29:01 xdg-desktop-por: xdp-kde-settings: Namespace "org.gnome.desktop.a11y.interface" is not supported
17:29:01 gnome-logs: Unknown key gtk-modules in /home/michael/.config/gtk-4.0/settings.ini
17:29:01 systemd: Started app-org.gnome.Logs-b385786ecbd441eeb926657d4f87c4b9.scope - Logs - Log Viewer.
17:28:58 plasmashell: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kicker/contents/ui/ItemListDialog.qml:73: TypeError: Value is null and could not be converted to an object
17:28:55 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 57870, resource id: 65011725, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:28:52 kded5: QDBusAbstractAdaptor: Cannot relay signal KDEDModule::moduleDeleted(KDEDModule*): Pointers are not supported: KDEDModule*
17:28:43 systemd: Started gvfs-metadata.service - Virtual filesystem metadata service.
17:28:43 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.gtk.vfs.Metadata'
17:28:43 systemd: Starting gvfs-metadata.service - Virtual filesystem metadata service...
17:28:43 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gtk.vfs.Metadata' unit='gvfs-metadata.service' requested by ':1.84' (uid=1000 pid=2083 comm="/usr/libexec/tracker-extract-3")
17:28:43 systemd: Started tracker-extract-3.service - Tracker metadata extractor.
17:28:43 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Extract'
17:28:43 systemd: Starting tracker-extract-3.service - Tracker metadata extractor...
17:28:43 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Extract' unit='tracker-extract-3.service' requested by ':1.14' (uid=1000 pid=1111 comm="/usr/libexec/tracker-miner-fs-3")
17:28:27 polkit-kde-auth: Finish obtain authorization: true
17:28:17 plasma-discover: file:///usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/qt5/qml/org/kde/kirigami.2/private/globaltoolbar/ToolBarPageHeader.qml:86:13: QML Binding: Binding loop detected for property "value"
17:28:09 systemd: Started app-org.kde.discover-f88a3505e380408cb81d81fe2b936ecb.scope - Discover - Software Center.
17:28:09 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 52064, resource id: 65011724, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:27:49 systemd: app-org.kde.khelpcenter-c8a69856beb2499a88adf16eb2cc8e33.scope: Consumed 1.537s CPU time.
17:27:49 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 46859, resource id: 73400372, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:27:37 systemd: Started app-org.kde.khelpcenter-c8a69856beb2499a88adf16eb2cc8e33.scope - Help - Help Center.
17:27:37 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 44075, resource id: 35651978, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:26:55 plasmashell: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kicker/contents/ui/ItemListDialog.qml:73: TypeError: Value is null and could not be converted to an object
17:26:28 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 32245, resource id: 14699263, major code: 15 (QueryTree), minor code: 0
17:25:39 pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by (uid=1000)
17:25:39 polkit-kde-auth: Finish obtain authorization: true
17:25:34 systemd: Started app-synaptic-f708213e196d417d9fb70957e12a9db7.scope - Synaptic Package Manager - Package Manager.
17:25:34 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 18346, resource id: 35651855, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:25:31 plasmashell: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kicker/contents/ui/ItemListDialog.qml:73: TypeError: Value is null and could not be converted to an object
17:25:25 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 14691, resource id: 35651799, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:25:25 systemd: app-systemsettings-7eaa19b535284224ba60dd4c89c95559.scope: Consumed 3.256s CPU time.
17:25:25 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 14682, resource id: 14680247, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:25:14 systemsettings: qml: The item SubCategoryPage_QMLTYPE_74(0x55675bdd7cb0) is already in the PageRow
17:24:50 kwin_x11: qt.qpa.xcb: QXcbConnection: XCB error: 3 (BadWindow), sequence: 9068, resource id: 35651798, major code: 18 (ChangeProperty), minor code: 0
17:24:50 systemd: Started app-systemsettings-7eaa19b535284224ba60dd4c89c95559.scope - System Settings - System Settings.
17:24:47 plasmashell: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.kicker/contents/ui/ItemListDialog.qml:73: TypeError: Cannot call method 'hasOwnProperty' of null
17:24:36 systemd: Startup finished in 25.247s.
17:24:35 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.Tracker3.Miner.Files'
17:24:35 plasmashell: Cyclic dependency detected between "file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.notifications/contents/ui/global/Globals.qml" and "file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.notifications/contents/ui/NotificationHeader.qml"
17:24:34 systemd: Started gvfs-goa-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - GNOME Online Accounts monitor.
17:24:34 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.gtk.vfs.GoaVolumeMonitor'
17:24:34 systemd: Starting gvfs-goa-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - GNOME Online Accounts monitor...
17:24:34 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gtk.vfs.GoaVolumeMonitor' unit='gvfs-goa-volume-monitor.service' requested by ':1.14' (uid=1000 pid=1111 comm="/usr/libexec/tracker-miner-fs-3")
17:24:34 systemd: Started gvfs-afc-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - Apple File Conduit monitor.
17:24:34 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.gtk.vfs.AfcVolumeMonitor'
17:24:34 systemd: Starting gvfs-afc-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - Apple File Conduit monitor...
17:24:34 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Activating via systemd: service name='org.gtk.vfs.AfcVolumeMonitor' unit='gvfs-afc-volume-monitor.service' requested by ':1.14' (uid=1000 pid=1111 comm="/usr/libexec/tracker-miner-fs-3")
17:24:34 systemd: Started gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - Media Transfer Protocol monitor.
17:24:34 dbus-daemon: [session uid=1000 pid=992] Successfully activated service 'org.gtk.vfs.MTPVolumeMonitor'
17:24:34 systemd: Starting gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor.service - Virtual filesystem service - Media Transfer Protocol monitor...

mrmazda · 03-21-2024, 07:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ObsoleteMan

How did you get the verbage from the bootloader?

What "verbage" are you referring to?

mrmazda · 03-21-2024, 07:39 PM

The log in comment #11 appears to begin only after X setup has finished as best it can, after Plasma has started, unhelpful to debugging of being stuck at 1024x768.

The log to start with is usually Xorg.0.log, found either in /var/log/ or in ~/.local/share/xorg/, unless trying to use Wayland, in which case it may not exist and logging might be extractable from the journal. The comment #7 inxi command can also be telling. Stuck at 1024x768 is a typical result of required driver(s) not loading, The Oland-required drivers radeon or amdgpu depend on firmware-amd-graphics being installed and working.

ObsoleteMan · 03-22-2024, 09:08 AM

What should I look for in the xorg log?

ObsoleteMan · 03-22-2024, 09:35 AM

This is a partial repost,

I attempted to post the xorg log here however it did not post probably due to size.

The verbage I'm referring to is,"Note the kernel cmdline parameters I have in Grub, which I have bolded". I thought GRUB is where it came from because it was mentioned.

This is what I've done so far:
Uninstalled and re-installed drivers.
Tried a different OS.
Tried a different GPU card.
Re-installed Debian 12.4

The output from the integrated graphics via the VGA port is 1440 x 900.
The output from the card is limited to 1024 x 768.
I'm using a DVI 24+5 to a VGA adapter which may explain why the monitor doesn't see the DVI but does see D-bus.

This is truly a learning experience.