See attached....

"vga=normal" is specified.

Attached Files

gibson_dmesg.txt (70.5 KB, 24 views)

I probably should've checked this earlier, but based on a few articles, it seems like Slackware's included kernel doesn't support the RX480 (and that also seems to match your dmesg output, since there's no mention of your card and no attempt to start KMS). It looks like support was added in the 4.7 kernel. It looks like Pat has configs for 4.6, but not 4.7, so there may be a bit of trial and error.

When you think about it, this actually makes sense. The 4.4 kernel was introduced in Jan 2016, and the RX480 wasn't released until the tail end of June. The next kernel release after the RX480 was released (4.7) included support for it (stable release less than a month after the RX480 was released).

Also, now that I see this info, that explains why you couldn't modprobe the amdgpu module, because the kernel didn't support your card. This also means that once you get proper kernel support, you may not need the amdgpu-pro driver for decent acceleration (although, you do tend to see a slight improvement using amdgpu-pro over the opensource amdgpu).

It seems to be even more complicated than that. The drivers work with ubuntu that comes with 4.4 kernel but in that case it has a separate module for that specific version. AMD site says only ubuntu is supported after all.

I haven't used stock slackware kernel in ages so that's why I didn't run into this problem.


Download kernel 4.7.5 and grab Pat's config for 4.6. Than just use 'make oldconfig' and it's gonna be fine. Just make sure the KMS and amdgpu are enabled.

As I said, I'm running 4.8rc6 and it's working fine. The opencl works as well.

Yeah, Ubuntu doesn't use vanilla kernels, so it is very possible they backported the additions that added RX480 support to the 4.7 kernel to their 4.4 kernel.

In my experience, I have never encountered a "simple Kernel upgrade" in Slackware. I've tried compiling new kernel's in the past, but not successfully. I have a clean system, with multilib. Please advise on a solid howto for what you are recommending. Also I saw 4.8 was mentioned earlier, but I was hoping for a 4.4 solution.

With a little luck, the 48.rc6 upgrade and that slackbuild should do the trick.

Eric has a decent howto on the Slackware wiki.

To "paraphrase" (not really paraphrasing with how long this post became), you need to download the kernel you want to use (4.7.6 is the latest stable at this time and 4.8rc8 is the latest mainline), unpack the kernel (I tend to do mine in /usr/src/, but some sites will tell you to do it in your home directory... I don't like my home directory containing stuff like that, so I use /usr/src/), copy a kernel config into the source directory and call it .config (I'd recommend the configs for 4.6 that I suggested above). It's recommended to remove the current linux/ symlink in there and set up a new symlink to the new kernel.

NOTE: The following is based on using the 4.7.6 kernel. You're free to use the 4.8 kernel if you want, just adjust the following commands to reflect that.

Then you run make oldconfig. It will ask you a ton of questions, but you're probably fine just using the defaults (just press enter). After that, you're ready to build it (you can go in and make additional changes using make menuconfig or make xconfig, but it probably isn't necessary). First you'll build the kernel and modules, then you'll install the modules.

Then you just need to copy the newly compiled kernel to your /boot/ directory. It is also suggested to copy the System.map file (used for debugging) and the .config into your /boot/ directory as well.

Now, finally, you just need to update your /etc/lilo.conf to add the new kernel (keep the old one there, just in case something screws up with the new one). Make sure the root = portion matches your other entry. /dev/sda2 is just an example. If you're using another bootloader (elilo, grub, syslinux, etc), you'll need to follow whatever method those require to add new boot entries.

The order listed when you boot is based on the order in the conf file. So, if you want the default kernel to be the default, keep that one first, or you can make your new kernel default by placing that before the original.

Finally, you just need to write the new information to the MBR and you're done.

Reboot, select the new kernel (if needed), and then wait for a successful boot

Hopefully between this and the wiki link, you'll be able to do this, but if you run into problems, feel free to let us know and we'll try to help you work through them.

1 members found this post helpful.

Just a note... Linux 4.8 was just released and is now the latest stable. However, now that it's listed as stable, many more people will use it, which will help find those more reclusive bugs. I just say this to say that the earlier the kernel is, the more likely it can have bugs. But it is a newer series, so it's possibly it includes more support for your card.

Does amdgpu in 4.8 support GCN 1.0 cards? Mine is an R7 250X. In 4.4 amdgpu will not work (error: "no devices").

R7 should be supported by the ati driver,not amdgpu.

Nope... not yet.

It sounds like it could get added to 4.9, but it didn't happen with the first pull request. This could mean they're pushing it out to 4.10, or it could just be the first of many pull requests for 4.9.

But based on that first article, when support is added, it will likely be experimental and disabled by default until they feel it is stable enough to replace the radeon driver for those cards.

AMD intends to have all GCN-based cards to eventually be supported by amdgpu. It just isn't complete yet. As I linked to in my post above, experimental support may show up in 4.9, although it will likely be disabled by default.

And according to Gentoo's wiki, the R7 260 and R7 360 are already supported by amdgpu (although, that support may have been added after the 4.4 kernel that 14.2 uses).

That's what I use but it seems to under-perform in more graphically intensive games. I was hoping amdgpu would be supported and would perform better. I'll probably break down and upgrade my card anyway.

@Ztcoracat

Thanks man, your link helped me a lot. I am not going to use the PRO version, just amdgpu.

2D and 3D are fine. Urban Terror is running smooth, very smooth

Thanks again.

You're Welcome-

I've noticed that your git doesn't exist anymore. Are you still going to update your script for amdgpu-pro-driver-16.5?