SlackwareThis Forum is for the discussion of Slackware Linux.
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
Cool thanks! I'm a bit incredulous it could be as easy as turning off the computer, putting in the new card, rebooting, removing nvidia stuff, and there you go. (Nothing ever goes right the first time on a computer.) We'll see, hopefully this weekend.
when i get a new computer/laptop i just copy my slackware over to the new drive. at first i was in disbelief when i saw that everything was working out of the box - this is my first machine with a dedicated graphics card! linux indeed has come a long way.
I do have another question...obviously remove the xorg.conf file with nvidia in it, but as I understand it, X11 doesn't need a config file these days?
If you have been running nvidia all these years then you are in for a treat. Nvidia's driver stomps on a of the features that have been added to the X server over the past 10-15 years.
One of these is the xorg.conf.d folder, which is used by X to dynamically build an xorg.conf based on snippets if one is not specified
Code:
$ ls -l /usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d/
total 44
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 92 Jul 30 2021 10-amdgpu.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1099 Feb 13 2021 10-evdev.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1350 Dec 13 12:09 10-quirks.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 92 Feb 13 2021 10-radeon.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1429 Jan 24 2022 40-libinput.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 444 Feb 13 2021 50-synaptics.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 115 Feb 13 2021 50-vmmouse.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1753 Feb 13 2021 70-synaptics.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 3458 Feb 13 2021 70-wacom.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1502 Dec 13 12:09 90-keyboard-layout-evdev.conf
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1536 Jan 24 2022 91-keyboard-layout-libinput.conf
Slackware already has the needed snippets to load the correct modules. A lot of this work was started by Intel, and AMD decided to follow their example which makes things a lot simpler. I usually reference the Arch and Gentoo wikis for more advanced options but in general the default gets everything working.
The first thing you might notice is that your TTY runs at a higher resolution during runlevel 3. Since AMDGPU uses KMS you get your native resolution at all times, not just with X. You also don't need to rebuild your nvidia-kernel package for each kernel update. The only downside I've run into is that AMD cards tend to be somewhat noisier than the competition.
If you've been running mostly nvidia this whole time then you get to exerience all the new features that don't actually exist because nobody is working on them. Or at least that's what the wayland people want everyone to believe
(sorry, couldn't resist a jab at the wayland folks!)
I'm told support is way better for AMD than it was. Last time I tried one was about 8 years ago, when my 560 died. It was kind of a pain, and I wasn't on current, so the version of mesa was outdated. So we'll see. I can't justify spending double the money for a 40 series nvidia card, either. I've had an nvidia card for the past 15+ years, but it seems like they're into chasing crypto or AI money.
Yes I think even in Slackware xorg.conf is not required but I like it and for more reasons than nividia. On my main Slackware 15.0 install which is rather multi-purpose including gaming, I like to specify mouse and keyboard as driven by evdev. I also prefer zero uncertainty regarding the exit xorg macro via "Ctrl-Alt-Backspace" and feel better knowing it is expressly specified as an option in xorg.conf.
I do also avail myself of considerable control for nvidia via modelines and "coolbits" (fan speed and default performance settings) and I don't know what AMD has for fine control options but I'd surely want to see if there are options available only via xorg.conf.
Freesync doesn't improve performance, what it does is reduce stuttering caused by the framerate of the application versus your monitor's refresh rate. Traditional vsync was designed for CRT monitors and causes input lag when enabled on modern LCD displays.
In some of my testing, I played Valheim with the Vsync/Freesync disabled and the game stuttered slightly as the framerate jumped around in response to whatever was being rendered. When I enabled Freesync it locked the FPS reported in the steam overlay to 144 (monitor is a 144hz refresh rate) and suddenly everything was MUCH smoother. But no input lag, which is something I always notice with traditional Vsync.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.
