[SOLVED] AMD RV710 Graphic Card Not Compatible with Ubuntu 14.04?

Steve R. · 04-20-2014, 06:41 PM

I am planning to do a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04 on a computer that uses the AMD RV710 graphic card (Radeon HD 4550?). This card has been in the computer for several years and through several Ubuntu upgrades. Ubuntu has recognized it and it has worked without issue. Now that I want to undertake a clean install, the card and Ubuntu are being difficult.

To test the potential for a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04, I created a live CD (actually flash drive). Upon booting the computer, the computer totally froze at the Ubuntu splash screen. A bad sign.

I tested out the live CD on my other computers and they successfully booted into 14.04. I took out the AMD RV710 graphic card and the computer booted into 14.04 without issue. I then reinstalled the card and used a Ubuntu 13.10 live CD. The computer successfully booted into 13.10. The implication, the AMD RV710 graphic card is no longer compatible with Ubuntu.

1. Is this incompatibility a known issue that may eventually be resolved? (A internet search did not disclose others as having a similar issue.)

2. Do the quick simple solution. Buy a new graphic card?
3. Take the graphic card out, install 14.04 and then reinsert the card and see what happens?

PS: Since (test) booting into 14.04 with a live CD failed; I will forgo the option of upgrading from 13.10 to 14.04.
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Showers are wonderful for reflective thinking. The solution, wait a couple of weeks, take out the card, install 14.04, reinstall the card. If there is an issue, buy a new graphic card.

business_kid · 04-21-2014, 05:53 PM

The RV710 should be very compatible with the OSS drivers. I have a hd4650 and it's good on OSS. Mind you, I don't use Ubuntu.

Steve R. · 04-21-2014, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

The RV710 should be very compatible with the OSS drivers. I have a hd4650 and it's good on OSS. Mind you, I don't use Ubuntu.

The card worked perfectly through several Ubuntu upgrades. It just failed with with the new release of 14.04 for some unknown reason. I will assume others upgrading to 14.04 will also have this graphic card, so Ubuntu may get this fixed in a short while. If not, I'll buy a new card.

business_kid · 04-22-2014, 03:31 AM

Buy a card if you like.
I'm not inclined to buy fresh hardware because things land 'jammy side down.' Video cards can be expensive, and your real choice is Nvidia(who really don't want to know about linux) or ATI(= more of the same). Half the fun is fixing it.

Try posting the output of
glxinfo |grep OpenGL

james3mc · 05-22-2014, 12:38 PM

I have EXACTLY the same issue, trying to upgrade from 13.10 to 14.04 and have a Radeon RV710.
My glxinfo as below:

Quote:

james@Freud:~$ glxinfo | grep OpenGL
OpenGL vendor string: X.Org
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV710
OpenGL core profile version string: 3.1 (Core Profile) Mesa 9.2.1
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 1.40
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile extensions:
OpenGL version string: 3.0 Mesa 9.2.1
OpenGL shading language version string: 1.30
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL extensions:

Steve R. · 05-23-2014, 07:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james3mc

I have EXACTLY the same issue, trying to upgrade from 13.10 to 14.04 and have a Radeon RV710.
My glxinfo as below:

Thanks. Is this still an issue?

I filed a bug report. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1312954
I added your comment to the bug report.
This issue has a very low probability of occurring and has not yet caught the attention of the Ubuntu development team.
I hate to phrase it this way, but more "victims" are apparently needed.

I reverted back to using 13.10, which works perfectly.

business_kid · 05-23-2014, 08:08 AM

Quote:

OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RV710

Hmmm. That looks kind of suspiciously short for a render string. Where's DRI? Here's mine for comparison

Quote:

OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile

Mind you, if you pump that string into google, it comes up with plenty of threads, many marked solved. This command
glxinfo |grep render gives you this sort of thing

Code:

direct rendering: Yes
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Ivybridge Mobile 
    GL_NV_conditional_render, GL_ARB_ES2_compatibility,

Steve R. · 05-25-2014, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by james3mc

I have EXACTLY the same issue, trying to upgrade from 13.10 to 14.04 and have a Radeon RV710.
My glxinfo as below:

Below is the response from Daniel Letzeisen.

Quote:

Perhaps a duplicate of bug 1321889 ...

See if booting with radeon.audio=0 allows you to boot.

Bug Report 1321889
I don't know if that will help at all.

TobiSGD · 05-26-2014, 12:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

Hmmm. That looks kind of suspiciously short for a render string.

That is normal for AMD/ATI cards, here the output for my HD3200 and HD6870:

Code:

OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on AMD RS780
OpenGL renderer string: Gallium 0.4 on AMD BARTS