# Problem with amd r9 280x amdgpu

## blueberry

I just installed AMD R9 280X GPU to my system with guide on gentoo wiki. https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/AMDGPU

Only exception was that I did not put the firmware into the kernel.

Anyway there is linux-firmware installed and the amdgpu driver loads properly.

(there is one warning in dmesg but it is very common and has nothing to do with my problen, I think):

```
amdgpu 0000:01:00.0: Invalid PCI ROM header signature: expecting 0xaa55, got 0xffff
```

The amdgpu module is loaded after cryptsetup and initrd so putting the firmware inside the kernel is not needed?

However the problem is that there is no OpenGL at all. Most of the games in steam does not start or crash after main menu.

Cities skylines even freezes the whole computer and forces to hard restart it.

Here is a few error messages from steam after starting various games:

```
This application requires either the GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc, or the GL_EXT_textures_compression_dxt1 + GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt3 + 

GL_ANGLE_texture_compression_dxt5 OpenGL extensions. Please install S3TC texture support.
```

Dota2 gives:

```

Required OpenGL extension "GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc" is not supported. Please update your OpenGL driver.

```

In addition there is few more problems.

For example my screen (AOC FHD 24" VGA -> DVI adapter ) flickers and gets messy sometimes for few seconds.

Secondly my middle monitor (its a 3 monitor setup) which is 28" FHD LG television (connected with HDMI) has a ~5 pixels wide light stripe in the left side.

I think it is more weird to have this stripe in the middle monitor.

Also there is some problems with some other software.

VLC should display the timing of the movie when mouse cursor is moved to the timebar. It clearly tries show the timing but somehow fails.

Image for VLC problem: http://imgur.com/a/cySWZ

Logs and other information

```
$ uname -a

Linux xxx 4.9.0-gentoocustom-i7 #4 SMP Sat Jan 28 01:11:09 EET 2017 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
```

Xorg.log: http://pastebin.com/uZNeNNgE

That happens in dmesg after reloading the amdgpu module: http://pastebin.com/FMSbfG1F

BTW. what is that: 

```
[drm] xxxx: dce_v6_0_afmt_setmode ----no impl !!!!!!!!
```

glxinfo seems ok?

http://pastebin.com/VeGGpLsw

x11-base/xorg-drivers

      Latest version installed: 1.18-r1

x11-drivers/xf86-video-amdgpu

      Latest version installed: 1.2.0

Do anyone have any suggestions what may be wrong?

Thanks in advance!

----------

## kurisu

The error messages are related to S3TC. Have you installed media-libs/libtxc_dxtn with ABI_X86="32 64"?

----------

## blueberry

 *kurisu wrote:*   

> The error messages are related to S3TC. Have you installed media-libs/libtxc_dxtn with ABI_X86="32 64"?

 

You are right. I had not installed that. Now those games start but still does not work well. Main menus work in delay of seconds, sometimes

even 10+ seconds. Over all performance in games seems to be very poor and games twitches.

Dmesg also gets strange flood after starting some games: http://pastebin.com/Mc6tZYZi

Also vlc still has its issue and there is that strange stripe in the middle monitor.

I think there is something wrong with the driver.

----------

## gorg86

The AMDGPU driver for SI is experimental. I wouldn't switch to AMDGPU just to get better performance in games ( take a look at this: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=amdgpu-rad-49&num=1). They didn't benchmark the 280x but if you do not intend to do any testing/debugging then it's not worth the effort imho.

----------

## kurisu

True. Switching to the radeon driver might be your best bet.

FWIW, what is the output of

```
grep VIDEO_CARDS /etc/portage/make.conf
```

and

```
eselect mesa list
```

?

----------

## blueberry

 *kurisu wrote:*   

> True. Switching to the radeon driver might be your best bet.
> 
> FWIW, what is the output of
> 
> ```
> ...

 

Ill try. that. What is the difference between radeon and radeonsi and which one should be used wit R9 280X? There is no topic for the latter in gentoowiki.

My VIDEO_CARDS variable looks like this:

```
VIDEO_CARDS="intel nvidia amdgpu radeonsi"
```

And eselect mesa list:

```
64bit i915 (Intel 915, 945)

  [1]   classic

  [2]   gallium *

64bit i965 (Intel GMA 965, G/Q3x, G/Q4x, HD)

  [1]   classic *

64bit r300 (Radeon R300-R500)

64bit r600 (Radeon R600-R700, Evergreen, Northern Islands)

64bit sw (Software renderer)

  [1]   classic

  [2]   gallium *

32bit i915 (Intel 915, 945)

  [1]   classic

  [2]   gallium *

32bit i965 (Intel GMA 965, G/Q3x, G/Q4x, HD)

  [1]   classic *

32bit r300 (Radeon R300-R500)

32bit r600 (Radeon R600-R700, Evergreen, Northern Islands)

32bit sw (Software renderer)

  [1]   classic

  [2]   gallium *

```

----------

## kurisu

With the term 'radeon' I was referring to the more mature driver in the kernel for your card. Not 'radeon' in VIDEO_CARDS. See https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Radeon

But before you go for that, please try adding 'radeon' to VIDEO_CARDS followed by emerge -uDNav @world. That might do the trick considering eselect mesa list doesn't show any actual driver for R9 280X.

----------

## chithanh

eselect mesa will not show radeonsi, because there is only a gallium and no classic driver variant. VIDEO_CARDS="amdgpu radeonsi" is the correct setting for your card.

glxinfo looks ok, so the userspace side appears to be setup correctly.

```
[drm] xxxx: dce_v6_0_afmt_setmode ----no impl !!!!!!!!
```

I guess the kernel is the problem here, maybe try something newer like 4.10 release candidates or drm-next.

----------

## kurisu

I brought this up because of this section in the Gentoo wiki. But since AMDGPU support for SI is experimental, the kernel may indeed be the culprit.

----------

## darkice

i've got the same card, amd-gpu drivers and gentoo-sources 4.9.16

noticed drop in 3d performances on left 4 dead 2 framerate, if i want to update gpu's drivers to the latest unstable on portage, it asks for some libressl flag and packets, then there's a conflict with openssl

am i alone?

----------

