Pop!_OS 20.04 on Ryzen 4500U: What Kernel?

Just picked up a Lenovo Flex 14 with Ryzen 4500U. (loving the laptop btw!) Almost all hardware is working straight out of the box. There is no external GPU. Exceptions:

  1. Fingerprint reader (vendor says they are working on linux support for later in 2020)
  2. Bluetooth wont find my Logitech or Microsoft mice, but will find and pair with my speakers.
  3. No HDMI output.

#3 is the only major bummer. I want to hook up to my 4k monitor for work. Nothing happens when in linux. Monitoring dmesg and syslog, there are no messages when plugging in or out the monitor. gpu-maganer.log indicates no kernel module is being loaded for the gpu.

My question: What is the best option to get an amd driver loaded? Newer mainline kernel? Is there a Pop kernel that has support for the built in gpu? I don’t want to lose support for everything that is already working…

Most fingerprint readers don’t work because proprietary. If they’re working on support, this is excellent news!

This might be an amdgpu issue. Recommendation: install the latest kernel and latest Mesa.

Does it fail to pair or fail to find it in the list?

Yeah, newer mainline is a safe bet. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to the Pop default. :slight_smile:

Same with Mesa.

The Settings Bluetooth GUI only sees one device, my speakers. I can see 8 devices from windows on the same laptop. I’m not able to even attempt to pair the mice.

It’s been a few years since I’ve compiled and installed a kernel… but its like riding a bike, right? I’ll figure it out; I was just secretly hoping for a pre-built package.

Thanks for the response!

Hmmm that’s odd. I’m not a real expert in Bluetooth. More importantly, it’s always been very finicky for me as well, so I don’t know if I can be of more help on this front.

Yep. If you’re looking to compile it with the same options as the current running kernel, you can do zcat /proc/config.gz >.config to copy the config. :slight_smile:

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This PPA adds the most up-to-date Mesa driver stack and it should work with Pop OS as well. You should give it a go.

Bluetooth issue resolved with a new wifi/bluetooth pcie card. Intel AX200 wifi 6 for $25 on amazon. I was starting seeing a lot of instability with my wifi after moving to the 5.7 generic kernel and the general consensus was that realtek card that came with the laptop was crap. Wifi is now very stable and bluetooth seems to be working. Both mice and my sony earbuds pair without issues. I also picked up a 512GB nvme drive and installed it at the same time I had the bottom off for the wifi card.

I didn’t end up copying the Pop Os kernel options and rolling my own; I just installed the ubuntu packages for 5.7 generic. I’ll have to wait and see but so far the generic 5.7 kernel is working good. 4k over hdmi is working now. I’m not much of gamer but installed CS:GO and 1080p with mid to high settings is playable. The new kernel also seems to have helped with the laptop properly suspending and resuming.

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Did you install powertop and tlp for better powermanagement?
How’s the battery life?

indeed

I would just grab 5.6 and try that. Whenever 5.7 drops or 5.8 is supposed to have a whole ryzen overhaul, and aco in the official driver.