I have watched a few videos and read half a dozen somewhat inconsistent threads about how to install AMD gpu drivers in Ubuntu / Linux Mint.
I followed one video guide from youtube exactly as the person on the video was doing, and on my machine it did not give the option to build the package as the video showed. Then it crashed and I had to re-install mint.
Can someone who has successfully installed Crimson please provide a step by step guide in writing including sudo commands etc.. for this.
I too am interested in this, I'm fairly noobish, am I correct in thinking that the crimson drivers work for any AMD gpu? In my case specifically that found on an apu.
Crimson does support both R7 and R9 cards and the R7 is included on an APU I think..
Its times like these Linux does kinda annoy me, with all its great features it seems to overlook one of the most obvious things which is safely installing drivers with a few clicks.
And yes I know the linux junkies will argue that you can do it all with the command line but honestly when you just want to get something done quickly nothing beats automation in installations and its far easier to just double click a setup file and have it do its thing than to run half a dozen command line codes just to get a driver installed.
Linux devs seriously need to think about User Experience when it comes to installing stuff and whilst the process has improved greatly in the past decade, there is still some stuff like this which bugs me.
As for easy of use, I believe the issue at the moment is that in terms of card support the AMD driver stack is very new ( relative to the previous catalyst driver that was maintained for 13 years ). It will still be classified as very new for most users of slower paced distributions ( and some faster but stable aiming distros ) until the early first quarter of next year when Mint gets its revision updates ( 18.1 ) & ubuntu moves towards 16.10 stable beta, these will include relevant kernal patches + the option to go for the AMDGPU+Mesa(possibly Raedon patches) or AMDGPU-Pro driver
( don't call it crimson, it will only confuse you )
Look at the top comment from Feral. I found it's a nice way of understanding how the complex driver arrangement works in Linux. For example AMDGPU is the full opensource Linux driver but it is only the kernal space loader ( some people probably think it is the entire driver ) and as such requires MESA on top of that or RadeonSi/R600 if you are running old hardware.. meaning patches, which at the moment may or may not be that successful.
On a plus note, things are moving at a rapid pace and the patches should be included in most distros in the not too distant future.
I look forward to when things become a little easier to interpret. AMDGPU+MESA certainly not obvious and even the official AMD site has Crimson 15 or some such Linux variant listed on it.
I guess for now we either install a working version of Catalyst or just use the default setting on linux until an improved patch is available?
The Crimson/catalysts driver are obsolete...They are done with them for both Linux and Windows. They are not to be used any more. Indeed AMD does not communicate that correctly on the site. They are only there for Legacy purposes.
Older cards ARE ALSO supported by what AMD calls in its site RX 400 series drivers. Basically AMDGPU-PRO. See the supported hardware on the driver notes. This is the only supported driver for any card. And they gradually increase the supported hardware to older Radeons.
Just follow the instruction on the guide. They actually made the install script quite easy to use than in the crimson driver.
Eventually the driver should be integrated in the ubuntu/Mint drivers application and be done with one click as before. For now you have to install it manually.
Also mind you. If you have a RX 400 card there is a bug with cinnamon. If you have such a card and install AMDGPU-PRO switch to Mate for the time being until it is fixed.
I did read a thread on AMDGPU PRO on this very forum but no one really gave any clear idea on how to get everything installed properly, so i will dig around the internet til I find a working method for mint that has everything going how it should, and then I will post the step by step guide.
Whenever you manually update the kernel on the closed Nvidia drivers or the previous catalyst/crimson your usually back at a black screen with a blinking cursor and you have to patch in DKMS kernel additions ( an almost impossibility without having a handy second laptop spare and a tonne of knowledge) People tended to just reinstall the OS. Now afaik the kernal loader which is AMDGPU allows for rapid kernel changes and if im not mistaken you won't even have to reboot.
In the end a fully opensource stack brings optimization, stability and reliability to Linux video drivers far out of the scope of previous releases. the only confusion which you have now seen is just the MESA+AMDGPU vs AMDGPU-Pro bit..
It already does and you didn't need to click anything as the and drivers are built in. Amdgpu and mesa are what youll be usingnow and in the future.
The features in the pro drivers are apparently being merged with the open ones for consumer cards. The problem isn't that we aren't doing anything about it, it's that our hands are tied. The documentation isn't all available and amd are doing the code work since they have the data and code to do it. Until they produce something (which they are every release) we have to wait.
One thing you can do is let them know what you want.
I found the right one and yes managed to install it without a hitch. I guess I was a little frustrated before because I was struggling to find the correct one until someone on this thread said AMDGPU-PRO!
It really does help if we know what to look for.. you would be surprised how confusing some of the guides are online..
AMD has a real issue in naming and communicating the terms and what everything actually does during this transition from the crimson to the AMDGPU driver. This should solve itself eventually as time goes on...
The reason it crashed is the out of date kernel. Last I knew ubuntu has 4.2 LTS and mint still has 3.18. Thats a little nuts considering that drivers need the newest kernels now and the devs refuse to move their stuff up a few levels.