Le blog de Jean David TECHER, un Réunionnais à Saint-Priest/Lyon

Upgrade to kernel 4.8.17 | Switched from RADEON to AMDGPU

This week -- over Monday 15-Jan-2018 -- I upgraded my Linux kernel from 4.4 serie to 4.8 serie. It was the occasion to switch from Radeon module kernel to AMGGPU module kernel.

Some notes to keep in mind

• Kernel 4.8.17 is an outdated kernel. At the date of writing this ticket, the most recent/stable kernel is 4.14
• AMDGPU module is quite experimental

For those wondering my rig is a Linux 32 bit. (Yes it is even in 2018!). It is used

• as multimedia workstation (Youtube, Mail)
• for gaming -- only for small games, not AAA games --.
• my own tests with Wine but on Linux 32 Bits for retro-compatibilty with some old libraries

AMDGPU module was built within kernel 4.8.17

root@amdgaming:~# grep -i AMDGPU /boot/config-4.8.17
CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU=m
CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU_CIK=y
CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU_USERPTR=y
CONFIG_DRM_AMDGPU_GART_DEBUGFS=y

I had to blacklist RADEON

• root@amdgaming:~# cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-radeon.conf
  blacklist radeon
  

• Once booted on this kernel, files used by kernel 4.8.17 were refreshed

  update-initramfs -u -k $(uname -r) && reboot

This is the command line I am currently using

root@amdgaming:~# cat /proc/cmdline 
BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.8.17 root=UUID=8092ec20-bb12-4e08-9863-8ab86481aced ro \
amdgpu.dpm=1 amdgpu.deep_color=1 amdgpu.pcie_gen2=1 amdgpu.powerplay=1 amdgpu.exp_hw_support=1 amdgpu.smc_load_fw=1 amdgpu.audio=0 \
radeon.modeset=0 radeon.pcie_gen2=0 radeon.audio=0 radeon.dpm=0 nouveau.pstate=1 kvm.ignore_msrs=1 intel_iommu=on,igfx_off vfio_iommu_type1.allow_unsafe_interrupts=1 \
i915.enable_hd_vgaarb=1 quiet splash nomdmonddf nomdmonisw vt.handoff=7

It implies to build xf86-video-amdgpu -- for Xorg Server as driver--. Refer to https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-amdgpu/

mkdir -pv /opt/Sources
cd /opt/Sources
git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-amdgpu
mkdir -pv /opt/Builds/xf86-video-amdgpu_build
cd  /opt/Builds/xf86-video-amdgpu_build
/opt/Sources/xf86-video-amdgpu/autogen.sh --enable-maintainer-mode --prefix=/usr/ --enable-glamor --enable-udev
make -j4 && make install

Is it worth switching from RADEON to AMDGPU?

That was my main concern for this week...

But my Linux systems works perfectly for the past days. No real issue with this kernel and this driver.

The only solution is to run some benchmarks tests through Wine and natively on Linux. This way I should be able to discriminate

For the tests shown below I had to switch ShadowPrimary to Off. -- Its default value is "Off --. But since I used this parameter explicitly in my configuration file, this is a personal reminder for myself

david@amdgaming:~$ cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/01-amdgpu-glamor-dri3.conf
Section "Screen"
       Identifier     "Screen"
       DefaultDepth    24
       SubSection      "Display"
               Depth   24
       EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier "AMDGPU"
	Driver "amdgpu"
	Option "Accel" "on"
	Option "AccelMethod" "glamor"
	Option "DRI" "3"
	Option "TearFree" "on"
	Option "ShadowPrimary" "off"	
EndSection

Test 1: Unigine Valley: Wine-Staging 2.21 | Gallium-Nine | Mesa 17.3.1 | AMDGPU | Kernel 4.8.17 | RX 290X

Back in 2015, Gallium Nine performed pretty well. Here I am doing the same test but for

• Quality = High
• Vsync = Off

To be honest I keep it mind that performances depends on 4 metrics

• 3D Engine used for the game
• Your 3D Drivers
• The GPU
• Wine features for 3D Rendering

But this quick test should be useful compared to the test I did 2 years ago

Test 2: Unigine Heaven 4.0: Natively on Linux | Mesa 17.3.1 | AMDGPU | Kernel 4.8.17 | RX 290X

• Quailty = Ultra
• Tessellation = Extreme
• Anti-aliasing = x8

Compared to a few videos I watched on youtube, I came to the conclusion that it works pretty well

Conclusion: Yes AMDGPU runs pretty well!!!

Bye RADEON!!!

After spending some hours playing its game I wrote a quick documentation. My videos were uploaded on my Youtube channel.

http://www.davidgis.fr/documentation/CrianSoft_Games/

• Videos were added for ARENA -- both for Good and Bad Endings
• Documentation was written for ARENA

Steam Page http://store.steampowered.com/app/570970/. Current version of the game 1.6.3

After spending 15 hours in-game I was able to perform the Story mode with Sheyna with Good ending . It was worth doing so many tries

Sheyna, The Warrior Princess - Character I used to play ARENA AoB Story

• This time I was able to defeat Kahn-Dread first time I met him in my journey. Then Xodan coudl be rescued later
• The big green snake gave me a lot of troubles. I watched the Video from the Steam Guide but it seems that strategy to defeat him is now different.

ARENA AoB Story: Story Mode with Sheyna with Good Ending

Info Specs

• Linux Type: 32 Bits
• Wine-Staging 2.21 patched with Gallium-Nine (Recommended). My own sources for Wine 2.21 -- already patched -- can be downloaded here
• GPU = R9 290X
• Xbox360 controller is highly recommended.

Notice: More info can be found on the video above -- top right and corner --

The documentation is ready. You can have a look here

I added

• Main Campaign: Walkthrough complete with Sheyna using the Mighty Sword. There are a couple of links if you need to download savegames in your own progression
• Optional Mission: fight versus Boruth and 2 ways to defeat the Dragong
• All Sheyn'a nights (Good and Bad nights)