AMD Radeon R7 M265 Drivers for Ubuntu 20.04 on Acer Aspire V5-561G-6894

[edy]

I have an old Acer Core i5-4200U laptop (Aspire V5) on which I installed Ubuntu Studio 20.04. However it is using Intel onboard graphics (not Radeon which is clearly advertised on a sticker on the laptop). When I check the video cards installed (using lspci command as follows) I get the following:

Code: [Select]

edy@edy-Aspire-V5-561G:~$ lspci -nn | grep -E 'VGA|Display'
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 09)
03:00.0 Display controller [0380]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Opal XT [Radeon R7 M265/M365X/M465] [1002:6604]

And here I'm listing the graphics hardware another way:

Code: [Select]

edy@edy-Aspire-V5-561G:~$ sudo lshw -C video -C cpu
[sudo] password for edy:
  *-cpu                     
       description: CPU
       product: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz
       vendor: Intel Corp.
       physical id: 4
       bus info: cpu@0
       version: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4200U CPU @ 1.60GHz
       serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
       slot: U3E1
       size: 798MHz
       capacity: 2600MHz
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 100MHz
       capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg fma cx16 xtpr pdcm pcid sse4_1 sse4_2 movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave avx f16c rdrand lahf_lm abm cpuid_fault epb invpcid_single pti ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust bmi1 avx2 smep bmi2 erms invpcid xsaveopt dtherm ida arat pln pts md_clear flush_l1d cpufreq
       configuration: cores=2 enabledcores=2 threads=4
  *-display
       description: VGA compatible controller
       product: Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller
       vendor: Intel Corporation
       physical id: 2
       bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
       version: 09
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
       resources: irq:46 memory:c0000000-c03fffff memory:b0000000-bfffffff ioport:4000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
  *-display
       description: Display controller
       product: Opal XT [Radeon R7 M265/M365X/M465]
       vendor: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
       physical id: 0
       bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
       version: 00
       width: 64 bits
       clock: 33MHz
       capabilities: pm pciexpress msi bus_master cap_list rom
       configuration: driver=radeon latency=0
       resources: irq:49 memory:a0000000-afffffff memory:c0500000-c053ffff ioport:3000(size=256) memory:c0540000-c055ffff

So right now it is using the integrated graphics controller, but I am not taking advantage of this Radeon R7 M265 (with 2GB Dedicated VRAM). Graphics performance is therefore quite limited. I looked at Radeon's driver page but can only find R7 M265 drivers for older version of Ubuntu (like 14) and the new AMDGPU-PRO stuff apparently doesn't support R7, only R9 and better (see: https://www.amd.com/en/support/previous-drivers/graphics/amd-radeon-r7-series/amd-radeon-r7-200-series/amd-radeon-r7-m265). It seems to support Windows 10 though.

I also looked at ROCm drivers here:  https://github.com/RadeonOpenCompute/ROCm

It supports Ubuntu 20.04, but when I look down the page at non-supported Hardware GPU support (https://github.com/RadeonOpenCompute/ROCm#not-supported) it doesn't list R7 M265 anywhere.

Not supported:
"Tonga", "Iceland", "Vega M", and "Vega 12" GPUs are not supported in ROCm 2.9.x


On this page it lists it as being "Topaz": https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/?architecture=GCN+3.0&sort=generation

Radeon R7 M265   Topaz   May 20th, 2014   PCIe 3.0 x8   2 GB, DDR3, 64 bit   900 MHz   900 MHz   384 / 24 / 8



So I'm at a loss to figure out why my graphics are showing up as Integrated Intel GPU only when I use "hardinfo" I get the following:

Graphics:
1366x768
Mesa DRI Intel(R) HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
The X.Org Foundation

I don't think it is using the AMD GPU. It says driver=radeon but I don't see it. I've installed "MadShaders_0.4.1_linux" and "Phoronix Test Suite" and I can tell you my graphics performance isn't all that stellar. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I'm also getting the following error on boot, but then it continues on to load Ubuntu:

Code: [Select]

radeon 0000:03:00.0: VCE init error (-110).

Note sure if this is a way to go: https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archive/ubuntu/graphics-drivers

I just don't want to brick my system and have to start all over.

UPDATE:

I've install glmark2  (sudo apt install glmark2) and run the following:

Code: [Select]

edy@edy-Aspire-V5-561G:~$ DRI_PRIME=1 glmark2
=======================================================
    glmark2 2014.03+git20150611.fa71af2d
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     X.Org
    GL_RENDERER:   AMD OLAND (DRM 2.50.0, 5.4.0-42-lowlatency, LLVM 10.0.0)
    GL_VERSION:    4.5 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 20.0.8
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 497 FrameTime: 2.012 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 497
=======================================================


Here's what I get when I just run glmark2 and it defaults to the Intel GL renderer:

Code: [Select]

edy@edy-Aspire-V5-561G:~$ glmark2
=======================================================
    glmark2 2014.03+git20150611.fa71af2d
=======================================================
    OpenGL Information
    GL_VENDOR:     Intel Open Source Technology Center
    GL_RENDERER:   Mesa DRI Intel(R) HD Graphics 4400 (HSW GT2)
    GL_VERSION:    3.0 Mesa 20.0.8
=======================================================
[build] use-vbo=false: FPS: 448 FrameTime: 2.232 ms
=======================================================
                                  glmark2 Score: 448
=======================================================

Here is the list of kernel modules and the error happening on 0000:3:00.0:

Code: [Select]

edy@edy-Aspire-V5-561G:~$ lspci -k
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT DRAM Controller (rev 09)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Haswell-ULT DRAM Controller
Kernel driver in use: hsw_uncore
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller
Kernel driver in use: i915
Kernel modules: i915
00:03.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller (rev 09)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Haswell-ULT HD Audio Controller
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series USB xHCI HC (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series USB xHCI HC
Kernel driver in use: xhci_hcd
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series HECI #0 (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series HECI
Kernel driver in use: mei_me
Kernel modules: mei_me
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 8 Series HD Audio Controller (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series HD Audio Controller
Kernel driver in use: snd_hda_intel
Kernel modules: snd_hda_intel
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev e4)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev e4)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series PCI Express Root Port 5 (rev e4)
Kernel driver in use: pcieport
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series USB EHCI #1 (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series USB EHCI
Kernel driver in use: ehci-pci
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 8 Series LPC Controller (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series LPC Controller
Kernel driver in use: lpc_ich
Kernel modules: lpc_ich
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 8 Series SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series SATA Controller 1 [AHCI mode]
Kernel driver in use: ahci
Kernel modules: ahci
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 8 Series SMBus Controller (rev 04)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] 8 Series SMBus Controller
Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus
Kernel modules: i2c_i801
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries NetXtreme BCM57786 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe (rev 01)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] NetXtreme BCM57786 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe
Kernel driver in use: tg3
Kernel modules: tg3
01:00.1 SD Host controller: Broadcom Inc. and subsidiaries BCM57765/57785 SDXC/MMC Card Reader (rev 01)
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] BCM57765/57785 SDXC/MMC Card Reader
Kernel driver in use: sdhci-pci
Kernel modules: sdhci_pci
02:00.0 Network controller: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter (rev 01)
Subsystem: Foxconn International, Inc. AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter
Kernel driver in use: ath9k
Kernel modules: ath9k
03:00.0 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Opal XT [Radeon R7 M265/M365X/M465]
Subsystem: Acer Incorporated [ALI] Aspire V5 Radeon R7 M265
Kernel driver in use: radeon
Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu


UPDATE 2:

Turns out if I write DRI_PRIME=1 before any application, it uses the AMD GPU instead. Example:

$ DRI_PRIME=1 ./madshaders.py

This will launch MadShaders but will be using the AMD OLAND processor. This is the same effect as above when invoking glmark2. Seems like I need to specify that on the command line for the application to use the other GPU?    There was significant improvement by the way using MadShaders with the AMD GPU versus the Intel Integrated Graphics. Looks like someone else figured this out: 

https://starbeamrainbowlabs.com/blog/article.php?article=posts%2F254-run-program-on-amd-dedicated-graphics-card.html

[Benta]

Just to keep your drivers up to date, this is the way to go:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers
sudo apt-get update

This probably won't solve your problem, though. The Ubuntu graphic drivers are embedded in the kernel. I suspect a BIOS setup issue during installation. A reinstall might be necessary with a thinking-hat look at the BIOS settings first.