this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2025
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I'm a long time AMD user both my GPU and CPU. I have a powerful enough PSU and a b550m-plus mobo.

I'm looking to do gaming, light AI work, computer programming, running Docker server services.

I have a Radeon 6900xt, but it doesn't work well with Linux anymore. amdgpu fails to load, and I can only boot by adding nomodeset to my boot entry.

With ArchInstall I even tried reformatting with xfs, ext4, btrfs, without encryption, with and without LVM, selecting both ATI OS drivers for all GPUs, and drivers for AMD gpus, with systemd-boot and grub.

Even Fedora on USB only boots with nomodeset.

Windows seems to boot fine.

I assume it may be a problem with system reading the drivers from the GPU.

I have onboard HDMI for graphics, but I've never got it working.

tbh, my 6900XT was too powerful anyways. I do game in 4K with my 55" TV on the highest settings, but it seems I was still barely using the GPUs full potential.

Funny enough, I seem to have had more problems with high end GPUs in the past than low end GPUs.

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[–] spartanatreyu@programming.dev 5 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Hang on...

Just because no one has asked it yet...

Are you only using a HDMI cable and have you not tried a display port cable?

FYI: The "HDMI Forum" didn't want to allow open source implementations of HDMI 2.1. They wanted to charge people a fee for using it. This is why people use display port, it has no fee and it usually has newer feature support earlier.

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 3 points 19 hours ago

I dont have a monitor with DP, but I could look into trying a friends monitor. I've only been using HDMI and HDMi 2.1

[–] theunknownmuncher@lemmy.world 31 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I have a Radeon 6900xt, but it doesn't work well with Linux anymore. amdgpu fails to load, and I can only boot by adding nomodeset to my boot entry.

Super weird. I also have a 6900 XT and have never had any problems on linux. The fact that you're having problems with the GPU on multiple systems makes me think this is a hardware issue. Windows probably only works fine because it may be using the onboard graphics instead of the 6900 XT.

AMD is the most compatible and best supported for linux. You don't need to install any drivers or anything for AMD as the official drivers are included in the linux kernel.

[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

on arch you still need to install the Radeon Vulkan driver, but that's just a userspace thing

also for blender you need hip and hip-rt iirc

they're way easier and nicer than nvidia though

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip -3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I have never. Well, not on þis machine. Does it mean I'm not using my GPU? I probably wouldn't know; þe only game I play is Factorio, which isn't GPU intensive.

Edit: I just ran glxinfo and it reports OpenGL is using þe graphics chip, but the radeon kernel module is not loaded; neiþer is any module wiþ "vulcan" in þe name. I've got a bunch of amdgpu modules loaded, but I didn't manually load þem.

I'm on Arch.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

radeontop is another nice little tool.

[–] Sxan@piefed.zip -2 points 1 day ago

Dang, þat is nice. Cheers!

[–] kbal@fedia.io 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

amdgpu fails to load

If you're referring to the old "amdgpu pro" software, you probably don't want to be using that. It isn't necessary for the stuff you want to do, and I'm surprised to learn that it still exists at all — it's still talked about as if it's current on the arch wiki. Get rid of that, update the firmware package, run a recent kernel, and then figure out whatever specific thing you actually need for the AI stuff you're trying to do such as rocm-related things.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

and then figure out whatever specific thing you actually need for the AI stuff you’re trying to do such as rocm-related things.

For most of this you'd probably want to be running Vulkan anyway. ROCM is mostly slower, at least for quantized text generation.

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Both Mesa and Amdgpu-Pro fail

[–] kbal@fedia.io 0 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't know, but one possibility to consider is that running amdgpu-pro (or its non-pro counterpart) might've done something that stops mesa from working if you didn't completely undo everything it did.

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 day ago

The problem starter with Mesa.. Amdgpupro was one of the last thins I tried..

[–] the_q@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

This makes no sense. That card should be a prefect fit. If you cold boot does it crash and restart in a loop?

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago

Cold booting does the same effect. Sometimes I'm able to bootup the driver. But after a reboot, the same problem always recurs.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I have a Radeon 6900xt, but it doesn’t work well with Linux anymore. amdgpu fails to load, and I can only boot by adding nomodeset to my boot entry.

I have onboard HDMI for graphics, but I’ve never got it working.

I disagree with others, this seems like a software issue. Specifically a config one. Its a strange coincidence that both a 6900XT and your IGP would be misbehaving.

I do game in 4K with my 55" TV on the highest settings, but it seems I was still barely using the GPUs full potential.

This is also strange, as 4K should be rather stressful. And I'm pulling this thread because AMD GPU prices are awful now and you should really keep your 6900XT if you can.

So... have you tried start fresh? EG booting some other distro from a USB and see if it work alright?

Have you changed anything specific in your BIOS?

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I'm having the same issue with booting an Fedora and Arch USB. I also have to set nomodeset

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Oh, and one other thing I thought of:

Your IGP HDMI may not work because, with the graphics card, the BIOS might disable it by default. Mine does this, but its configurable.

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

What about a bone stock CachyOS image, with its default graphics config and no boot changes?

Again, I am not trying to be rude, but I am (out of personal experience) suspicious of whatever configurations you might be making and am interested if a 'default' config like they ship with gamer distros works.

[–] BombOmOm@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I agree with the other poster this seems like a hardware issue.

  1. Start with a general battery of hardware tests.
  • Memtest for memory. One or two errors in a full run is OK, more than that is not. A full run will take a few hours, just run it overnight.
  • Furmark for GPU. Look for visual glitches or crashes.
  • Prime95 for CPU.
  1. If those fail to point out the issue. Swap components into another system. This will allow you to eliminate (or confirm) them as the issue. Example, does this GPU have issues in a different system?
[–] luciole@beehaw.org 3 points 1 day ago

Have you ruled out the GPU itself is not physically defective? I'm rocking a 6700XT and gaming in 1080 like a champ. I'm lazy so I'm running Mint though.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Have you updated firmware for the card and your BIOS lately?

Edit: also, who makes the card?

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you saying I can update the firmware inside the GPU? I've never heard of that. It'd a Gigabyte gpu.

And the mobo firmware fully updated. I've tried with both recent versions of the Asus b550m-plus bios firmware.

[–] kbal@fedia.io 1 points 1 day ago

Linux loads the "firmware" into the GPU on boot. It does need to be updated from time to time, separately from the driver and everything else. On my system it's kept in /usr/lib/firmware/amdgpu. And bios updates can often fix weird bugs, usually worth doing.

[–] sga@piefed.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

(i am an arch user as well, but i mean this comment in good spirit, i am not tryinng to be sarcastic or downplaying)

have you tried bazzite/ublue or other "ready to use" immutable distros? In theory, 6900xt should work flawlessly with the open drivers that come with most distros. I do not think you have to buy anything. If you really want to buy, maybe 9070 (or 9060)(has that been released or not), but that would still be an upgrrade, and you seemingly want a downgrade.

file systems ideally should not matter at all for gpus. neither should encryption

ATI OS drivers for all GPUs, and drivers for AMD gpus

on arch, I do not think you have to do anything for arch drivers. you just need base linux package, and linux-firmware (default is all firmwares, but if you do not want want that, you just need linux-firmware-amdgpu). other than that, just vulkan-radeon for vulan, and that is about it. ypu may install something for monitoring power usage, maybe finnd something to under/overvolt, but that is it, there should not be anything required for setup.

[–] dudesss@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Funny enough, but sadly, Windows was the only one that booted normally.

[–] sga@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

that is indeed sad

[–] boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] Jumuta@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago (2 children)

seriously? I thought their drivers were mediocre even on windows

[–] boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net 0 points 1 day ago

Windows performance doesnt say shite

[–] brucethemoose@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

They've improved massively.

And they're quite alright for LLM usage on linux, thanks to Vulkan.

I'd 100% get an Intel card if they made a physically bigger one. So far they haven't...

[–] vikingtons@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Yet to be seen if BMG-G31 ever ends up releasing

[–] ulterno@programming.dev -1 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Might as well also try out Debian 12 and Ubuntu.
I have a 7600 and it works well with Debian 12. Also, my CPU doesn't have an iGPU, so can be sure that's how it is working.

[–] data1701d@startrek.website 1 points 12 hours ago

Though I am a Debian fan, I don’t think trying another distro will help too much.

[–] LeFantome@programming.dev 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I love Debian. Literally the worst possible choice for GPU drivers.

[–] data1701d@startrek.website 1 points 12 hours ago

Not necessarily. In the case of this specific GPU, both 12 and 13 support that model quite well. I can’t tell if Trixie supported RDNA4 out of box, but if it doesn’t, I’m sure Backports does just fine.

[–] ulterno@programming.dev -1 points 1 day ago

But it works.