Cannot run with AMD Radeon RX 6650XT video card

WyndlPoons

Hi,
I've been running Solus for a year and it has been working great for me. I bought an AMD Radeon RX 6650XT video card and it won't run Solus. The card I've had installed up to this point is an Nvidia Geforce 1050 Ti.

What happens is my BIOS screen displays fine & when it goes past that, nothing appears on-screen. I've tried booting from a USB as well with the installer, but has the same issue. I see menu options, but when I try to load into Solus, it doesn't show anything.

I am able to use a different distro on a live USB and can load it without issue.

Any tips to get it working?

WhiteWolf

WyndlPoons Nothing you can do about it. Solus needs a new kernel update and iso asap. This is why I need to use Fedora. Solus is outdated for new hardware.

tomscharbach

WyndlPoons At this point, not much you can do. Solus (installed) is using the 5.15 (LTS) kernel, which is the same kernel used in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and numerous other distros. Many users are reporting the issue on Ubuntu and other forums. Apparently, the AMD driver for the RX 6650XT is not included in the 5.15 kernel. Delayed graphics driver support is a perennial problem with Linux.

The issue may soon resolve itself, however. @DataDrake's recent post suggests that Solus might be getting a newer kernel with the next update. Depending on the kernel version** being tested for inclusion in the update, support for the RX 6650XT may be right around the corner.

My suggestion is to continue to use the 1050 Ti for the time being, and try the RX 6650XT again after the kernel is updated.

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** The 5.19 kernel and the newest 6.0 kernel are reported to support the RX 6650XT. I do not know about the 5.16, 5.17 or 5.18 kernels. My hope is that the team is testing the 6.0 kernel, because 6.0 is a "major" release and is reported to include drivers for new hardware released in anticipation of "Christimas" buys.

murbert

tomscharbach My hope is that the team is testing the 6.0 kernel, because 6.0 is a "major" release and is reported to include drivers for new hardware released in anticipation of "Christimas" buys.

Solus will wait for a point release before going to 6, they always do.

tomscharbach

murbert Solus will wait for a point release before going to 6, they always do.

I suppose that makes sense, given that Solus is a curated rolling release, but 6.0 is, as I understand it, an LTS release while the next several point releases will have an EOL a few months after release. Kernel support for the newest hardware is a continual issue with Linux, as is keeping up with the kernel. My own view is that Solus should focus on the October-November "major" kernel releases each year, which usually include drivers for the hardware developed for the holiday buying sprees, and let it go at that.

infinitymdm

tomscharbach 6.0 is, as I understand it, an LTS release while the next several point releases will have an EOL a few months after release.

There seems to be some back and forth on this. Yesterday I read a Phoronix report that suggested 6.1 may be the LTS release. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

tomscharbach

infinitymdm There seems to be some back and forth on this. Yesterday I read a Phoronix report that suggested 6.1 may be the LTS release. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

I read the Phoronix article, and I haven't been able to pin down official information about the 6.0 EOL. I may have been speculating ahead of the facts. Historically, the last release of each calendar year is LTS, and if 6.1 follows the usual schedule, it will release in December.

WyndlPoons

Thanks for the answers! I thought it might've been kernel-related, but was hoping it'd be something I could address.

nolan

I think is more likely to arrive 5.15.72 (LTS) or in the best scenario 5.19.14 (stable release), linux 6 was just released a few days ago and following solus decisions regarding kernel inclusion I don't think it would be included, I'd love to see linux 6 included in the repos though.
For reference: https://kernel.org/

tomscharbach

nolan I think is more likely to arrive 5.15.72 (LTS) or in the best scenario 5.19.14 (stable release) ...

We'll see, I guess. An update of the 5.15 kernel would be a safe update, but I can't imagine that a kernel shift from 5.15.68 (currently installed) to 5.15.72 would merit mention in Beatrice's post. My bet is 5.19 if the if the kernel is updated next week, but 5.19 was released in July and EOL is not that far in the future. I'm not interested in second-guessing the team, but it would make sense to me to stay with 5.15 until the next LTS is released and tested, update at that time, and then build a new ISO for each DE based on the LTS kernel.