Sign in to follow this  
mastaVirus

Issues with AMD/ATI cards?

Recommended Posts

I am currently running debian on 4 computers the 2 with nVidia cards wurm unlimited is running properly I have 2 other computers both with ATI cards and I cant get more than 4 FPS out of them. All other steam and java based games are running properly. Is anyone else having this issues with Linux and AMD/ATI cards?

 

I am currently running Debian 9 stretch

both are using the older video driver one is an HD7770 and the other is an HD 6770

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm necroing this because that makes more sense than starting a new thread.  I just tried Wurm on my laptop that has AMD/ATI and I also only get about 4 FPS.  That laptop runs other games just fine.  I'm running Devuan, a Debian derivative, latest version.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
12 hours ago, Tuxro said:

 I just tried Wurm on my laptop that has AMD/ATI and I also only get about 4 FPS.  That laptop runs other games just fine.  

 

 

There are a couple reasons why the laptop may run other games just fine, but have issues with Wurm.   Most of these problems are fixable.

 

1) A very common cause is with people who have laptops with "switchable graphics" -- the computer uses intel for generic home/office apps to save battery power, and switches to the dedicated gaming card only when running games. The problem is, some of the drivers won't recognize Wurm as a "game', it thinks it is a normal Java "home/office" app and so switches to low powered intel graphics.

 

2) Another issue is usually with windows laptops and I am not sure this would cause an issue with Debian OS. In this case the users have told Windows to automatcally install the drivers, and windows used Microsoft made drivers that support DirectX but poorly support OpenGL. This would be why such a laptop might run DirectX games just fine, but turn around and struggle with openGL games such as Wurm.   

 

 

If you have switchable graphics, see whether you can right-click the Wurm shortcut and tell it to "Run with the AMD gaming card". If there is no such option, you may need to open the AMD graphics control panel and look under 3D settings for a way to toggle to the AMD card anytime you launch  javaws.exe (path file is under the Java install path)  because otherwise it won't recognize Wurm as a "game".  Or, you can set the AMD control panel to "Always use the dedicated card," which will use up battery power much faster but also will prevent it from "powering down" to the intel card anytime you want to run Wurm. 

 

I do believe GForce cards run Wurm a little better, partly because I think NVidia dedicates more attention to driver performance even if the hardware is identical to an AMD version. However, usually it is not quite as bad as dropping to 4 FPS. Can you tell us the model of the laptop and which specific AMD card it has, maybe also the driver dates (older drivers are going to struggle more especially if this is an AMD graphics integrated into the cpu) -- it might be I can look up other solutions to running Java/OpenGL games with that hrgraphics adapter.  Also you might need to adjust some of the settings in the game for AMD especially if older. I am not the best person to ask on that, maybe Samool will spot this post as he is the dev in charge of clients and knows much more about that issue.  

 

I am not sure why the original poster had an issue with AMD's  HD7770 and HD 6770 as those are older but still quite powerful cards, however less likely I think to be found in a laptop so your issue may be different.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Brash_Endeavors
  • Like 1

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks, BE.  I'm not sure how to tell if my laptop has switchable graphics.  "lspci | grep VGA" only shows "VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Kaveri [Radeon R5 Graphics]" so  I assumed that means it is the only video graphics.   (Edit)  It is a Dell Inspiron 15 5545 and the manual for it says

Video
Controller:
Integrated		•	 AMD A8-7100 APU with AMD Radeon R5 Graphics
				•	 AMD A10-7300 APU with AMD Radeon R6 Graphics
Discrete		AMD Radeon R7 M265 Graphics

Memory:
Integrated 		Shared system memory
Discrete 		2 GB DDR3

When I said it runs fine with other games, I just meant playable, not stellar by any stretch.  (Edit) So, it looks like I need some way to switch from the Integrated to the Discrete? (/Edit)  The other 3D games I play are fairly old so I haven't noticed.  I'll investigate some more and see if I can figure out what I need to do. :)  Thanks again!

Edited by Tuxro

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So it has both integrated (built into CPU) and descrete, both by AMD, but it sounds like it is not switching over to the R7 M265. Usually (on windows based computers)  this is resolved through  Catalyst Control Center but I frankly don't know whether Debian (or any Linux)  even use a control panel type setup for graphics, or if it is all command-line type stuff.  The other 3D games (older) you play are probably DirectX based games and usually the graphics drivers are good at switching those over to dedicated graphics. But Java  tends to give issues as it is not recognized as being a game or needing dedicated graphics. 

 

There are probably also some Wurm settings you can also reduce to help, but first goal is to force it to use the R7 M265, which is sounds like it is not doing. On some laptops, there is a BIOS setting you can toggle to force it to use only the dedicated card and never the integrated graphics. This however would reduce battery time significantly.  I am still googling whether Inspiron 5545 even has this bios toggle.  Something like this. You might need to check whether a newer BIOS could help if that would help you. Not useful though if you NEED good battery useage at other times..

 

These other articles might be relevant (or maybe not, this is over my head somewhat) :

 

 

 

 

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/466613/configuring-the-correct-graphics-card-drivers-radeon-r7-m260-m265

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Brash_Endeavors

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this