Getting an AMD APU to work with Ubuntu 20.04
22 Apr 2021 20:41:07 UTC
Topic 225256
(moderation:
Hi all-
Keith suggested I reach out here to see if anyone could help me. I'm trying to get the GPU portion of my 2200G to work in Ubuntu 20.04. What I've attempted so far is all in the post here on the BOINC forum. Any suggestions would be helpful. I'm not really well versed in Linux (there should be an acronym for being good in Windows, but not in Linux - GiWBNiL? Doesn't roll off the tongue).
Bill wrote:I'm trying to get
)
I don't know anything about Ubuntu - only that it seems like every 6 months, after April and October when the new versions are released, there appears always to be a spate of problems for people trying to use OpenCL.
I use a distro that doesn't package BOINC or OpenCL. I just download the Red Hat version of AMDGPU-PRO and extract just the OpenCL libs manually, (both PAL and legacy) and install both using a home-made installation script. All my discrete GPUs use legacy. The APUs use PAL. I have Athlon 200GE and Athlon3000G APUs which have Vega 3 - just 3 compute units (CUs) - so not as powerful as your Vega 8. I have tested both the discrete and internal GPUs (separately) and they both work quite automatically without needing any software or setup changes. In normal circumstances I just use discrete GPUs but I'm absolutely sure the internal GPUs work as well if I remove the discrete GPU. I've actually tested that.
Please understand that OpenCL capability is something extra that is not part of a standard video driver install. It's an extra that extends the functionality of the video drivers. The standard video driver these days is amdgpu - a kernel module that comes as part of the Linux kernel. OpenCL is something extra that runs in addition to and depends on the amdgpu module. With Ubuntu, so it seems from what I've read, you need to worry about kernel versions and which particular OpenCL versions may be compatible or not.
If you look at the clinfo output you posted at BOINC, it clearly says "No platform" and "No devices found in platform" so you're being told that a working OpenCL capability is not installed. Once you get clinfo to properly report the platform and device information, you should then see (very early in the BOINC startup messages) something like
OpenCL: AMD/ATI GPU 0: AMD Radeon HD7800 Series (driver version 3180.7, ...That line was from one of my machines with a HD7850 GPU. If you don't see that OpenCL: line, you don't have OpenCL properly installed.
There is a long running thread on the "Problems" board that has "Ubuntu 20" and "AMD drivers" in the title. Have you looked at that thread for what people who do use Ubuntu have said? I'll refer you in particular to this post by Mountkidd that goes into chapter and verse about Ubuntu 20.04 and which particular kernels will or wont work with some particular versions of AMDGPU-PRO. He also points out an AMD community thread where the problem is more fully explained. maybe if you follow those leads, you might find a way forward to getting a working OpenCL installed.
I've recently seen that AMD have announced the 21.10 version of Radeon Software for Linux (the AMDGPU- PRO stuff). One of the headline comments was "Introducing full support for Ubuntu 20.04.2" You just mention 20.04. If that happened to be 20.04.2, it looks like the new 21.10 would allow you to install OpenCL that actually works with your install.
Cheers,
Gary.
Bill wrote: ... What I've
)
From that discussion thread, the post by Ian & Steve C. nailed it: there are no Ubuntu/Linux AMDGPU drivers for your APU, thus no E@H crunching.
BUT, I see in today's post over there that Tom M is checking to see if the AMD 2200G can be cajoled into working. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
It's unfortunate that even modest GPU cards are crazy expensive right now.
Ideas are not fixed, nor should they be; we live in model-dependent reality.
Ok, first the news. I have
)
Ok, first the news.
I have an Amd 2200G installed under Ubuntu 20.04.1 using the 5.4 Kernel and the Rx 5700 graphics driver (older version) version 20.30
It has downloaded and is now munching a Gamma Ray task.
The short version of the solution is:
I will run through a how to, step by step in another message.
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
I found this also:
)
I found this also: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1223032/install-opencl-2-0-driver-for-amd-gpu-on-ubuntu-19-10-whats-my-options
for an older version of Ubuntu, but the main issue probably still holds true, too new of a kernel as Tom pointed out.
Tom, is that task running on the APU? you have no discrete GPU in that system, correct?
_________________________________________________________________________
This is a summary how-to
)
This is a summary how-to install Ubuntu 20 LTS with any (apparently) Radeon graphics including both the regular external cards and the APU internal graphics adapters.
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Ian&Steve C. wrote:I found
)
Yes, it is running a Gamma Ray task as I type. I am typing from the Linux 20 box with the Amd 2200G cpu on it and driving my monitor via the VGA plug on the back of the motherboard. I have no other video card installed.
I usually set the MB bios to "always" use the Internal Graphics Adapter this kind of system so if/when I add another video card for additional crunching power I can still find/use the internal adapter.
The first iGPU Gamma Ray task took slightly over 28 minutes.
Tom
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Tom M wrote:...You can try
)
There have been times when that hasn't worked for me to allow a subsequent error-free install, but this always as worked, for some reason:
And gratz on finding the solution!
Ideas are not fixed, nor should they be; we live in model-dependent reality.
I have taken my test APM/Amd
)
I have taken my test APM/Amd 2200G offline to free space on my work/test bench.
The HD is untouched. And so is the MB/Cpu/APM and ram.
At the end of the testing, I was checking to see if an Rx 580 was still working so some of the times were significantly below 28 minutes.
Tom M
A Proud member of the O.F.A. (Old Farts Association). Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® (Garrison Keillor)
Wow, that was a lot more
)
Wow, that was a lot more thorough help then I expected, thank you! I need to reread these posts a little more thoroughly to understand, but one thing sticks out that I am curious about. Isn’t it better for security reasons to have the kernel up to date? This computer isn’t going to be used for anything else but crunching, but still. I would almost prefer to use a different flavor of Linux like Gary to make it work and keep the software up to date, but at a glance if Gary is running homemade scripts, that may be a bit much for me. Not from a technical ability, but the amount of time I can spend to absorb and apply is the problem.
Regardless, it looks like there is a way to make the apu work, which I do want to do. I will report back here when I have studied these posts more and tried to get it to work.
No, not really. Most kernel
)
No, not really. Most kernel updates are either performance updates or updates for handling a larger or smaller matrix of hardware.
Security updates are likely to be in other subsystems, not the kernels.
It is common for servers to run LTS kernels several generations older than the current releases.
Stability is key.