How to install AMD drivers in PureOS?

[marceldur]

Hi guys,

I installed PureOS 9.0 on my laptop without a problem but when I restarted, after the initial Lenovo logo the monitor went black with just the background light still on.

It seems there is an issue with the AMD drivers, some guy apparently solved it (https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/550218/pureos-doesnt-load-amd-graphics-firmware#587508) but I don't have a clue how to do this.

A more detailed guide would be highly appreciated as I am quite new to the scene.

Laptop details:
Lenovo G505s
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 2.50 GHz
RAM 4.00 GB, 64-Bit

Thanks,
Marcel

 

[Tolkem]

Hi guys,

I installed PureOS 9.0 on my laptop without a problem but when I restarted, after the initial Lenovo logo the monitor went black with just the background light still on.

It seems there is an issue with the AMD drivers, some guy apparently solved it (https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/550218/pureos-doesnt-load-amd-graphics-firmware#587508) but I don't have a clue how to do this.

A more detailed guide would be highly appreciated as I am quite new to the scene.

Laptop details:
Lenovo G505s
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 2.50 GHz
RAM 4.00 GB, 64-Bit

Thanks,
Marcel

Well, if I understand correctly what's explained here https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/550218/pureos-doesnt-load-amd-graphics-firmware#587508 all you need is to download this file save it to a USB and install it with

sudo apt install ./firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb

in PureOS. To do that,
1. Turn on your pc and press Ctrl + Alt + F3 as soon as the initial Lenovo logo appears, this should give you a tty, you're now in text-only mode in a console.
2. Plug the USB stick you saved the firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb in.
3. Type

lsblk

to list the disks/partitions connected to the machine, note down the USB id, should be something like /dev/sdc.
4. Mount the USB

sudo mount /dev/sdc /mnt

replace sdc with the actual id.
5. cd into the USB's location

cd /mnt

6. Make sure the file is there

ls

once you've done that, copy it to $HOME

cp firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb $HOME

7. Go back to $HOME

cd

and install the file

sudo apt install ./firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb

8. Wait for the process to finish, once it's done, reboot and cross your fingers(just kidding, but seriously, cross them ) hopefully, everything went fine and your issue is been fixed, that is, assuming it is the same issue as described in that post on stackexchange, and it looks like it might be. BTW, if you're curious or don't know what $HOME means here, is a shell variable that points to your home directory, just type

echo $HOME

to verify that. Good luck

 

[marceldur]

I guess I entered the TTY!? The title says "GNU GRUB"

in this blue-themed menu, I select "PureOSGNU/Linux" and hit `c` for the command-line.

In here I typed "lsblk" but it returns "error: can't find command `lsblk`"

 

[jglen490]

Hi guys,

I installed PureOS 9.0 on my laptop without a problem but when I restarted, after the initial Lenovo logo the monitor went black with just the background light still on.

It seems there is an issue with the AMD drivers, some guy apparently solved it (https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/550218/pureos-doesnt-load-amd-graphics-firmware#587508) but I don't have a clue how to do this.

A more detailed guide would be highly appreciated as I am quite new to the scene.

Laptop details:
Lenovo G505s
AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics 2.50 GHz
RAM 4.00 GB, 64-Bit

Thanks,
Marcel

First, you deserve an answer as to why some things don't work out of the box with PureOS. That answer is simple, and comes from their wiki:

Devices that require proprietary/non-free drivers or firmware MAY NOT function properly or at all. PureOS is fully free operating system, it does not come with any non-free software. If you intend to buy new hardware specifically to run free software operating systems such as PureOS,

Basically, a binary, not open source driver like the Radeon "blob" - as good as it is - is not provided with PureOS, directly. So, if you do not have to do anything except to download the .deb file quoted in the stackexchange link, and use apt to install it as instructed in the link.

Once installed, reboot your machine and the OS should be able to pick up the driver. You may need to go through PureOS's driver manager to make use of it and configure it.

 

[f33dm3bits]

Basically, a binary, not open source driver like the Radeon "blob" - as good as it is - is not provided with PureOS, directly.

AFAIK AMD made their radeon drivers opensource and they are in the kernel, unless your use the official drivers from the AMD website or am I missing something?

 

[Tolkem]

I guess I entered the TTY!? The title says "GNU GRUB"

in this blue-themed menu, I select "PureOSGNU/Linux" and hit `c` for the command-line.

In here I typed "lsblk" but it returns "error: can't find command `lsblk`"

No, that's the grub menu. If you get to it, you may boot the system. Try again, but this time choose "PureOSGNU/Linux", press enter and let it be. In your reply tell us what happened after doing that, if by any chance you're dropped to a black screen with a blinking cursor, press Ctrl + Alt + F3 to enter a TTY, and follow the steps of my previous post.

Basically, a binary, not open source driver like the Radeon "blob" - as good as it is - is not provided with PureOS, directly.

I wonder if it is possible to add Debian's "non-free" repo to PureOS? That way it'll be easier to get that kind of "non-free" pkgs.

EDIT: It is indeed possible to add Debian's "non-free" repository https://forums.puri.sm/t/is-pureos-9-0-based-on-debian-9-or-10/9563 so OP can do that instead, if he can open a TTY, he can edit /etc/apt/sources.list

$ sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

and add

deb http://mirrors.linux.iu.edu/linux/debian/ buster non-free

then update sources

$ sudo apt-get update

and install the aforementioned pkg

$ sudo apt-get install firmware-amd-graphics

Will be way easier.

 

[jglen490]

AFAIK AMD made their radeon drivers opensource and they are in the kernel, unless your use the official drivers from the AMD website or am I missing something?

Nope, you're right. I had it backwards, AMD does provide open source drivers. And if the driver the OP requires is also open source and downloadable, then it should be a simple matter of download and use apt to install it.

 

[marceldur]

Well, if I understand correctly what's explained here https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/550218/pureos-doesnt-load-amd-graphics-firmware#587508 all you need is to download this file save it to a USB and install it with

sudo apt install ./firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb

in PureOS. To do that,
1. Turn on your pc and press Ctrl + Alt + F3 as soon as the initial Lenovo logo appears, this should give you a tty, you're now in text-only mode in a console.
2. Plug the USB stick you saved the firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb in.
3. Type

lsblk

to list the disks/partitions connected to the machine, note down the USB id, should be something like /dev/sdc.
4. Mount the USB

sudo mount /dev/sdc /mnt

replace sdc with the actual id.
5. cd into the USB's location

cd /mnt

6. Make sure the file is there

ls

once you've done that, copy it to $HOME

cp firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb $HOME

7. Go back to $HOME

cd

and install the file

sudo apt install ./firmware-amd-graphics_20201218-3_all.deb

8. Wait for the process to finish, once it's done, reboot and cross your fingers(just kidding, but seriously, cross them ) hopefully, everything went fine and your issue is been fixed, that is, assuming it is the same issue as described in that post on stackexchange, and it looks like it might be. BTW, if you're curious or don't know what $HOME means here, is a shell variable that points to your home directory, just type

echo $HOME

to verify that. Good luck

Thanks man,

I tried multiple times on PureOS, but It doesn't work.
The same approach on Xfce did the trick