Re: new video card broke X

On 6/29/26 01:41, Felix Miata wrote:
> Eben King composed on 2026-06-28 14:43 (UTC-0400):
> 
>> I recently got a new-to-me video card:
>> 00:1f.3 Multimedia audio controller: Intel Corporation 100 Series/C230
>> Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller (rev 31)
> 
>> There is also the onboard hardware:
>> 00:02.0 Display controller: Intel Corporation HD Graphics 530 (rev 06)
> 
> # grep framebuffer /var/log/Xorg.0.log
> [     6.774] (==) modeset(0): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
> #
> That's as many such lines as should be expected. Your Xorg.0.log has mainly bad
> ones, showing (EE), something clearly wrong that X should be trying to use
> framebuffer.
> 
> What you should see that is missing includes the following (from a Trixie boot).
> /var/log/Xorg.0.log:[     4.096] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card0)
> /var/log/Xorg.0.log:[     4.152] (II) modeset(0): using drv /dev/dri/card0
> 
> The absence of required firmware can produce their absence.

That was indeed the problem. I did "modinfo amdgpu" and noticed a lot of 
lines about various firmwares, so I went looking for the appropriate 
firmware for amdgpu on Debian. The wiki told me it was 
"firmware-amd-graphics" so I installed that, rebooted (maybe I could 
have just reloaded the module) and boom X worked.  Boot sequence looked 
odd too, because part of it was on the R monitor (Intel) and then it 
switched to the center one (AMD).

> In your OP, I spotted nothing to tell us anything about your "new" GPU, only the
> onboard Intel 530. How about sharing better information:

Well, it works now, so the info might be different. But here goes:

> 	inxi -GSaz --vs --za

bash: inxi: command not found

Hmm.

> 	dpkg -l | grep -E 'mwar|xorg-video'

ii  firmware-amd-graphics                     20230210-5 
           all          Binary firmware for AMD/ATI graphics chips
ii  firmware-linux-free                       20200122-1 
           all          Binary firmware for various drivers in the Linux 
kernel
ii  firmware-misc-nonfree                     20230210-5 
           all          Binary firmware for various drivers in the Linux 
kernel
ii  intel-microcode                           3.20251111.1~deb12u1 
           amd64        Processor microcode firmware for Intel CPUs
ii  xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu                 23.0.0-1 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- AMDGPU display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-ati                    1:19.1.0-3 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- AMD/ATI display driver wrapper
ii  xserver-xorg-video-fbdev                  1:0.5.0-2 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- fbdev display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-intel                  2:2.99.917+git20210115-1 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- Intel i8xx, i9xx display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-nvidia-tesla-470       470.256.02-1~deb12u1 
           amd64        NVIDIA binary Xorg driver (Tesla 470 version)
ii  xserver-xorg-video-qxl                    0.1.5+git20200331-3 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- QXL display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-radeon                 1:19.1.0-3 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- AMD/ATI Radeon display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-vesa                   1:2.5.0-1+b1 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- VESA display driver
ii  xserver-xorg-video-vmware                 1:13.3.0-3.1+b1 
           amd64        X.Org X server -- VMware display driver

I should uninstall all the nvidia stuff now that this card works.

> 	lsmod | sort | grep -E 'video|amdgpu|radeon|i915'

amdgpu               9633792  75
cec                    61440  2 drm_display_helper,i915
drm                   614400  22 
gpu_sched,drm_kms_helper,drm_display_helper,drm_buddy,amdgpu,drm_ttm_helper,i915,ttm
drm_buddy              20480  2 amdgpu,i915
drm_display_helper    184320  2 amdgpu,i915
drm_kms_helper        212992  5 drm_display_helper,amdgpu,i915
drm_ttm_helper         16384  1 amdgpu
gpu_sched              53248  1 amdgpu
i2c_algo_bit           16384  3 igb,amdgpu,i915
i915                 3059712  3
ttm                    94208  3 amdgpu,drm_ttm_helper,i915
video                  65536  2 amdgpu,i915
wmi                    36864  2 video,intel_wmi_thunderbolt

> Also, if there are any .conf files remaining in /etc/X11/ or
> /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/, rename or delete them all, unless there is one for only
> keyboard you can keep it. Intel and AMD GPU users normally don't need anything in
> /etc/X11/ for GPU. By default, there is nothing there.

There are not.  In fact xorg.conf.d has been renamed.

> Make sure xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu is installed if your new dGPU is AMDGPU. If
> your "new" GPU is actually old, or if it's too new, it may require one or more
> kernel cmdline options.

Weird. I don't see any similar processes.

eben@cerberus:~$ ps ax | grep '[x]server'
    1388 tty1     S+     0:00 xinit /home/eben/.xinitrc -- 
/etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc :0 vt1 -keeptty -auth /tmp/serverauth.FCsmi1CEnD


eben@cerberus:~$ ps axfww | less -S
...
    1366 tty1     S+     0:00      \_ /bin/sh /usr/bin/startx
    1388 tty1     S+     0:00          \_ xinit /home/eben/.xinitrc -- 
/etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc :0 vt1 -keeptty -auth >
    1389 tty1     Sl     1:07              \_ /usr/lib/xorg/Xorg 
-nolisten tcp :0 vt1 -keeptty -auth /tmp/serverauth.F>
    1408 tty1     S      0:00              \_ /bin/sh /home/eben/.xinitrc
    1448 tty1     Sl     0:00                  \_ xfce4-session

How would I tell?  BTW X works, though maybe not optimally.

> Don't try to use both motherboard graphics connectors and dGPU connectors at the
> same before you get the problem sorted. Generally it can be done with suitable
> BIOS config and manual config, but if your "new" dGPU is truly new, you don't want
> your OS to see the 530. Stick to dGPU connectors at least for now.

Before I read your message, I had left the R monitor connected by VGA to 
the iGPU. Fortunately it autodetected both cards.  Indeed, the end goal 
is to use the dGPU for everything, and disable the iGPU in the BIOS. 
I'll have to see what connections the monitor has and find an 
appropriate cable/adapter combo.

Thanks for the help.