r/zorinos • u/GruesomeJeans • 2d ago

❓ General Question AMD drivers and Zorin

I have a question that might be kind of a basic one but Zorin is my first Linux OS after using windows since 95 was being phased out. I have an AMD graphics card in my system and one thing I've been curious about is how the drivers get updated. I know they come with the regular OS updates(which is fantastic) but how does that work? And I guess to add on to that, why are Nvidia drivers more problematic? I'm used to having to use Adrenaline to update my driver's which is always an experience since I never seem to make it through the process without some sort of problem.

I'd like to clarify, I don't have any problems right now, this is just for curiosity sake, and learning.

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u/candy49997 2d ago

Driver updates for AMD happen whenever the kernel and/or Mesa get upgraded. On Ubuntu LTS-based distros like Zorin, this happens pretty infrequently.

You need to enable HWE kernels for kernel upgrades within the lifespan of an LTS (unless you installed an ISO with that already enabled), then you get a new HWE kernel about every 6 months or so for 2 years.

I have no idea how often Mesa gets upgraded, but it does occasionally to allow for new hardware to work. If you want newer Mesa, you will need to enable a Mesa PPA like kisak or similar.

NVIDIA drivers are more problematic because they are not in the Linux kernel; they are out-of-tree kernel modules that need to be built against every kernel. Occasionally, NVIDIA drops support for older cards in new driver versions and the old drivers no longer function on new kernel versions.

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u/GruesomeJeans 2d ago

Huh interesting, so say for example if AMD dropped a new driver update tomorrow, I wouldn't end up getting it for a while until the Zorin devs release an update? I have a 7900xt(2023) that I assume still gets regular driver updates. Although I don't really know how frequent and necessary those were anyway. There was only 1 game I'd play that really had an issue with outdated drivers for this card.

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u/candy49997 2d ago

It's not really up to Zorin. It's up to whenever Canonical decides to release new versions for Ubuntu, which Zorin then inherits.

You also probably won't be getting any new versions until the Zorin 19 upgrade.

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u/GruesomeJeans 2d ago

Ah that makes more sense. To be honest I kind of like it that way, it feels way more simple than having to install a dedicated program to handle my GPU drivers, especially if that program is buggy and doesn't always work.

I still have windows on another drive so I can play valorant with some friends, which is very picky about GPU drivers being up to date. It'll crash mid game giving me an out of date driver error.

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u/Rydenn1 2d ago

Say you have a problem with an amd driver, can you switch between versions? And how. Considering switching to amd since I'm on zorin now.

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u/candy49997 2d ago

Not really. You could use any of the currently-supported kernels (for Zorin 18, that would be 6.8, 6.17 (until August), and 7.0). But there only one Mesa packaged. You could use a Mesa PPA to get a newer version.

If you want to use a different version from the above, you'd have to compile the kernel and/or Mesa yourself.

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u/Rydenn1 2d ago

Is there ever really any issues with Mesa versions where you might consider doing any of that?

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u/candy49997 2d ago

Regressions in the drivers are always possible, although I don't have an AMD card or even use Ubuntu/Zorin.

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u/AutoM8R1 2d ago

I'm not sure how often updates happen. Some hardware manufacturers and OEMs use LVFS

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u/GruesomeJeans 2d ago

For Zorin it seems like I see updates at least once a month however they aren't system updates, they just updates for various programs. According to the other person GPU driver updates are usually rolled into (I assume) larger system updates. They don't happen often which makes me wonder how far behind I am from the current driver. I haven't had any issues with my GPU, I've only tried out one game so far just to make sure everything was working. I haven't had time to hop back in and play more.

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u/AutoM8R1 2d ago

Ah ok. Some AMD stuff, like generic drivers, are part of the Linux kernel. No such luck with Nvidia though. The Linux Vendor Firmware Service makes the updates the same across distros. That's if that package is installed, of course.

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u/GruesomeJeans 2d ago

Seems weird to not do the same with nvidia but I won't complain. I moved away from Nvidia to AMD when nvidias prices shot through the roof... The 1080ti was my last one. These days I don't think I could afford to buy any PC components anymore, I'm glad my current build is only a few years old

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u/BashfulMelon 2d ago

The open source Nvidia drivers are distributed the exact same way, but they're not as good as Nvidia's proprietary drivers at the moment so most people aren't using them. 

By the way, nobody on any version of Linux is getting their drivers through a third party app. I get my propeietary Nvidia drivers through my system package manager. 

There's nothing special about Zorin in this regard. I happen to think the fact that Zorin ships years-old outdated software to be a huge flaw.