3D graphics slow after upgrade

print0 · 2026-04-11 10:15:39

After a recent system upgrade (the last one had admittedly been many months ago) 3D graphics (namely: supertuxkart which my kids "need") are very slow (< 1 FPS). Before the update the frame rate was ok.

$ sudo lspci -vnnd ::03xx
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] [1002:6779] (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
        Subsystem: PC Partner Limited / Sapphire Technology Device [174b:a004]
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 125
        Memory at c0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
        Memory at dfe20000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=128K]
        I/O ports at e000 [size=256]
        Expansion ROM at 000c0000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3
        Capabilities: [58] Express Legacy Endpoint, IntMsgNum 0
        Capabilities: [a0] MSI: Enable+ Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
        Capabilities: [100] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0001 Rev=1 Len=010 <?>
        Capabilities: [150] Advanced Error Reporting
        Kernel driver in use: radeon
        Kernel modules: radeon, amdgp

If I read this table correctly then I need mesa and xf86-video-ati. I have these installed, as well as linux-firmware-radeon, and removed all other packages as far as I could.

Here are the logs for a short STK run: https://pastebin.com/p3m9MuX7

I tried installing old versions of mesa and linux-firmware-radeon from the cache, but then the game doesn't even start.

Any ideas what more I can try?

Edit: Tried a few more games, all seem to work fine. So it must have something to do with STK more specifically. But I also tried an older version of the game and it's still slow. Downgrading sdl3 and sdl2-compat does not help

Last edited by print0 (2026-04-11 10:42:52)

xerxes_ · 2026-04-11 12:15:07

Maybe you should use mesa-amber (and xf86-video-ati) with this new kernel 6.19 ?

seth · 2026-04-11 12:47:31

I'd ask whether you get better performance w/ amdgpu , https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/AMDGPU … K)_support

 Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu

But apparently caicos is a northern island?
https://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature/#d … etingnames

If I read this table correctly then I need mesa and xf86-video-ati.

You do not *need* xf86-video-ati - it's possible that the modesetting driver performs better - and this is only relevant on X11
=> Is this actually X11 or wayland?

loginctl session-status

Lone_Wolf · 2026-04-11 13:44:21

xerxes_ wrote:

Maybe you should use mesa-amber (and xf86-video-ati) with this new kernel 6.19 ?

Only amd cards using r100 or r200 chipset need mesa-amber and cards with those chipsets haven't been produced in 20+ years.

print0 · 2026-04-18 16:22:12

seth wrote:

I'd ask whether you get better performance w/ amdgpu , https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/AMDGPU … K)_support
 Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu

I tried uninstalling radeon so amdgpu is used, then the system didn't even boot anymore. (I first just added "amdgpu radeon" to the MODULES list, but this didn't seem to change anything. lspci still said radeon is in use.)

seth wrote:

=> Is this actually X11 or wayland?
loginctl session-status

This is X11.

But again, I think the driver is probably fine since some other 3D games work as expected. Could it have something to do with some library STK is based on?

Name : supertuxkart
Version : 1.5-1
Description : Kart racing game featuring Tux and his friends
Architecture : x86_64
URL : https://supertuxkart-evolution.com
Licenses : GPL-3.0-or-later
Groups : None
Provides : None
Depends On : openal libvorbis freetype2 harfbuzz curl bluez-libs glibc zlib gcc-libs sqlite libjpeg-turbo libpng hicolor-icon-theme sdl2 shaderc openssl

Last edited by print0 (2026-04-18 16:23:14)

seth · 2026-04-18 18:36:20

I tried uninstalling radeon so amdgpu is used

That's not how this works, see the wiki link on how to make sure the kernel uses the amdgpu module for your GPU.
Removing xf86-video-* will however move you to the modesetting driver.

The critical library would be sdl2, https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/EnvironmentVariables

printenv | grep -i sdl
glxinfo -B

and please post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General

print0 · 2026-04-19 19:19:56

seth wrote:

I tried uninstalling radeon so amdgpu is used
That's not how this works, see the wiki link on how to make sure the kernel uses the amdgpu module for your GPU.
Removing xf86-video-* will however move you to the modesetting driver.

If I add "radeon.si_support=0 radeon.cik_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 amdgpu.cik_support=1" to the boot parameters (editing during boot via GRUB) "lspci -vnnd ::03xx" still shows "radeon" as being used. What am I doing wrong? (Sorry, not an expert on these matters...)

seth wrote:

The critical library would be sdl2, https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/EnvironmentVariables
printenv | grep -i sdl
glxinfo -B
and please post your Xorg log, https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xorg#General

$ printenv | grep -i sdl # no output ...
$ glxinfo -B
name of display: :0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: Yes
Extended renderer info (GLX_MESA_query_renderer):
Vendor: Mesa (0x1002)
Device: AMD CAICOS (DRM 2.51.0 / 6.19.11-arch1-1) (0x6779)
Version: 26.0.4
Accelerated: yes
Video memory: 1024MB
Unified memory: no
Preferred profile: core (0x1)
Max core profile version: 4.6
Max compat profile version: 4.6
Max GLES1 profile version: 1.1
Max GLES[23] profile version: 3.1
Memory info (GL_ATI_meminfo):
VBO free memory - total: 1023 MB, largest block: 1023 MB
VBO free aux. memory - total: 1021 MB, largest block: 1021 MB
Texture free memory - total: 1023 MB, largest block: 1023 MB
Texture free aux. memory - total: 1021 MB, largest block: 1021 MB
Renderbuffer free memory - total: 1023 MB, largest block: 1023 MB
Renderbuffer free aux. memory - total: 1021 MB, largest block: 1021 MB
Memory info (GL_NVX_gpu_memory_info):
Dedicated video memory: 1024 MB
Total available memory: 2045 MB
Currently available dedicated video memory: 1023 MB
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa
OpenGL renderer string: AMD CAICOS (DRM 2.51.0 / 6.19.11-arch1-1)
OpenGL core profile version string: 4.6 (Core Profile) Mesa 26.0.4-arch1.1
OpenGL core profile shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL core profile context flags: (none)
OpenGL core profile profile mask: core profile
OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 26.0.4-arch1.1
OpenGL shading language version string: 4.60
OpenGL context flags: (none)
OpenGL profile mask: compatibility profile
OpenGL ES profile version string: OpenGL ES 3.1 Mesa 26.0.4-arch1.1
OpenGL ES profile shading language version string: OpenGL ES GLSL ES 3.10

This is after I reinstalled xf86-video-ati. Here is the Xorg log with and without it installed. Same behavior in both cases.

Scimmia · 2026-04-19 19:36:22

print0 wrote:

If I add "radeon.si_support=0 radeon.cik_support=0 amdgpu.si_support=1 amdgpu.cik_support=1" to the boot parameters (editing during boot via GRUB) "lspci -vnnd ::03xx" still shows "radeon" as being used. What am I doing wrong? (Sorry, not an expert on these matters...)

You're not doing anything wrong, you just don't have an SI or CIK card. Yours is simply too old to use amdgpu.

seth · 2026-04-19 19:42:35

Though as mentioned despite the caicos GPU,

OP wrote:

Kernel modules: radeon, amdgpu

Maybe some weird version overlap because of rebranded generations *shrug*

[   117.371] (EE) RADEON(0): drmmode_do_crtc_dpms cannot get last vblank counter

hmmm…

export vblank_mode=0
supertuxkart

Arch Linux

#1 2026-04-11 10:15:39

3D graphics slow after upgrade

#2 2026-04-11 12:15:07

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#3 2026-04-11 12:47:31

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#4 2026-04-11 13:44:21

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#5 2026-04-18 16:22:12

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#6 2026-04-18 18:36:20

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#7 2026-04-19 19:19:56

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#8 2026-04-19 19:36:22

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

#9 2026-04-19 19:42:35

Re: 3D graphics slow after upgrade

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