I'm a little confused by this PPA for my AMD card.

[SuperSapien64]

How do I install the drivers for the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT?

I see the PPA for it but I'm not quite sure about the installation of them
Also will this require a reboot? Sorry for asking a silly question but the answer doesn't seem quite obvious to me.
Would it be sudo apt install oibaf/graphics-drivers?

[Schwarzer Kater]

Without knowing anything about the AMD RX 6750 XT or this PPA:
Installing additional drivers for a graphics card does require a reboot.

[claydoh]

tha6t PPA offers updated mesa drivers, which are what AMD actually use.
You will have to reboot for them to be used, so the new stuff can be loaded.
A logout *might* be enough, but I doubt it.

Would it be sudo apt install oibaf/graphics-drivers?

No.

Instructions are found on the PPA page, as well as on probably hundreds of different web pages:
https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archiv...aphics-drivers

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers​

You can skip the apt update part mentioned on that page, as the add-apt-repository command does this automatically now.
Then install updates as usual, using Discover or sudo apt full-upgrade.

[SuperSapien64]

tha6t PPA offers updated mesa drivers, which are what AMD actually use.
You will have to reboot for them to be used, so the new stuff can be loaded.
A logout *might* be enough, but I doubt it.


No.

Instructions are found on the PPA page, as well as on probably hundreds of different web pages:
https://launchpad.net/~oibaf/+archiv...aphics-drivers

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:oibaf/graphics-drivers​

You can skip the apt update part mentioned on that page, as the add-apt-repository command does this automatically now.
Then install updates as usual, using Discover or sudo apt full-upgrade.

So do I really need these drivers or not?

[claydoh]

So do I really need these drivers or not?

Need? Can't say.
Useful for gaming, yes, at least a little, maybe more.
But you likely will be just fine without it.
But, it is not a bad idea if you are a gamer on Linux to at least check it out, or other similar mesa PPAs.
The latest mesa does offer useful improvements, and new features, though I can't say exactly how much, over the stock stuff.

AMD and iirc Intel use the Mesa drivers for 3D and other gaming related things. The PPA updates these open source drivers to a more recent version than you already have.
This particular PPA updates very often, daily even. Just so you are not surprised. It is a a bit of a bleeding-edge source, but it has been a stable one for many years.

Try out your usual things for a spell, if things are better than they were before, keep the updated Mesa stack.
If not, you can downgrade back by using the ppa-purge command to do so. It is used in the same manner as the add-apt-repository command you use to add the new source.
But have backups, just in case.

If updating and rebooting all the time is a pain, there are other sources that don't update so often.
This one is another long standing source, probably the one I'd recommend if you decide to remove the oibaf PPA and then try a different source.
https://launchpad.net/~kisak/+archive/ubuntu/kisak-mesa

[Montmorency]

If I'm not mistaken Mesa is a collection of APIs not the AMD graphic driver proper (this one is included in the Kernel and not "updatable").
Keeping Mesa updating is not really necessary, only if you're having trouble with a particular game.

[claydoh]

If I'm not mistaken Mesa is a collection of APIs not the AMD graphic driver proper (this one is included in the Kernel and not "updatable").
Keeping Mesa updating is not really necessary, only if you're having trouble with a particular game.

lol, Linux gamers are a tinkering bunch, if you hadn't noticed , even more so than normal Linux tinkerers sometimes.
Trouble can be a small frame rate drop that makes aiming a lot harder, for example.
A 5-plus % improvement in fps, or whatever stat, may not seem like much, but it definitely can smooth out the gameplay you already have, or allow a higher quality setting be used.

The kernel driver needs mesa for its implementation of OpenGL, Vulkan, and other graphics API specifications. Vulkan in particular, as well as the whole mesa stack has seen decent improvements in overall performance since 22.04 was released.
In particular, ray tracing, though still lagging behind nvidia, is becoming more usable on AMD, on the cards that support it.
Which didn't enter Mesa until *after* 22.04 was released, and isn't even in 22.10.

And as new game progress and support vulkan, and the apis to support DirectX improves to match it, an LTS base does lag behind after a while, even though there are some small mesa updates in LTS.

So no, most people don't need it, but those who game sort of do, and not just for new games.
I see noticeable improvements on Metro Exodus and Doom with my low-ish-end (but still $$ in my opinion) RX 6650 XT, and even experience some ray tracing goodness in some games, if I don't mind 10-30fps lol (not unexpected on this card).
I would not be able to even try it on a stock mesa setup when 22.04 was released.


So tl;dr:
Yes, mesa bumps are quite useful if you game at all, at least to try out. Even on older gear, even.

[SuperSapien64]

Need? Can't say.
Useful for gaming, yes, at least a little, maybe more.
But you likely will be just fine without it.
But, it is not a bad idea if you are a gamer on Linux to at least check it out, or other similar mesa PPAs.
The latest mesa does offer useful improvements, and new features, though I can't say exactly how much, over the stock stuff.

AMD and iirc Intel use the Mesa drivers for 3D and other gaming related things. The PPA updates these open source drivers to a more recent version than you already have.
This particular PPA updates very often, daily even. Just so you are not surprised. It is a a bit of a bleeding-edge source, but it has been a stable one for many years.

Try out your usual things for a spell, if things are better than they were before, keep the updated Mesa stack.
If not, you can downgrade back by using the ppa-purge command to do so. It is used in the same manner as the add-apt-repository command you use to add the new source.
But have backups, just in case.

If updating and rebooting all the time is a pain, there are other sources that don't update so often.
This one is another long standing source, probably the one I'd recommend if you decide to remove the oibaf PPA and then try a different source.
https://launchpad.net/~kisak/+archive/ubuntu/kisak-mesa

I was told that those Mesa drivers need Linux Kernel 6 or higher. Is that true?

[claydoh]

I was told that those Mesa drivers need Linux Kernel 6 or higher. Is that true?

Well, I am sure doing it wrong, then......
My GPU is a 6659XT, and is the same age/family, and even firmware iirc, as your 6750XT. I just got it recently.


No, you don't need a 6.x kernel. If you had a GPU that was an extremely recent release, you would.
Now, a 6.x kernel might still be useful, but like Mesa upgrades it isn't necessary on your card. It very well might be desirable, for sure.
But only testing, not some random Reddit or forum denizen's comments will be needed for your system and the things you use it for.
(and YES, I am one of those rando people with rando opinions, to be sure )

Luckily we can have multiple kernels installed, and switching is only a reboot away....


I am actually testing the difference between the stock 5.19 and a 6.1x kernel from Xanmod right now.
I am not fond of 'Mainline" kernels as many will mention or suggest, as they are very generic in their build configs, but are simple enough to install and test (There are GUI tools for installing Mainline kernels)
I have not yet used it for gaming, as I literally installed it last night, but haven't booted to it yet.
I will see if there is any difference when I try a session of Last of us Part 1 later today, after work.

[SuperSapien64]

Well, I am sure doing it wrong, then......
My GPU is a 6659XT, and is the same age/family, and even firmware iirc, as your 6750XT. I just got it recently.


No, you don't need a 6.x kernel. If you had a GPU that was an extremely recent release, you would.
Now, a 6.x kernel might still be useful, but like Mesa upgrades it isn't necessary on your card. It very well might be desirable, for sure.
But only testing, not some random Reddit or forum denizen's comments will be needed for your system and the things you use it for.
(and YES, I am one of those rando people with rando opinions, to be sure )

Luckily we can have multiple kernels installed, and switching is only a reboot away....


I am actually testing the difference between the stock 5.19 and a 6.1x kernel from Xanmod right now.
I am not fond of 'Mainline" kernels as many will mention or suggest, as they are very generic in their build configs, but are simple enough to install and test (There are GUI tools for installing Mainline kernels)
I have not yet used it for gaming, as I literally installed it last night, but haven't booted to it yet.
I will see if there is any difference when I try a session of Last of us Part 1 later today, after work.

Thanks. I'm currently using Kernel 5.15 and it says that I'm using X11 instead of Wayland.

You should be on the 5.19 kernel on 22.04, though if your install is from 22.04.0 ISOs you might still be on the original 5.15.
I get confused on this, as supposedly all LTS installs are now supposed to get kernel upgrades automatically, except for Server.
But obviously this is not the case.

This changes my thoughts a little, as the 5.15 kernel old enough that I would recommend an upgrade to at least 5.19.

If you want to do so, make sure you have the package linux-generic-hwe-22.04 installed, and install it if desired.

sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-22.04

This won't remove the 5.15 kernel, and you would still get updates to that, as well as the installed 5.19

Xorg or Wayland is sort of irrelevant. I happen to use Wayland, and Steam games play identically for me in either (they still actually run in X11, even in a wayland session iirc). I have tested this, of course YMMV.

[SuperSapien64]

So if I understand you correctly this: sudo apt install --install-recommends linux-generic-hwe-22.04 command will install Linux Kernel 5.19?

[Schwarzer Kater]

Yes, if you have the 5.15 LTS kernel because you installed Kubuntu 22.04.0 or 22.04.1 you could upgrade to the 5.19 kernel this way if you wanted to.

[SuperSapien64]

I just upgraded my Kernel to 5.19 and now I have no support for audio through HDMI.
How do I fix this?

[claydoh]

I just upgraded my Kernel to 5.19 and now I have no support for audio through HDMI.
How do I fix this?

Boot back to the 5.15 kernel in Grub, or don't use HDMI for audio
Known issue with Ubuntu's kernel, that hasn't been fixed yet, and mentioned in a couple places here, somewhere.

A fix has been committed, so it is just a matter of time, and some testing.

[SuperSapien64]

Boot back to the 5.15 kernel in Grub, or don't use HDMI for audio
Known issue with Ubuntu's kernel, that hasn't been fixed yet, and mentioned in a couple places here, somewhere.

A fix has been committed, so it is just a matter of time, and some testing.

Yeah its strange the live Kubuntu 22.04 USB that I made a short while ago has Kernel 5.19 on it and the HDMI audio works just fine on that.