BIOS update messed up graphics driver

[sakh]

Hi,
I recently got an BIOS update for ASUS from my Windows partition (311 to 313). This messed up the graphics on my Linux partition. I am a newbie so please excuse me.
My laptop is ASUS X505ZA, with Ryzen 5 2500u, with Radeon Vega Graphics

$ inxi -G 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Raven Ridge [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] driver: N/A  
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: ati,fbdev unloaded: modesetting,radeon,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~77Hz  
           OpenGL:renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 10.0.1 256 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 20.1.5

And

$ vainfo  
libva info: VA-API version 1.7.0 
libva error: vaGetDriverNameByIndex() failed with unknown libva error, driver_name = (null) 
vaInitialize failed with error code -1 (unknown libva error),exit

I tried reinstalling the AMDGPU drivers from the AMD website https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/re...ed-linux-20-10

Please let me know if you require any other information!

Thank you!

[ActionParsnip]

If you uninstall the proprietary video driver, then reboot then reinstall it, does it help?

[grahammechanical]

LLVMpipe is a Gallium3D graphics driver in Mesa that does all rendering on the CPU for providing a software-accelerated fallback on Linux

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pa...rch&q=LLVMpipe

I am guessing that you are running on LLVMPipe because the proprietary driver is not installed. Have you tried opening the Additional Driver tab in Software & Updates and allowing Ubuntu to search for a proprietary driver? Ubuntu will then install it for you.

If a UEFI/BIOS update has made this change then it might be worthwhile to check the UEFI/BIOS settings utility to see if something has been reset to default conditions. I am unfamiliar with your hardware, so I am also guessing that your system might have hybrid graphics or a combined CPU and graphic card in one integrated circuit chip that has the ability to switch output from a high power using mode to a low power using mode (switching between two different sets of video electronics)

Regards

[sakh]

Yes, I tried that, didn't change anything

[sakh]

I tried checking the proprietary drivers and it said, "No drivers available"
I checked the UEFI/BIOS but didn't find anything out of the ordinary, mind that I am not very used to this though. I didn't find any settings related to graphics, or power modes. And you're right, it is an integrated graphics.

[Autodave]

I am assuming that this is a laptop: correct? Please give us the model #.

[sakh]

Exactly, this is a laptop, with model:
"VivoBook_ASUS Laptop X505ZA_X505ZA"

Is this what you wanted?

[DuckHook]

Please post the results of the following:

lsb_release -a

uname -a

cat /etc/default/grub

sudo lspci -vnn | grep -ia20 vga

ls -laH /etc/modprobe.d

cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf

journalctl -b | egrep -i 'radeon|amdgpu' | egrep -i 'error|fail|kernel'

1. Did you change any configs, settings or system files after the BIOS upgrade?
2. What, exactly do you mean by "messed up the graphics"? You were able to post the diagnostics. How did you do that without video?
3. Are you running Bionic or Focal? Whether you are or not, try booting from a LiveUSB of Focal.

[sakh]

Hi,
1. No I did not change any settings at all.
2. Sorry my bad I should have mentioned the symptoms as well. They includes: brightness stuck at max level, Wayland missing from DE menu, screen tearing noticeable. Otherwise I can see and use the laptop.
3. I am using focal. I will try live booting and get back to you on it as soon as I can!

lsb_release -a 
No LSB modules are available. 
Distributor ID: Ubuntu 
Description:    Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS 
Release:        20.04 
Codename:       focal

uname -a 
Linux X505ZA 5.4.0-54-generic #60-Ubuntu SMP Fri Nov 6 10:37:59 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/default/grub 
# If you change this file, run 'update-grub' afterwards to update 
# /boot/grub/grub.cfg. 
# For full documentation of the options in this file, see: 
#   info -f grub -n 'Simple configuration' 

GRUB_DEFAULT=0 
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden 
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian` 
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash" 
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="" 

# Uncomment to enable BadRAM filtering, modify to suit your needs 
# This works with Linux (no patch required) and with any kernel that obtains 
# the memory map information from GRUB (GNU Mach, kernel of FreeBSD ...) 
#GRUB_BADRAM="0x01234567,0xfefefefe,0x89abcdef,0xefefefef" 

# Uncomment to disable graphical terminal (grub-pc only) 
#GRUB_TERMINAL=console 

# The resolution used on graphical terminal 
# note that you can use only modes which your graphic card supports via VBE 
# you can see them in real GRUB with the command `vbeinfo' 
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480 

# Uncomment if you don't want GRUB to pass "root=UUID=xxx" parameter to Linux 
#GRUB_DISABLE_LINUX_UUID=true 

# Uncomment to disable generation of recovery mode menu entries 
#GRUB_DISABLE_RECOVERY="true" 

# Uncomment to get a beep at grub start 
#GRUB_INIT_TUNE="480 440 1"

sudo lspci -vnn | grep -ia20 vga
                Kernel modules: iwlwifi 

02:00.0 Ethernet controller [0200]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [10ec:8168] (rev 15) 
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller [1043:200f] 
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 51 
        I/O ports at f000 [size=256] 
        Memory at fe904000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K] 
        Memory at fe900000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K] 
        Capabilities: [40] Power Management version 3 
        Capabilities: [50] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+ 
        Capabilities: [70] Express Endpoint, MSI 01 
        Capabilities: [b0] MSI-X: Enable+ Count=4 Masked- 
        Capabilities: [100] Advanced Error Reporting 
        Capabilities: [140] Virtual Channel 
        Capabilities: [160] Device Serial Number 01-00-00-00-68-4c-e0-00 
        Capabilities: [170] Latency Tolerance Reporting 
        Capabilities: [178] L1 PM Substates 
        Kernel driver in use: r8169 
        Kernel modules: r8169 

03:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Raven Ridge [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] [1002:15dd] (re
v c4) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) 
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Raven Ridge [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Vega Mobile Series] [1043:1091] 
        Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 255 
        Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M] 
        Memory at f0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=2M] 
        I/O ports at e000 [disabled] [size=256] 
        Memory at fe700000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=512K] 
        Capabilities: [48] Vendor Specific Information: Len=08 <?> 
        Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 3 
        Capabilities: [64] Express Legacy Endpoint, MSI 00 
        Capabilities: [a0] MSI: Enable- Count=1/4 Maskable- 64bit+ 
        Capabilities: [c0] MSI-X: Enable- Count=3 Masked- 
        Capabilities: [100] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0001 Rev=1 Len=010 <?> 
        Capabilities: [200] Resizable BAR <?> 
        Capabilities: [270] Secondary PCI Express 
        Capabilities: [2a0] Access Control Services 
        Capabilities: [2b0] Address Translation Service (ATS) 
        Capabilities: [2c0] Page Request Interface (PRI) 
        Capabilities: [2d0] Process Address Space ID (PASID) 
        Capabilities: [320] Latency Tolerance Reporting 
        Kernel modules: amdgpu

ls -laH /etc/modprobe.d
total 64
drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Nov 18 09:45 .
drwxr-xr-x 154 root root 12288 Nov 18 09:55 ..
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  2507 Jul 30  2015 alsa-base.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Feb 16  2020 amd64-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   325 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-ath_pci.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root  1518 Mar 12  2020 blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   210 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-firewire.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   677 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-framebuffer.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   156 Jul 30  2015 blacklist-modem.conf
lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    41 Jul 23 17:30 blacklist-oss.conf -> /lib/linux-sound-base/noOSS.modprobe.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root    17 Jun 23 21:03 blacklist-radeon.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   583 Mar 12  2020 blacklist-rare-network.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   127 Jan 22  2020 dkms.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   154 Feb 12  2020 intel-microcode-blacklist.conf
-rw-r--r--   1 root root   347 Mar 12  2020 iwlwifi.conf

[code]

cat /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf 
# This file lists those modules which we don't want to be loaded by 
# alias expansion, usually so some other driver will be loaded for the 
# device instead. 

# evbug is a debug tool that should be loaded explicitly 
blacklist evbug 

# these drivers are very simple, the HID drivers are usually preferred 
blacklist usbmouse 
blacklist usbkbd 

# replaced by e100 
blacklist eepro100 

# replaced by tulip 
blacklist de4x5 

# causes no end of confusion by creating unexpected network interfaces 
blacklist eth1394 

# snd_intel8x0m can interfere with snd_intel8x0, doesn't seem to support much 
# hardware on its own (Ubuntu bug #2011, #6810) 
blacklist snd_intel8x0m 

# Conflicts with dvb driver (which is better for handling this device) 
blacklist snd_aw2 

# replaced by p54pci 
blacklist prism54 

# replaced by b43 and ssb. 
blacklist bcm43xx 

# most apps now use garmin usb driver directly (Ubuntu: #114565) 
blacklist garmin_gps 

# replaced by asus-laptop (Ubuntu: #184721) 
blacklist asus_acpi 

# low-quality, just noise when being used for sound playback, causes 
# hangs at desktop session start (Ubuntu: #246969) 
blacklist snd_pcsp 

# ugly and loud noise, getting on everyone's nerves; this should be done by a 
# nice pulseaudio bing (Ubuntu: #77010) 
blacklist pcspkr 

# EDAC driver for amd76x clashes with the agp driver preventing the aperture 
# from being initialised (Ubuntu: #297750). Blacklist so that the driver 
# continues to build and is installable for the few cases where its 
# really needed. 
blacklist amd76x_edac

journalctl -b | egrep -i 'radeon|amdgpu' | egrep -i 'error|fail|kernel'
Nov 21 22:20:58 X505ZA kernel: smpboot: CPU0: AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx (family: 0x17, model: 0x11, stepping: 0x0)

Thank you!

[CelticWarrior]

I strongly recommend you revise the UEFI settings. Any firmware update tends to reset the settings, namely re-enable Secure Boot.
Secure Boot in particular shouldn't prevent loading open-source (signed) drivers like "radeon" or "amdgpu" but it'll prevent loading the proprietary (unsigned) "amdgpu-pro".
So, if you want to try the proprietary driver then 1) make sure it supports your hardware and 2) disable Secure Boot.