Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

forsoothplays · 2026-09-09 05:29:56

Hi, all.

Recently wanted to adopt Devuan as the Linux side of my dual-boot setup on my new Framework 16 with a dGPU. However, I've found that Devuan (and most other Linux distros) are having difficulty loading the firmware for my dGPU ever since I updated the BIOS from the version shipped with the hardware (3.04) to the latest stable version (4.01). Because of this I was able to load Devuan successfully booting with the `nomodeset` option, but into a black screen when booting normally.

I am already in a conversation with Framework support. But I am posting the same information I am giving them here in case anybody here can give further insight on whether I can get Devuan working as I would really like to use Devuan specifically.

Hardware:

- Win11 on drive 1
- <Linux> on drive 0
- CPU: AMD AI 9 HX 370
- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 7700S

Build:

https://frame.work/share-my-laptop?token=d458aeececb

The manufacturer suggests that dual-booting with Windows might be causing the problem, but I just got done troubleshooting this (removing the storage drives and booting from live usb sessions) and this does not seem to be a factor.

The problem is not unique to Devuan but I am asking here because ideally Devuan is the distro I want to use.

Distributions that load the firmware correctly (first value with storage drives deployed, second value storage drives undeployed)

Artix: false, false
Fedora: true, true
Pop!_OS: true, prolly*
EndeavourOS: false, false

*This was installed on the drive at the time and I only have three flash drives to work with. Since Pop!_OS loads correctly with the drives deployed I assume it loads correctly with the drives undeployed.

N.B. Fedora, Pop!_OS, and EndeavourOS are listed as supported distributions by the manufacturer.

Any help troubleshooting this would be appreciated. Thank you.

delgado · 2026-09-09 06:14:35

Welcome!

Did you have the respective firmware packages installed?

apt list | grep ^firmware

With a relatively new notebook, devuan freia (testing) can be better choice than excalibur (stable).

forsoothplays · 2026-09-09 23:28:53

@delgado

Yes, the firmware package for AMD graphics was installed. I also downloaded and installed the GPU-specific driver from the AMD website and installed it but to no avail.

Now that the manufacturer has confirmed that it is neither a dual-boot issue nor a distro-specific issue they've elevated the support ticket. I took a peek at the diagnostic file they had me generate and discovered that Pop!_OS was actually falling back onto the iGPU. So most likely the other distributions that worked were also automatically falling back onto the iGPU, so the issue is not distro-specific.

forsoothplays · 2026-09-09 23:52:15

Update: a programmer friend of mine did some research and it's likely that the real issue is that Linux is struggling with two GPUs being mounted. Apparently this is a known issue with Framework laptops running Linux. Will update with the response from the manufacturer once I have it.

kapqa · Yesterday 08:04:09

hello ,
you should not have issues with internal and external gpu loaded, they can both be used;
my computer has 9700x (with raphael igpu) and rx 7600, and both can be used on devuan excalibur;

you need to make sure to install devuan properly, best in uefi mode.

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/r … 700s.c4015
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/r … 7600.c4153

EDIT:
also the radeom 860m should be supported by excalibur, but maybe since ~~gorgone point~~ newer release, ~~you could have more luck with devuan 7.~~
https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-860m.c4289

you could test this by using devuan only without the rx 7700s, and see i you still have the same issue; if so , would try to use devuan 7 (provided you have devuan properly in the first place). or install devuan 6 again, but from another boot-medium (like dvd-r) or via boot-stick; there are some settings in BIOS that effectively shut-out the iGPU, but don§t remember what actually determines if the iGPU gets properly recognized or not (had also Linux install where only the dGPU got recognized properly after install of amdgpu drivers for example, but in principle both should be able to function)

this is how it look like on "geekbench" info-table for devuan 6 excalibur

Vulkan
+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| Platform ID | Device ID | Description |
+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| 0 | 0 | AMD Radeon RX 7600 (RADV NAVI33) |
+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| 0 | 1 | AMD Radeon Graphics (RADV RAPHAEL_MENDOCINO) |
+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+
| 0 | 2 | llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7, 256 bits) |
+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------+

Last edited by kapqa (Yesterday 14:33:12)

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#1 2026-09-09 05:29:56

Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

#2 2026-09-09 06:14:35

Re: Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

#3 2026-09-09 23:28:53

Re: Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

#4 2026-09-09 23:52:15

Re: Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

#5 Yesterday 08:04:09

Re: Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

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