[SOLVED] 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 · 2026-09-10 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 (2026-09-10 14:33:12)

forsoothplays · 2026-09-14 03:48:54

Update: The manufacturer had me reset the mainboard which had no effect.

I did notice that Devuan (and pretty much every other distro I tried) launched correctly with the dGPU un-deployed. I will try installing Devuan 7 as @kapqa recommended.

forsoothplays · Today 02:18:40

Well, the manufacturer sent me a new mainboard which did not change much. However after looking more closely it looks like the dGPU I have is only supported for RHEL and Ubuntu flavored distros, meaning Devuan is out. :C

At least I'm enjoying Devuan on my old ThinkPad. Runs like a dream on that thing!

stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn · Today 15:43:59

can the title of this thread be changed to include FRAMEWORK as the manufacturer so that people searching titles for hardware can be aware that they might not want to mess with framework given this thread and others like it across the interwebs.

Last edited by stargate-sg1-cheyenne-mtn (Today 15:44:36)

kapqa · Today 18:54:25

hello ,

would not like to look like a fool around here, but what "error" message made you conclude that the firmware is not correctly "deployed"?
that you could not login properly or not get a working GUI with the 7700s attached, or how else did you come to that conclusion?

having a hard time believing that hte 7700s would not funciton on Devuan 6 or 7, but am open to amazement.

if you however tried to install those drivers here
https://www.amd.com/en/support/download … ivers.html
that however could explain having issues since those drivers normally odnt function onn devuan linux , and are only since lately supported on debian (at least last time i tried it functioned).

i am surprised at the turn of the events. where you being offered a new mainboard or what prompted the replacement?

this is what AI overview offered

Die AMD Radeon RX 7700S ist direkt im Linux-Kernel und im freien Mesa-Grafikstack integriert; es müssen keine proprietären Treiber manuell installiert werden

Das Paket firmware-amd-graphics muss auf Ihrem System installiert sein (bei den meisten Distributionen standardmäßig vorhanden

lspci -nnk | grep -iA3 vga

there should be mention of "amdgpu" in the result. also recommended by friend AI what the "vulkaninfo --summary".

so much for a fools errand.

Last edited by kapqa (Today 18:58:03)

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

[SOLVED] Devuan Won't Load Firmware AMD Radeon 7700S

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

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

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

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

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

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

#5 2026-09-10 08:04:09

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

#6 2026-09-14 03:48:54

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

#7 Today 02:18:40

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

#8 Today 15:43:59

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

#9 Today 18:54:25

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

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