amd-bc250-docs/docs/linux/mesa.md

Mesa Driver Installation

Mesa provides the OpenGL and Vulkan drivers (RADV) required for BC-250 GPU support.

Mesa Requirements

Minimum Version

Mesa 25.1.0 or newer is required

• BC-250 (Cyan Skillfish / gfx1013) support added in Mesa 25.1
• No manual patching needed (upstream support)
• Earlier versions will not work

Recommended Version

Mesa 25.1.3+ recommended for stability

• Bug fixes and performance improvements
• Better compatibility
• Mesa 25.1.5+ even better

!!!success "Upstream Support" As of Mesa 25.1, BC-250 support is included upstream. No custom patches or compilation needed!

Checking Mesa Version

# Check installed Mesa version
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

# Example output:
# OpenGL version string: 4.6 (Compatibility Profile) Mesa 25.1.5

# Check Vulkan driver
vulkaninfo | grep "driverName"

# Should output: driverName = radv

Installation by Distribution

Fedora 43

Mesa 25.1+ is in official repositories:

# Update system (includes Mesa)
sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

# Verify Mesa version
dnf list mesa-\*
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

No additional steps needed!

Fedora 42

Check version first:

dnf list mesa-\*

If Mesa < 25.1:

Most Fedora 42 systems after updates should have 25.1+. If not, mesa-git COPR may be needed, but this is increasingly rare.

Arch Linux / CachyOS

Mesa 25.1+ in official repos:

# Install/update Mesa
sudo pacman -S mesa vulkan-radeon

# Verify
pacman -Q mesa
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

Debian

Mesa 25.1.3+ available in experimental:

# Add experimental repo (if not already added)
echo "deb http://deb.debian.org/debian experimental main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/experimental.list

# Update package lists
sudo apt update

# Install Mesa from experimental
sudo apt install -t experimental mesa-vulkan-drivers libgl1-mesa-dri mesa-utils

# Verify
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

!!!warning "Experimental Repo" Debian experimental packages may have dependencies on other experimental packages. Use with caution.

Ubuntu

Mesa 25.1.5 available via PPA:

# Add PPA (example - check for current BC-250 compatible PPA)
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kisak/kisak-mesa

# Update and install
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

# Verify
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

Bazzite

Mesa 25.1+ included by default:

# Check version
rpm -qa | grep mesa

# Update if needed
rpm-ostree upgrade

Manjaro

Mesa in official repos:

# Update system
sudo pacman -Syu

# Verify Mesa
pacman -Q mesa

Verifying Installation

Check OpenGL

# Install mesa-utils if not present
# Fedora: sudo dnf install mesa-utils
# Arch: sudo pacman -S mesa-utils

# Check OpenGL renderer
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"

# Should show:
# OpenGL renderer string: AMD Radeon Graphics (radv gfx1013 LLVM 18.1.8 DRM 3.59 6.14.4-104.fc42.x86_64)

!!!danger "llvmpipe Means No GPU" If you see "llvmpipe" as the renderer, the GPU driver is NOT working. You're using CPU software rendering.

Check Vulkan

# Install vulkan-tools
# Fedora: sudo dnf install vulkan-tools
# Arch: sudo pacman -S vulkan-tools

# Check Vulkan device
vulkaninfo | grep deviceName

# Should show:
# deviceName = AMD Radeon Graphics (RADV GFX1013)

Verify RADV Driver

# Check driver is RADV (not AMDVLK)
vulkaninfo | grep "driverName"

# Should show: driverName = radv

Environment Variables

Required Variables

# Add to /etc/environment or ~/.bashrc

# Force RADV driver (not AMDVLK)
AMD_VULKAN_ICD=RADV

Optional Variables

RADV_DEBUG options:

# Fix some graphical glitches
RADV_DEBUG=nohiz

# Disable compute queue (may not be needed on Mesa 25.1+)
# RADV_DEBUG=nocompute

Apply globally:

# Edit /etc/environment
sudo nano /etc/environment

# Add:
AMD_VULKAN_ICD=RADV
RADV_DEBUG=nohiz

Apply per-game in Steam:

RADV_DEBUG=nohiz %command%

Mesa Performance Variables

For OpenGL applications:

# Use Zink (OpenGL over Vulkan) for better performance
MESA_LOADER_DRIVER_OVERRIDE=zink

!!!info "Zink Overhead" Zink adds slight overhead but can improve compatibility and performance for some OpenGL applications. Test per-game.

Flatpak Mesa Override

Problem: Flatpak applications use runtime Mesa, which may be outdated.

Solution: Override with mesa-git

# Add flathub-beta repository
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub-beta https://flathub.org/beta-repo/flathub-beta.flatpakrepo

# Install mesa-git for runtime 24.08
flatpak install --system flathub-beta org.freedesktop.Platform.GL.mesa-git//24.08
flatpak install --system flathub-beta org.freedesktop.Platform.GL32.mesa-git//24.08

# Set environment for Flatpak
sudo mkdir -p /etc/systemd/system/service.d
sudo bash -c 'echo -e "[Service]\nEnvironment=FLATPAK_GL_DRIVERS=mesa-git" > /etc/systemd/system/service.d/99-flatpak-mesa-git.conf'

# Reboot
sudo reboot

!!!warning "Flatpak Runtime Dependency" Flatpaks on runtime 23.08 or older cannot use Mesa 25.1. They must be on runtime 24.08+.

Compilation (Advanced)

When to Compile Mesa

Usually not needed, but compile if:

• Distribution doesn't have Mesa 25.1+ yet
• Testing newest Mesa-git features
• Development/testing purposes

Mesa Compilation Guide

Dependencies (Fedora):

sudo dnf install git meson ninja-build gcc-c++ \
    libdrm-devel libXrandr-devel libXext-devel \
    libXdamage-devel libX11-devel libxcb-devel \
    libxshmfence-devel libXxf86vm-devel libXfixes-devel \
    wayland-devel wayland-protocols-devel \
    llvm-devel libunwind-devel zlib-devel \
    expat-devel elfutils-libelf-devel python3-mako \
    flex bison

Clone and Build:

# Clone Mesa
git clone https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/mesa/mesa.git
cd mesa

# Configure
meson setup build \
    --buildtype=release \
    -Dgallium-drivers=radeonsi \
    -Dvulkan-drivers=amd \
    -Dplatforms=x11,wayland \
    -Dglx=dri

# Compile (use -j for parallel build)
ninja -C build -j$(nproc)

# Install (may need to backup old Mesa first)
sudo ninja -C build install

Compilation Time: 10-30 minutes depending on CPU

!!!danger "Backup Before Installing" Compiling and installing Mesa system-wide can break your system if done incorrectly. Only do this if you know what you're doing.

Troubleshooting Mesa Issues

GPU Not Detected

Symptoms:

• vulkaninfo shows no devices
• glxinfo shows llvmpipe

Causes:

1. Mesa < 25.1 installed
2. amdgpu kernel module not loaded
3. Kernel parameters incorrect

Solutions:

# Check kernel module
lsmod | grep amdgpu
# If empty, driver not loaded

# Check kernel messages
dmesg | grep -i amdgpu
# Look for errors

# Verify Mesa version
glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"
# Must be 25.1+

# Check if nomodeset is still active
cat /proc/cmdline
# Should NOT contain "nomodeset"

Software Rendering (llvmpipe)

Symptom:

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
# Shows: "llvmpipe (LLVM 18.1.8, 256 bits)"

Cause: GPU driver not working, falling back to CPU rendering

Solutions:

1. Install Mesa 25.1+
2. Remove nomodeset from GRUB
3. Ensure amdgpu module loaded
4. Check kernel version (6.12-6.14)

AMDVLK Instead of RADV

Symptom:

vulkaninfo | grep "driverName"
# Shows: driverName = AMDVLK

Issue: AMD's open-source Vulkan driver (AMDVLK) loaded instead of RADV

Solution:

# Force RADV
export AMD_VULKAN_ICD=RADV

# Make permanent
echo "AMD_VULKAN_ICD=RADV" | sudo tee -a /etc/environment

# Or uninstall AMDVLK
sudo dnf remove amdvlk  # Fedora
sudo pacman -R amdvlk   # Arch

Graphical Glitches in Games

Symptoms:

• Black textures
• Flickering
• Visual artifacts

Solutions:

Try RADV_DEBUG options:

# Fix Z-buffer issues
RADV_DEBUG=nohiz

# Disable compute queue (older Mesa versions)
RADV_DEBUG=nocompute

# Combine multiple options
RADV_DEBUG=nohiz,nocompute

Per-game in Steam launch options:

RADV_DEBUG=nohiz %command%

Mesa Update Breaks System

Symptoms:

• Black screen after Mesa update
• System doesn't boot

Recovery:

1. Boot into recovery mode or older kernel
2. Downgrade Mesa:

# Fedora
sudo dnf downgrade mesa\*

# Arch
sudo pacman -U /var/cache/pacman/pkg/mesa-25.1.3-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

# Check what version you're downgrading to

3. Hold Mesa version temporarily:

# Fedora
sudo dnf versionlock add mesa\*

# Arch
# Add to /etc/pacman.conf under [options]:
# IgnorePkg = mesa

Mesa Version History

Mesa Version	BC-250 Support	Notes
< 25.0	❌ No	No gfx1013 support
25.0.x	⚠️ Experimental	Early support, buggy
25.1.0	✅ Yes	First official support
25.1.3+	✅ Recommended	Stable, bug fixes
25.1.5+	✅ Best	Latest improvements
25.2+	✅ Good	Ongoing development

See Also

• Kernel Requirements
• Distribution Comparison
• GPU Governor Setup
• Troubleshooting Display Issues