Unable to use Dedicated AMD radeon GPU on macbook pro 2011

Support Graphics & Display
1

Hi !
I just switched to manjaro from ubuntu and it’s my first post !
I’m using XFCE. It seems my integrated graphic card (iGPU) is used (Intel) all the time and I’m not able to switch to my amd GPU (dGPU). I read many topics on the subject (PRIME etc…) and I just cannot figure it out on my own…

here you can see my intel card is used with mesa drivers :

$ glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer" 
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2)

using prime doesn’t do anything :

$ DRI_PRIME=1 glxinfo | grep "OpenGL renderer"
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2)

inxi :

$ inxi -v7azy
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.76-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=398073b1-a57c-4887-b2b9-dd9b37ed7e5c rw quiet
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.16.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.34 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm
    v: 4.16.1 vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookPro8,2 v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: Mac-94245A3940C91C80
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: Mac-94245A3940C91C80 v: MacBookPro8,2
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: Apple v: MBP81.88Z.0047.B2C.1510261540
    date: 10/26/15
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 79.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 79.3/77.8 Wh (102.0%)
    volts: 12.4 min: 10.8 model: iProPower A1382 type: Li-ion serial: N/A
    status: full cycles: 55
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.54 GiB used: 2.04 GiB (13.1%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-2635QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Sandy Bridge
    gen: core 2 level: v2 built: 2010-12 process: Intel 32nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x2A (42) stepping: 7 microcode: 0x2F
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 860 high: 1168 min/max: 800/2900 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 800 2: 866 3: 800 4: 849
    5: 800 6: 800 7: 1168 8: 800 bogomips: 32013
  Flags: acpi aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_perfmon avx bts clflush cmov
    constant_tsc cpuid cx16 cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts ept est
    flexpriority flush_l1d fpu fxsr ht ibpb ibrs ida lahf_lm lm mca mce
    md_clear mmx monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid
    pclmulqdq pdcm pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdtscp rep_good
    sep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
    tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xsave xsaveopt xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
    vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: conditional, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics
    vendor: Apple driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-6 process: Intel 32nm
    built: 2011 ports: active: LVDS-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,VGA-1
    bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0116 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: AMD Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series] vendor: Apple
    driver: N/A alternate: radeon arch: TeraScale-2 code: Evergreen
    process: TSMC 32-40nm built: 2009-15 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8
    link-max: lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:6760 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Apple FaceTime HD Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-2:3
    chip-ID: 05ac:8509 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 compositor: xfwm v: 4.16.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: crocus gpu: i915
    display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1440x900 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 381x238mm (15.00x9.37")
    s-diag: 449mm (17.69")
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: Apple 0x9ca3 built: 2009 res: 1440x900 hz: 60
    dpi: 111 gamma: 1.2 size: 331x207mm (13.03x8.15") diag: 390mm (15.4")
    ratio: 16:10 modes: 1440x900
  API: OpenGL v: 3.3 Mesa 23.0.0-devel (git-cdc1abad7b) renderer: Mesa Intel
    HD Graphics 3000 (SNB GT2) direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Caicos HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 6450 / 7450/8450/8490 OEM R5
    230/235/235X OEM] driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 1002:aa98 class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.15.76-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.21 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.59 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57765 Gigabit Ethernet PCIe driver: tg3
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 14e4:16b4 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11a/b/g/n vendor: Apple AirPort Extreme
    driver: wl v: kernel modules: bcma pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4331 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-1.1.3:8 chip-ID: 05ac:821a class-ID: fe01
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter>
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 223.57 GiB used: 85.87 GiB (38.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1
    size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: R013 scheme: GPT
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: ■■■■■■■■ model: DVD-R UJ-898 rev: HE13
    dev-links: cdrom
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 218.71 GiB (97.96%)
    used: 85.87 GiB (39.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 398073b1-a57c-4887-b2b9-dd9b37ed7e5c
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 340 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: NO_LABEL
    uuid: 403D-317E
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: Microchip (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s power: 2mA chip-ID: 0424:2513 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 1-1.1:4 info: Broadcom BCM2046B1 USB 2.0 Hub (part of BCM2046
    Bluetooth) ports: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 94mA chip-ID: 0a5c:4500
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-1.1.3:8 info: Apple Bluetooth Host Controller type: Bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s chip-ID: 05ac:821a
    class-ID: fe01
  Device-2: 1-1.2:5 info: Apple Internal Keyboard/Trackpad (ISO)
    type: Keyboard,HID,Mouse driver: apple,bcm5974,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s power: 40mA chip-ID: 05ac:0246 class-ID: 0301
  Device-3: 1-2:3 info: Apple FaceTime HD Camera type: Video driver: uvcvideo
    interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 05ac:8509
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Hub-4: 2-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 8 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 2-1:2 info: Microchip (formerly SMSC) 2.0 Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s power: 2mA chip-ID: 0424:2513 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-1.1:3 info: Apple Built-in IR Receiver type: HID
    driver: appleir,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 1.5 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05ac:8242 class-ID: 0300
  Hub-6: 3-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 4-0:1 info: Full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0001 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 57.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 248 Uptime: 23m wakeups: 3 Init: systemd v: 251 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 11 clang: 14.0.6 Packages:
  pm: pacman pkgs: 1407 libs: 418 tools: pamac,yay Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.23

The two cards are seen :

$ lspci | grep VGA
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 09)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Seymour [Radeon HD 6400M/7400M Series]

I see only provider though :

$ xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 1
Provider 0: id: 0x44 cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 2 outputs: 4 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting

I’m running out of ideas… any help appreciated !
Thanks

2

I’m adding that my main issue is that I cannot use my minidisplay port to plug a projector which I rely a lot on for my work when I need to present something…

3

Looks like the driver was not loaded for some reason…

sudo modprobe -v radeon
4

Thanks for your reply @megavolt

sudo modprobe -v radeon

returns nothing

5

Is it normal that inxi says that the radeon card’s “vendor” is Apple ? Shouldn’t it be AMD ?

6

Then it is loaded, but for some reason the chipID did not match with the one in the driver I guess.

Yeah that is normal. In your case it is Apple, but the chip is from amd. There are many vendors out there :wink: Possible that the amd chip was modified by apple so that it wasn’t recognized correctly?

Anyway… Apple Hardware is made for MacOS…

7

Thanks @megavolt , I appreciate the answer.
I see… any chance to find a driver for that AMD Seymour Radeon HD 6400M GPU then ? Am I really the only one running Manjaro or Arch on a 2011 Macbook pro ? I don’t think my GPU has failed like many others since I had no problem with graphics so far… I should mention that I never used MacOS on that computer since It was given to me and went straight on installing linux on a new ssd.

8

please check the link below:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/MacBook_Pro_8,1_/_8,2_/_8,3_(2011_Macbook_Pro)

9

Thanks @Olli . I actually already checked that page on the wiki and it says, in chapter 4, for the 8.2, which is my model :

for 15-inch and 17-inch

AMD Radeon HD 6490M: Unknown.

AMD Radeon HD 6750M and 6770M: works with xf86-video-ati.

I have the xf86-video-ati drivers installed on my system.
What am I missing ?

10

I quick search gave me that:

If I look for example at the list on the gentoo wiki:

I cannot see that Seymour is supported by radeon or amdgpu driver. So the chipset is not in the list and is a special edition for mac (only integrated on apple systems). That’s just my observation.

If it would be HD67xxM, then it would be supported. Your GPU is the unknown one.

11

Thanks @megavolt . I’m gonna uninstall all video drivers and follow scrupulously the radeon - Gentoo Wiki you suggested, which seems relevant, with the Caicos drivers which seem to be the closest to what I have. I’ll let you know.