[NEWS] Debian 11 is out

[tle]

For more details, check release notes:https://www.debian.org/releases/bullseye/ppc64el/release-notes/

[xilinder]

I did a fresh install of Bullseye instead of updating my current 10.9.
As with other Debian flavors it is not really ready for prime time, but yes, it does install and run at least in the AST chip.
Some of the missing software that I use regularly has not reached the distro yet and will no doubt be along soon (ish).
For example, Midnight Commander and XFE. No hurry...10.9 is working fine.

[pocock]

When I bought my Talos II, I did a fresh install of buster

As mentioned elsewhere, I rebuilt my kernel for a 4k page size and created Btrfs filesystems with 4k

I recently made a dist-upgrade to bullseye, Debian 11.  As part of the upgrade, I rebooted into the 4k kernel from buster so I could continue accessing my Btrfs filesystem

Then I built a 4k version of the 5.10 kernel package from bullseye.  Rebooting into that and the system runs fine.  I pushed my kernel here:

https://gitlab.com/dpocock/linux-kernel-debian/-/tree/pocock/bullseye-ppc64el-4k

After a week or so I had a crash, I'm not sure if that is the bullseye kernel or if it is just what I was doing at that moment in time.  I've been doing some development with GStreamer and VAAPI for the AMD Radeon cards and that has also produced some crashes so I'm not sure if this is because of bullseye or the testing that I'm doing with the GPU.

GNOME appears to be slightly faster when switching workspaces compared to buster.

[tle]

When I bought my Talos II, I did a fresh install of buster

As mentioned elsewhere, I rebuilt my kernel for a 4k page size and created Btrfs filesystems with 4k

I recently made a dist-upgrade to bullseye, Debian 11.  As part of the upgrade, I rebooted into the 4k kernel from buster so I could continue accessing my Btrfs filesystem

Then I built a 4k version of the 5.10 kernel package from bullseye.  Rebooting into that and the system runs fine.  I pushed my kernel here:

https://gitlab.com/dpocock/linux-kernel-debian/-/tree/pocock/bullseye-ppc64el-4k

After a week or so I had a crash, I'm not sure if that is the bullseye kernel or if it is just what I was doing at that moment in time.  I've been doing some development with GStreamer and VAAPI for the AMD Radeon cards and that has also produced some crashes so I'm not sure if this is because of bullseye or the testing that I'm doing with the GPU.

GNOME appears to be slightly faster when switching workspaces compared to buster.

Any kernel log when it crashes?

[MauryG5]

Hi everyone, I need to understand how to install firmware for AMD GPUs on Debian 11. I have done some tests by downloading and installing what should be the latest firmware but I have not solved the same. Can you give me the procedure to download and install the firmware you need in bullseye for the AMD gpu? Thanks

[MauryG5]

Eventually I managed to sort it out on my own. I saw a site where it reported to add for Bullseye, a repository line that is not there. After I put it on it allowed me to download the slightly newer firmware and that point the graphics card started. Instead I tested the new Kernel 5.15 but the problem of not starting with the GPU unfortunately remains a curse ...

[MauryG5]

I'm also experiencing boot issues with Bullsye that didn't previously occur with Buster. The problem apparently always goes back to starting with AMD GPUs. At the time of loading the Kernel, I am currently using version 5.12.8 compiled by myself, during startup at some point, usually the screen goes black, you see the cursor that stops at the top right and then AST shuts down and the external GPU starts up. It has happened to me more than once that after the screen is cleaned, the Kernel loaded, the cursor at the top left remains there and does not switch with the external GPU and everything freezes and I must necessarily turn off everything and restart as it was totally blocked ... Which Buster did not do, so I suppose it is a problem related to Bullsye it seems ... For the rest I also noticed a general performance improvement compared to Buster and it took because it was a bit slow and jerky indeed!

[Borley]

It looks like you figured some of it out but firmware files basically just need to be in /lib/firmware/amdgpu/ for whichever GPU you have.

[MauryG5]

Hi Borley, the main problem was that I couldn't figure out how to get the updated firmware installed, then I figured it out and I succeeded and at that point the GPU started normal. I was missing some repositories that once entered, they updated and automatically made me update the firmware.

[Borley]

I feel ya. I am on the fence about whether or not I even want to use a dedicated GPU anymore, since I don't really play games much at all. And configuring a Raptor system with just the Aspeed graphics is so much less headache. What we really need is a good fully open top-to-bottom graphics add in card. Even if it's just mediocre performance.

[MauryG5]

friend Borley, unfortunately now Aspeed is no longer suitable with the passage of time and as the Linux distros advance, so you need a good GPU. I took the 5700 to have a long-lasting GPU over the years, I don't have to play but in any case I want a performing GPU that allows me to do everything and so when I created my buld Power system, I immediately got this GPU. Unfortunately, however, on Debian 11 there are boot problems often I'm noticing, I have the impression that the fault is with this current firmware because the previous one from Buster did not and neither does the Ubuntu one.

[pocock]

I received quite a few messages about Debian recently.

I won't go into the details.  As a professional, I simply want to focus on what this means for people who invested in the OpenPOWER platform.

There are not so many people doing OpenPOWER development for Debian.  The current politics will prevent important technical work and patches.

For example, my patch for the 4k page size can very easily be integrated into the official Debian releases.  I designed the patch to follow Debian's kernel packaging structure.  Unfortunately, in a period when I lost two family members, I experienced some extraordinary rudeness from the more difficult people in the Debian ecosystem.  I feel that they put politics ahead of the users, people like you.

From my perspective, if anybody wants to discuss the technical merits of the work I do as a Debian Developer, I remain happy to have those discussions and simply publish my packages using more reliable repositories and Gitlab.

After all, the Debian Social Contract, point 4 asserts "Our priorities are our users and free software".  Anybody who comes here to help users and provide them with solutions, such as the 4k patch for the Debian kernel packages and the installer ISO based on that patch, is free to call themselves a Debian Developer.

[MauryG5]

Hi Daniel, I don't understand your message to be honest, I personally have described my current experience with Debian, it being understood that I mainly use Fedora and Ubuntu and lately, given the unresolved Fedora issues, I have focused on Ubuntu which I see going better than the others and also having more software available and more repositories also available than Debian itself. As for the 4k pages, I now compile kernels only with 4k pages, but I don't know what these patches you have developed about them are. Having said that I have seen that unfortunately Bullsye has problems with starting on the GPU and in fact it often freezes at startup, turns off the GPU and does not complete the loading of the Kernel, so it is clear that there is some problem, perhaps in the latest firmware I don't know, the fact is that there is unfortunately ...

[MPC7500]

His statement is related to this, I guess
https://www.debian.org/News/2021/20211117

[pocock]

I'm not afraid to share those links but I prefer not to because if we look at that then we also need to look at the links about Debian Developers, Ubuntu employees, GSoC mentors and a Debian Project Leader having inappropriate interactions with the young female interns from developing countries.  I chose not to post any of that here.

The link about me does not contain any links to evidence.  It is pure defamation.

The real question is this: why would Donald Norwood write such a post about a volunteer?  Or to put that question in other words: if the attack on me is nonsense (a smokescreen), what are the real flaws in the Debian structure that they are trying to avoid discussion about?