Starting with version 25.20, AMD plans to transition towards a more open-source framework by officially supporting the Mesa Vulkan driver, Mesa OpenGL, and multimedia support, while discontinuing proprietary drivers. Users are encouraged to shift from the AMD Media Framework (AMF) to VA-API/Mesa Multimedia for improved media processing, with practical examples of FFmpeg commands provided to facilitate this transition. These commands demonstrate hardware decoding, encoding, and transcoding capabilities using the new framework.
Additionally, the release addresses a significant issue concerning display corruption on multi-GPU setups with AMD Radeon PRO W7900 Dual Slot cards when running Ubuntu 24.04. AMD clearly positions its Linux GPU drivers as open-source and readily available within popular Linux distributions, promoting their use for various applications including AMD APU products, discrete GPUs, and systems pre-installed with Linux.
However, for users of certain distributions like Fedora 42, Pop!_OS, Linux Mint 22, and Arch Linux, or those with the latest AMD GPUs not yet supported by mainstream Linux versions, AMD recommends downloading the latest Radeon Software for Linux to ensure optimal performance and compatibility.
As the landscape of Linux graphics drivers evolves, AMD's commitment to open-source software and continuous improvements in driver support highlights its role in advancing Linux gaming and professional workloads. The company’s focus on community-driven development, alongside its robust hardware offerings, positions AMD as a key player in the Linux ecosystem.
Overall, this release not only enhances user experience but also prepares the ground for future developments in AMD’s Linux software strategy
AMD Radeon Software for Linux 25.10.4 released
AMD has released its Radeon Software for Linux 25.10.4, which introduces support for the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D and preliminary ROCm support on the Ryzen AI Max 300 platform. Starting with version 25.20, AMD will shift focus to officially supporting the Mesa Vulkan driver, Mesa OpenGL, and multimedia support, while eliminating proprietary drivers from its releases. Users are advised to transition from AMD Media Framework (AMF) to VA-API/Mesa Multimedia for seamless media processing, as demonstrated by the provided ffmpeg use cases. The release also resolves a critical issue with display corruption on Ubuntu 24.04 systems running multi-GPU configurations involving AMD Radeon PRO W7900 Dual Slot cards.
AMD Radeon Software for Linux 25.10.4 released @ Linux Compatible
