Linux Can Now Engage GFXOFF When Running ROCm Compute Apps On RDNA3 GPUs

Written by Michael Larabel in Radeon on 19 January 2024 at 01:49 PM EST. 7 Comments
RADEON
Merged as part of an initial batch of AMDGPU/AMDKFD fixes for the in-development Linux 6.8 kernel is support for enabling the GFXOFF feature when ROCm compute applications are active on GFX11 (RDNA3) hardware.

GFXOFF is the AMD graphics feature for turning off the graphics engine when it's idling/unused. The patch for Linux 6.8 allows GFXOFF to be used when ROCm compute apps are running on GFX11 (RDNA3) graphics processors and the graphics pipeline being unused.

The AMDGPU driver had prevented GFXOFF during compute applications on GFX11 due to a firmware issue. However, that firmware issue is now resolved in the MES KIQ firmware v64 and newer. So with a firmware check in place, the AMDGPU kernel driver can enable GFXOFF for ROCm compute apps when having the compatible firmware. In turn this should help with improving power efficiency.

AMD ROCm diagram


This patch merged to Linux 6.8 Git is also marked for back-porting to existing and supported stable Linux kernel versions.
amdgpu:
- DSC fixes
- DC resource pool fixes
- OTG fix
- DML2 fixes
- Aux fix
- GFX10 RLC firmware handling fix
- Revert a broken workaround for SMU 13.0.2
- DC writeback fix
- Enable gfxoff when ROCm apps are active on gfx11 with the proper FW version

amdkfd:
- Fix dma-buf exports using GEM handles

This GFXOFF for GFX11 ROCm apps was part of this pull also landing various other AMD kernel graphics driver fixes.
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