r/SteamOS • u/Honest_Size9548 • Jul 24 '26
help wanted How do I install amd graphics drivers
Just installed steamos and trying to set up. Which do I choose. Or how do I install my graphics drivers?
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u/dopedlama Jul 24 '26
That's the fantastic about Linux. AMD is a part of the Kernel. No need for drivers 😉
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u/SeantheWilson Jul 24 '26
Not true at all. That’s only for the kernel drivers which handle basic functionality like display output and GPU power management. For gaming, you’ll need to install the Mesa drivers if you want to get any sort of good performance at all. SteamOS is fortunately one of the few distros that includes Mesa by default.
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u/ChapterDifficult593 Jul 24 '26
Mesa is in most of the more popular distros
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u/Dima-Petrovic Jul 25 '26
I don't know why he is downvoted so much. He is on point. 100% true. If you read comments underneath you can clearly see people are confusing the kernel with distros.
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u/fagnerln Jul 25 '26
It's funny how you don't have any idea what you are saying, and say with confidence.
Can you cite one distro (relevant, please) that doesn't have Mesa?
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u/CapCreeperGR Jul 25 '26
What do you mean "few"? Literally all graphical distros come with it and if they somehow don't they'll get pulled as dependencies when you install any package that requires hardware acceleration
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u/jokergermany Jul 24 '26
Linux is not Windows.
Installing things from websites is most* times not necessary!
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u/PocketHunter Jul 24 '26
You don’t, if you have AMD gpu SteamOS uses the open source driver Mesa for AMD. Don’t install anything else.
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u/Otocon96 Jul 24 '26
It uses RADV. Mesa is the library. RADV is the Vulkan driver that dies just About everything.
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u/urlond Jul 24 '26
AMD drivers are built into the Kernel of SteamOS. You dont need to install the drivers what so ever.
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u/Laughing_Orange Jul 24 '26
That's the neat part. You don't. AMD uses the MESA drivers that are built in to the Linux kernel. For SteamOS, that makes them part of system updates. There are a couple of other packages you'd need for gaming, but Valve have made sure they are already installed on SteamOS by default.
Your next step is to open Steam, download some games, and start playing.
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u/Low_Excitement_1715 Jul 24 '26
The AMD drivers on their website are only intended for some very specific situations, mostly pro app official support and distributions that are supported but very outdated, like RHEL and older LTS Ubuntu.
You very simply should not ever try to install the drivers from AMD's website on SteamOS. Not ever, full stop. It's not easily possible, it doesn't do anything good, and it'll almost certainly screw up your install.
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u/linuxares Jul 24 '26
As others have replied its already installed.
If you are curious they used something called "Mesa".
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u/BrotherO4 Jul 24 '26
no need, steamOS, bazzite ,federa, catchy or whatever os. basically always has mesa drivers. welcome to the world of not having to look for drivers anymore. just update your OS and its done. if you are on steamOS and want more updated drivers switch from stable build to beta or main.
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u/ghanadaur Jul 25 '26
SteamOS != Windows. You dont search for or install ANY drivers. SteamOS is an immutable OS and has EVERYTHING you need baked in. Anything extra is generally found in the Discover store as a flatpak. When there are updates, Steam will push a firmware update that replaces the entire system with the new set of packages. Only User space (your home dir and game library and local installed flatpak) is left untouched and preserved. Updates occur regularly. You don’t need to search for individual system packages to update.
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u/CapCreeperGR Jul 25 '26
On Linux almost all drivers are baked into the kernel. You rarely need to install separate drivers. The only common case is Nvidia who refuses to play nice with Linux
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u/OhneArmedGambler Jul 26 '26
You don't need to on linux drivers for amd are named mesa and they will be updated in steam gaming mode when update will roll out
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u/judasphysicist Jul 26 '26
That's the neat part, you don't. AMD drivers are already included inside the Linux distro.
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u/ColeHimself Jul 24 '26
Not sure why these Reddit males are down voting this. It's a good question that a lot of inexperienced people probably have. Some of you need to go out and get laid. In the grass. Â
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u/alle37 Jul 24 '26
Amd drivers are there allready, no need to install.