Linux on SER9.

support6

Okay, we will update the download page with a note.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

tenninjas

I checked my SN and it starts with C … my current BIOS version is V103 15_65; so could someone confirm that flashing the ‘Start with Y V103’ version is correct?

gukin

Oligon

The last time I checked, Mint does not have the 6.10 or later kernel, thus it won’t initialize the 890m correctly. If you try ubuntu 24.10, Fedora 41, Manjaro or any of the recent rolling Linux distributions, you should have better luck.

Oligon

gukin That was the issue indeed. Thanks so much!

Did not want to go the full way and reinstall with Ubuntu just yet, so I installed the Mainline Kernels package and pushed my Mint to 6.12.3-061203-generic.
And it came right up in a straight and extremely fast boot.
Unsure if it has any other side effects, I am almost sure of it.
But for now at least I am no longer running in compatibility mode :)

Wishing You all a good ride into the next year.
See Ya in 2025

(EDIT: For the first time -> Ser9 now is able to come back from power settings, both black screen and suspend work as they should.)

brk

support1 Thank you, after updating the BIOS it is now booting correctly.

brk

What speeds do you achieve with SSDs in Linux?
The drive is identified as: CT1000P3PSSD8
Which corresponds to: Crucial P3 Plus 1TB PCIe M.2 2280 SSD
Sequential read speed should be 5 GB/s, but I am only getting 1.7 GB/s.

$ sudo dd if=/dev/disk/by-path/pci-0000:61:00.0-nvme-1 of=/dev/null bs=8192 count=1048576
1048576+0 records in
1048576+0 records out
8589934592 bytes (8.6 GB, 8.0 GiB) copied, 5.02471 s, 1.7 GB/s

Ford

Any update on when a new BIOS version will be released for the “version 2” boards?

I’d also be interested to know of the differences between board versions, as if this version is not going to be receiving the same level of support then I’d be tempted to return my device.

support1

Ford Hi Ford,

We are still working on it for the Version 2. If any news, we will update in this forum.

Ford

support1 Any updates?

DrMindControl

I experienced the black screen issue when tried to install Linux, first Kubuntu, then KDE Neon, here is what I did to fix it and it works.

First step is to update the BIOS as explained here

> [](https://dr.bee-link.cn/?dir=uploads%2FSER%2FSER9--AI-9-HX-370%2FBIOS)

> [](https://dr.bee-link.cn/uploads/SER/SER9--AI-9-HX-370/BIOS/Use-USB-to-flash-BIOS-SER9-V103_15_68_Y.pdf)

Download the SER9-V103_15_68_Y-for-solving-the-blue-screen-problem-when-inserting-the-graphics-card-into-the-expansion-dock.zip file and flash it as explain in the PDF above.

Above are the links for the SER9 with serial numbers starting with Y, mine was like this, bottom of the computer you can read it, there is a label.

Then just plug-in the USB and when you boot the flashing process will start automatically, at least this was the case with me, wait to finish and reboot.

Second step is when you boot the linux installation iso to select the nomodeset safe graphics mode when asked, thus you will be able to boot without experiencing the issue, after step 3 you can switch to normal mode graphics.

Third step is to INSTALL the specific linux kernel dynamic AMD drivers, boot as pointed out in step two.

Make sure you have the linux-headers package installed, dkms and build-essential packages installed!

On my system KDE neon I had them all installed by default, example is the linux headers package below, just in case check for your specific case.

~# dpkg -l | grep linux
ii  binutils-x86-64-linux-gnu                     2.42-4ubuntu2.3                                        amd64        GNU binary utilities, for x86-64-linux-gnu target
ii  console-setup-linux                           1.226ubuntu1                                           all          Linux specific part of console-setup
ii  cpp-13-x86-64-linux-gnu                       13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04                                  amd64        GNU C preprocessor for x86_64-linux-gnu
ii  cpp-x86-64-linux-gnu                          4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1                                      amd64        GNU C preprocessor (cpp) for the amd64 architecture
ii  g++-13-x86-64-linux-gnu                       13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04                                  amd64        GNU C++ compiler for x86_64-linux-gnu architecture
ii  g++-x86-64-linux-gnu                          4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1                                      amd64        GNU C++ compiler for the amd64 architecture
ii  gcc-13-x86-64-linux-gnu                       13.3.0-6ubuntu2~24.04                                  amd64        GNU C compiler for the x86_64-linux-gnu architecture
ii  gcc-x86-64-linux-gnu                          4:13.2.0-7ubuntu1                                      amd64        GNU C compiler for the amd64 architecture
ii  libselinux1:amd64                             3.5-2ubuntu2                                           amd64        SELinux runtime shared libraries
ii  libv4l-0t64:amd64                             1.26.1-4build3                                         amd64        Collection of video4linux support libraries
ii  libv4lconvert0t64:amd64                       1.26.1-4build3                                         amd64        Video4linux frame format conversion library
ii  linux-base                                    4.5ubuntu9                                             all          Linux image base package
ii  linux-firmware                                20240318.git3b128b60-0ubuntu2.6                        amd64        Firmware for Linux kernel drivers
ii  linux-generic                                 6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Complete Generic Linux kernel and headers
ii  linux-generic-hwe-24.04                       6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Complete Generic Linux kernel and headers
ii  linux-headers-6.8.0-51                        6.8.0-51.52                                            all          Header files related to Linux kernel version 6.8.0
ii  linux-headers-6.8.0-51-generic                6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux kernel headers for version 6.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-headers-generic                         6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Generic Linux kernel headers
ii  linux-headers-generic-hwe-24.04               6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Generic Linux kernel headers
ii  linux-image-6.8.0-51-generic                  6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Signed kernel image generic
ii  linux-image-generic                           6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Generic Linux kernel image
ii  linux-image-generic-hwe-24.04                 6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Generic Linux kernel image
ii  linux-libc-dev:amd64                          6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux Kernel Headers for development
ii  linux-modules-6.8.0-51-generic                6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux kernel extra modules for version 6.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-modules-extra-6.8.0-51-generic          6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux kernel extra modules for version 6.8.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP
ii  linux-sound-base                              1.0.25+dfsg-0ubuntu7                                   all          base package for ALSA and OSS sound systems
ii  linux-tools-6.8.0-51                          6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux kernel version specific tools for version 6.8.0-51
ii  linux-tools-6.8.0-51-generic                  6.8.0-51.52                                            amd64        Linux kernel version specific tools for version 6.8.0-51
ii  linux-tools-common                            6.8.0-51.52                                            all          Linux kernel version specific tools for version 6.8.0
ii  pptp-linux                                    1.10.0-1build4                                         amd64        Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) Client
ii  util-linux                                    2.39.3-9ubuntu6.1                                      amd64        miscellaneous system utilities
ii  util-linux-extra                              2.39.3-9ubuntu6.1                                      amd64        interactive login tools

Next just install amdgpu-dkms package as shown below, this will install and the amdgpu-dkms-firmware package, make sure the repo is edited correctly in the echo command, mine was noble, because KDE neon is actually ubuntu noble.

Checking what version of linux you have

# lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Neon
Description:    KDE neon 6.2
Release:        24.04
Codename:       noble

Installing amdgpu-dkms

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/rocm.gpg] https://repo.radeon.com/amdgpu/latest/ubuntu noble main"     | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/amdgpu.list
apt update
apt install amdgpu-dkms

Command above will compile the AMD driver inside the kernel and when you reboot the issue is gone. Upon installing a new kernel, dkms will rebuild the driver with the new kernel automatically.

You can confirm things running the command below.

~# dkms status
amdgpu/6.10.5-2095006.24.04, 6.8.0-51-generic, amd64: installed

That’s it! You will have a working linux installation.

michael

Just letting the forun know that once I updated the BIOS of my new SER9, the latest version of Manjaro Cinnamon loaded and booted up correctly. I have been using it all day every day since with no issues at all - rock solid and stable… 👍

ximejo

Testing with endeavourOS:

dmidecode 3.6

Getting SMBIOS data from sysfs.
SMBIOS 3.7.0 present.
Table at 0×78254000.

Handle 0×0000, DMI type 0, 26 bytes
BIOS Information
Vendor: American Megatrends International, LLC.
Version: STX.3xx.SER9.V103.P8C0M0C15.68.Link.GID.Linux_kimi_v1
Release Date: 12/13/2024
Address: 0xF0000
Runtime Size: 64 kB
ROM Size: 32 MB
Characteristics:
PCI is supported
BIOS is upgradeable
BIOS shadowing is allowed
Boot from CD is supported
Selectable boot is supported
BIOS ROM is socketed
EDD is supported
ACPI is supported
BIOS boot specification is supported
Targeted content distribution is supported
UEFI is supported
BIOS Revision: 0.0

Everything works fine for now with no crashes.

support6

ximejo
Hello,

I am glad to hear that.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

ximejo

Hello,

Thank you for your advice.
We will feedback to the relevant personnel.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

[unknown]
Hello,

Thank you for your advice.
We will feedback to the relevant personnel.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

jks

Has anyone tried running a linux kernel lower than 6.10? I want to run Elementary OS 8 which is built on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and running kernel 6.8.

gukin

jks
The SER9 will boot and run fine with a 6.8 or even 6.6 but amdgpu won’t initialize so you’ll be stuck with the VESA video driver and won’t have any hardware acceleration.

You can download a newer kernel from kernel.org and compile it yourself if you’re confident in doing so.

support6

Ford

Hello,

We are still consulting the relevant staff and will update you as soon as we have a response.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

[unknown]
Hello,

Thank you for your advice.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

changseok

I’m glad to see that progress has been made in resolving the black screen issue on the SER9. I’ve also confirmed that the BIOS version STX.3xx.SER9.V103.P8C0M0C15.68.Link.GID.Linux_kimi_v1, released on 12/13/2024, works well with Fedora 41 (Linux kernel 6.12.7-200.fc41.x86_64) with GPU hardware acceleration enabled.

An additional improvement I noticed with this BIOS version is that it enables the built-in speaker and microphone of the Apple Studio Display. I assume this update allows the monitor to function as a USB hub, which was not previously available.

However, I did encounter some instability with certain software in my environment. For instance, Firefox reproduces the black screen issue when playing YouTube videos on the Apple Studio Display. The monitor blinks once and then goes completely black during video playback. It seems that the system loses the monitor connection due to the video playback in Firefox. Interestingly, Chrome appears to be free from this issue.

I wanted to share these observations in case they help with further improvements or troubleshooting. Thanks for the team’s ongoing support.

A. Hartmann

changseok
Hi,

I’m also using Fedora 41 and I can confirm the instabilities you mentioned especially with Firefox and Youtube videos. The issue here seems to be related to the power management in the amdgpu module.

If you have a look at dmesg, you’ll notice something similar to
amdgpu 0000:64:00.0: amdgpu: ring vcn_unified_0 timeout, signaled seq=64230, emitted seq=64231 amdgpu 0000:64:00.0: amdgpu: Process information: process RDD Process pid 4357 thread firefox:cs0 pid 4927
followed by a GPU reset (this is visible as the “black screen” blinking for a moment).

I’ve found many people reporting this sort of error with various devices including discrete desktop AMD GPU chips and finally found two workarounds to make it run stable for me in all tested situations:

Add amdgpu.dpm=0 to the kernel command line parameters. You can edit the corresponding file in /boot/loader/entries for your currently installed kernel and you can edit /etc/kernel/cmdline to have it automatically applied to future kernel updates.
Drawback: The kernel log is flooded with stack traces starting with amdgpu 0000:64:00.0: amdgpu: (-95) failed to switch to video power profile mode messages, which don’t seem to have other side effects.
Less invasive seems to be echo high > /sys/class/drm/card1/device/power_dpm_force_performance_level, which does not cause the kernel warnings mentioned above. This has to be entered as root after every reboot. It is running fine for me for a few days now and I’m planning to persist it as a UDEV rule as indicated at https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/AMDGPU (sections 5.3.4 or 6.3 - but beware: they write card0, on SER9 it is card1). I also compared the power usage of this approach to the default settings. It seems to consume 0.8W to 1W more, which is worth the benefit IMHO.

Best regards,
Andreas

Chippy

Before updating my bios, please can I double check… I have a “B” serial number SER9 (BHX374BF10261). Should I load the “Y” bios?

Thanks

support1

Chippy Yes.

changseok

A. Hartmann Wow. That’s great info and helpful tips. Thank you for sharing!

support6

A. Hartmann
Hello,

Thank you for your advice.

Best regards!
Wendy
Customer Support

FlagCourier

A. Hartmann
Just hoppin’ on this chain to follow it. Thanks for the heads up about the kernel argument, I’ve gone ahead and added it to my kargs.

If anyone else needs to be able to set it, and is using an RPM-OSTREE based OS like Bazzite, Silverblue, or Kinoite:

rpm-ostree kargs --append-if-mising=amdgpu.dpm=0

coatlicue89

A. Hartmann Regarding the amdgpu power issue for firefox videos I tried using amdgpu.dpm=0 and it worked. Later i decided to switch from grub to systemd-boot and forgot to add this param but found out that I didn’t have the issue anymore.

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