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Troubleshooting: Linux Firmware & ROCm

🚨 CRITICAL WARNING: linux-firmware-20251125

Date: 2026-01-08

AMD pushed an update to linux-firmware (included in version 20251125) that critically breaks ROCm functionality on Strix Halo systems. While this update has been recalled, many distributions (including Fedora) have not picked it up.

If you are on this firmware version, you will likely experience instability, crashes, or arbitrary failures with ROCm workloads.

How to check your version

rpm -qa | grep linux-firmware

If you see linux-firmware-20251125 or similar, you must downgrade.

Downgrade Instructions (Fedora)

The recommended stable version is 20251111.

Fedora 43

mkdir -p ~/linux-firmware-downgrade
cd ~/linux-firmware-downgrade

wget -r -np -nd -A '*.rpm' https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org/packages/linux-firmware/20251111/1.fc43/noarch/

sudo dnf downgrade ./*.rpm
sudo dracut -f

Fedora 42

mkdir -p ~/linux-firmware-downgrade
cd ~/linux-firmware-downgrade

wget -r -np -nd -A '*.rpm' https://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org/packages/linux-firmware/20251111/1.fc42/noarch/

sudo dnf downgrade ./*.rpm
sudo dracut -f

Important: Kernel & Initramfs

Crucially, dracut -f MUST be run with the kernel you intend to boot.

By default, dracut -f regenerates the initramfs for the currently running kernel. If you are not currently running the kernel you intend to use (e.g. you just installed it but haven't rebooted, or are booting into an older one), you must specify the version explicitly.

All tests have been validated with kernel: 6.18.4-200.fc43.x86_64

To regenerate for a specific kernel (e.g. the tested one):

sudo dracut -f --kver 6.18.4-200.fc43.x86_64

Finally, reboot your system:

shutdown -r now

Credits & References

Huge thanks to the Strix Halo Home Lab Discord community for identifying this regression and testing the fixes.

Specific thanks to:

  • lorphos
  • kazak

Relevant discussion threads: