How to Install Mesa 19.2.1 in Ubuntu 18.04 via PPA

Mesa 3D graphics library 19.2.1 now is finally made into PPA available to install in Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Mesa 19.2.x is the latest development series that features:

  • Mesa 19.2 now pretty much at parity or beyond the i965 OpenGL driver.
  • OpenGL 4.6 support for the Intel OpenGL driver
  • Radeon RX 5700 series (Navi 10) support in RADV and RadeonSI Vulkan/OpenGL drivers.
  • Initial Navi 12/14 support.
  • A big RADV performance boost for AMD GPUs.
  • EGL platform device support.

Canonical’s Timo Aaltonen has made Mesa 19.2.1 package into “Ubuntu-X” team PPA, available to install in Ubuntu 18.04.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/updates

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.

2. After adding the PPA, do system update via command:

sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

apt-get update is not required any more in Ubuntu 18.04 since adding PPA automatically refreshes system package cache.

3. Finally check your driver version via command:

glxinfo | grep "OpenGL version"

Uninstall:

To restore changes and downgrade to the default drives shipped in Ubuntu 18.04, run command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntu-x-swat/updates