Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

Isildur · 2010-08-26 18:31:52

I'm trying to install Arch on a friend's Notebook(Aspire Timeline) which uses a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 graphic chip. According to what I found on the net this isn't an easy card with Linux but it should work somehow. Ubuntu got it to work somehow but then after the installation did randomly strange things thats why I now try Arch on his Laptop too(under Arch it either works or it doesn't).

I needed to disable KMS via modeset=0 in the bootline because otherwise I get a black screen when booting. I tried the xf86-video-ati driver but it apparently failed to work correctly as it only showed a blank screen with some strange points on it, with or without an xorg.conf generated by Xorg -configure.
So I went for the Catalyst driver but same here. What I do get though is the error log

(WW) fglrx: No matching Device section for instance(BusID PCI:0@1:0:1) found
(EE) fglrx(0): GetBIOSParameter failed
(EE) fglrx(0):PreInitAdapter failed
(EE) fglrx(0):PreInit failed
(EE) Screens found, but none have a usable configuration.

Fatal server error:
no screens found

At the moment I don't know which driver is more promising to get the card working and what to do next. Probably some of the more graphically experienced users here can give me a hint what might work?

flamelab · 2010-08-26 18:34:44

Delete any xorg.conf created file and run

aticonfig --initial

and try again.

Isildur · 2010-08-26 18:40:38

I did that with the catalyst driver, that produced the output shown above.

Mr.Elendig · 2010-08-26 20:49:28

Got one of those laptops with both an ati and intel chip in them?

Isildur · 2010-08-26 20:55:58

Aspire Timeline 4820TG

It uses an Intel Core i5 processor, do you mean the processor with intel chip?

Mannex · 2010-08-26 21:14:50

"The CPUs of the Intel "i" series have control over an integrated graphics chip, named the GMA HD, so the user can choose to switch between the integrated GMA HD graphics and the installed graphics card"

So it seems you've got an integrated Intel graphic chip togheterer with the ATi Mobility

" On default, the ATI HD 5650 is used when you are plugged in.
On default, the Intel GMA HD is used when you are on battery."

Last edited by Mannex (2010-08-26 21:20:39)

Isildur · 2010-08-26 22:01:58

Ok sounds pretty difficult. ATM I'm only plugged in and it doesn't work^^.

Any good solution for that under Linux?

grassmonk · 2010-08-26 22:14:52

Good luck with a hybrid solution. The catalyst driver seems to only work if the integrated, e.g. Intel, chip is disabled in the BIOS. If your laptop has that BIOS option, you should be good to go. Unfortunately, mine does not, so I'm stuck using the Intel chip and disabling the ATI card using vga_switcheroo in the kernel.

See also: http://linux-hybrid-graphics.blogspot.com/ and http://asusm51ta-with-linux.blogspot.com/

Isildur · 2010-08-27 05:33:34

Mhh ok disableling the the ATI sounds like the best option to me since the Laptop is also used under Windows so I don't want to disable a card in the BIOS.
Does the vga_switcheroo option require me to manually compile the kernel or is this included in a kernel? Any good info on that?

edit:I got X working by chosing dGPU instead of Hybrid in the BIOS. I would prefer a different solution though because its dual boot with Windows where the hybrid setting may be good.

Last edited by Isildur (2010-08-27 10:55:28)

grassmonk · 2010-08-27 16:06:39

Isildur wrote:

Does the vga_switcheroo option require me to manually compile the kernel or is this included in a kernel? Any good info on that?

It's already in the kernel. Here's how I got it working:

add

debugfs                /sys/kernel/debug  debugfs     defaults        0      0

to /etc/fstab (this makes the appropriate vgaswitcheroo directory appear)

Then I have a script in my ~/.kde4/Autostart directory called ati-off.sh:

#!/bin/bash
sudo modprobe radeon
sudo sh -c "echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"

And a script ati-on.sh in my ~/.kde4/shutdown directory:

#!/bin/bash
sudo sh -c "echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"
sudo rmmod radeon

I originally just had the radeon driver in my modules array and added the echo OFF ... command to /etc/rc.local, but it sometimes caused problems on boot and shutdown, so I did it this way and everything seems to be working fine.

Gillian00 · 2010-08-27 16:43:54

grassmonk wrote:

Good luck with a hybrid solution. The catalyst driver seems to only work if the integrated, e.g. Intel, chip is disabled in the BIOS. If your laptop has that BIOS option, you should be good to go. Unfortunately, mine does not, so I'm stuck using the Intel chip and disabling the ATI card using vga_switcheroo in the kernel.
See also: http://linux-hybrid-graphics.blogspot.com/ and http://asusm51ta-with-linux.blogspot.com/

Wow! I'm not sure to understand you well. Do you think it is possible to have i5 graphic chip working even if the bios doesn't support it ? It possible with linux kernel ? So, I have a ATI hd4670 and a i5-520m with a PM55 motherboard which has not mobile i5 graphic support (yet). Is it possible to get it work ?

grassmonk · 2010-08-27 18:51:17

Gillian00 wrote:

Wow! I'm not sure to understand you well. Do you think it is possible to have i5 graphic chip working even if the bios doesn't support it ? It possible with linux kernel ? So, I have a ATI hd4670 and a i5-520m with a PM55 motherboard which has not mobile i5 graphic support (yet). Is it possible to get it work ?

The i5 chip works fine. So does the ATI, as long as you use the radeon driver (which doesn't yet have great support for the hd5xxx series that I have, but may for the hd4xxxx). The problem is when you try to use the ATI Catalyst driver with hybrid graphics. If your BIOS does not have an option to disable the Intel graphics, the Catalyst driver won't load, and even leaves a friendly message in the X log saying that you need to disable the onboard chip.

Gillian00 · 2010-08-27 19:03:06

I understand that but you don't answer my question: is it possible, with my config, to run with intel chip ?

grassmonk · 2010-08-27 20:19:34

Yes, the Intel chip is always enabled, as far as I know. The difficulty is trying to use both the Intel and the ATI. I'm using only the Intel chip on my i5.

Isildur · 2010-08-27 21:33:35

grassmonk wrote:

Isildur wrote:
Does the vga_switcheroo option require me to manually compile the kernel or is this included in a kernel? Any good info on that?
It's already in the kernel. Here's how I got it working:
add
debugfs                /sys/kernel/debug  debugfs     defaults        0      0
to /etc/fstab (this makes the appropriate vgaswitcheroo directory appear)
Then I have a script in my ~/.kde4/Autostart directory called ati-off.sh:
#!/bin/bash
sudo modprobe radeon
sudo sh -c "echo OFF > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"
And a script ati-on.sh in my ~/.kde4/shutdown directory:
#!/bin/bash
sudo sh -c "echo ON > /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo/switch"
sudo rmmod radeon
I originally just had the radeon driver in my modules array and added the echo OFF ... command to /etc/rc.local, but it sometimes caused problems on boot and shutdown, so I did it this way and everything seems to be working fine.

Thanks for your solution. You added the commands to your sudoers list to run them without password?
Now I only need to find a way to run a script on shutdown with Gnome.

Gillian00 · 2010-08-28 09:20:53

grassmonk wrote:

Yes, the Intel chip is always enabled, as far as I know. The difficulty is trying to use both the Intel and the ATI. I'm using only the Intel chip on my i5.

wow great news ! Can you tell me where to find a way to activate it ?

Gillian00 · 2010-08-28 14:14:35

I have 2 questions:

[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
[gillian@myhost ~]$ cd /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo
bash: cd: /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
[gillian@myhost ~]$ cd /sys/kernel/debug/
bdi/ bluetooth/ dri/ hid/ ieee80211/ mce/ mmc0/ tracing/ usb/ x86/

You sure it is enabled by default in the kernel ?? I have 2.6.35 from extra

And what am I supposed to do with this :

[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo pacman -S xf86-video-intel
Résolution des dépendances...
Recherche des conflits possibles entre paquets...
:: libgl et catalyst sont en conflit. Supprimer catalyst ? [o/N]
Erreur: un conflit de paquets impossible à résoudre a été détecté
Erreur: la préparation de la transaction a échoué (conflit de dépendances)
:: libgl et catalyst sont en conflit

How can I have catalyst and intel video driver installed ??

grassmonk · 2010-08-28 17:06:40

Gillian00 wrote:

I have 2 questions:
[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
[gillian@myhost ~]$ cd /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo
bash: cd: /sys/kernel/debug/vgaswitcheroo: Aucun fichier ou dossier de ce type
[gillian@myhost ~]$ cd /sys/kernel/debug/
bdi/ bluetooth/ dri/ hid/ ieee80211/ mce/ mmc0/ tracing/ usb/ x86/
You sure it is enabled by default in the kernel ?? I have 2.6.35 from extra

Yes, but AFAIK you have to have the radeon module loaded for the vgaswitcheroo directory to appear. That's why I have the modprobe in my ati-off script.

Gillian00 wrote:

And what am I supposed to do with this :
[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo pacman -S xf86-video-intel
Résolution des dépendances...
Recherche des conflits possibles entre paquets...
:: libgl et catalyst sont en conflit. Supprimer catalyst ? [o/N]
Erreur: un conflit de paquets impossible à résoudre a été détecté
Erreur: la préparation de la transaction a échoué (conflit de dépendances)
:: libgl et catalyst sont en conflit
How can I have catalyst and intel video driver installed ??

catalyst provides libgl, so what I did is install xf86-video-intel first, then

pacman -Rd libgl
pacman -S catalyst

Gillian00 · 2010-08-28 17:24:10

ok. But I have to use radeon driver in every case because of vgaswitheroo ?

Gillian00 · 2010-08-29 08:56:18

[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo modprobe radeon
[gillian@myhost ~]$ sudo mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
[gillian@myhost ~]$ cd /sys/kernel/debug/
bdi/ bluetooth/ dri/ hid/ ieee80211/ mce/ mmc0/ tracing/ usb/ x86/

no vgaswitcheroo. . . help ^^

grassmonk · 2010-08-30 17:36:24

Not sure why that is happening. Like I mentioned before, I get the vgaswitcheroo directory as soon as I load the radeon module. I don't know what else affects it.

Gillian00 · 2010-08-30 17:37:53

an dyou sure it is loaded in kernel26 from extra repo ?
Is there a way to be sure of this ?

thank you for your help

grassmonk · 2010-08-30 19:48:07

kernel26 from core is what I have installed, so it's definitely there. The only thing that I can think is to try and mount the debugfs *before* loading the radeon module. Maybe the order has some effect.

Last edited by grassmonk (2010-08-30 19:48:40)

Gillian00 · 2010-08-30 20:12:47

doesn't work. But, to be sure, I just have catalyst and intel driver installed. Don't I have to install something more in order to modprobe radeon ?

grassmonk · 2010-08-30 22:15:29

I think radeon is included in the kernel. I just have xf86-video-intel installed.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-08-26 18:31:52

Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#2 2010-08-26 18:34:44

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#3 2010-08-26 18:40:38

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#4 2010-08-26 20:49:28

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#5 2010-08-26 20:55:58

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#6 2010-08-26 21:14:50

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#7 2010-08-26 22:01:58

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#8 2010-08-26 22:14:52

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#9 2010-08-27 05:33:34

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#10 2010-08-27 16:06:39

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#11 2010-08-27 16:43:54

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#12 2010-08-27 18:51:17

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#13 2010-08-27 19:03:06

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#14 2010-08-27 20:19:34

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#15 2010-08-27 21:33:35

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#16 2010-08-28 09:20:53

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#17 2010-08-28 14:14:35

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#18 2010-08-28 17:06:40

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#19 2010-08-28 17:24:10

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#20 2010-08-29 08:56:18

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#21 2010-08-30 17:36:24

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#22 2010-08-30 17:37:53

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#23 2010-08-30 19:48:07

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#24 2010-08-30 20:12:47

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

#25 2010-08-30 22:15:29

Re: Getting ATI HD Mobility 5650 to work

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