Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

ljmarxen · 2008-11-12 17:49:51

Hoping someone can help with this problem.

I would like to try and use the open source ati driver over the proprietary fglrx driver, however when I use this driver and I try to test my Xorg configuration it enters into X without any problems (mouse cursor appears and is functional) but when I Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to exit back to the console my screen resolution is completely distorted so that I can't read anything. I can enter commands and can only use a reboot command to get it functional again. I do not have this problem with the fglrx driver.

I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 laptop with an ATI Mobility X1400 graphics card.

Here is my xorg.conf if it helps:

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier     "X.org Configured"
    Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
    InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath      "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
    ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/TTF"
    FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection

Section "Module"
    Load  "GLcore"
    Load  "dbe"
    Load  "dri"
    Load  "extmod"
    Load  "glx"
    Load  "record"
    Load  "xtrap"
    Load  "freetype"
    Load  "drm"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Keyboard0"
    Driver      "kbd"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier  "Mouse0"
    Driver      "mouse"
    Option        "Protocol" "auto"
    Option        "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option        "ZAxisMapping" "4 5 6 7"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier   "Monitor0"
    VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
    ModelName    "Monitor Model"
    HorizSync    30.0 - 130.0
    VertRefresh  50.0 - 100.0
EndSection

Section "Device"
        ### Available Driver options are:-
        ### Values: <i>: integer, <f>: float, <bool>: "True"/"False",
        ### <string>: "String", <freq>: "<f> Hz/kHz/MHz"
        ### [arg]: arg optional
        #Option     "NoAccel"                # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SWcursor"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "Dac6Bit"                # [<bool>]
        #Option     "Dac8Bit"                # [<bool>]
        #Option     "BusType"                # [<str>]
        #Option     "CPPIOMode"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "CPusecTimeout"          # <i>
        #Option     "AGPMode"                # <i>
        #Option     "AGPFastWrite"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "AGPSize"                # <i>
        #Option     "GARTSize"               # <i>
        #Option     "RingSize"               # <i>
        #Option     "BufferSize"             # <i>
        #Option     "EnableDepthMoves"       # [<bool>]
        #Option     "EnablePageFlip"         # [<bool>]
        #Option     "NoBackBuffer"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DMAForXv"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "FBTexPercent"           # <i>
        #Option     "DepthBits"              # <i>
        #Option     "PCIAPERSize"            # <i>
        #Option     "AccelDFS"               # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DDCMode"                # [<bool>]
        #Option     "IgnoreEDID"             # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DisplayPriority"        # [<str>]
        #Option     "PanelSize"              # [<str>]
        #Option     "ForceMinDotClock"       # <freq>
        #Option     "ColorTiling"            # [<bool>]
        #Option     "VideoKey"               # <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreCrystal"     # <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreTunerPort"     # <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreCompositePort"     # <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreSVideoPort"     # <i>
        #Option     "TunerType"              # <i>
        #Option     "RageTheatreMicrocPath"     # <str>
        #Option     "RageTheatreMicrocType"     # <str>
        #Option     "ScalerWidth"            # <i>
        #Option     "RenderAccel"            # [<bool>]
        #Option     "SubPixelOrder"          # [<str>]
        #Option     "ShowCache"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DynamicClocks"          # [<bool>]
        #Option     "VGAAccess"              # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ReverseDDC"             # [<bool>]
        #Option     "LVDSProbePLL"           # [<bool>]
        #Option     "AccelMethod"            # <str>
        #Option     "DRI"                    # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ConnectorTable"         # <str>
        #Option     "DefaultConnectorTable"     # [<bool>]
        #Option     "DefaultTMDSPLL"         # [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVDACLoadDetect"        # [<bool>]
        #Option     "ForceTVOut"             # [<bool>]
        #Option     "TVStandard"             # <str>
        #Option     "IgnoreLidStatus"        # [<bool>]
    Identifier  "Card0"
    Driver      "radeon"
    VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
    BoardName   "Radeon Mobility X1400"
    BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
    Option        "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"  "true"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier "Screen0"
    Device     "Card0"
    Monitor    "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     1
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     4
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     8
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     15
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     16
    EndSubSection
    SubSection "Display"
        Viewport   0 0
        Depth     24
        Modes    "1680x1050" "1440x900" "1280x800" "1024x768"
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
    Group    "video"
    Mode    0666
EndSection

thayer · 2008-11-12 17:56:51

The short answer is...you can't. As far as I know, the X1400 chipset is not yet supported by the radeon driver in any usable way. I have the exact same laptop and video card.

ljmarxen · 2008-11-12 17:59:34

Would the radeonhd driver support this chipset? I am having a hard time finding information about whether or not the radeonhd driver supports DRI and compostie/AIGLX. I would like to be able to have 3d acceleration and run compiz.

If the fglrx is the only option, then I guess I have no choice. I would have liked to stick with an open source driver though.

thayer · 2008-11-12 18:04:24

The radeonhd driver supports the R500/600 series cards, but only minimally (unless they have made radical breakthroughs in the past month or so). AFAIK, there is no 3d support at this time and even 2d is shaky at best.

The catalyst drivers are the only viable solution if you need anything fancier than a plain 2d desktop--and even then, the last 2 versions have all but b0rked my notebook entirely.

Last edited by thayer (2008-11-15 17:46:14)

ljmarxen · 2008-11-12 18:08:14

Well, that is disappointing...

I guess I'll have to look for a laptop with an intel or nvidia chipset in the future. In the meantime I guess I will use the fglrx driver unless anyone else has any insights that might help.

Thanks for the info, thayer.

thayer · 2008-11-12 18:19:48

You might want to have a look here: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a … _123&num=1

This progress was news to me...I'm going to have a look myself and see how the new drivers fair.

ljmarxen · 2008-11-12 18:33:40

Well that is some good news. I'll keep an eye on phoronix for updates. Hopefully, they will incorporate the 3d support into the open source drivers soon.

Execute_Method · 2008-11-19 00:12:50

It is very possible to have direct rendering on YOUR card (r5xx) with the radeon(ati) driver, but you need a lot of packages that are still in testing, and it is a somewhat daunting task to sort through everything.
Most importantly, you need x-server 1.5 and mesa 7.1+
The packages that you need & are newer than core/extra are (all can be had from testing, except libgl):
mesa >= 7.1
xf86-input-evdev 2.0.4
xf86-video-ati >= 6.9.0
xorg-server >= 1.4.99.906
libgl >= 7.1 ** has to be built from a with ABS/pkgbuild, because you need to add r300 & radeon dri-drivers in the configure **

I have an x1650 (rv535) and have been running the radeon driver WITH direct rendering since JULY, and the performance is very good. I can run compiz without skipping a beat (while playing WOP), 2800FPS on glxgears, and ** play video WITHOUT TEARING **!!

Please read a lot of what's going on in this forum:
http://www.phoronix.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=43 (open source ati/amd)

I hope this gives you some hope that it can be done.
Fight the good fight FOSS for ALL!

BTW, the radeon(ati) driver is better than radeonhd for our cards!!!

Last edited by Execute_Method (2008-11-19 00:19:30)

Arch Linux

#1 2008-11-12 17:49:51

Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#2 2008-11-12 17:56:51

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#3 2008-11-12 17:59:34

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#4 2008-11-12 18:04:24

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#5 2008-11-12 18:08:14

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#6 2008-11-12 18:19:48

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#7 2008-11-12 18:33:40

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

#8 2008-11-19 00:12:50

Re: Problem with radeon driver and Xorg

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