xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

dcc24 · 2010-02-06 00:05:43

I have a Dell Inspiron 1564 with the HD 4330 graphics card. I'm using the above-mentioned driver. Xorg composite option is enabled, as well as compositing in xfwm. Turning off compositing in xfwm doesn't make any difference.

The following pic pretty much explains my problem:

Direct Link: http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8131/2 … 6x768s.png

Whenever I open gedit (some other apps as well) it looks like that. If I move the window, even a little bit, the black box disappears. Any ideas?

Relevant xorg.conf: (Note that removing the entire "device" section doesn't change anything either)

Section "Device"
    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "radeon"
    VendorName     "AMD/ATI Corporation"
    Option       "DRI" "on"
    Option       "DynamicPM" "on"
    Option       "ClockGating" "on"
    Option       "AccelMethod" "EXA"
    Option       "EXAVSync" "on"
    Option       "DMAForXv" "on"
    Option       "EnablePageFlip" "on"
    Option       "RenderAccel" "on"
EndSection

Last edited by dcc24 (2010-02-06 02:26:55)

n0dix · 2010-02-06 00:26:03

Try brute force, i mean, comment line by line. I think is a xorg. file problem but i'm not sure.

dcc24 · 2010-02-06 00:28:37

I've even tried removing the entire "device" part, no difference.

dcc24 · 2010-02-07 10:57:26

Bump.

Chokkan · 2010-02-07 13:30:03

I have a similar problem, I don't have an Xorg.conf. I run compiz as a standalone WM. It only happens in certain windows like Sonata, or the Compiz settings manager.

dcc24 · 2010-02-07 13:32:31

Yes, it only happens in certain, specific windows like for me as well. Stuff like gedit, DRIconf etc.

ibis · 2010-02-08 10:36:00

I've got this too. It started happening after I ran a full system upgrade yesterday. I'm using the radeon driver on a ThinkPad T400 with an ATI Mobility Radeon 3470. I'm running KDE 4 and get black boxes in Kate and Kwrite. They don't black out the whole text canvas as in your picture, but I get a large black rectangle within it. which tends to appear after minimizing and maximizing the applications with the "minimize to desktop" widget. The black rectangles disappear when you move the cursor through them. I haven't had a chance to hack around with xorg.conf yet (posting from work), but will let you know if/when I make any progress.

dcc24 · 2010-02-08 10:46:32

Well, at least I'm not alone in this. The picture shows only one version of the problem. Sometimes I get a black rectangle within the canvas, similar to your experience. I'll be trying the radeonhd driver, see if that solves anything.

ibis · 2010-02-08 10:54:45

I'll try downgrading to the previous version of the radeon driver tonight to see if that fixes it.

hidefromkgb · 2010-02-08 21:54:21

hm.
IMO, it is related not only to video-ati, but also to Compiz.
I run into similar issue when I try to switch "loose binding" flag on, in Fusion-Icon menu: most windows just stop redrawing, and newly-created windows are filled with the background color.
Without this flag, everything works fine...

PS.
ATI Radeon X1700 Mobility (xf86-video-ati) + Compiz 0.8.4-3

dcc24 · 2010-02-08 22:24:02

I think compiz can make things worse, but it's not the cause of it, since I don't use compiz at all.

R00KIE · 2010-02-09 20:24:24

I have a somewhat similar problem, however it is not as annoying.
With DRI on in audacity where I should see the waveform I get a distorted something that looks like a waveform until I zoom in to the sample level, I don't use audacity that much -> minor nuisance.

The other problem, that I believe is directly related is text selection on madedit, I cannot see any selection at all.

I'm eagerly waiting for kernel 2.6.33 to have KMS working properly, this problem should go away then.

dcc24 · 2010-02-09 20:26:50

I hope for 2.6.33 with KMS as well. In the mean time, I'll be dowgrading X.org along with xf86-* packages and try catalyst.

dcc24 · 2010-02-09 21:16:19

Well, I've downgraded X.org (and all dependent packages) using the doorknob repo, installed catalyst, then finally installed the "maximize fix" (link on the aur page of catalyst).

3D performance increased dramatically, battery life _should_ improve due to PowerPlay, and the corruption in my original post no longer exists.

Still, I'm not going to mark this as solved, since the problem is still valid for xf86-video-ati.

ibis · 2010-02-13 11:46:38

I finally got around to downgrading the driver. That only succeeded in stopping kdm from launching properly on boot, so I restored the latest version of the radeon driver. So much for that idea.

On further testing I'm not sure that what I'm getting is necessarily related to the driver anyway. The problem only occurs in Kate and KWrite and appears to be related to syntax highlighting, in that different black rectangles pop up and disappear depending on which opening and closing code block identifiers are currently being matched by the editor for highlighting purposes. It's absolutely consistent in this respect. Will report this to KDE instead as it looks like a different problem to yours.

Arch Linux

#1 2010-02-06 00:05:43

xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#2 2010-02-06 00:26:03

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#3 2010-02-06 00:28:37

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#4 2010-02-07 10:57:26

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#5 2010-02-07 13:30:03

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#6 2010-02-07 13:32:31

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#7 2010-02-08 10:36:00

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#8 2010-02-08 10:46:32

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#9 2010-02-08 10:54:45

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#10 2010-02-08 21:54:21

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#11 2010-02-08 22:24:02

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#12 2010-02-09 20:24:24

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#13 2010-02-09 20:26:50

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#14 2010-02-09 21:16:19

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

#15 2010-02-13 11:46:38

Re: xf86-video-ati and "black out" error???

Board footer