ATI driver installed but no 3D

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1

I am new to Linux and I am trying out SUSE 12.1 on my daughters old laptop. I can’t get the 3D driver to work, from what I have read I don’t think I can but I may have misunderstood something while reading all the other posts.

The laptop is based on the ATI RS690 chipset and has an integrated X1250 graphics card. My readings suggest that the last ATI driver that supported my card was 9.3 but 9.3 is not compatible with SUSE 12.1. I have run ATIUPGRADE and it has upgraded to the latest driver (11.12) but that has not improved the situation.

The command hwinfo --gfxcard returns

28: PCI 105.0: 0300 VGA compatible controller (VGA)
[Created at pci.319]
Unique ID: ul7N.I_WRgrFy2e1
Parent ID: vSkL.Objt6VSItgC
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:05.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:01:05.0
Hardware Class: graphics card
Model: “ATI Radeon X1200”
Vendor: pci 0x1002 “ATI Technologies Inc”
Device: pci 0x791f “Radeon X1200”
SubVendor: pci 0x107b “Gateway 2000”
SubDevice: pci 0x0185
Memory Range: 0xf8000000-0xfbffffff (ro,non-prefetchable)
Memory Range: 0xfc100000-0xfc10ffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
I/O Ports: 0x9400-0x94ff (rw)
Memory Range: 0xfc000000-0xfc0fffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
IRQ: 17 (2 events)
I/O Ports: 0x3c0-0x3df (rw)
Module Alias: “pci:v00001002d0000791Fsv0000107Bsd00000185bc03sc00i00”
Driver Info #0:
XFree86 v4 Server Module: radeonhd
Driver Info #1:
XFree86 v4 Server Module: radeonhd
3D Support: yes
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
Attached to: #9 (PCI bridge)

Primary display adapter: #28

Finally in sysinfo: it give Radeonhd as my 2D driver but does not list a 3D driver. When I first installed 12.1 it did list a 3D Driver but now it doesn’t.

I don’t want to play games or anything fancy but being able to watch iPlayer is the goal.

Am I out of luck with this old Laptop or am I missing a key point somewhere?

Thanks All …

2

I suspect this is beyond my ability to help. Still, could you post the content of the log file /var/log/Xorg.0.log to SUSE Paste and press create and post here the URL/web address it creates?

Are you using the boot code ‘nomodeset’ to boot ?

If so, what happens when you do not use that ‘nomodeset’ boot code ? Can you provide the /var/log/Xorg.0.log (or it may be the /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old) from a failed boot with the radeon driver ? Again, copy to SUSE Paste

3

It’s a legacy card. Don’t install the ATI fglrx driver! It won’t work.
I’m not sure you should use radeonhd with this card either. Probably, radeon would be better … Not sure, as I don’t use them.

4

How can it be? It should cancel if it finds one of these cards:

ati_legacy="9500 9550 9600 9700 9800 X300 X550 X600 X700 X800 X850 X1050 X1300 X1550 X1600 X1650 X1800 X1900 Xpress X1200 X1250 X2100"

Could you please post the output of this command:

lspci

I have to say that when you know that your graphics card is not supported, atiupgrade is not going to help. In the best case, it will abort with an error message. And in the worst case, it will install a driver that you don’t need.

5

See here how to uninstall the flgrx package if you installed it: http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/applications/470042-how-install-lastest-version-amd-catalyst-software-ati-videocards.html#post2420735

6

Log file is at SUSE Paste and if you boot without nomodeset it locks up in a matter of a few seconds after loading the desktop.

Radeon may work better that RadeonHD but, newbie question time, how do I make it use Radeon? It selected RadeonHD all by itself :slight_smile:

lspci returns

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (Internal gfx)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc Device 7914
00:05.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS690 PCI to PCI Bridge (PCI Express Port 1)
00:12.0 SATA controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 Non-Raid-5 SATA
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI0)
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI1)
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI2)
00:13.3 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI3)
00:13.4 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB (OHCI4)
00:13.5 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 USB Controller (EHCI)
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 SMBus Controller (rev 14)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 IDE
00:14.2 Audio device: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SB600 PCI to LPC Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc SBx00 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc RS690M [Radeon X1200 Series]
02:00.0 Ethernet controller: Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller (rev 13)
05:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN [Kedron] Network Connection (rev 61)

7

@please_try_again

From your other thread I typed “linux-nkfv:~ # rpm -qa | grep fglrx” and the return was “fglrx_xpic_SUSE121-8.920-1.i586”

Does this seems to suggest that the standard SUSE graphics driver is being used anyway? If so can I just remove ATIUPGRADE with

Sorry if I am being a pain.

8

The package (fglrx) is installed but the radeonhd driver is used. fglrx would not work with this graphics card. You should remove the package and atiupgrade, as described in the other thread.

Then you should use radeon rather than radeonhd as a driver. It might be better. I didn’t even know that you could use radeonhd with your graphics card (which is not a radeon HD, AFAIK).

9

OK I understand now. I have removed fglrx_xpic_SUSE121-8.920-1.i586 and ATIUPRADE because they are not compatible with my legacy hardware.

Finally question is how do I select Radeon? It selects RadeonHD all by itself.

10

That’s right.

I don’t know. But wait for other people here who are more familiar with these drivers than I man. If it’s possible, they will tell you. When I get a mainboard with the Legacy ATI chip (on board), I put a nvidia graphics card in it to solve the 3D problem. But you can not do that with a laptop.

11

AFAIU, the X1200 has the legacy RV600 chipset, which is supported by both the radeon and radeonhd drivers.

RADEON(4) manual page

RADEONHD(4) manual page

Unfortunately, I don’t think either open source driver provides 3D support for your particular chipset, (but I may be wrong about this).

Read this graphics guide too.

12

OK, thats interesting to know. Please try this:

(1) install the program midnight commander (mc) if not already installed. This is a text editor that can be run in a full screen text mode. The idea is if you get stuck in a full screen text mode and need to edit a configuration file, you can do it easily as a regular user or with root permissions (ie as root) by typing: “mc” (no quotes) and then use the function-keys to navigate/control the editor. It is very intuitive

(2) edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf file, removing the comment characters, such that it looks something like:


Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"

  Driver "radeon"
 
 ## Required magic for radeon/radeonhd drivers; output name
  ## (here: "DVI-0") can be figured out via 'xrandr -q'
  #Option "monitor-DVI-0" "Default Monitor"

EndSection

and save that change. Then boot with the ‘nomodeset’ boot code !

The idea is to boot with nomodeset to bypass the Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) which is not working for radeon, but still try to load the radeon driver and force X to automatically configure with the radeon driver.

NOW if that still hangs when loading X , no worries !!

Reboot again, either with ‘nomodeset 3’ (to force a boot to run level 3) or with the boot code ‘x11failsafe’ or by choosing failsafe boot option and go to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf file and comment out every line again with the ’ # '. If you end up in a full screen text mode, simply login and use the ‘mc’ program.

And while you are still in that text mode, let me explain my post better wrt the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old. When you boot the old /var/log/Xorg.0.log file is copied to Xorg.0.log.old. So you can always go back one boot and get a failed log file.

So at this stage, if radeon failed to configure/load with nomodeset and X configuring, please copy the /var/log/Xorg.0.log.old file and the /var/log/Xorg.0.log files to /home/yourusername so that they are not overwritten when you boot again. And post those two files to SUSE Paste. ONE of those two files will have the failed boot information from the radeon driver, which we need to see.

If those instructions are not clear, please advise, as I am doing this on an MS-Windows PC without a Linux PC to doublecheck and my memory is notiously bad.

13

If I delete the comment characters in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf the system boots to a full screen text mode. After putting them back using the MC program that you suggested it reboots fine again. Well as fine as 2D only can be :slight_smile:

See SUSE Paste The xorg.0.log.old file is pasted after the xorg.0.log file

Thanks

14

It looks like it failed because of a syntax error ! ie it appears in uncommenting an error was made, possibly because you are new to this (we all make these sort of mistakes initially - IF and assuming I am correct - I could be wrong ).


xorg.0.log.old
 
    18.762]
X.Org X Server 1.10.4
Release Date: 2011-08-19
    18.762] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
    18.762] Build Operating System: openSUSE SUSE LINUX
    18.762] Current Operating System: Linux linux-nkfv.site 3.1.0-1.2-desktop #1 SMP PREEMPT Thu Nov 3 14:45:45 UTC 2011 (187dde0) i686
    18.762] Kernel command line: root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST9160310AS_5SV484ZE-part1 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-ST9160310AS_5SV484ZE-part5 splash=silent quiet vga=0x317 nomodeset
    18.762] Build Date: 10 November 2011  03:34:02PM
    18.762]  
    18.762] Current version of pixman: 0.22.0
    18.762]    Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
        to make sure that you have the latest version.
    18.762] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
        (++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
        (WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
    18.763] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Wed Jan  4 18:25:51 2012
    18.763] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
    18.764] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
    18.764] **Parse error on line 1 of section Device** in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/**50-fpit.conf**
        "Section" is not a valid keyword in this section.
    18.764] (EE) Problem parsing the config file
    18.764] (EE) Error parsing the config file
    18.764]
Fatal server error:
    18.764] no screens found
    18.764]
Please consult the The X.Org Foundation support
         at http://wiki.x.org
 for help.
    18.764] Please also check the log file at "/var/log/Xorg.0.log" for additional information.
    18.764]

please post here EXACTLY what you put in the 50-device.conf file !

And what is 50-fpit.conf ???

Please, do NOT keep backup files in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory as they will be run as if they are regular files.

15 
# **rpm -qf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-fpit.conf**
xorg-x11-driver-input-7.6-41.38.2.x86_64

# **cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-fpit.conf**
Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "fpit class"
        MatchProduct "FUJ02B2|FUJ02B3|FUJ02B4|FUJ02B6|FUJ02B7|FUJ02B8|FUJ02B9|FUJ02BC"
        Driver "fpit"
        Option "TrackRandR" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "fpit FUJ02B2 and FUJ02B3 default configuration"
        MatchProduct "FUJ02B2|FUJ02B3"
        Option "BaudRate" "19200"
        Option "MaximumXPosition" "6250"
        Option "MaximumYPosition" "4950"
        Option "MinimumXPosition" "130"
        Option "MinimumYPosition" "0"
        Option "InvertY" "on"
EndSection

Section "InputClass"
        Identifier "fpit FUJ02B6, FUJ02B7, FUJ02B8, FUJ02B9, FUJ02BC default configuration"
        MatchProduct "FUJ02B6|FUJ02B7|FUJ02B8|FUJ02B9|FUJ02BC"
        Option "BaudRate" "9600"
        Option "MaximumXPosition" "4070"
        Option "MaximumYPosition" "4020"
        Option "MinimumXPosition" "0"
        Option "MinimumYPosition" "0"
        Option "Passive" "on"
EndSection
16

Hmmm … Its not part of the nominal openSUSE-11.4 (which I am running). I swtiched ON my sandbox PC which is running openSUSE-12.1 and I took a look at its /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d and I see the file there.

I’m scratching my head as to what this configuration file is for ? Possibly for a Touch Screen or Tablet Device ? If I am correct, then user markandcath, I recommend you simply remove that file (maybe put it under /home/markandcath somewhere) and try again to boot with the edit I recommended. And try with the ‘nomodeset’ boot code and without the ‘nomodeset’ boot code with the edit I recommended to the 50-device.conf file.

It appears SILLY that your boot to the radeon driver is failing because of a parse error in that file, where as near as I can determine it is not needed for your system (or is there some hardware information you have neglected to tell me).

17

It appears SILLY that your boot to the radeon driver is failing because of a parse error in that file, where as near as I can determine it is not needed for your system (or is there some hardware information you have neglected to tell me).

It is a strange error, and I note it was in the OP’s Xorg.0.log.old, and not the Xorg.0.log

 18.764] Parse error on line 1 of section Device in file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-fpit.conf
        "Section" is not a valid keyword in this section.

Makes me wonder whether this file was accidentally edited, since (based on please_try_again’s submitted 50-fpit.conf, there is no section Device). Anyway, since the error is not present in Xorg.0.log now, it was obviously corrected by the OP perhaps?

18

I can’t explain it either. It is STRANGE.

But clearly my comment that syntax was wrong in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/50-device.conf is wrong, as it was the 50-fpit.conf that has caused the problem.

I do recommend that 50-fpti.conf file be backed up into some harmless location (like /home/markandcath ) and then it be deleted in /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d, and then again the file 50-device.conf be edited so that it looks like:


Section "Device"
  Identifier "Default Device"

  Driver "radeon"
 
 ## Required magic for radeon/radeonhd drivers; output name
  ## (here: "DVI-0") can be figured out via 'xrandr -q'
  #Option "monitor-DVI-0" "Default Monitor"

EndSection

and then a boot attempt made with the boot code ‘nomodeset’ and also without the boot code ‘nomodeset’.

The Xorg.0.log (or Xorg.0.log.old) file associated with each radeon driver attempt would be very useful to review.

19

When I type ‘man fpit’ I get (in part) :


NAME
       fpit - Fujitsu Stylistic input driver
.............
DESCRIPTION
       fpit is an Xorg input driver for Fujitsu Stylistic Tablet PCs.

       The fpit driver functions as a pointer input device, and may be used as the X server's core pointer.

so its a driver for a Fujitsu input device.

And based on the OP’s first post, I see no need for this file currently. Hence IMHO it should be deleted as it is obscuring the situation wrt the Radeon X1200.

20

OK it was a newbie typo, I left the comment mark in front of EndSection when I edited the 50-device.conf file

Once I removed that the machines boots fine. Although it still doesn’t list a 3D driver it is much much better, I can now watch iPlayer and scroll webpages without it juddering so I am a happy camper.

Thanks again for all your help and patience.
Mark