I am currently using an ACER 4540 laptop, and after a recent update from opensuse, the desktop effects stopped working. i tried to reinstall the driver, and that did not work. after the install said it was successful, a bunch of code went by and would not let me type any commands when i got to a point where i should have been able to type in commands (this is in terminal by the way if you cant tell). another thing you may be able to answer also: isnt the key combination to get into run level 3 supposed to be CTRL+ALT+F3? its not working for me. i know i am being pretty vague, but please bear with me. Please help. Thanks.
Its possible you have been unlucky, as from what I have read, a security update to the 2.6.34.7-0.3 kernel has broken the ATI proprietary graphic driver: ATI Catalyst graphics driver install failure in SuSE 11.3
… whats worse (in my view) is it is the sort of break that I suspect we may not see a fix fast coming. There is a work around available, but some claim the work around is a security risk, and its not clear to me how easy it is to apply the work around, as I could not understand the work around update instructions.
You may be best trying to use the opensource radeon driver.
nother thing you may be able to answer also: isnt the key combination to get into run level 3 supposed to be CTRL+ALT+F3?
No, that would just allow you to switch to tty3 console (while maintaining the existing runlevel). However, ‘init 3’ executed from a root terminal will cause the system to change to runlevel 3.
how do you switch back to the opensource radeon driver? I have never had to do it before. it will suck if thats the case about the security update, but it happens and i will be waiting patently for a fix to come around.
Then search for any rpm with fglrx in the rpm name, and remove that rpm. In addition, specify ‘nomodeset’ as a boot code, and also in addition in the /etc/X11/50-device.conf file, remove the comment ’ # ’ in front of the ‘Radeon’ driver entry, so that the file reads 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
. Then try a reboot so as to use the radeon driver (don’t forget to specify ‘nomodeset’ as a boot code).
BUT I still recommend that FIRST, read that theory link so that the above advice makes a bit more sense.
never mind, i found it. it was in a subfolder called “xorg.conf.d” now, can you tell me how to enable desktop effects? i know i could use them when i originally installed opensuse, however i went to the proprietary one since there was a slight flicker which was quite annoying at the time.
I accidently forgot to go into the nomodeset right after the first restart, so what do i do now? if i go into nomode set now, it will have desktop effects enabled and everything, but in the regular mode, it wont.
I accidently forgot to go into the nomodeset right after the first restart, so what do i do now? if i go into nomode set now, it will have desktop effects enabled and everything, but in the regular mode, it wont.
Sorry if I’m not up with the play here, (very busy with work currently), but if your graphics chipset plays nicely with then radeon driver, then 3D effects should be enabled by default (where support is provided).
that page may, or may not solve my problems, ill have to look tomorrow. could you explain to me why the opensource radeon may not be working properly in the regular boot, but it is in “nomodeset” boot? i absolutely works perfect in that mode, and i do not understand the difference.
Initializing Graphics with KMS (Kernel Mode Setting)
With openSUSE 11.3 we are switching to KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) for Intel, ATI and NVIDIA graphics, which now is our default. If you encounter problems with the KMS driver support (intel, radeon, nouveau), disable KMS by adding nomodeset to the kernel boot command line. To set this permanently, add it to the kernel command line in /boot/grub/menu.lst. This option makes sure the appropriate kernel module (intel, radeon, nouveau) is loaded with modeset=0 in initrd, i.e. KMS is disabled.
In the rare cases when loading the DRM module from initrd is a general problem and unrelated to KMS, it is even possible to disable loading of the DRM module in initrd completely. For this set the NO_KMS_IN_INITRD sysconfig variable to yes via YAST, which then recreates initrd afterwards. Reboot your machine.
On Intel without KMS the Xserver falls back to the fbdev driver (the intel driver only supports KMS). On ATI for current GPUs it falls back to radeonhd. On NVIDIA without KMS the nv driver is used (the nouveau driver only supports KMS).
I’ve read that “Kernel mode-setting (KMS) shifts responsibility for selecting and setting up the graphics mode from X.org to the kernel. When X.org is started, it then detects and uses the mode without any further mode changes. This promises to make booting faster, more graphical, and less flickery”.
I’ve also read: “*Kernel Mode setting allows the kernel to switch between high- and low- resolution graphics without reinitializing the graphics card/driver. It is especially useful for setting up Framebuffer. *.”
Currently, most graphics modes are initialized during the X server startup. Kernel Modesetting (referred to as KMS hereafter) moves this process from the X server’s DDX drivers to the kernel, and it enables several new features including:
Improved Graphical Boot
Faster fast user switching
Seamless X server switching
Graphical panic messages
Memory Management, while a separate feature in its own right, is included here because it is a requirement for Kernel Modesetting.
As to why it DOES not work for your hardware, you probably need to talk to a developer. Presumably the kernel by itself is not sufficient for your hardware, and hence Xorg is needed to help the kernel. Again, you need a developer to explain. KMS is all pretty new, and the developers probably do NOT have access to every piece of graphical hardware on the street.
As to why it DOES not work for your hardware, you probably need to talk to a developer. Presumably the kernel by itself is not sufficient for your hardware, and hence Xorg is needed to help the kernel. Again, you need a developer to explain. KMS is all pretty new, and the developers probably do NOT have access to every piece of graphical hardware on the street.
alright, than answers a good amount of questions, but why was my computer able to use desktop graphics right off the bat after a fresh installation and not now? i didnt end up using the proprietary driver untill i got too annoyed with a flicker associated with the open source radeon driver, which was around august when i switched over.
Many factors could affect this, and in truth, its only the person in front of the PC, or someone with identical hardware/software, or a developer, who could answer such a question without more information being provided.
Hence thats difficult to answer, without knowing EXACTLY what you changed. What driver were you using then? Radeon ? Radeonhd ? How do you know you were using the driver that you think you were using? Did you change the radeon driver between then and now ? Did you change mesa ? or xorg ? kernel ? your desktop s/w (gnome or kde) version ? … What driver are you using now ? How do you know you are using that driver?
My apologies if these questions seem to be intuitively obvious to you as to what was in place then and now, but IMHO for someone thousands ( ? ) of miles away without access to your PC, such detail is needed to answer such a question.
i understand. is there any way i can easily check the differences between my current config in the regular boot, and nomodeset? can you point me in the direction of such a developer?
Also, further to what deano_ferrai suggested, do NOT POST here those log files !! If you wish someone on the forum to look at them, then copy and paste them to a site such as Pastebin.com - #1 paste tool since 2002! and post here the URL provided where the log files have been uploaded. Do NOT post the entire logs here. Just a URL.
