Hi all!
I just installed 11.4/w kde and am trying to get the video card sorted out. It is an old radeon mobility M6 LY. using nomodeset in the boot, the screen is fine but no 3D effects. Using modeset=1 allows the desktop cube to work but I get a random “flash” on the screen. Any thoughts???
jdmcdaniel3, that won’t work for legacy hardware.
maxpro, can you please advise as to what graphic driver you are using when you type ‘nomodeset’ and what you are using when you type 'modset=1" ? And was that ‘modeset=1’ or 'modset=1" ?
Possibly you could boot with each different boot code, and once booted open a terminal and type:
lsmod | grep radeon
and record the output and post the output here , noting which one was associated with ‘nomodeset’ and which one was associated with 'modset=1" (or is it ‘modeset=1’) ?
If that does not provide a good unambiguous indication of the loaded graphic driver, then you could in each case copy the file contents of /var/log/Xorg.0.log to SUSE Paste and press create and then post here the website / URL created (listing the file conntents) and from that we will be able to detemine what graphic driver is in use.
using modeset=1
max@linux-15lu:~> lsmod |grep radeon
radeon 916096 3
ttm 63307 1 radeon
drm_kms_helper 32719 1 radeon
drm 189610 5 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 5402 1 radeon
i2c_core 27418 5 i2c_i801,radeon,drm_kms_helper,drm,i2c_algo_bit
hwmon 2012 2 radeon,thermal_sys
using nomodeset
max@linux-15lu:~> lsmod | grep radeon
radeon 916096 0
ttm 63307 1 radeon
drm_kms_helper 32719 1 radeon
drm 189610 3 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 5402 1 radeon
i2c_core 27418 5 i2c_i801,radeon,drm_kms_helper,drm,i2c_algo_bit
hwmon 2012 2 radeon,thermal_sys
that was unexpected.
I was expecting to see ‘radeonhd’.
Do you have a custom /etc/x11/xorg.conf file in place ?
Did you do any edits to the /etc/X11/xorg.conf/50-device.conf file ?
Can you separately copy and paste for each ‘nomodeset’ and ‘modeset=1’ case the content /var/log/Xorg.0.log to SUSE Paste, press contribute for each and then post here the website/url address you are given for each ?
Also, so that we are 100% certain of your hardware, can you please provide the output of this command:
/sbin/lspci -nnk | grep VGA -A2
and post it here.
This information in the xorg.0.log file is fairly important to find out in order to make an educated guess as to what to try next. I suspect (but I am not certain) that your PC has an AMD/ATI RV100 graphic hardware (based on my examination of the output of ‘man radeon’):
RV100 Radeon 7000(VE), M6, RN50/ES1000
and I have read some sources that suggest for the RV100 to work best it is best to change from EXA to XAA (ie enable the AccelMethod XAA) , but its possible that is already being done and I can’t tell without seeing the log file. (where EXA is a graphics acceleration architecture of the X.Org Server designed to replace XAA (the XFree86 Acceleration Architecture) and to make the XRender extension more usable). However your hardware is old and it may be better to use the older XAA standard.
here is log
using modeset=1
SUSE Paste
I have not modified any other file besides the menu.lst file.
max@linux-09bq:~> /sbin/lspci -nnk | grep VGA -A2
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller [0300]: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M6 LY [1002:4c59]
Subsystem: Compaq Computer Corporation Device [0e11:b11b]
Kernel driver in use: radeon
Where are you specifying ‘modeset=1’ ?
I don’t see it on the options line in grub as a boot code, as I note:
51.164] Kernel command line: root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-HITACHI_DK23DA-20_12NWBG-part3 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-HITACHI_DK23DA-20_12NWBG-part2 splash=silent quiet vga=0x317
wow,you are right! I just formatted and installed again a couple of hours ago because my old install of pclinuxos was still on my 1st partition. I just checked the menu.lst and it is as you say- no modeset=1 at all! Ok so the 3D effects are working fine but I still am getting a “flickering” every so often. BTW- the effects would not work on any of the other distros I’ve tried! I had originally added nomodeset to stop the flickering and it worked but the effects were gone.
I was half expecting to see many XAA and EXA errors, supporting an approach to try the older (but purportedly a bit faster) XAA, but I do not see any such errors. I do note this:
50.911] X.Org X Server 1.9.3 Release Date: 2010-12-13
...
51.164] Current Operating System: Linux linux-09bq 2.6.37.6-0.7-default #1 SMP 2011-07-21 02:17:24 +0200 i686
51.164] Kernel command line: root=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-HITACHI_DK23DA-20_12NWBG-part3 resume=/dev/disk/by-id/ata-HITACHI_DK23DA-20_12NWBG-part2 splash=silent quiet vga=0x317
....
52.067] (--) RADEON(0): Chipset: "ATI Radeon Mobility M6 LY (AGP)" (ChipID = 0x4c59)
52.067] (II) RADEON(0): AGP card detected
....
52.181] (II) RADEON(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1040 1176 1344 768 770 776 806 (48.4 kHz)
52.181] (II) RADEON(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz)
...
52.188] (II) RADEON(0): EXA: Driver will not allow EXA pixmaps in VRAM
...
52.195] (II) Loading sub module "exa"
52.195] (II) LoadModule: "exa"
52.197] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libexa.so
52.197] (II) Module exa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
....
52.199] (II) RADEON(0): VRAM usage limit set to 3686K
…
I suppose before messing with XAA, you could try to tune EXA ? I confess I don’t know much about this.
How much RAM does your AGP card have ? I see mention of 3686K in the Xorg.conf.
Also, how fast is your AGP bus in your PC ? Is it 2x ? 4x ?
Are you happy with the 1024x768 resolution you appear to be getting ?
I note a thread here: [Ubuntu-x-swat] [Bug 363238] Re: [RV100] very poor Xorg performance on v]([Ubuntu-x-swat] [Bug 363238] Re: [RV100] very poor Xorg performance on various older graphics HW - XAA no longer works) and a bug report here: Bug #363238 “[RV100] very poor Xorg performance on various older...” : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-ati package : Ubuntu …
Possibly you could install the text editor program midnight commander (mc) so that it is available to be run in a full screen text mode by typing ‘mc’ in case you need to edit files in such a mode.
Then you could try editing one of the configuration files under /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d … possibly the 50-device.conf. Look for a logical place to apply something like:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Default Device"
Driver "radeon"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
VideoRam 65536
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "AGPSize" "64"
Option "DRI" "off"
EndSection
In addition, *(Fixes for Xorg bugs on old ATI Radeon cards (gimp XOR green trails, EXA font woes)): " Option “XaaNoDashedTwoPointLine” " in addition to the " Option “MigrationHeuristic” “greedy” ". …
The above assumes an AGP bus and card that supports 4x. Yours may not. It assumes Video RAM of 65536. What is yours ? I think you will need to play with this. Remove some of those lines. Add some … try to find the best combination.
Sorry that I can not be more definitive, but I do not have (and never have had) such a hardware graphic device.
I found I obtained the ‘best hits’ by searching on ‘radeon RV100 50-device.conf’*
I added all the above plus nodashtwopointline and rebooted - still “jumping”
I changed acclmethod to xxa- no change
do you know if it matters which order I add to the conf?
Did you try booting with nomodeset and without nomodeset with those edits?
I may also have the edits wrong, … I obtained the above from Bug #363238 “[RV100] very poor Xorg performance on various older...” : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-ati package : Ubuntu post #121 and note I assumed for openSUSE one needs to change “Configured Video Device” to “Default Video Device” but I could be wrong. You could try that with “Configured Video Device” (as I do not understand this well).
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "radeon"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
VideoRam 65536
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "AGPSize" "64"
Option "DRI" "off"
EndSection
another example from Bug #363238 “[RV100] very poor Xorg performance on various older...” : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-ati package : Ubuntu has a much more simple file:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "radeon"
VideoRam 65536
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
EndSection
Again, if you have the ‘radeon’ driver specified in the 50-device.conf, then IMHO you should boot trying it with nomodeset and without nomodeset boot code.
Its not XXA. Its XAA !! Did you change it to a non-existent mode ? Or was that a typo ?
IMHO if you are going to change to XAA then you need to do more than just change the assignment. Look at the many examples in Bug #363238 “[RV100] very poor Xorg performance on various older...” : Bugs : xserver-xorg-video-ati package : Ubuntu
For example, if you are going to try XAA you could use these options from post#8:
Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Driver "radeon"
Option "AccelDFS" "on"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "smart" # "greedy" works well also
Option "EnablePageFlip" "on"
Option "EnableDepthMoves" "on"
Option "ColorTiling" "on"
Option "FBTexPercent" "0"
Option "RenderAccel" "on"
EndSection
or these from post#7
Section "Device"
Driver "radeon"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "RenderAccel" "on"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
EndSection
My guess is it depends on the line. Clearly it matters for ‘section’ and ‘end section’ The reset may not matter, although maybe ‘Identifier’ matters’ ? In truth , since I have NEVER had to do this (NEVER) I don’t know.
I have tried different conf.-none helped. Since reformatting I have not tried xaa (the other was a typo)yet. Using nomodeset stops the flickering but also stops the 3D effects. I found this page with what seems to be all the codes for radeon
RADEON(4) manual page
This seemed to pointing to my issue-
Option “DisplayPriority” “string”
Used to prevent flickering or tearing problem caused by display buffer underflow.
AUTO -- Driver calculated (default).
BIOS -- Remain unchanged from BIOS setting. Use this if the calculation is not correct
for your card.
HIGH -- Force to the highest priority. Use this if you have problem with above options.
This may affect performance slightly.
The default value is AUTO.
I tried all 3 values and it made no difference. I saw this in my log- Will this effect “get texture from pixmap” in the OpenGL mode?
52.188] (II) RADEON(0): EXA: Driver will not allow EXA pixmaps in VRAM
What is DRI?