My graphics card seems underpowered

English Hardware
1

Hello

I have installed Opensuse 11.3 in my Dell Studio 1735 laptop successfully. With your help I succeeded in solve my wireless issue, but unfortunately it seems that I am having other issues.

Frankly I am not perfectly sure that my graphics card is acting strangely, what I have noticed using Window Vista ( I have both in my laptop Vista and Linux but in two separately hard disk), the graphic level is superior (definition color, graphic effects and so on).

Conversely, when I am using Opesuse, it seems that the graphic card is like powered down. So I am thinking that there is no hardware or firmware problem, but maybe drivers are not so uptodate.

Before getting back to you, I tried to solve the problem by myself: I tried to use every tool the KDE gave to me, but I did not find any parameter to change or error indication.

So I gathered, with the command line tool, every info I could.

  1. Yast=> Hardware => Hardware Information

PCI 100.0: 0300 VGA compatible controller (VGA)
[Created at pci.318]
Unique ID: VCu0.7ujfWsZYN42
Parent ID: vSkL.otYOtR+CIvC
SysFS ID: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.0
SysFS BusID: 0000:01:00.0
Hardware Class: graphics card
Model: “ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650”
Vendor: pci 0x1002 “ATI Technologies Inc”
Device: pci 0x9591 “Mobility Radeon HD 3650”
SubVendor: pci 0x1028 “Dell”
SubDevice: pci 0x0256
Driver: “radeon”
Driver Modules: “drm”
Memory Range: 0xe0000000-0xefffffff (ro,non-prefetchable)
I/O Ports: 0xee00-0xeeff (rw)
Memory Range: 0xf6df0000-0xf6dfffff (rw,non-prefetchable)
Memory Range: 0xf6d00000-0xf6d1ffff (ro,non-prefetchable,disabled)
IRQ: 30 (76725 events)
I/O Ports: 0x3c0-0x3df (rw)
Module Alias: “pci:v00001002d00009591sv00001028sd00000256bc03sc00i00”
Driver Info #0:
XFree86 v4 Server Module: radeonhd
Config Status: cfg=no, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
Attached to: #15 (PCI bridge)

  1. lspci

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Mobility Radeon HD 3650

  1. dmesg | grep radeon

    1.780103] [drm] radeon defaulting to kernel modesetting.
    1.780106] [drm] radeon kernel modesetting enabled.
    1.780191] radeon 0000:01:00.0: PCI INT A -> GSI 16 (level, low) -> IRQ 16
    1.780198] radeon 0000:01:00.0: setting latency timer to 64
    1.783162] [drm] radeon: power management initialized
    1.783175] radeon 0000:01:00.0: VRAM: 256M 0x00000000 - 0x0FFFFFFF (256M used)
    1.783178] radeon 0000:01:00.0: GTT: 512M 0x10000000 - 0x2FFFFFFF
    1.784536] [drm] radeon: 256M of VRAM memory ready
    1.784538] [drm] radeon: 512M of GTT memory ready.
    1.784623] radeon 0000:01:00.0: irq 30 for MSI/MSI-X
    1.784631] [drm] radeon: using MSI.
    1.784674] [drm] radeon: irq initialized.
    1.785512] platform radeon_cp.0: firmware: requesting radeon/RV635_pfp.bin
    1.787157] platform radeon_cp.0: firmware: requesting radeon/RV635_me.bin
    1.788576] platform radeon_cp.0: firmware: requesting radeon/R600_rlc.bin
    1.824811] [drm] radeon: ib pool ready.
    3.063112] fb0: radeondrmfb frame buffer device
    3.063121] [drm] Initialized radeon 2.3.0 20080528 for 0000:01:00.0 on minor 0

  2. I checked the drivers

lsmod | grep radeon

radeon 868464 2
ttm 65906 1 radeon
drm_kms_helper 33008 1 radeon
drm 221762 4 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_algo_bit 6728 1 radeon

  1. I tested the drivers with the command

glxgears

And I got:

*** NOTE: Don’t use glxgears as a benchmark.
OpenGL implementations are not optimized for frame rates >> 60fps,
thus these numbers are meaningless when compared between vendors.

3681 frames in 5.0 seconds = 728.996 FPS
594 frames in 5.0 seconds = 118.181 FPS
566 frames in 5.1 seconds = 111.887 FPS
4208 frames in 5.0 seconds = 841.545 FPS
4436 frames in 5.0 seconds = 886.394 FPS
3906 frames in 5.0 seconds = 780.927 FPS
4174 frames in 5.2 seconds = 799.599 FPS
3716 frames in 5.0 seconds = 742.838 FPS
3999 frames in 5.0 seconds = 799.789 FPS
4306 frames in 5.0 seconds = 860.931 FPS
4295 frames in 5.0 seconds = 858.998 FPS
4409 frames in 5.0 seconds = 881.509 FPS
4411 frames in 5.0 seconds = 882.172 FPS
4413 frames in 5.0 seconds = 882.291 FPS
4434 frames in 5.0 seconds = 886.701 FPS
4405 frames in 5.0 seconds = 880.844 FPS
4482 frames in 5.0 seconds = 895.965 FPS
4419 frames in 5.0 seconds = 883.738 FPS
4465 frames in 5.0 seconds = 892.917 FPS
4426 frames in 5.0 seconds = 885.133 FPS
4459 frames in 5.0 seconds = 891.718 FPS
4444 frames in 5.0 seconds = 888.555 FPS
4402 frames in 5.0 seconds = 880.182 FPS
4449 frames in 5.0 seconds = 889.716 FPS
4486 frames in 5.0 seconds = 897.182 FPS

and so on…(the list was getting too much longer and I stopped the testing process)

  1. I report below what I found in the xorg.conf.install file.

Section “Device”
Identifier “vboxvideo”
Driver “vboxvideo”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “vboxvideo”
Device “vboxvideo”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “vmware”
Driver “vmware”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “vmware”
Device “vmware”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “cirrus”
Driver “cirrus”
EndSection
Section “Screen”
Identifier “cirrus”
Device “cirrus”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “fbdev”
Driver “fbdev”
EndSection
Section “Screen”
Identifier “fbdev”
Device “fbdev”
EndSection

Section “Device”
Identifier “vesa”
Driver “vesa”
EndSection

Section “Screen”
Identifier “vesa”
Device “vesa”
EndSection

Section “ServerLayout”
Identifier “Layout”
Screen “vboxvideo”
Screen “vmware”
Screen “cirrus”
Screen “fbdev”
Screen “vesa”
EndSection

I do not know if I have to change some funny parameters elsewhere, but as far as I can undestand I am not seeing any error.

Please, can someone help me out

2

You’re using the open source driver. You might want to consider installing the proprietary ATI (fglrx) driver for increased performance:

SDB:ATI drivers - openSUSE

ATI Catalyst

This might be helpful as well:

openSUSE Graphic Card Practical Theory Guide for Users

3

Thank you for your information. I was revising all the information contained in the links. However I have the following doubts:

1)I have understood that the driver installed is the open source one “radeon”, that unfortunately does not allow to use mygraphics card at its full power. I found the proprietary ATI driver at the following address

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/linux/Pages  /radeon_linux.aspx?type=2.4.2&product=2.4.2.3.32&lang=English

However I was reading that installing the proprietary driver can cause some problems, and I do not understand why.Why should be problematic? Are not the original one?

  1. In the link I listed before I found the following file:

    ati-driver-installer-10-8-x86.x86_64.run

that can be launched by the command:

  **sh ./ati-driver-installer-10-8-x86.x86_64.run**

I think in my case the automatic configuration should be the correct one ( I am not an expert), but after reading the release note I found the following:

After installing the generated distribution package, launch the Terminal
Application/Window and run:
For versions of X.Org newer than 7, /usr/bin/aticonfig --initial to configure the
driver for your ATI product.
For versions of X.Org older than 7, /usr/X11R6/bin/aticonfig --initial to configure
the driver for your ATI product.

Why should I edit the config file if I have chosen the automatic configuration?

  1. In the case something “bad” will happen can I rollback to the previous driver?

Thank you in advice for your assistance

4

However I was reading that installing the proprietary driver can cause some problems, and I do not understand why.Why should be problematic? Are not the original one?

The open source drivers tend to behave better with the Xorg server, and being open sorce allows for transparent fixes and development. The proprietary drivers are developed behind closed doors, so there is not the same oppurtunity for peer-review etc. My own experience with the fglrx driver and X300 chipset was good, but some unreliable resuming (from suspend) was experienced. The radeon driver does not cause any problems for me, but the 3D graphics performance is slightly less, (which is not a problem for me).

I think in my case the automatic configuration should be the correct one ( I am not an expert), but after reading the release note I found the following:

After installing the generated distribution package, launch the Terminal
Application/Window and run:
For versions of X.Org newer than 7, /usr/bin/aticonfig --initial to configure the
driver for your ATI product.
For versions of X.Org older than 7, /usr/X11R6/bin/aticonfig --initial to configure
the driver for your ATI product.

Why should I edit the config file if I have chosen the automatic configuration?

The ‘aticonfig --initial’ command is used to generate a basic xorg.conf to support your graphics card.

5

I have a Dell Studio 1537 laptop, which is similar to the 1735, but has a smaller screen. In my case the ATI graphics are a Radeon HD3450.

The latest ATI Catalyst driver (v.10.8) still has some hiccups with openSUSE-11.3, especially the 2D area (where surprisingly enough 3D with special desktop effects works better than 2D).

Also, MS-Windows ATI drivers are unquestionably (in my view) superior to the Linux ATI drivers. For example, the MS-Windows drivers provide support for AVIVO , where the video decoding of HD videos is offloaded from the CPU to the GPU , and selected MS-Windows multimedia applications will take advantage of this.

The ATI proprietary Linux driver does NOT support this offloading of decoding to the GPU.

Ergo I can smoothly play some top resolution / top bitrate HD videos in MS-Windows that I can NOT play in Linux on that PC (with the proprietary Catalyst driver).

There are other limitations in the Linux driver as well.

Its disappointing, but that tends to be the way with graphic drivers, where in general the MS-Windows graphic drivers are superior to the Linux graphic drivers (in my view).

6

Thank you for your feedback so far and for your precious point of view!!!

Last time I forgot to post this:

  1. In the driver link there is written below the following:

The display driver requires POSIX shared memory to be enabled on the system.

Is this function enabled by default?
How should I verify this?

In the case, I choose the automatic configuration,should I be worried about this parameter or not?

  1. In the released note I found that the driver to work needs the following:

**XFree86-Mesa-libGL
libstdc++
libgcc
XFree86-libs
fontconfig
freetype
zlib
gcc **

Is it always true, or running tha automatic installation will take care of everything?

  1. Last but not the least:

In the case I experience problems may I go back the previous situation by uninstalling the driver or should I follow a specific procedure?

Sorry if I am bothering you with my questions, but this release note lacks of info.

Furthermore I do not like at all the Opensuse 11.3 graphic: it looks so “old fashioned” and the colours are so “faded”, that before giving up I want to try to improve them.

Thank you for your attention so far

7

I’ve never worried about POSIX shared memory and I’ve assumed the Linux standard for shared memory is the default for the driver needs. Anything else would not make implementation sense, as 95% of the users would have no idea about this, if tuning is needed.

My experience is if you need to also install “kernel-source”, “gcc”, “make” the remander should be picked up as needed or already installed by default. I also install “kernel-syms” but I do not know if that is essential. In fact for “gcc” and “make” I typically select the “BASE DEVELOPMENT” pattern under YaST and that installs the needed “gcc” and “make” for me, and thus I only additionally install “kernel-source” and “kernel-syms”. Note “kernel-source” and “kernel-syms” needs to be the same version as your current kernel. Also note the driver installer will build the driver ONLY against one kernel, and if one has multiple kernels installed, typically only ONE kernel can use the driver (and the graphics on others could be broken).

Hence users with multiple kernel selections (ie kernel-default, kernel-desktop, kernel-pae, etc … ) typically stick with only the open source graphic driver and do not use the proprietary graphic driver.

De-installation is sufficient (although its possible ‘mkinitrd’ is needed).

For INSTALLATION, typically, when one installs the driver “the hardway” (which is not hard, and it is a term used in the various wiki on how to install the driver) one will from Run Level 3 [which is NOT a GUI terminal] execute the installer, say for 64-bit openSUSE-11.3 with root permissions:

sh ati-driver-installer-10-7-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg SuSE/SUSE113-AMD64

which will create an rpm (one needs to give the build some time) with fglrx in the rpm file name. Note that BEFORE I execute that .run script, I always REMOVE any older fglrx driver first. I then typically install the rpm with the appropriate command with root permissions:

rpm -Uvh *fglrx* #as appropriate

And then in openSUS-11.3 I reboot with no /etc/X11/xorg.conf file, and the proprietary driver works. One probably could build a custom xorg.conf file with:

aticonfig --initial

but I see no need if X boots without it.

Hence for DE-INSTALLATION, if I wish to remove the driver (and in the case of the Catalyst 10.7 I did remove the driver) I simply type:

rpm -qa '*fglrx*

to remind me of the file name, and then I remove the appropriate fglrx rpm with the appropriate “rpm -e name-of-fglrx-rpm” command. (fill in the name of the fglrx rpm as appropriate)"

And then since I created no fglrx /etc/X11/xorg.conf, I could simply reboot.

When removing the driver, I do not recall it being necessary for me to also run:

mkinitrd

but its something to keep in mind as I note it is recommended in this very detailed guide on installing the proprietary driver.

Again note the Catalyst-10.8 driver, while a significant improvement for openSUSE-11.3 over the previous 10.6 and 10.7 driver, still has problems, especially with 2D. In fact, I found the 2D unusable for any type of Internet surfing due to the back window filling that impacted firefox browser. Fortunately 3D (special desktop effects) worked well for me with that driver.

You may find it better to roll back to the Radeon open source driver if the Catalyst 10.8 does not work for you. I find it typically takes 3 to 6 months for ATI to come up with a good ATI driver after a new openSUSE release, and that much time has not yet gone by.

And one final note, the Linux ATI Catalyst driver is no where near as good as the MS-Windows ATI Catalyst driver (of same version) and if you expect anything similar you will be significantly disappointed. IMHO the performance difference is huge (my experience in this is in HD video playback).

8

Thank you for your prompt answer.

I think I will follow your advice: I will wait for the new ATI driver to be developed, so I will be sure that, at least, they have been updated for Opensuse 11.3.

I am not expecting a terrible boost in performance, but as a linux newbie I think I have to try some “safe experiment” if I want to improve my knowledge.

Thank you for your support