# [solved] ati x700 dri

## mody

Hi, I'm a long term gentoo user, I'm on the verge of moving to another distro as the moment I'm spending more time on Gentoo than getting any work done! I'm struggling with an ATI PCI-X x700. Cant get any descent framebuffer up after days of trying every combination from the various zillion opinions available on the forums. Somebody please help?

My system is a desktop:

Pentium D 3.4 Ghz

4 x 1 Gb DDR2 RAM

2 X 340GB SATA HDD

512MB ATI x700 /w SAMSUNG SynMaster 740N (1280x1024 native resolution)

EMU 1616m PCMCIA soundcard mounted on a PCI->PCMCIA controller

I totally confused with all the information in the forums, any help will be greatly appreciated. I really like portage and its USE flag system.

Thanks in advance, 

Please tell me what logs/configs to post for further information. I'm starting afresh with GentooLiveinstaller 2006.1.Last edited by mody on Fri Feb 16, 2007 7:11 pm; edited 1 time in total

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## sugar

Can you post your grub.conf file?

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## mody

 *sugar wrote:*   

> Can you post your grub.conf file?

 

Hi at the moment I'm not using any kernel switches since I get a blank screen eventhough the machine is booting up normaly other wise.

Can you tell me what kernel option I should select to be selected from the character devices and grahpic dirve sections for this hardware, and it they should be modlues or compiled in.

what switches do you use in grub. 

my current kernel options are:

Device Drivers --> Character Devices:

   <*> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support)

   <*> Intel 440LX/BX/GX, I8xx and E7x05 chipset support      (IS THIS FOR THE AGP CHIPSET ON THE INTEL MOTHERBOARD, I HAVE AN ONBOARD CONTROLLER WHICH I'M NOT USEING)

DRI is off.

 for Graphics Support -->

   <*> VESA with vesafb

This is what boots up with a  working vga screen.

Thanks for answering.

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## sugar

the below is what is in my gf's laptops grub.conf file. Its been a while since I set it up.

```
title=Gentoo kernel (2.6.19-r2)

root (hd0,0)

kernel /boot/kernel-2.6.19-gentoo-r1 root=/dev/hda3 video=radeonfb:ywrap,mtrr:2,1024x768-32@60 splash=silent,fadein,theme:livecd-2006.0 CONSOLE=/dev/tty1 quiet irqpoll

initrd (hd0,0)/boot/fbsplash-livecd-2006-0-1024x768

```

iirc, I switched to the radeonfb after the vesafb stopped working. Also, the highest resolution that works is 1024x768, or at least thats the highest the themes go for the default gentoo fb themes.

```
<*> ATI Radeon display support

  │ │    [*]   DDC/I2C for ATI Radeon support

  │ │    [*]   Lots of debug output from Radeon driver
```

edit: irqpoll is for a memory conflict. You should disregard.

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## mody

Hi,

I added the ATI Driver and the kernel switch, just the video part and not the splash stuff as I havent got there as yet.

It made no difference to the mode on boot up with or with out the video string. Should I deselect the intel selection from the agpgart section in the Character Devices page.

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## Voltago

 *mody wrote:*   

> Hi, I'm a long term gentoo user, I'm on the verge of moving to another distro as the moment I'm spending more time on Gentoo than getting any work done!

 

I think this whole help-me-or-i-will-stop-using-gentoo thing is extremely bad style. If you have problems with gentoo, use another distro. End of problem (probably).

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## _pF_

I don't think that most of us who bought an ATI card will make the same mistake again.

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## mody

 *Voltago wrote:*   

>  *mody wrote:*   Hi, I'm a long term gentoo user, I'm on the verge of moving to another distro as the moment I'm spending more time on Gentoo than getting any work done! 
> 
> I think this whole help-me-or-i-will-stop-using-gentoo thing is extremely bad style. If you have problems with gentoo, use another distro. End of problem (probably).

 

Verry sorry about that, didnt mean it as a threat, my apologies, gentoo can lock you down sometimes and I was voicing a frustration, I had stuff to do and wasnt a good idea to start on a new gentoo installation with untested hardware. Gentoo can test you sometimes.

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## mody

 *_pF_ wrote:*   

> I don't think that most of us who bought an ATI card will make the same mistake again.

  Yeah, I agree the compatability issues surrounding Linux can get the better of us sometimes. On the other extreme, incopetence to deploy Linux is another way to look at it.

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## aidanjt

If you want a framebuffer with ATi, you *must* use vesafb, radeonfb conflicts with fglrx

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## mody

 *_pF_ wrote:*   

> I don't think that most of us who bought an ATI card will make the same mistake again.

  Which ATI card do you have and how far did you get with it? What do you typically use on linux that uses openGL as well as these cards can run it? Thats besides the GLX and similar stuff. I wish netKar and the G25 would work with linux, the only other reason I have to keep a windows installation alive is for guitarRig2/Cubase on the emu-1616m.

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## DirtyHairy

AFAIK, the radeon framebuffer driver won't coexist with fglrx, so you should use VESA if you wan't to use it. Moreover,  you can choose between vesafb and vesafb-tng, the latter will allow you to explicitely specify resolution, depth and refresh rate, while the first seems more stable for me (but requires mode numbers as vga= kernel parameter; see /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt). For me (T60, X1300), only the older driver works... If you are not sure what's going wrong, but the system boots up nevertheless, then possibly the first lines of dmesg might give a hint (provided that you can get at it, of course...  :Smile:  )

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## mody

 *DirtyHairy wrote:*   

> AFAIK, the radeon framebuffer driver won't coexist with fglrx, so you should use VESA if you wan't to use it. Moreover,  you can choose between vesafb and vesafb-tng, the latter will allow you to explicitely specify resolution, depth and refresh rate, while the first seems more stable for me (but requires mode numbers as vga= kernel parameter; see /usr/src/linux/Documentation/fb/vesafb.txt). For me (T60, X1300), only the older driver works... If you are not sure what's going wrong, but the system boots up nevertheless, then possibly the first lines of dmesg might give a hint (provided that you can get at it, of course...  )

 

Thats a good point, I though I'd write a line into local.start to dump dmesg output before I reboot the machine blind. I tried the VESA buffer in many combinations, it keep using intelFB with I cant quite understand why? I'm a the relm of too much half information here so I dont want to blabber too much. Thanks for the help so far.

I'll check is dmesg has any clues. Thanks.

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## DirtyHairy

Hmm, if some other framebuffer driver takes precedence over vesafb, then you should recompile your kernel and deactivate anything but vesafb --- also, make sure it is compiled directly into the kernel (not as a module). The relevant part of your .config should look something like this:

```
 #

# Graphics support

#

CONFIG_FIRMWARE_EDID=y

CONFIG_FB=y

CONFIG_FB_CFB_FILLRECT=y

CONFIG_FB_CFB_COPYAREA=y

CONFIG_FB_CFB_IMAGEBLIT=y

# CONFIG_FB_MACMODES is not set

# CONFIG_FB_BACKLIGHT is not set

# CONFIG_FB_MODE_HELPERS is not set

# CONFIG_FB_TILEBLITTING is not set

# CONFIG_FB_CIRRUS is not set

# CONFIG_FB_PM2 is not set

# CONFIG_FB_CYBER2000 is not set

# CONFIG_FB_ARC is not set

# CONFIG_FB_ASILIANT is not set

# CONFIG_FB_IMSTT is not set

# CONFIG_FB_VGA16 is not set

CONFIG_FB_VESA=y

CONFIG_FB_VESA_STD=y

# CONFIG_FB_VESA_TNG is not set

CONFIG_VIDEO_SELECT=y

# CONFIG_FB_HGA is not set

# CONFIG_FB_S1D13XXX is not set

# CONFIG_FB_NVIDIA is not set

# CONFIG_FB_RIVA is not set

# CONFIG_FB_I810 is not set

# CONFIG_FB_INTEL is not set

# CONFIG_FB_MATROX is not set

# CONFIG_FB_RADEON is not set

# CONFIG_FB_ATY128 is not set

# CONFIG_FB_ATY is not set

# CONFIG_FB_SAVAGE is not set

# CONFIG_FB_SIS is not set

# CONFIG_FB_NEOMAGIC is not set

# CONFIG_FB_KYRO is not set

# CONFIG_FB_3DFX is not set

# CONFIG_FB_VOODOO1 is not set

# CONFIG_FB_CYBLA is not set

# CONFIG_FB_TRIDENT is not set

# CONFIG_FB_GEODE is not set

# CONFIG_FB_VIRTUAL is not set

#

# Console display driver support

#

CONFIG_VGA_CONSOLE=y

CONFIG_VGACON_SOFT_SCROLLBACK=y

CONFIG_VGACON_SOFT_SCROLLBACK_SIZE=128

CONFIG_DUMMY_CONSOLE=y

CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE=y

# CONFIG_FRAMEBUFFER_CONSOLE_ROTATION is not set

# CONFIG_FONTS is not set

CONFIG_FONT_8x8=y

CONFIG_FONT_8x16=y

```

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## mody

Thank DirtyHarry.

I got it working with vesafb at 1280x1024. Will fbsplash work with this at 1024x768?

I'm working on getting hardware accel up now.

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## DirtyHairy

You're welcome  :Smile:  I never used fbsplash, but I suppose all it needs is a framebuffer, so it is likely it will.

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## mody

Hi, I got fbsplash working at  1280x1024 compiled into the kernel works great.

Thanks.

 *sugar wrote:*   

> the below is what is in my gf's laptops grub.conf file. Its been a while since I set it up.
> 
> ```
> title=Gentoo kernel (2.6.19-r2)
> 
> ...

 

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## mody

 *DirtyHairy wrote:*   

> You're welcome  I never used fbsplash, but I suppose all it needs is a framebuffer, so it is likely it will.

 

So far everything looks good. 

Getting 3D accel up. At the moment I'm recompiling xorg-server with VIDEO_CARDS="fglrx"

Whats the best GLX type window manager and whats the performance like with the 'fglrx' with your experience?

edit: What I mean is GLX vs Baryl, not sure?

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## mody

can anybody post their xorg.conf to help get dri working.

is it necessary to emerge xorg-drm?

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## mody

dri not working as of yet; I'm recompiling xorg-server and x11-drm.

Any ideas?

VIDEO_CARDS="fglrx radeon"

These is my kernel modules:

 *Quote:*   

> # /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.6:  kernel modules to load when system boots\.
> 
> #
> 
> # Note that this file is for 2.6 kernels.
> ...

 

my xorg.conf:

 *Quote:*   

> Section "Device"
> 
>         ### Available Driver options are:-
> 
>         # sw_cursor is needed for some ati and radeon cards
> ...

 

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## DirtyHairy

DRI won't work without the fglrx module, and that in turn won't load with in-kernel DRM enabled (it shouldn't build if that is enabled in the .config anyway). So, rebuild your kernel without DRM (somewhere in drivers->character devices if I am correct), make sure /usr/src/linux points to the correct directory, rebuild fglrx with 

```
emerge ati-drivers
```

, run 

```
aticonfig --initial
```

 and restart X --- should work or at least give you some helpful errors

P.S.: These directions are for using the closed-source drivers obviously. AFAIK, the open source drivers should work for you too, your configuration seems fine for those. Are there any errors in your Xorg.log (lines starting with (EE) )?

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## mody

I'm going to try to get it up with the opensource drivers (with x11-drm; this necessary for OS dirvers only right? I'm not useing any kernel dri)

Then I'll try the closedsource drivers. want to know what works better. You are sure VESAFB doesnt interfere with xserver operations?

 *DirtyHairy wrote:*   

> DRI won't work without the fglrx module, and that in turn won't load with in-kernel DRM enabled (it shouldn't build if that is enabled in the .config anyway). So, rebuild your kernel without DRM (somewhere in drivers->character devices if I am correct), make sure /usr/src/linux points to the correct directory, rebuild fglrx with 
> 
> ```
> emerge ati-drivers
> ```
> ...

 

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## DirtyHairy

For the opensource drivers, you'll need either x11-drm or in-kernel drm (although I'm not aware of any reason not to use in-kernel drm if you are running a recent kernel). The vesafb driver most certainly shouldn't interfere with x11 and dri. If you are interested in 3D performance comparisons, then the closed driver beats the opensource driver into the dust, which in turn is supposed to perform better for 2D operations. I don't know how things are where stability is concerned though...

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## K T A

Hello, vesfb and fglrx work both together fine on my system. I have hw-accel running and no problems at all - and I have the infamous ATI XPRESS 200M using system RAM... I will share my xorg.conf if you need it.

KTA

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## mody

Hi thanks for all the help, I'm going to take a break and just let gnome and kde compile, just one last question for now, can you tell me if you've compiled anything as modules, at the moment I have:

agpgart.ko

/lib/modules/2.6.19-gentoo-r5/kernel/drivers/char/agp/ati-agp.ko

/lib/modules/2.6.19-gentoo-r5/x11-drm/drm.ko

/lib/modules/2.6.19-gentoo-r5/x11-drm/radeon.ko

/lib/modules/2.6.19-gentoo-r5/video/fglrx.ko

in my system with xorg using 'radeon' with 

Module                  Size  Used by

radeon                113696  2

drm                    84248  3 radeon

agpgart                36428  1 drm

loaded.

I think its now a question of getting the right module combinations and uninstalling x11-drm and emergeing ati-drivers for the closed source drivers to work. I still havent got the opensource drivers giving me hardware acceleration, I've to play around a little more I suppose.

 *DirtyHairy wrote:*   

> For the opensource drivers, you'll need either x11-drm or in-kernel drm (although I'm not aware of any reason not to use in-kernel drm if you are running a recent kernel). The vesafb driver most certainly shouldn't interfere with x11 and dri. If you are interested in 3D performance comparisons, then the closed driver beats the opensource driver into the dust, which in turn is supposed to perform better for 2D operations. I don't know how things are where stability is concerned though...

 

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## K T A

AFAIK for the closed-source driver you need fglrx, agpgart, and [your_chipset]_agp all as modules...

KTA

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## DirtyHairy

Since you seem to be on PCI-express, you won't need the AGP stuff, you'll just need fglrx

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## K T A

 *Quote:*   

> Since you seem to be on PCI-express, you won't need the AGP stuff, you'll just need fglrx

 

Hmm, you are wrong on that one - both AGP modules are autoloaded and used with the fglrx module - it won't work without. But that might be a ATI IGP thing...

KTA

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## mody

 *K T A wrote:*   

> AFAIK for the closed-source driver you need fglrx, agpgart, and [your_chipset]_agp all as modules...
> 
> KTA

 

Thanks, that makes sense, I was pretty confused as to whats what. Gnome's just finished compiling, will try all this out in a bit.

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## mody

Hi I've got it working with the ATI-Drivers and the resolutions and things are all correct.   :Very Happy: 

Here's my configureation. If this is correct for the closed source drivers are there and switched I could add to optimize further?

modules.autoload

```
agpgart

ati-agp

fglrx
```

xorg.conf

```
Section "Device"

   ### Available Driver options are:-

   # sw_cursor is needed for some ati and radeon cards

Option "sw_cursor"

   #Option     "hw_cursor"

   #Option     "NoAccel"

   #Option     "ShowCache"

   #Option     "ShadowFB"

   #Option     "UseFBDev"

   #Option     "Rotate"

   Identifier  "Card0"

   # The following line is auto-generated by x11-misc/mkxf86config

   Driver      "radeon"    (should this be 'fglrx'?)

   VendorName  "All"

   BoardName   "All"

#   BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"

EndSection
```

glxinfo (is this the closed source driver):

```
direct rendering: Yes

server glx vendor string: SGI

server glx version string: 1.2

server glx extensions:

    GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, 

    GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_method, 

    GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe, 

    GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig

client glx vendor string: ATI

client glx version string: 1.3

```

Thank you all, this has been a breeze with all your help.  :Very Happy: 

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