# 2.6.x kernel - Radeon Framebuffer console, HOW???

## cepler

I can't seem to get the Radeon framebuffer console to work properly in 2.6.x kernels (haven't tried 2.4.x).  Is this broken?  (It's not marked experiemental in the kernel so I'd think it'd work...at least a bit..)

Yes, I can get VESA to work, no, I don't want to USE VESA, not when there is a Radeon option which would most likely be faster, so please don't tell me to use VESA mode, because frankly I'm tired of reading that on USENET.

Has ANYONE gotten Radeon FB console to work in 2.6.x?  If so, can you share your grub lines and kernel .config lines?

PS: Don't tell me to use X either please...another response that came up often on USENET Google searches (*GROAN*)  I just want to have a nice fast larger than 80x24 or 80x50 text mode that is a framebuffer mode supported by a hardware driver (radeonfb).  *sigh*  Sorry if I sound grumpy, just been trying to get this to work for a couple days with no luck.

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## michaelb

For what it's worth, even though you don't want to hear it, I have a Radeon card, but I use the vesa driver for my console frame buffer. I have a seriously yummy 1280x1024 console with no noticable dip in speed from not using framebuffer at all.

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## cepler

No noticeable dip in speed?  So you got radeonfb to work?  (Otherwise how could you say it wasn't noticeable?  ;-P)

Anyhow, I did a bunch of googling and poking around and it looks like it's just not possible to use the FireGL drivers alongside the RadeonFB driver.  And, to make matters worse, the Radeonfb.c that is included in most of the sources I've seen is VERY VERY VERY old.  There was a newwer version in the XFS sources which explained how it couldn't coexist with FireGL X drivers.  So, unfortunatly, I guess I'll do VESAVB.  BAH!

I did get the driver to get past the not seeing the FB by doing a MEM=840M but then my sync got lost and I couldn't find a mode to make it work right.  I guess I'll give VESA a shot again since it's all I'll be able to use.

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## maw

Perhaps you could enlighten us as to how you got vesafb to work at a decent resolution... whenever I try it, I get a totally black screen. That's with 2.6, a Radeon 9800 Pro and a 17" LCD plugged into the DVI port.

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## Instinct82

well, in 2.6.3 there is an new version of radeonfb

i compiled it into the kernel using genkernel but initrd seems to use vesafb by default. i think after initrd startup, radeonfb can't be initialized because vesafb is already there

i get the message 

```
radeonfb: cannot reserve FB region
```

any hints on how to change the initrd's fb?

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## michaelb

 *cepler wrote:*   

> No noticeable dip in speed? So you got radeonfb to work? (Otherwise how could you say it wasn't noticeable? ;-P) 

 

No noticable change from not using framebuffer at all. For the record, I use the vesa driver for console only, my X server is using the accelerated radeon driver.

Hopefully that clears up any confusion over my last post.

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## g3n

My Radeon Mobility M6 had a problem too, if it is configured with the radeon FB module it appear to be out of sync (the flat panel). But with Vesa i got no problems and i see no slowdown.

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## patroclo7

I have an Ati Radeon Mobility U1 and I compiled the radeonfb in kernel 2.6.3 WITHOUT compiling the vesa one. In this way, during the boot, the console goes automatically to full screen, with the penguin icon on the top). However, the behaviour of the framebuffer is far from ideal: he has problems to sync and refresh and sometimes it generates strange images... However I do not want to go back to vesa one, in so far as the radeonfb allows me to use all my screen resolution (1024x768).

You do not need to pass any option through the bootloader: the radeonfb guesses the screen data from the BIOS.

I do not know if some option could resolve the sync and refresh troubles, also because it seemingly (looking to the logs)  ignores any option: it appears to consider only the biosdata.

Anyway, if you need for some reasons to have also the vesafb, I think you can avoid it from taking the prominence passing the option "vga=normal".

Another problem with radeon is that it is officially incompatible with any bootsplash image. On the contrary, vesafb is fully compatible... But I never succeeded in giving it the proper resolution, so I definitely prefer some sync error and no bootsplash than the horrible vesa resolution. Obviously, if someone si able to teach me how to give a decent resolution to vesafb, I'll come back!

Giorgio Lando

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## Master One

Yeah, it's pretty weird. I have a ATI Radeon 9200SE 64MB, and tried it with the radeonfb and vesafb.

With radeonfb it seem indeed that no screenmode-options (using vga=...) are processed, it always gave me a strange low-res which did not fit in my 17" flat-panel, and I could not find any way to influence this behavior.

With vesafb I get it working using the vga=... option, but strangely I only can get up to 1024x768 (so vga=792). When I try it with 1280x1024 (like vga=795), I get a nasty flickering picture at 87 Hz with is barely readable...

No idea, what this is all about. I already searched the forum, but all I could find was some postings reporting the same problem on a Radeon card, but no sollution for this problem.

Maybe someone has a clue and likes to share. I would like to have my console running with a framebuffer on 1280x1024.

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## patroclo7

Actually, you can pass options to the kernel, but not through "vga=... " You need vga=normal only to disable the eventually coinstalled vesa...

Moreover, I manage to make it work fine on my 15' screen of a Compaq Presario 2120, with the maximum resolution of 1024x768 automatically detected from the bios. The troubles which I explain above disappear, passing the "noaccel" option to the kernel... The acceleration in the framebuffer is not very useful and I can live fine without it!!!!

The only remaining troubles are:

1) a bit of strange colours when the boot-penguin appears;

2) in the first 4-5 seconds of the boot-up, the resolution is that of the previous vesafb... It seems that radeonfb is used afterwards. Very unimportant troubles, in my opinion... I read somewhere googling that they are well-known bugs.

I passed these options to the kernel (adding it to the kernel line in grub.conf):

video=radeonfb:1024x768,noaccel

I think that, in this way, also the resolution you like is substituted to that taken from the bios, but I'm not sure, since in my situation they coincide... Note that after "video=" you have to write "radeonfb" only in 2.5 and above kernels... in 2.4 kernels write  "radeon" instead, without "fb"...

You find a complete how-to for radeonfb, with many more options and their detailed syntax at this address:

http://thesapphirecat.iwarp.com/present/program/radeonfb.html

The author affirms that his guide has to be referred to 2.4 kernels only... But I can tell you that the only differences in the newer kernels concern the change of name from "radeon" to "radeonfb"  :Smile: ))

Giorgio Lando

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## Master One

Didn't look at this any further, as I now use vesafb with 1024x768 at the console, disabled the radeonfb in my kernel, which does not matter anyway, as these two machines with ATI Radeon's 9200SE are now used as servers, and I only connect to them using ssh. I'll probably will install Gentoo also on my workstation and notebook, which use Radeon 9200 and Radeon Mobility 9000, then I'll play arround with it again.

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## pjp

Moved from Installing Gentoo.

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## sapphirecat

Radeons have issues. A number of them always report 1024x768 for any flat panel connected to the DVI port. This manifests in breakage with VESA drivers (both fbcon and XFree86), and radeonfb defaulting to the lower-resolution mode as well. There are currently (as in, "being posted to linux-fbdev-devel earlier today") patches going to Andrew Morton to use EDID data from the monitor to figure out the available modes for 2.6.

Meanwhile, specifying a specific mode and resolution to radeonfb would be an option, except it's still broken because the driver believes the BIOS over the command-line panel_yres parameter. I have a page with my collected radeonfb knowledge and a patch (but against 2.4) here. The patch should be pretty trivial to port to 2.6, and I'd be willing to post it if someone did port it and sent it to me.

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## chrisyu

I use love-sources-2.6.4-rc2-love1, which include the radeonfb patch.

And my boot parameter

```

vga=0x31A video=radeonfb:accel,mtrr,1280x1024-16@76

```

It works basicly well, only one problem to me.

If start into X, then press ALt+F? to switch to console, console get messed.

When you press Alt+F7 back to X, X get messed too.

After logout X, everything is fine.

I use radeonfb because it's faster in console.

And important , it dosn't have a bug while vesafb has(it's fixable).

The bug will cause a performence problem.

Please check this thread on rage3d.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33736241

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## g3n

I m emerging with the framebuffer and kernel 2.6.5-r2, can i install the framebuffer in it? can i have bootsplash?

I think the first could be done, but the second... uhm...   :Confused: 

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## patroclo7

I'm using your same 2.6.5-r2-mm3 kernel. My video card is a Radeon Mobility IGP 320 U1. Radeonfb is functioning, but: in my system it is usable only at 32 bpp. At 16, you need to turn off acceleration, otherwise the console will be ALWAYS confused. Moreover, also at 32, passing to X and returning back is slow and confusing. Finally, radeonfb has some problem in booting, with a strenge chromatic effect which fortunately disappears soon.

About splash: this kernel has not the bootsplash patch in itself, but you can aplly it... You have to aplly the patch SPECIFIC to this kernel (nor that for 2.6.4 nor that for 2.6.5-r1-mm1 are good...) You find the link to the correct patch in the framebuffer & bootsplash support thread in the forums.

In order to use bootsplash images you need to follow the instructions in the tips & tricks specific thread. Moreover... You CAN NOT use radeonfb, and you CAN NOT have framebuffer at 32 bpp. The only choice available for using bootsplash images and framebuffer is vesafb at bpp. However, the refresh ratesn in vesafb are much bettere than before: I can use it at 76 Hz

Actually, I'm using this last solution. I have not the problem with mtrr mentned in a previous post (and in the corresponding link).

A last observation: with this kernel, nor radeonfb nor vesafb have any negative impact on using DRI in X; such compatibility (in particular between radeonfb and radeon rdm) was on the contrary affecting previous kernels.

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## g3n

Ok ill try it and tell you what happen  as soon as kde finish to compile.

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## Sudrien

 *patroclo7 wrote:*   

> At 16, you need to turn off acceleration, otherwise the console will be ALWAYS confused.

 

Just what I needed   :Wink:  I was tired to switching between consoles.

-Sud.

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## MADcow

hmm, works well for me.. i'm using love-2.6.5-rc1

only problem is that when i switch from X back to a VT, the screen goes all scrambley and the box totally crashes

the keyboard leds (numlock, capsloc, etc) don't even work

wah

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