[opensuse] does suse 11 play nicely with ati radeon drivers?
i've been fighting with this for the last couple hours, and i'm finally giving up and asking for help. i installed a fresh suse 11 (yes, it's SLES 11 but i have to think this is going to be a general problem since it involves video drivers, but i'm willing to be corrected.) this is on a gateway mx7120 laptop, with a 1280x800 display, and the following snippet from "lspci -v": 01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) Subsystem: Gateway 2000 Device 0506 Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 66, IRQ 7 Memory at d4000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=64M] I/O ports at 9000 [size=256] Memory at d0100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=64K] [virtual] Expansion ROM at d0120000 [disabled] [size=128K] Capabilities: [50] Power Management version 2 Kernel modules: radeonfb after the install, booting normally gave me nothing but a dark screen, although i could "ssh" in to look around. i could, however, boot in failsafe mode, at which point "xdpyinfo" tells me that i'm running at a resolution of 1024x768, which appears to be the best i can do right now. so, X works fine in failsafe mode but normal mode. short question: anyone know what the problem is? more info: when i boot normally (for which X fails), then ssh in, the tail end of /var/log/Xorg.0.log reads: Fatal server error: AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0 so it's pretty clear *something* failed badly, and i've been googling on that error to see if i can learn something obvious. i attached the system's xorg.conf file, which i find curious since i didn't change it at all, and it defines a number of modelines, *none* of which match the actual display res of 1280x800. i'm not a video expert so i'm stumped here, and open to suggestions. i've had issues with radeon drivers under fedora for a while -- should i expect the same grief under SUSE? rday -- ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry. Web page: http://crashcourse.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday ========================================================================
On Monday 19 October 2009 02:47:43 pm Robert P. J. Day wrote:
i've been fighting with this for the last couple hours, and i'm finally giving up and asking for help.
i installed a fresh suse 11 (yes, it's SLES 11 but i have to think this is going to be a general problem since it involves video drivers, but i'm willing to be corrected.) this is on a gateway mx7120 laptop, with a 1280x800 display, and the following snippet from "lspci -v":
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) <snip> short question: anyone know what the problem is?
Yes, and hopefully yes, the "black screen of death" means that your radeon.ko, (or radeonhd.ko, or fglrx.ko) isn't being loaded. giving your the screen init failure below. As root, try loading the modules and see which one works. If you are trying to load the fglrx.ko modules, first make sure there are no lingering "radeon" drivers loaded (if so, then rmmod radeon), then just install the module with "modprobe -v fglrx" and see if you get errors (they usually give you a hint). If you don't have errors after the load with modprobe, then confirm that whatever modules you were loading -- got loaded. Use "lsmod | grep modulename" to find out. Also, when dealing with kernel modules (somefile.ko), to load the module, you do NOT type the '.ko' at the end. So if your want to load "somemodule.ko", then your install it with modprobe (as root) giving only: modprobe summodule If you get the desired module loaded, REBOOT. I wouldn't want left over pieces of the old radeon or ATI driver laying around giving you trouble. The stock radeon driver is notorious for that. Also google "download radeonhd" and check whether you can use the radeonhd driver. It is far superior to the stock radeon driver for performance, but nothing will come close to a properly installed fglrx driver as far as performance goes. The 8-9 driver provides 600% better performance than the radeon or radeonhd driver. (The radeonhd driver is under very active development and it is getting better all the time. Good Luck!
more info: when i boot normally (for which X fails), then ssh in, the tail end of /var/log/Xorg.0.log reads:
Fatal server error: AddScreen/ScreenInit failed for driver 0
so it's pretty clear *something* failed badly, and i've been googling on that error to see if i can learn something obvious.
That looks just like an "I can't find my module" behavior that I've seen on a number of occastions.
i attached the system's xorg.conf file, which i find curious since i didn't change it at all, and it defines a number of modelines, *none* of which match the actual display res of 1280x800.
Here is one thing to try. Xorg has perfectly good defaults to get you going. Just move your xorg.conf somewhere safe to keep while testing. The with the xorg.conf REMOVED from /etc/X11, just try and start X again. I have seen this approach work in a majority of cases (however, it still reqires you to have the correct modules loaded.
i'm not a video expert so i'm stumped here, and open to suggestions. i've had issues with radeon drivers under fedora for a while -- should i expect the same grief under SUSE?
Very few are. But I guarantee you will learn enought of the life of your laptop to be considered an expert :-)
rday --
======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.
Web page: http://crashcourse.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday ========================================================================
-- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, David C. Rankin wrote:
On Monday 19 October 2009 02:47:43 pm Robert P. J. Day wrote:
i've been fighting with this for the last couple hours, and i'm finally giving up and asking for help.
i installed a fresh suse 11 (yes, it's SLES 11 but i have to think this is going to be a general problem since it involves video drivers, but i'm willing to be corrected.) this is on a gateway mx7120 laptop, with a 1280x800 display, and the following snippet from "lspci -v":
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) <snip> short question: anyone know what the problem is?
Yes, and hopefully yes, the "black screen of death" means that your radeon.ko, (or radeonhd.ko, or fglrx.ko) isn't being loaded. giving your the screen init failure below.
i did eventually track down a solution here: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx download the linux x86_64 .run file for the intergrated xpress 200 chip, run it to generate an rpm file for my SLES 11 system, install, then drop to runlevel 3 and run "sax2" to set up for my xpress 200m chip. after that, it worked like a charm. rday -- ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry. Web page: http://crashcourse.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday ======================================================================== -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Friday 23 October 2009 04:58:39 am Robert P. J. Day wrote:
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, David C. Rankin wrote:
On Monday 19 October 2009 02:47:43 pm Robert P. J. Day wrote:
i've been fighting with this for the last couple hours, and i'm finally giving up and asking for help.
i installed a fresh suse 11 (yes, it's SLES 11 but i have to think this is going to be a general problem since it involves video drivers, but i'm willing to be corrected.) this is on a gateway mx7120 laptop, with a 1280x800 display, and the following snippet from "lspci -v":
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) <snip> short question: anyone know what the problem is?
Yes, and hopefully yes, the "black screen of death" means that your radeon.ko, (or radeonhd.ko, or fglrx.ko) isn't being loaded. giving your the screen init failure below.
i did eventually track down a solution here:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
download the linux x86_64 .run file for the intergrated xpress 200 chip, run it to generate an rpm file for my SLES 11 system, install, then drop to runlevel 3 and run "sax2" to set up for my xpress 200m chip.
after that, it worked like a charm.
rday --
Robert, If you don't mind, can you post the filename of the .run package. Something like: ati-driver-installer-9-3-x86.x86_64.run I just want to see what side of dividing line old/new the 200M falls. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, David C. Rankin wrote:
On Friday 23 October 2009 04:58:39 am Robert P. J. Day wrote:
On Fri, 23 Oct 2009, David C. Rankin wrote:
On Monday 19 October 2009 02:47:43 pm Robert P. J. Day wrote:
i've been fighting with this for the last couple hours, and i'm finally giving up and asking for help.
i installed a fresh suse 11 (yes, it's SLES 11 but i have to think this is going to be a general problem since it involves video drivers, but i'm willing to be corrected.) this is on a gateway mx7120 laptop, with a 1280x800 display, and the following snippet from "lspci -v":
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]) <snip> short question: anyone know what the problem is?
Yes, and hopefully yes, the "black screen of death" means that your radeon.ko, (or radeonhd.ko, or fglrx.ko) isn't being loaded. giving your the screen init failure below.
i did eventually track down a solution here:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
download the linux x86_64 .run file for the intergrated xpress 200 chip, run it to generate an rpm file for my SLES 11 system, install, then drop to runlevel 3 and run "sax2" to set up for my xpress 200m chip.
after that, it worked like a charm.
rday --
Robert,
If you don't mind, can you post the filename of the .run package. Something like: ati-driver-installer-9-3-x86.x86_64.run I just want to see what side of dividing line old/new the 200M falls.
that is, in fact, exactly the one i used, which was selected thru here: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx by picking linux x86_64 -> integrated/motherboard -> xpress 200. since that file appears to work, i'm assuming there's no better choice for my scenario. rday -- ======================================================================== Robert P. J. Day Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA Linux Consulting, Training and Kernel Pedantry. Web page: http://crashcourse.ca Twitter: http://twitter.com/rpjday ======================================================================== -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Saturday 24 October 2009 04:43:32 am Robert P. J. Day wrote:
that is, in fact, exactly the one i used, which was selected thru here:
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
by picking linux x86_64 -> integrated/motherboard -> xpress 200. since that file appears to work, i'm assuming there's no better choice for my scenario.
Ok, The xpress 200M is a legacy card. You are using the 9-3 (2009-March) driver which is fglrx version 8.593. Glad it is working for you. If you are running a laptop. Let me know what type of FPS you get from glxgears executed from a console. (don't do anything else while it is running or it will effect the output.) Let it run for about 45 seconds or so and you should get 5-10 lines of output like this (my xpress 1200): 02:26 alchemy:~> glxgears 5008 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1001.453 FPS 5103 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1020.519 FPS 5103 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1020.580 FPS 5105 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1020.997 FPS 5103 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1020.493 FPS With the 9-3 driver, I dropped to: 23:59 alchemy:~> glxgears 3021 frames in 5.0 seconds = 604.191 FPS 2613 frames in 5.0 seconds = 522.544 FPS 2614 frames in 5.0 seconds = 522.795 FPS But even at that level it is 300% better than the radeonhd driver which gives ~165 FPS. (Sad part is my 2004 laptop with the Radeon 9600 chipset gives 2800 FPS :-( -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
On Friday 23 October 2009 23:08:18 David C. Rankin wrote:
If you don't mind, can you post the filename of the .run package. Something like: ati-driver-installer-9-3-x86.x86_64.run I just want to see what side of dividing line old/new the 200M falls.
It is exactly as you wrote it above. -- Regards, Rajko OpenSUSE Wiki Team: http://en.opensuse.org/Wiki_Team People of openSUSE: http://en.opensuse.org/People_of_openSUSE/About -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org
participants (3)
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David C. Rankin
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Rajko M.
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Robert P. J. Day