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syphondex
n00b
Joined: 20 Apr 2006
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:59 am Post subject: Need some help with ATI video (insert Psycho(C) scream here) |
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Hi,
I have in the last week or so managed to get my first linux desktop up and running.
Some people said i was an idiot to try the gentoo distro as my first linux experience (you may or may not agree) but i went ahead anyway b/c what do they know.
After trying to get it running for about a week and reading everything i could find i have got it running. Yay for me!
Problem : After emerging ATI-drivers and Xorg-X11 and making associated module selectiong etc. i have come across a problem. I believe others have had similar problems.
When i startx if the xorg.conf device driver is "fglrx", the screen is black/blank and does nada. If the xorg.conf device driver is set to "radeon" it opens X fine and i have a fully functional desktop at the correct resolution etc. but "fglrxinfo" does not recognise the card correctly.
Now i have been reading up and I beleive it may be an issue with DRI? There were no problems with any of the steps in the gentoo ATI install wiki and i believe (but will be checking) that i set the kernel options/swtiches correctly.
some things to try would be appreciated.
I have been looking at the forums but nothing that i can find quit matches my ?problem?
ATI card : ATI Radeon 9600xt 256MB
Gentoo 2006.0 - latest gentoo kernel, stage 3, and portage snapshot. |
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a7thson
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Joined: 08 Apr 2006
Posts: 176
Location: your pineal gland
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:41 am Post subject: |
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Gentoo as a first Linux is quite an undertaking, congrats on getting this far...
| Quote: | | If the xorg.conf device driver is set to "radeon" it opens X fine and i have a fully functional desktop at the correct resolution etc. but "fglrxinfo" does not recognise the card correctly. |
The issue here is that ati-drivers are proprietary binaries from ATI while radeon is the free driver. Their use is mutually exclusive. So naturally when you are running under "radeon" driver, ATI's "fglrxinfo" won't display anything, since it has no driver it recognizes and knows how to call on.
| Quote: | | When i startx if the xorg.conf device driver is "fglrx", the screen is black/blank and does nada. |
check out your logfile ( /var/log/Xorg.0.log ) after a failed X session with "fglrx" as your driver and see if it gives you some more information...
As a next step, it's possible you're having a conflict with the "radeonfb" driver for a framebuffer if you have that (i.e. a framebuffer) configured. I've encountered that problem in several kernels with my own ATI Mobility X300. The "radeonfb" driver is not always stable and for me causes strange pauses and lockups after I go into X. And other times X would bomb out like what you're describing. If you're using that driver in your kernel, try reconfiguring your kernel to use vesafb or vesafb-tng for the frambuffer, build radeonfb as a module or something if you like, and try starting X without the presence of radeonfb. This is just a first guess however. I'd try that before posting your xorg.conf and/or log file and going deeper into the problem.
for more information about the X radeon driver check its man page: http://ftp.x.org/pub/X11R7.0/doc/html/radeon.4.html
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i7-3610QM | E5-2670 | FX-8300 |
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TerranAce007
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 281
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:54 am Post subject: |
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Well, it could be that you f***ed something up, or it could be that ATI linux drivers are buggy and tend to have problems, or it could be both. I have a Mobility Radeon 9700 in my laptop, and I just mananged to get dual desktops on an external montior working with the ATI drivers, but I still have random lockups that I haven't been able to figure out.
When you startx with the fglrx driver, does the system become unresponsive (ie. freeze/lock up), or can you crtl-alt-f1 to
return to the console? What version of the drivers are you using?
I would first try switching the use internal apgart setting in /etc/X11/xorg.conf (set it to yes if its no, or vice versa), and see if that helps. Then, upgrade to ~amd64 unstable tree drivers (8.23.7) if you haven't already.
Check your kernel config. The wiki howto should tell you what to enable and what to disable to get rid of conflicts. If your xorg.conf wasnt properly configured, X wouldn't even start with either driver, so you should be good there.
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It's all funny until someone gets hurt.
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Pitr-
n00b
Joined: 15 May 2003
Posts: 18
Location: Sweden
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:47 pm Post subject: |
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| TerranAce007 wrote: | When you startx with the fglrx driver, does the system become unresponsive (ie. freeze/lock up), or can you crtl-alt-f1 to
return to the console? What version of the drivers are you using? |
I'm pretty sure he's got the same problems as the rest of us "black-screen" at xorg-start-people. Xorg just crashes out completely and the only way to access your computer is through ssh.
I've tried every little thing there is to try like older kernels, no framebuffer, clean kernel-configuration even without usb-support and stuff, playing around with xorg.conf to no avail and so on... older ati-drivers is a no go for me since I have an X1900 (512mb) pci-express graphicscard. And yes, I'm currently running ~amd64 desperately waiting for the quickfix for this annoying problem 
Update: If I set the ati-drivers NoAccel option to yes (disable all hardware acceleration) I do get into Xorg without blackscreen.... but it's pretty pointless. and yes, it seems like it's related to DRI because if i skip loading the dri module I get a whitescreen but can stil exit xorg with ctrl+backspace but if I load DRI then xorg crashes with no traces of the crash in xorg.0.log (just a few normal warnings).
Last edited by Pitr- on Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:47 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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TerranAce007
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Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 281
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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And the moral of the story, stick with nVidia. I just put a GeForce 6800GS 256mb in my desktop, which I also dual boot with XP/Gentoo. The nVidia linux drivers are so much nicer. I did have a few similar issues like I have with the ati drivers, but the newer drivers appeared and my problems went away. There is even a gui settings panel nearly identical to the Windows version, except for the overclocking ability. The xorg transpareny stuff is still buggy, but works a helluvalot better than with the ATI drivers. I'm not in the market for anything soon, but nVidia still rules the mobile gaming world with the mobility 7800GT/GTX and the newer 7900GTX (which is only available through Dell, go figure...)
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