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Old 10-07-2008, 08:23 AM   #1
chochem
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: May 2008
Posts: 29

Rep: Reputation: 15
Ati graphics: Switching from Catalyst to Radeon


I've used the wiki guide to switch from Catalyst to the open source Radeon driver, prompted by a) some annoying video tearing and b) curiosity. The switch was easy and I've implemented all the tweaks suggested in the guide with no problems. The good news is, the tearing is gone and I think X starts quicker. The bad news is
* Lagging just for drawing windows. I can see the window being created , first a frame, then some fields, icons, window manager theme, anti-aliasing, etc. This goes especially for starting new windows but it's also there when switching between workspaces, scrolling, switching between windows etc. It's just a couiple of sconds but it's there.
* Switching between VCs and X and back causes the video overlay to be rendered as vertical lines instead of the proper video output. Not even restarting X fixes this, only a full restart.
* YouTube videos stop after two seonds (?)
I did expect - correctly - that compositing and 3D rendering would be hopelessly slow and I'm perfectly fine with that. A bit puzzled to see these effects, though. Does anyone know if they can be remedied or are they just 'features' of the open source driver? My only suspicion is that the new driver isn't properly using the 128Mb shared memory as I believe that might account for the lagging...?

My xorg.conf:
Code:
Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Xorg Configured"
	Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
	InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
	InputDevice    "PS/2 Mouse" "CorePointer"
# Serial Mouse not detected
# USB Mouse not detected
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
	Option "AllowMouseOpenFail"  "true"
	
EndSection

Section "Files"
	RgbPath      "/usr/share/X11/rgb"
	ModulePath   "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
# Additional fonts: Locale, Gimp, TTF...
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
#	FontPath     "/usr/share/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/75dpi"
#	FontPath     "/usr/share/lib/X11/fonts/latin2/100dpi"
# True type and type1 fonts are also handled via xftlib, see /etc/X11/XftConfig!
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/western"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/ttf/decoratives"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/openoffice"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/truetype/ttf-bitstream-vera"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/latex-ttf-fonts"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/defoma/CID"
	FontPath     "/usr/share/fonts/defoma/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
        Load  "ddc"  # ddc probing of monitor
	Load  "dbe"
	Load  "extmod"
        Load  "bitmap" # bitmap-fonts
	Load  "type1"
	Load  "freetype"
	Load  "record"
	# ati
	Load  "glx"
	Load  "dri"
	Load  "drm"
	#   Load  "synaptics"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Keyboard0"
	Driver      "keyboard"
        Option      "CoreKeyboard"
	Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
	Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
	Option "XkbLayout" "dk"
	Option "XkbVariant" ""
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "Serial Mouse"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option      "Protocol" "Microsoft"
	Option      "Device" "/dev/ttyS0"
	Option      "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
	Option      "Emulate3Timeout" "70"
	Option	    "SendCoreEvents"  "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
	Identifier  "PS/2 Mouse"
	Driver      "mouse"
	Option      "Protocol" "auto"
	Option          "ZAxisMapping"          "4 5"
	Option      "Device" "/dev/psaux"
	Option      "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
	Option      "Emulate3Timeout" "70"
	Option	    "SendCoreEvents"  "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
        Identifier      "USB Mouse"
        Driver          "mouse"
        Option          "Device"                "/dev/input/mice"
	Option		"SendCoreEvents"	"true"
        Option          "Protocol"              "IMPS/2"
        Option          "ZAxisMapping"          "4 5"
        Option          "Buttons"               "5"
EndSection

# Auto-generated by Archie mkxcfg

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier "Monitor0"
		Option "DPMS" "true"
#	HorizSync    28.0 - 78.0 # Warning: This may fry very old Monitors
	HorizSync    28.0 - 96.0 # Warning: This may fry old Monitors
	VertRefresh  50.0 - 75.0 # Very conservative. May flicker.
#	VertRefresh  50.0 - 62.0 # Extreme conservative. Will flicker. TFT default.
	#  Default modes distilled from
	#      "VESA and Industry Standards and Guide for Computer Display Monitor
	#       Timing", version 1.0, revision 0.8, adopted September 17, 1998.
	#  $XFree86: xc/programs/Xserver/hw/xfree86/etc/vesamodes,v 1.4 1999/11/18 16:52:17 tsi Exp $
	# 640x350 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.9kHz
	ModeLine "640x350"    31.5  640  672  736  832    350  382  385  445 +hsync -vsync
	# 640x400 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.9kHz
	ModeLine "640x400"    31.5  640  672  736  832    400  401  404  445 -hsync +vsync
	# 720x400 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.9kHz
	ModeLine "720x400"    35.5  720  756  828  936    400  401  404  446 -hsync +vsync
	# 640x480 @ 60Hz (Industry standard) hsync: 31.5kHz
	ModeLine "640x480"    25.2  640  656  752  800    480  490  492  525 -hsync -vsync
	# 640x480 @ 72Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.9kHz
	ModeLine "640x480"    31.5  640  664  704  832    480  489  491  520 -hsync -vsync
	# 640x480 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.5kHz
	ModeLine "640x480"    31.5  640  656  720  840    480  481  484  500 -hsync -vsync
	# 640x480 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 43.3kHz
	ModeLine "640x480"    36.0  640  696  752  832    480  481  484  509 -hsync -vsync
	# 800x600 @ 56Hz (VESA) hsync: 35.2kHz
	ModeLine "800x600"    36.0  800  824  896 1024    600  601  603  625 +hsync +vsync
	# 800x600 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 37.9kHz
	ModeLine "800x600"    40.0  800  840  968 1056    600  601  605  628 +hsync +vsync
	# 800x600 @ 72Hz (VESA) hsync: 48.1kHz
	ModeLine "800x600"    50.0  800  856  976 1040    600  637  643  666 +hsync +vsync
	# 800x600 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 46.9kHz
	ModeLine "800x600"    49.5  800  816  896 1056    600  601  604  625 +hsync +vsync
	# 800x600 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 53.7kHz
	ModeLine "800x600"    56.3  800  832  896 1048    600  601  604  631 +hsync +vsync
	# 1024x768i @ 43Hz (industry standard) hsync: 35.5kHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"   44.9 1024 1032 1208 1264    768  768  776  817 +hsync +vsync Interlace
	# 1024x768 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 48.4kHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"   65.0 1024 1048 1184 1344    768  771  777  806 -hsync -vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 70Hz (VESA) hsync: 56.5kHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"   75.0 1024 1048 1184 1328    768  771  777  806 -hsync -vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 60.0kHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"   78.8 1024 1040 1136 1312    768  769  772  800 +hsync +vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 68.7kHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"   94.5 1024 1072 1168 1376    768  769  772  808 +hsync +vsync
	# 1152x864 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 67.5kHz
	ModeLine "1152x864"  108.0 1152 1216 1344 1600    864  865  868  900 +hsync +vsync
	# 1280x960 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 60.0kHz
	ModeLine "1280x960"  108.0 1280 1376 1488 1800    960  961  964 1000 +hsync +vsync
	# 1280x960 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 85.9kHz
	ModeLine "1280x960"  148.5 1280 1344 1504 1728    960  961  964 1011 +hsync +vsync
	# 1280x1024 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 64.0kHz
	ModeLine "1280x1024" 108.0 1280 1328 1440 1688   1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
	# 1280x1024 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 80.0kHz
	ModeLine "1280x1024" 135.0 1280 1296 1440 1688   1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync
	# 1280x1024 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 91.1kHz
	ModeLine "1280x1024" 157.5 1280 1344 1504 1728   1024 1025 1028 1072 +hsync +vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 75.0kHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200" 162.0 1600 1664 1856 2160   1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 65Hz (VESA) hsync: 81.3kHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200" 175.5 1600 1664 1856 2160   1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 70Hz (VESA) hsync: 87.5kHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200" 189.0 1600 1664 1856 2160   1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 93.8kHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200" 202.5 1600 1664 1856 2160   1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 85Hz (VESA) hsync: 106.3kHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200" 229.5 1600 1664 1856 2160   1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync
	# 1792x1344 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 83.6kHz
	ModeLine "1792x1344" 204.8 1792 1920 2120 2448   1344 1345 1348 1394 -hsync +vsync
	# 1792x1344 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 106.3kHz
	ModeLine "1792x1344" 261.0 1792 1888 2104 2456   1344 1345 1348 1417 -hsync +vsync
	# 1856x1392 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 86.3kHz
	ModeLine "1856x1392" 218.3 1856 1952 2176 2528   1392 1393 1396 1439 -hsync +vsync
	# 1856x1392 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 112.5kHz
	ModeLine "1856x1392" 288.0 1856 1984 2208 2560   1392 1393 1396 1500 -hsync +vsync
	# 1920x1440 @ 60Hz (VESA) hsync: 90.0kHz
	ModeLine "1920x1440" 234.0 1920 2048 2256 2600   1440 1441 1444 1500 -hsync +vsync
	# 1920x1440 @ 75Hz (VESA) hsync: 112.5kHz
	ModeLine "1920x1440" 297.0 1920 2064 2288 2640   1440 1441 1444 1500 -hsync +vsync
	# Additional modelines
	ModeLine "1800x1440"  230    1800 1896 2088 2392  1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
	ModeLine "1800x1440"  250    1800 1896 2088 2392  1440 1441 1444 1490 +HSync +VSync
	# Extended modelines with GTF timings
	# 640x480 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 50.90 kHz; pclk: 43.16 MHz
	ModeLine "640x480"  43.16  640 680 744 848  480 481 484 509  -HSync +Vsync
	# 768x576 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 35.82 kHz; pclk: 34.96 MHz
	ModeLine "768x576"  34.96  768 792 872 976  576 577 580 597  -HSync +Vsync
	# 768x576 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 43.27 kHz; pclk: 42.93 MHz
	ModeLine "768x576"  42.93  768 800 880 992  576 577 580 601  -HSync +Vsync
	# 768x576 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 45.15 kHz; pclk: 45.51 MHz
	ModeLine "768x576"  45.51  768 808 888 1008  576 577 580 602  -HSync +Vsync
	# 768x576 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 51.42 kHz; pclk: 51.84 MHz
	ModeLine "768x576"  51.84  768 808 888 1008  576 577 580 605  -HSync +Vsync
	# 768x576 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 61.10 kHz; pclk: 62.57 MHz
	ModeLine "768x576"  62.57  768 816 896 1024  576 577 580 611  -HSync +Vsync
	# 800x600 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 63.60 kHz; pclk: 68.18 MHz
	ModeLine "800x600"  68.18  800 848 936 1072  600 601 604 636  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1024x768 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 81.40 kHz; pclk: 113.31 MHz
	ModeLine "1024x768"  113.31  1024 1096 1208 1392  768 769 772 814  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1152x864 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 53.70 kHz; pclk: 81.62 MHz
	ModeLine "1152x864"  81.62  1152 1216 1336 1520  864 865 868 895  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1152x864 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 77.10 kHz; pclk: 119.65 MHz
	ModeLine "1152x864"  119.65  1152 1224 1352 1552  864 865 868 907  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1152x864 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 91.50 kHz; pclk: 143.47 MHz
	ModeLine "1152x864"  143.47  1152 1232 1360 1568  864 865 868 915  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1280x960 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 72.07 kHz; pclk: 124.54 MHz
	ModeLine "1280x960"  124.54  1280 1368 1504 1728  960 961 964 1001  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1280x960 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 75.15 kHz; pclk: 129.86 MHz
	ModeLine "1280x960"  129.86  1280 1368 1504 1728  960 961 964 1002  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1280x960 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 101.70 kHz; pclk: 178.99 MHz
	ModeLine "1280x960"  178.99  1280 1376 1520 1760  960 961 964 1017  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1280x1024 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 108.50 kHz; pclk: 190.96 MHz
	ModeLine "1280x1024"  190.96  1280 1376 1520 1760  1024 1025 1028 1085  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1400x1050 @ 60.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 65.22 kHz; pclk: 122.61 MHz
	ModeLine "1400x1050"  122.61  1400 1488 1640 1880  1050 1051 1054 1087  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1400x1050 @ 72.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 78.77 kHz; pclk: 149.34 MHz
	ModeLine "1400x1050"  149.34  1400 1496 1648 1896  1050 1051 1054 1094  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1400x1050 @ 75.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 82.20 kHz; pclk: 155.85 MHz
	ModeLine "1400x1050"  155.85  1400 1496 1648 1896  1050 1051 1054 1096  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1400x1050 @ 85.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 93.76 kHz; pclk: 179.26 MHz
	ModeLine "1400x1050"  179.26  1400 1504 1656 1912  1050 1051 1054 1103  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1400x1050 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 111.20 kHz; pclk: 214.39 MHz
	ModeLine "1400x1050"  214.39  1400 1512 1664 1928  1050 1051 1054 1112  -HSync +Vsync
	# 1600x1200 @ 100.00 Hz (GTF) hsync: 127.10 kHz; pclk: 280.64 MHz
	ModeLine "1600x1200"  280.64  1600 1728 1904 2208  1200 1201 1204 1271  -HSync +Vsync
EndSection

# Auto-generated by Archie mkxcfg


# Section "Device"
#	Identifier  "Card0"
#	Driver      "vesa"
#	VendorName  "All"
#	BoardName   "All"
# EndSection

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"atios"
	Driver		"radeon"
	Option		"XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
	Option		"AGPMode" "4"
	Option		"ColorTiling" "on"
	# Option		"EnablePageFlip" "on"
	# Disable if X won't start
	Option		"AccelMethod" "EXA"
	Option		"AGPFastWrite" "yes"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
	Identifier "Screen0"
	Device     "atios"
	Monitor    "Monitor0"
	DefaultColorDepth 24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     1
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     4
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     8
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     15
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     16
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     24
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth     32
		Modes "1280x800" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "DRI"
 Group	"video"
 Mode	0666
EndSection
 
Old 10-07-2008, 12:48 PM   #2
amani
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jul 2006
Location: Kolkata, India
Distribution: Debian 64-bit GNU/Linux, Kubuntu64, Fedora QA, Slackware,
Posts: 2,766

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
You can add a lot of options. See the manual and howtoforge

#man radeon

...they depend on your card!
 
Old 10-07-2008, 02:06 PM   #3
chochem
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: May 2008
Posts: 29

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 15
Thanks, amani. The man file actually looks pretty clear and useful. I solved the most pressing issues of lagging by removing some options from the device section. The vertical lines resulting from the VC/X switching is the most annoying one left, as my inittab starts up several programs in VCs (stuff like htop and and an SSH/Screen connection). Anyhow, I'll have a look at the man page and see if it offers any hints.
 
Old 10-09-2008, 11:29 AM   #4
amani
Senior Member
 
Registered: Jul 2006
Location: Kolkata, India
Distribution: Debian 64-bit GNU/Linux, Kubuntu64, Fedora QA, Slackware,
Posts: 2,766

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
Keep at least this in the device section

Driver "radeon"
Option "MergedFB" "off"
Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"

In the modules you should then have dri, drm, glx and others
 
  


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