ATI Radeon 9000, open source x.org driver causes monitor to display "no signal".

xpozition · 05-06-2008, 11:01 AM

Hi All,

I would really appreciate any help at all anyone can give with this issue.

I have been trying to switch to linux for a month now, and initially installed ubuntu 7.10. Long story short whenever the open source "ati" or "radeon" driver is selected in xorg.conf, the monitor will display "no signal" after the bootsplash. I can only use the "vesa" driver. I need a 1440x900 resolution, but the vesa doesn't support this - I would really like my widescreen back.

I have also tried installing (or using the livecd) the following distros:

- Puppy 4.0
- Ubuntu 8.04
- Mepis 7.0
- Pclinuxos mini-me
- Gentoo 2007 (live cd)

All of which do not work at the 1440x900 resolution with the "ati" driver selected, displaying "no signal" or having strange graphical errors. I have posted bug reports and others have reported the same problems but I haven't had much luck.

I also tried the proprietary drivers, however the latest version of fglrx is not supported by the card. I tried the latest supported version but there was a dependancy error so I gave up.

I have tried allsorts, including editing various parts of the xorg.conf but I am having no luck on any distro it would seem. I'm reasonably new to linux but would this not suggest a problem with the driver itself? Short of buying a new graphics card I'm not sure what to try. I know people have got this card working, so there is still hope.

Thanks in advance.

Emerson · 05-06-2008, 11:37 AM

Did you study this one? http://www.x.org/wiki/radeon

bsdunix · 05-06-2008, 11:38 AM

Quote:

I have tried allsorts, including editing various parts of the xorg.conf but I am having no luck on any distro it would seem.

Some ideas just in case you didn't try them. Did you set the proper HorizSync and VertRefresh values in the "Monitor" section? You may also have to enter a DisplaySize value. This article has a section on how to calculate the DisplaySize:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf
http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_Xorg_an...11.2Fxorg.conf

Case: wide screen resolution
http://www.x.org/wiki/radeon

xpozition · 05-07-2008, 03:14 PM

Have had a goood read of the wiki page, but haven't really stopped anything that I haven't tried / that would explain my error.

bsdunix: Have already set DIsplaySize/HorizSync/VertRefresh in the "Monitor" section unfortunately to no avail.

Appreciate the replies though.

Emerson · 05-07-2008, 04:15 PM

Hmh ... did you try disabling/removing HorizSync and VertRefresh? With these not present Xorg will use DDC. Anyway, time to investigate Xorg log.

xpozition · 05-07-2008, 04:53 PM

OK, I'm using Ubuntu 8.04 at the moment, and the xorg.conf is quite strange in that a lot of it is preconfigured - it looks a lot different to 7.10. I definately think I have tried it with those not present as they are not included by default in 8.04.

I think its best if I link to the thread I had going on ubuntu here.

The reason I am posting here is because this is happening on every distro I try...

xpozition · 05-08-2008, 04:29 PM

Are there any other generic drivers I could use that support 1440x900 resolution?

Emerson · 05-08-2008, 05:36 PM

Did you look at Xorg log, it will tell you what is used and why. To my knowledge there is no such generic driver.

xpozition · 05-09-2008, 10:40 AM

Due to the 25000 character post link please find links to the xorg log files below:

1) First Xorg log file here (7.10 I think).

2) Second Xorg log file and xorg.conf file here (8.04 I think).

I'm not sure what to do with them to be honest. I believe there are one or two errors but nobody really picked up on them.

Somebody on the mepis forum also found this error:

Quote:

well, I hauled my 8500 back out of storage and hooked it up to the computer that is still up for sale... and um... yeah, something odd with the ATi driver, screen just goes black.

so, now I'm trying to figure out a fix.

**

okay. The problem seems to be that the X.org Core and kernel received and update, but the existing X.org ATi driver did not.

The difference in X.org also means that the 8.28 driver won't load... it throws a hissy fit.

So... anybody with the talent to package a more recent version of the X.org ATi driver?

Emerson · 05-09-2008, 12:49 PM

Please tell us how many monitors are connected and what kind of connection.

The driver is capable to do 1440x900 (snippet of log below).

Modeline "1440x900"x59.9 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync

But also:

(II) RADEON(0): Detected non-DDC Monitor Type: 0

This means it cannot configured automatically.

xpozition · 05-10-2008, 05:37 AM

Only the one monitor connected - a Acer AL1916w, using a vga connector.

Wasn't aware that was the case - is there any way to configure it manually?

Thanks

Emerson · 05-10-2008, 08:16 AM

First, when you start X and get that message "No Signal", try to switch to another resolution. (Probably the signal is out of range and your monitor is protecting itself.)
You can step through available resolutions with (Ctrl)+(Alt)+(+) key combination.

If you find it works with desired resolution remove/comment out all lines you do not need, leave something like this:

Code:

Section "Monitor"
	Identifier	"Configured Monitor"
	Vendorname	"Acer"
	Modelname	"Acer AL1916Wc"
	Modeline	"1440x900"x59.9 106.50 1440 1528 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync
EndSection

...

Section "Screen"
	Identifier	"Default Screen"
	Monitor		"Configured Monitor"
	Device		"Configured Video Device"
	Defaultdepth	24
	SubSection "Display"
		Depth	24
		Modes	"1440x900@60"	
	EndSubSection
EndSection

xpozition · 05-10-2008, 10:05 AM

I will try this now, however usually the system will "lock up" when the monitor displays no signal, and the keyboard wont do anything (E.g. when I press the caps lock key it doesn't work).

Emerson · 05-10-2008, 10:22 AM

Hmm, that's news. Are you sure your card gets enough power? Is your PSU up to the task?

xpozition · 05-10-2008, 11:15 AM

Just checked it to confirm by typing:

Code:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

in terminal to reset xorg.conf to default (and therefore radeon/ati driver)

Rebooted, and although the keyboard light was on, it clearly wasn't working and the monitor displayed "no signal".

I'm assuming the card gets enough power and the psu is up to the task since this is a manufactured pc (fujitsu siemens scaleo 600 - not put together myself) and it runs fine in windows @ 1440x900.