Tuning Ati Radeon (xorg.conf)/kms/dri/dri2

[Rog131]

This is with the Kubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx - Release Candidate i386 (20100419.1).
Older Ati Radeon.


Earlier:
> Topic: Alpha 1/2 Hickups (Xorg/Mesa/Radeon)
> Topic: Help needed with xorg.conf and graphics driver


New installation - the desktop is a bit sticky and the Konqueror/Opera are not scrolling smoothly.

The "psyke83" > Ati mobility radeon 9600 - tweaks needed is suggesting:

disable KMS (by adding the boot option radeon.modeset=0 to your GRUB configuration). Most benchmarks are showing regressions in radeon KMS (and therefore DRI2) performance, so try the non-KMS (and DRI1) mode to see if it's any better.

In my case, my old integrated graphics (Radeon IGP 345M, which is a R100-based card) is very slow with DRI2 -for example, when scrolling a page with compiz enabled, there is noticeable delay. However, performance is acceptable with DRI1 - i.e., with KMS disabled.

The default is KMS and DRI2 on

egrep "KMS|DRI" /var/log/Xorg.0.log

(II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
(II) Loading extension DRI2
(II) [KMS] Kernel modesetting enabled.
(II) RADEON(0): KMS Color Tiling: disabled
(II) RADEON(0): [DRI2] Setup complete
(II) GLX: Initialized DRI2 GL provider for screen 0

The KMS is > X/KernelModeSetting:

Kernel mode-setting (KMS) shifts responsibility for selecting and setting up the graphics mode from X.org to the kernel. When X.org is started, it then detects and uses the mode without any further mode changes. This promises to make booting faster, more graphical, and less flickery.

Making a /etc/modprobe.d/radeon-kms.conf with a line:

options radeon modeset=0

After the boot:

egrep "KMS|DRI" /var/log/Xorg.0.log

(II) Loading extension XFree86-DRI
(II) Loading extension DRI2
(II) [KMS] drm report modesetting isn't supported.
(II) RADEON(0): [dri] Found DRI library version 1.3.0 and kernel module version 1.32.0
(II) RADEON(0): [DRI] installation complete
(WW) RADEON(0): DRI init changed memory map, adjusting ...
(II) AIGLX: Screen 0 is not DRI2 capable
(II) GLX: Initialized DRI GL provider for screen 0

...and the desktop is usable as are the Konqueror/Opera.

BUT

The Plymouth (> Plymouth III) is using the KMS to set the splash screen so now it is an eyesore.

[img width=400 height=317]http://img532.imageshack.us/img532/7373/lowcolor.png[/img]


The "/usr/share/doc/plymouth/README.Debian" is telling:

High-color graphics on nVidia, ATI and other cards
--------------------------------------------------

Our default configuration uses low-color graphics on cards or drivers
for which "Kernel Mode Setting" (in-kernel graphics drivers) are not
available.

This is because the driver that permits high-color graphics tends to
cause issues with suspend and resume, and we opted to prefer that
working.

For nVidia and ATI users, the default "nouveau" and "radeon"
drivers are Kernel Mode Setting enabled, but do not always
provide 3D capability at the current time. By switching to
using the restricted/non-free nvidia-glx or fglrx drivers,
you will gain 3D capability at the loss of a high-color
splash screen.

You can however chose to enable high-color (and resolution) console
if you find it doesn't affect suspend/resume for you, or you don't
use that feature.

There are various methods of doing this, the most robust is the
following four steps:

Append video=vesafb to the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT in
/etc/default/grub
sudo update-grub

echo FRAMEBUFFER=y | sudo tee /etc/initramfs-tools/conf.d/splash
sudo update-initramfs -u

and with the uvesafb: > Re: First load screen is corrupt!! >> Lucid Ubuntu 10.04 High resolution Plymouth & Virtual Terminal for ATI/NVIDIA cards with proprietary/restricted driver


A possible (may work or may not with the Radeon) workaround is set the GRUB resolution in the /etc/default/grub:
> Fixing Really Ugly Plymouth With Nvidia Driver
> Topic: Fixing Really Ugly Plymouth When Using Proprietary Nvidia Driver


Supported graphic resolutions:

> GRUB 2: A Guide for Users and > The Grub 2 Guide

From the GRUB 2 menu you can display available resolutions by typing "c" and then at the "grub>" prompt type "vbeinfo"

and/or

sudo hwinfo --framebuffer

[Rog131]

Re: Tuning Ati Radeon (xorg.conf)/kms/dri/dri2

If the manual setting of the video mode is not working then there is an option to make a low resolution (640x480) low color (16) Plymouth theme (earlier > Topic: Common Splash From Start To Finish (suggestion/problems))


With the Gimp

1) Make a mockup theme and make an indexed color palette:

Image > Mode > Indexed > Generate optimum palette - Maximum number of colors: 16
Dithering: Floyd Steinberg (reduse color bleeding)

=> Convert

Windows > Dockable Dialogs > Palettes (righ click) > Import Palette > Image and press Import

[img width=400 height=351]http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2619/paletteo.png[/img]


2) Use the palette to all theme images:

Image > Mode > Indexed > Use custom palette (uncheck the "Remove unused colors from the colormap").

=> Convert

[img width=400 height=290]http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/9440/plymouthhollow.png[/img]



The result should be less eyesore

[img width=400 height=300]http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/594/hollow.gif[/img]

Henry Ford (?):
"You can paint it any color, so long as it's black"


Example as a debian package:

> PPA for Rog131 >> Package name contains: plymouth

plymouth-theme-hollow

an alternative plymouth theme

A plymouth theme that features a low resolution and low color.

More > FAQ: Repositories and > Using the PPA repositories