Recommended xorg.conf setup for radeonhd on Mobility Radeon X1400

[RealNC]

You asked how to make sure X uses your xorg.conf. My answer means that you should copy it as /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Then, after X has started, this:

grep xorg.conf /var/log/Xorg.0.log

Should say:

(==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf"

[fernandou]

You asked how to make sure X uses your xorg.conf. My answer means that you should copy it as /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Right, sorry, I'm doing that right now, and got the expected (==) Using config file: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf" message.

So, now I'm certain I'm using radeon instead of radeonhd, but nothing has changed yet.

[RealNC]

OpenGL is quite slow with the open source drivers so make sure your media player uses Xv instead of OpenGL for video. The open drivers have a very good, stable, correct and fast Xv implementation.

Also, it's best to not have any options in the device section of your X.Org conf. Here is an xorg.conf you can use as-is for the radeon driver:

Section "ServerLayout"
	Identifier     "Simple Layout"
	Screen      0  "Screen 1" 0 0
EndSection


Section "Monitor"
	Identifier   "Monitor[0]"
EndSection


Section "Device"
	Identifier  "X1400"
	Driver      "radeon"
EndSection


Section "Screen"
	Monitor    "Monitor[0]"
	Identifier "Screen 1"
	Device     "X1400"
EndSection


Section "DRI"
	Mode         0666
EndSection

[adamk]

Show us your full /var/log/Xorg.0.log file and the full output of 'LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose glxinfo'

Adam

[fernandou]

Xorg.0.log

LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose glxinfo

[RealNC]

This looks problematic:

"(II) RADEON(0): XAA Render acceleration unsupported on Radeon 9500/9700 and newer. Please use EXA instead."

The default is EXA but for some reason the driver tries to use XAA. Try forcing EXA with:

Section "Device"
	Identifier  "X1400"
	Driver      "radeon"
	Option      "AccelMethod" "EXA"
EndSection

[adamk]

I would not switch to EXA till you get direct rendering working. What is the output of 'dmesg | grep drm' and 'lsmod | grep drm'?

Adam

[fernandou]

lsmod | grep drm
drm_kms_helper         17183  1 radeon
drm                   107507  3 radeon,ttm,drm_kms_helper
i2c_core               12612  4 radeon,drm,i2c_algo_bit,i2c_i801
agpgart                19516  3 ttm,drm,intel_agp

dmesg | grep drm

Thanks all for your help! I'll get this to work...

[adamk]

You need to install the Debian kernel firmware package. It's called firmware-linux.

Then you need to unload and reload the radeon kernel module (or simply reboot). Once Direct Rendering is working, switch to the EXA AccelMethod per RealNC's instructions.

[pingufunkybeat]

Yes.

Currently, neither 3d acceleration nor EXA is working. No wonder everything is slow.

Both are supported on your chipset with your currently installed drivers, but you will need the firmware.