OSS ATI still causes my fans to spin fast!

[georgelappies]

georgelappies, what power settings are you using ? If you don't choose a power setting the card will run at default which is still "full power" for many cards (although default on newest cards tends to be lower).

For more information on settings see the "KMS Power Management Options" section about half way down the page at :

http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature

Thanks so much for the help, really appreciate it. What does this mean though:

Select the profile by echoing the selected profile to /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile

[crazycheese]

why not improve the automatic selection of the profiles?

or why not write a nice gui for selecting the profiles.

you as a professional management man truly can calculate the costs of this stuff.

then maybe someone pay for this feature

This was my dream, some time ago.

[bridgman]

Thanks so much for the help, really appreciate it. What does this mean though:

Select the profile by echoing the selected profile to /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile

There is a Unix/Linux command called "echo" which prints whatever parameters you give it. If you type "echo hello world" without the quotes it prints "hello world" (also without quotes). If you type "echo hello world > filename" it puts "hello world" into a file called "filename". If you type "echo mid > /sys/class/etc..." it sends the string "mid" to that system file which (if your VBIOS supports a mid-level power profile) sets the power to "medium".

So :

first echo profile > one sys file
then echo mid > the other sys file

If mid doesn't work try low.

[georgelappies]

There is a Unix/Linux command called "echo" which prints whatever parameters you give it. If you type "echo hello world" without the quotes it prints "hello world" (also without quotes). If you type "echo hello world > filename" it puts "hello world" into a file called "filename". If you type "echo mid > /sys/class/etc..." it sends the string "mid" to that system file which (if your VBIOS supports a mid-level power profile) sets the power to "medium".

So :

first echo profile > one sys file
then echo mid > the other sys file

If mid doesn't work try low.

Thanks, I did this it worked!!! Will this be active on every boot or how can I make it 'stick' if not?

I am now getting weird flicker for a second or so when I minimize or maximize a window. This is on mid with kde effects on running slackware64 bit 13.37 kernel 2.6.39?
P.S. Definitely should be an option in the catalyst...

[georgelappies]

What is a safe temp for the gpu to run at while idle? I have a Dell 1558 with an ATI 5470 HD Mobility chip. On mid the temp is about 54 degrees celsius? Is this ok, I do not want to damage the card or laptop by running this kernel driver...

[curaga]

^ this BTW. Bridgman, the maximum temps are listed online for every cpu, but only for Nvidia gpus. Would be useful to know what a particular card can stand.

[Azultra]

My HD 5650 Mobility also runs around 52-55?C at the mid power profile, on 2.6.38 and 2.6.39 kernels, and I remember that it used to rarely go above 46?C when idling 9 months ago.

Any idea what that increase may be due to?

If that matters, my laptop is from Toshiba, which is one of the brands for which DPMS isn't supported (the screen starts flashing heavily when entering DPMS) (there was a bug opened for that but sorry I can't find it anymore).

[bridgman]

My HD 5650 Mobility also runs around 52-55?C at the mid power profile, on 2.6.38 and 2.6.39 kernels, and I remember that it used to rarely go above 46?C when idling 9 months ago.

Any idea what that increase may be due to?

If that matters, my laptop is from Toshiba, which is one of the brands for which DPMS isn't supported (the screen starts flashing heavily when entering DPMS) (there was a bug opened for that but sorry I can't find it anymore).

First thought is dust buildup inside. The power profiles influence power levels directly, but temp is a consequence of both power dissipation and cooling system effectiveness. The other possibility is that your temp sensor is showing temp off a common CPU/GPU cooling system and CPU power has gone up.

Not saying there wasn't a change in driver power management, just that it's probably not the most likely explanation.

[shenglu]

I find it rather fun will kick into high-power Linux loud hell mode, even a little bit of the GPU load my card, but I can play Fallout: New Vegas, set in 1920 ? 1080 high, GPU and CPU have to stay so underutilized, not a fan kick sound level.