ForceLowPowerMode

[icek]

Hello, I have ATI 3200 HD, ubuntu karmic, and xorg-edgers ppa enabled. Im using open source ati driver. Im pretty happy with 2D, but I need some power saving ability. With fglrx my notebook was 10? cooler.

My xorg:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Option "UseFBDev" "true"
Option "ForceLowPowerMode" "true"
Option "DynamicPM" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

In xorg.log are these lines :

(**) RADEON(0): Option "ForceLowPowerMode" "true"
(**) RADEON(0): Option "DynamicPM" "true"

But I did not notice any change. What else should I do to keep my notebook cooler??

[Vash63]

That's about all you can do ATM with open source drivers. FGLRX has better power saving options right now.

[legume]

You could also add

Option "ClockGating" "true"

[sda1986]

Hi, I have an Asus F3jp with an Ati mobility x1700 and Ubuntu 9.10.
I think my S.Video burn too much energy and it's too hot.
I need only base video settings for watch some film, youtube, and compiz. In windows I can choose 3 type of power "low, mid, high"
With low power I can do anything I need in windows, because I think can be the same for linux.

My question is:
Can lowpowermode set low voltage and clock for my memory and core?
How can I controll if it work?

Thanks.

[bridgman]

ForceLowPowerMode sets a lower clock and reduces PCIE lane width to save power. It does not set a lower voltage yet.

Put Option "ForceLowPowerMode" "on" in the device section of your xorg.conf file. You can check in the xorg log to confirm that the option has been enabled.

[sda1986]

The original driver (Catalyst 9.3) set low only the frequency like this open driver, or both frequency and voltage?

I really need don't lose battery life...

Edit: My laptop with ubuntu have very short battery life and make a lot noise from the fan.

[bridgman]

Are you using the power saving options now ? There are three of them that should help - run "man radeon" for more info.

AFAIK the Cat 9.3 drivers dynamically set clocks and voltage - that kind of support is being worked on for the KMS drivers now. In the meantime, you definitely should try the existing power savings options since without them I would expect your power consumption to be high.

[sda1986]

I just edit my xorg.conf
I make a "sudo Xorg -configure"
then I copy xorg.conf.new from my home folder to X11 in etc.
Then I set up ForceLowPowerMode true and DynamicPM true

Here some cat | grep

sda@f3jp:~$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep Force
(**) RADEON(0): Option "ForceLowPowerMode" "true"
(II) RADEON(0): Force Low Power Mode Enabled

(**) RADEON(0): Option "DynamicPM" "true"
(II) RADEON(0): Dynamic Power Management Enabled

sda@f3jp:~$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep Clock
(II) RADEON(0): Default Engine Clock: 460000
(II) RADEON(0): Default Memory Clock: 400000
(II) RADEON(0): Maximum Pixel ClockPLL Frequency Output: 1100000
(II) RADEON(0): Minimum Pixel ClockPLL Frequency Output: 0
(II) RADEON(0): Maximum Pixel ClockPLL Frequency Input: 13500
(II) RADEON(0): Minimum Pixel ClockPLL Frequency Input: 1000
(II) RADEON(0): Maximum Pixel Clock: 400000
(II) RADEON(0): Reference Clock: 27000
XRes: 1280, YRes: 800, DotClock: 71110
(II) RADEON(0): crtc(0) Clock: mode 71110, PLL 71100
(II) RADEON(0): crtc(0) Clock: mode 71110, PLL 71100

I know in the last one is write DEFAULT CLOCK, but there isn't a simple way to watch how much the clock is set now?

Thanks.

Ps. Searching on the net I find this.

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

Version 1.3.0

* Added support for RV740, M92, M93, M97.
* Added support for HDMI audio on RS690 and R700.
* Added support for power management.
* Implemented almost correct analysis of PowerPlay AtomBIOS tables.
* 2D acceleration (EXA) is enabled by default now, except on RV740.
* Backlight handling finally fixed - compatible with xbacklight 1.1.1.
* Overhaul of memory controller setup. Fixes many "MC not idle" issues.
* Overhaul of cursor handling. Fixes most cursor bugs.
* Selectable color space for XVideo on R6xx/R7xx.
* Tons of bug fixes (DDC, EXA, LUT, RandR, AtomBIOS).
* More quirk table entries.
* Shave support (cleaner compilation output).
* All warnings fixed.
* Some start of Developer's documentation in README.coding.

Right now i have radeon driver installed, not radeonhd. Maybe radeonhd is better than only radeon? or are the same?

Thanks!!!

[hmmm]

Whats fbdev do with respect to power management?

Is it safe to EnablePageFlip on an rv620 or will it result in no difference?

[agd5f]

Whats fbdev do with respect to power management?

???

Is it safe to EnablePageFlip on an rv620 or will it result in no difference?

It won't do anything as pageflipping isn't properly implemented for anything newer than r2xx chips.