New G4 Powerbook Video (Radeon Mobility 9600) Problems

[Ed McKnight]

Thanks to the pointer from Atro Tossavainen I've compiled and installed 
the development XFree86 as described below and now have a recognized 
card, but I can't get a usable display.

Relevant bits from my config file:
-------------
Section "Module"
Load "GLcore" #added
Load "dbe"
Load "extmod"
#Load "fbdevhw" #dropped
Load "glx"
Load "record"
Load "bitmap #added
Load "freetype"
Load "type1"
#Load "ati"
Load "radeon"
#Load "dri"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
ModelName "Monitor Model"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30-130
VertRefresh 50-160

EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Card0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1280x854"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1280x854"
Modes "1024x768"
Modes "640x480"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1280x854"
EndSubSection
EndSection
------------
I get an almost usable display, and I can switch between the three 
modes; all the timings are probed values. I can verify that the timings 
being used agree with what appears in the log file. They match exactly 
the modelines posted for the older chip.

Can the probes be wrong?

Does anyone have a config file that works with this chip/card?

The Xautoconfig utility wants to set me up with fbdev which bails out 
with an error under this chip. Using the new "ati" or "radeon" drivers 
gets me much farther but not far enough.

The display reminds me of what I got when specifying the wrong driver 
and/or depth when configuring RedHat under Virtual PC. I've tried 8, 16, 
24 bit depths here.

thx, --emk

Ed McKnight wrote:

>>
>>
>>
>> Message: 1
>> Subject: Re: New G4 Powerbook Video (Radeon Mobility 9600) Problems
>> To: yellowdog-general@lists.terrasoftsolutions.com
>> Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 17:14:08 +0300 (EEST)
>> From: Atro Tossavainen <atro.tossavainen+ydl@helsinki.fi>
>> Reply-To: yellowdog-general@lists.terrasoftsolutions.com
>>
>> Ed,
>>
>>
>>
>>> The most obnoxious is that there is no video support for the video 
>>> chip they upgraded to: the ATI Radeon Mobility 9600. I think the 
>>> older powerbook had the 9000 which has video support.
>>>
>>
>> It's not just YDL. It's everybody who uses XFree86, on all platforms.
>>
>> Support for a whole lot of new Radeons in XFree86 is only in the
>> development stage. You can download a development snapshot of XFree86
>> (currently at 4.3.99-14 from today, 10 Oct 2003), compile, replace a
>> few files, and it _should_ work.
>>
>> No sensible Linux distribution should include development snapshots of
>> anything. It follows that Red Hat has often been "not a sensible Linux
>> distribution".
>>
>> Get this 42 megabyte package:
>>
>> ftp://ftp.xfree86.org/pub/XFree86/develsnaps/XFree86-4.3.99.14.tar.bz2
>>
>> Unpack, cd xc, make World, (wait a long time).
>>
>> Replace /usr/X11R6/bin/XFree86 with the one you just made, replace
>> the contents of the /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers directory with
>> the new build, and it should Just Work.
>>
>>
>>
>>> The YDL supported hardware page says this video isn't supported but 
>>> gives no clue about the future.
>>>
>>
>> The future is today, but you need to be able to build your own XFree86
>> from source, and it is definitely not supported (but should work
>> nonetheless).
>>
>>
>>
>>> Does anyone have any info about whether this chip might ever be 
>>> supported/have an available driver for Linux (ppc)?
>>>
>>
>> It will be properly supported in the next stable release of XFree86.
>>
>>
>>
>>> ATI refers us to our hardware vendors--in this case Apple.
>>>
>>
>> Surprisingly enough, just about everybody thinks that Linux == x86.
>>
>
> Well, ATI didn't actually refer me to Apple--just to the notebook 
> manufacturer. In fact, they have links to a few manufacturers 
> incorporating their chips--and the list doesn't include Apple.
>
> --emk
>
>>
>> Linux blah 2.4.20-ben1 #5 Tue Feb 18 12:27:17 EET 2003 ppc unknown
>> Linux blah 2.4.19-sp #3 Tue Feb 4 17:56:07 EET 2003 alpha unknown
>> Linux blah 2.4.22 #3 Mon Oct 6 09:32:30 EEST 2003 i686 unknown
>>
>> :-)
>>
>>
>>
>