Xorg -configure --> crash

[danny]

Hi,

After a fresh and clean installation of FreeBSD 8.2 (64 bit) on an Acer Aspire 8530G, which uses an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, I'm unable to start an X-server, because there is no /etx/X11/xorg.conf (note: /etc/X11/ is empty).

Trying to execute [cmd=]Xorg -configure[/cmd] the system crashes (screen gets white, no input possible).

- I'm using xorg-server 1.7.5.
- I installed the following drivers: radeon, vesa, ati, fbdev


Regards
Danny

 

[wblock@]

White screen is unusual. You said no input works, but did that include the switch to console ctrl-alt-f1?

You should probably update ports, since there's a newer xorg-server and xf86-video-ati driver.

 

[jrm@]

This may also be helpful: http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?p=132764#post132764

 

[danny]

I upgraded xorg and all its dependencies. The following xorg and ati-related packages are now installed:

xf86-video-ati-6.14.1_1 X.Org ati display driver
xf86-video-radeonhd-1.3.0_4 X.Org ati RadeonHD display driver
xorg-7.5.1          X.Org complete distribution metaport
xorg-apps-7.5.1     X.org apps meta-port
xorg-docs-1.4,1     X.org documentation files
xorg-drivers-7.5.1  X.org drivers meta-port
xorg-fonts-100dpi-7.5.1 X.Org 100dpi bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-7.5.1    X.org fonts meta-port
xorg-fonts-75dpi-7.5.1 X.Org 75dpi bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-cyrillic-7.5.1 X.Org Cyrillic bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-miscbitmaps-7.5.1 X.Org miscellaneous bitmap fonts
xorg-fonts-truetype-7.5.1 X.Org TrueType fonts
xorg-fonts-type1-7.5.1 X.Org Type1 fonts
xorg-libraries-7.5.1 X.org libraries meta-port
xorg-macros-1.11.0  X.Org development aclocal macros
xorg-server-1.7.7_1,1 X.Org X server and related programs

The same issue occurs. The screen freezes and slowly fades into white. Not even ctrl-alt-f1 or ctrl-alt-del is possible. Reinstalling and upgrading all packages via portupgrade -a didn't solve this issue, neither.

Does Xorg -configure need any graphic related kernel modules to be (manually) loaded? I'm a linux guy and I think having BSD running on a few machines would be nice, though.


Regards
Danny

 

[danny]

I tried startx and attached my Xorg.0.log to this message.


Regards
Danny

 

[wblock@]

(!!) More than one possible primary device found
(--) PCI: (0:1:5:0) 1002:9612:1025:0199 ATI Technologies Inc RS780M/RS780MN [Radeon HD 3200 Graphics] rev 0, Mem @ 0xd0000000/268435456,
 0xafdf0000/65536, 0xafe00000/1048576, I/O @ 0x00009000/256, BIOS @ 0x????????/65536
(--) PCI: (0:2:0:0) 1002:9553:1025:017d ATI Technologies Inc M92 [Mobility Radeon HD 4500/5100 Series] rev 0, Mem @ 0xb0000000/268435456,
 0xafbf0000/65536, I/O @ 0x0000a000/256, BIOS @ 0x????????/65536
Primary device is not PCI

Appears to be one of the rare systems that has two built-in graphics adapters. Check the BIOS for options.

Create /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf with at least a Device section:

Section "Device"
        Identifier  "Card0"
        Driver      "radeon"
        VendorName  "ATI Technologies Inc"
        BoardName   "M92 [Radeon HD 4500]"
        BusID       "PCI:2:0:0"
EndSection

If that doesn't work, try using "PCI:1:5:0" instead.

 

[danny]

I set xorg.conf accordingly and tried both BusIDs. Executing

[CMD=""]startx[/CMD]

freezes the screen and lets it turn white, but at least it creates a new log file (see attachment) containing the following warning:

(WW) VGA arbiter: cannot open kernel arbiter, no multi-card support

Regards
Danny

 

[wblock@]

The "VGA arbiter" warning is normal, FreeBSD doesn't have one.

This is not good:

(II) Primary Device is:

The log of a Radeon 4650 shows that the next line after your log ends is

(II) RADEON(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000

Still looks like a conflict between the two cards. Some searching found this article on a Linux kernel module for switching between the two cards. Naturally that won't work on FreeBSD, but it's a reference.

Is there an option in the BIOS for disabling either card?

 

[danny]

How come there is a conflict, even though we specified one card by its Bus-ID and didn't even mention in xorg.conf there is a second card?

I checked the bios. There is no option for configuring graphic adapters.


Regards
Danny

 

[wblock@]

How come there is a conflict, even though we specified one card by it's Bus-ID and didn't even mention in xorg.conf there is a second card?

xorg is only trying to access one card, but the hybrid hardware needs some specific initialization. It may be worth asking on the freebsd-x11 or freebsd-acpi mailing lists.