{Solved} Ati Open-source driver: Pawer Management

[keivan]

I have dell inspiron 6400 laptop with ati x1400 GPU (RV500 Family). Open-source drivers work for me and I have no problem with anything except the powermanagement. now I want to know:

1. how can I enable the power management for my ati GPU? I found this guide in the internet but it does not work for me.

Important notice: I want to keep my installation for years. I want a method supported by the developers which do not cause me trouble after updates and continue to work for years in this rolling release distro.

when I su in a terminal and run

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echo dynpm > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

I recieve this error

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bash: /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method: No such file or directory

I tried this too, error is the same

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echo profile > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method
bash: /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method: No such file or directory


and this

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echo low > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile
bash: /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile: No such file or directory


2. there is no xorg.conf in the /etc/X11/ ! why?

3. Is xserver-xorg-video-radeon is my GPU driver?

[AlbertP]

2. This means that everything is auto-detected and there are not yet any settings to be saved. You can just create the file.
3. Yes. It is the X server part of the driver.

[keivan]

You can just create the file.

Is there any auto-configuration method for this purpose?

[AlbertP]

Generally a Xorg.conf is not needed. I am also running without Xorg.conf without any problem (though I don't have an ATI X1400).

If you really need a Xorg.conf, you can let it autogenerate one.
You have to run it outside X: press Ctrl-Alt-F1 and stop the X server with:

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sudo service gdm stop

Then run:

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sudo X -configure

And then restart the X server:

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sudo service gdm start

[keivan]

I did su
and then

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service gdm3 stop
X -configure

a xorg.conf.new created in /root. When I tested that I ended with a black screen. Is this OK? What should I do?
is there any way to enable kill x shortcut (I think it was ctrl + alt + backspace. isn't it?)

[AlbertP]

Hold the left Alt key.
Then press Sys Rq. Keep holding Alt.
Then press K and release the Alt key.

This restarts X.

[keivan]

It did not kill x. I think there is a problem with my keyboard. It does not have a separate SysRq key. There is a key for both SysRq and Print Screen instead. I should hold Fn to be able to use SysRq.

[AlbertP]

Press Alt and hold it.
Press Fn and hold it.
Press Prt Sc/Sys Rq for a while.
Release Fn.
Press K for a while.
Release Alt.

This works on my laptop, where I also need Fn.

[keivan]

Ok. thank. now I can kill X.
But how can I restart X after X is killed, because I cannot start gdm3 service again.

one important thing I think I should have kernel 2.6.35+ to be able to powersave properly. My current kernel is 2.6.32.

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uname -a
Linux keivan-laptop 2.6.32-5-amd64 #1 SMP Thu Nov 25 18:02:11 UTC 2010 x86_64 GNU/Linux


What is the official way to upgrade kernel? I don't want untested packages.

[sumski]

Yes , you need newer kernel. Proper way to update is

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sudo apt-get update

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sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Have you changed your sources.list to stable?
You can install 2.6.38 kernel from squeeze backports if you don't want to follow testing

[keivan]

Have you changed your sources.list to stable?

1. No. How should I do that?
I want to be stable but I want to remain rolling release as well. is it possible? This was the way gentoo linux handle things.

2. Unfortunatly I updated kernel to 2.6.39-2-amd64 before I see your post. Now bluetooth and wireless are stoped working. but I can modulate GPU power management now.
I have a image backup the root partition I can restore it when I found a working solution.

3. How can I monitor GPU temperature with open-source driver? a terminal app would be enough to me.

[AlbertP]

1.

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gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

2. You can switch back to an earlier kernel in the Grub boot menu.

3.

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sensors

Works on Nouveau, I don't know about Radeon but it might work as well.

[keivan]

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gksu gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

But what are the adress of stable sources? And how can I find them in the future?
Note: I just want to install an stable kernel then I want to come back to rolling.

I changed all "testing" in the sources.list to squeeze

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deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian squeeze main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free
deb http://www.debian-multimedia.org squeeze main non-free

There is no updated kernel in squeeze it's still 2.6.32. I wnat 2.6.35 or above.


sensors cannot detect ati open-source sensors. I searched a lot and it seems there is no way.

This is my plane. I want to restore my image of LMDE. Update the kernel to an stable version (2.6.35+) with working wifi (firmware-b43-installer) and use the method below.

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echo dynpm > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

is it possible?

[AlbertP]

I have no experience with ATI power management, but you can upgrade to a newer kernel using Liquorix.

[keivan]

Thank you AlbertP and sumski.
The final solution was Installing a new Kernel 2.6.35 or above. But I have seriouse problem with both wifi and bluetooth drivers in these new kernels.
2.6.39 -> debian testing
2.6.39 -> Liquorix

[sumski]

Tell us whats your wifi device? What drivers/firmware are you using? Also check /var/log/dmesg for aditional information.

[AlbertP]

Please open a new topic with your 2.6.39 wireless problems.

Please include the output of this command:

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inxi -N

If it does not list your wireless card, please post the output of this command for a computer's integrated wireless:

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lspci

And for USB dongles:

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lsusb

[keivan]

Thank you guys. I really appreciate your support and kindness.
This power management thing was optional to me. It seems if I activate the GPU power management there is no way to check its efficacy (ie. check the GPU temperature, Check the GPU frequency or ...).
Also, I want to remain in LMDE boundaries (I mean I don't like to install kernel from an unofficial non-debian source). as I said before I want to keep my LMDE for years. This is why I choose a rolling release distro.

I decided to restore my image and wait for a tested kernel when It was available to LMDE.

for future reference:
I install my wifi with the command bellow:

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sudo apt-get install firmware-b43-installer

the following commands executed in 2.6.32-5 kernel:
lspci:

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03:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX (rev 02) -> my lan -> b44 module
0b:00.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN (rev 01) -> my wifi -> it is installed with B43 or Wl  module -> B43 is better because I can use it for wifi hacking

lsusb:

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Bus 005 Device 002: ID 09da:8090 A4 Tech Co., Ltd
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub


inxi -N

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Network:   
Card-1 Broadcom BCM4401-B0 100Base-TX driver b44
Card-2 Broadcom BCM4311 802.11b/g WLAN driver b43-pci-bridge


[sumski]

Thank you guys. I really appreciate your support and kindness.
This power management thing was optional to me. Even If I activate the power management there is no way to check its efficacy (ie. check the GPU temperature, Check the GPU frequency or ...).

Check this out:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ati#With_KMS_enabled

Start reading from 1. Dynamic frequency switching (depending on GPU load)

[keivan]

following command was not effective for me:

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echo dynpm > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

I tried these commands:

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echo profile > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method
echo low > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile

and following error arise:

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Message from syslogd@keivan-laptop at Jun 30 03:22:23 ...
 kernel:[  106.676918] NMI: PCI system error (SERR) for reason b1 on CPU 0.

Message from syslogd@keivan-laptop at Jun 30 03:22:23 ...
 kernel:[  106.676921] Dazed and confused, but trying to continue

At least power-saving works. to test:

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mount -t debugfs none /sys/kernel/debug
cat /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/radeon_pm_info

result:
frequency changed from this:

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default engine clock: 432000 kHz
current engine clock: 432000 kHz
default memory clock: 396000 kHz
current memory clock: 396000 kHz
PCIE lanes: 0

to this

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default engine clock: 432000 kHz
current engine clock: 209250 kHz
default memory clock: 396000 kHz
current memory clock: 135000 kHz
PCIE lanes: 1