Problem using any ati/amd driver on mobility x1400

[frojnd]

Hello there

I've started to use linux, openSuse and I have some problems with video drvers. I have tryed ATI drivers (fglrx) and also radeonhd drivers so far. Radeonhd driver was automatically installed during openSuse 11 installation so I had my proper resolution 1440*900 BUT I have this flickering and artifacts when watching videos. I have flickering in windowed mode and full screen mode and artifacts in full screen mode. I've decided that I'll stay with radeonhd drivers since there is so fast development in the last 6 months...

MY SPECS:
DELL INSPIRON 6400
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility X1400
--------------------------------------

CURRENTLY DRIVERS IN USE
xorg-x11-driver-video-radeonhd-1.2.1_080704_c2139d8-1.1.i586.rpm
--------------------------------------

CURRENTLY xorg.conf IN USE
# /.../
# SaX generated X11 config file
# Created on: 2008-06-30T21:24:19+0200.
#
# Version: 8.1
# Contact: Marcus Schaefer <sax@suse.de>, 2005
# Contact: SaX-User list <https://lists.berlios.de/mailman/listinfo/sax-users>
#
# Automatically generated by [ISaX] (8.1)
# PLEASE DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE!
#

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/local"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/URW"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Speedo"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/PEX"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin2/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/latin7/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/baekmuk:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/japanese:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/kwintv"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/truetype"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/uni:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/ucs/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/misc:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/75dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/100dpi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/hellas/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/xtest"
FontPath "/opt/kde3/share/fonts"
InputDevices "/dev/gpmdata"
InputDevices "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "AllowMouseOpenFail" "on"
Option "ZapWarning" "on"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "dbe"
Load "type1"
Load "freetype"
Load "extmod"
Load "glx"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "kbd"
Identifier "Keyboard[0]"
Option "Protocol" "Standard"
Option "XkbLayout" "si"
Option "XkbModel" "microsoftpro"
Option "XkbRules" "xfree86"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
Driver "mouse"
Identifier "Mouse[1]"
Option "Buttons" "9"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Name" "Dell Premium USB Optical Mouse"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "synaptics"
Identifier "Mouse[3]"
Option "Buttons" "5"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "on"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
Option "InputFashion" "Mouse"
Option "Name" "Synaptics;Touchpad"
Option "Protocol" "explorerps/2"
Option "SHMConfig" "on"
Option "Vendor" "Sysp"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection


Section "Monitor"
DisplaySize 332 207
HorizSync 30-70
Identifier "Monitor[0]"
ModelName "XU2972N154C1 LCD MONITOR"
Option "DPMS"
Option "PreferredMode" "1440x900"
VendorName "CMO"
VertRefresh 43-60
UseModes "Modes[0]"
EndSection


Section "Modes"
Identifier "Modes[0]"
Modeline "1440x900" 106.47 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 901 904 932
Modeline "1440x900" 87.25 1440 1488 1520 1600 900 903 909 926 +HSync -Vsync
EndSection


Section "Screen"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
Device "Device[0]"
Identifier "Screen[0]"
Monitor "Monitor[0]"
EndSection


Section "Device"
BoardName "Mobility Radeon X1400"
BusID "1:0:0"
Driver "radeonhd"
Identifier "Device[0]"
Option "monitor-PANEL" "Monitor[0]"
VendorName "ATI"
Option "VideoOverlay" "off"
EndSection



Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout[all]"
InputDevice "Keyboard[0]" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse[1]" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Mouse[3]" "SendCoreEvents"
Option "Clone" "off"
Option "Xinerama" "off"
Screen "Screen[0]"
EndSection


Section "DRI"
Group "video"
Mode 0660
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
EndSection
-----------------------------------

LAST /var/log/Xorg.0.log
http://pastebin.com/f1d161062

Sorry for pastebin, it the post would been too long if I had pasted output here.
-------------------------------------------

NOTE: I'm not linguru (yet) so if u need any more output data please let me know to fix this problem. I've been asking on all kinds of forum and they said that here are the real hard cores!

P.S: I've noticed sometimes, when I put opensuse to halt, that the green screen is like old tv with broken picture,... like there would go some kind of weired electricity... Also this weired "electricity" around screen was present during the installation when openSuse tryed to configure lapps video settings.

Thanx in advance!

[bridgman]

First, if you haven't read the radeonhd wiki that's a good place to start :

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

Second, looks like you are running with XAA acceleration which is good for normal use but not so good for video. Running with shadowfb acceleration seems to work better for most people. I forget the exact option syntax but try the following in your Device section :

Option "AccelMethod" "ShadowFB"

(EDIT - added capitalization to ShadowFB, not sure if it matters)

Once you have that working, if you feel brave enough to learn git and build drivers from source, the "quick and dirty 2d" branch of radeonhd includes full EXA and Textured Video (Xv) acceleration which will give you even better video playback, but you will need to invest a bunch of time learning new things. You will also need to download, build and install the "drm" driver, ie the kernel driver for graphics.