Thinkpads Forum

Configuring Xorg can be a pain in the [censored].

Below is my old xorg.conf file (I have an intel integrated graphics now).

It is tweaked to the max - I was getting more fps with the radeon open source driver than with the crappy unstable fglrx.

HOW TO USE:

1- On Debian/Ubuntu install package "xserver-xorg-video-radeon"

2- Replace your "Device" section in /etc/X11/xorg.conf with the following
-----------------------------------------------------------
Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Radeon"
Driver "radeon"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"

#see http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/ATIRadeon
#for version 6.9 of the radeon driver EXA is a bit faster at the cost of more cpu
#currently turned off - the AccelMethod being used is XAA (see below)
# Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"

#The following accelerate 3D a lot but apparently only on XAA mode
Option "EnablePageFlip" "1"
Option "ColorTiling" "1"

#might not be necessary on a future xorg version - fixes random crashes on xorg
Option "AGPMode" "1"
EndSection
-------------------------------------------------------------------

3- Now inside section Screen, search for Device and replace it with the following Device line:

Section "Screen"
... (some crap)
Device "ATI Radeon"
... (more crap)
EndSection

Restart your X server (either reboot or go to a VT console with Ctrl + Alt + F1, login and type "sudo sh /etc/init.d/gdm restart").

Test with glxgears or any other OpenGL application and see if its stable!

My graphics card was a Ati Radeon Mobility 9600 but it should work with the following graphics cards (list taken from http://dri.freedesktop.org/wiki/ATIRadeon):
7000 denotes a rv100 based card.
7200 denotes a R100 based card.
7500 denotes a rv200 based card.
8X00 denotes a R200 based card.
9000 denotes a rv250 based card.
9100 denotes a R200 based card
9200 denotes a rv280 based card.
9500 denotes a R300 based card.
9600 denotes a rv350 or rv360 based card.
9700 denotes a R300 based card.
9800 denotes a R350 or R360 based card.
X300 denotes a rv370 based card.
X550 denotes a rv370 based card.
X600 denotes a rv380 based card.
X700 denotes a rv410 based card.
X800 denotes a R420 or R423 or R430 based card. And some "X800 GTO" cards seems to be based on R480 too.
X850 denotes a R480 or R481 based card.
X1050 denotes a rv370 based card.
X1200 denotes a RS690 based card.
X1300 denotes a RV515, RV516 based card. XT are RV530, RV535 based card.
X1550 denotes a RV505, RV515, RV516 based card.
X1600 denotes a RV515, RV516 based card. Pro are RV530 based card.
X1650 denotes a RV530, RV535, RV560 based card.
X1800 denotes a R520 based card.
X1900 denotes a R580 based card.
X1950 denotes a RV570, R580 based card.
X2300 denotes a RV550 based card.

Jeez... I always get scared when mentioning the editing of the Xorg file. A pity that for old ATI cards there are no simple solutions...

It looks scary but its not that hard.

And if you do it properly, I will only have to do it once.

Well, I guess I don't know how to do it properly then. I've tried different configurations settings in xorg.conf to no use. Acceleration XAA setting eventually leads to the desktop crashing. Using Accel. method EXA leads to a lot of flickering, constant flickering actually and windows/screens that don't repaint properly. I've tried various pages, Radeon wiki, xorg wiki etc. etc. and various posts in the ubuntu forums that had anything to do with open source radeon driver issues and xorg. I followed threads that related to the most recent Ubuntu Karmic 9.10. But, nothing I tried worked. I must have been doing something wrong!

But, now the good news! I decided to try Mandriva 2010 again since I discovered my ethernet cable that was connected to my laptop was defective! That's why I couldn't use wired! So, it had nothing to do with Mandriva at all! The cable used to work so something must have happened to it, something broke or something. I don't know but now that I used a different ethernet cable, all is good! I don't want to speak too soon but I am pleased to announce that desktop effects seem to work not too bad in Mandriva! I don't know why since my eperience with other recent distros (especially Ubuntu 9.10) were relatively poor and results were disappointing. But, whatever Mandriva did to configure things is a good match so far (knock on wood!).

I don't want to speak too soon like I said, but this is cool so far! Ubuntu could take a lesson from Mandriva! I thought performance shouldn't be that different but it is like night and day! Mandriva even has a nice utility for adjusting desktop settings, too.

Fedora 12 beta (KDE) wasn't too bad and I could use desktop effects but I had some screen corruption (not sure what to call it). What do you call it when there is some pixelation in certain parts of the screen and some Firefox fonts looked strange (the 't' and 'd' in particular). Other than that, Fedora was a close 2nd since it was the only other distro that I didn't have to edit xorg.conf to be able to enable desktop effects.

Anyways, I hope the Live CD of Mandriva 2010 Gnome is definitely the top contender to be installed on my T41. I wonder if the KDE 4 version would run as well.

Good to hear

Yes it can be a tedious and PO'ing experience to get things to work when they just refuse to! Wireless, Video, and one instance of Audio were the gremlins for me.

Very true! It just proves to me that this Thinkpad graphics hardware is capable of at least minimum 3D effects and imho, Mandriva went to the effort of making it usable out-of-the-box (anyway) compared to some other distros.

I suspect my only issue will be the suspend/hibernate functions as I left my Thinkpad running with the LiveCD and placed the screen lid almost all the way down to save power. But, when I returned, the 'moon' light was flashing and the laptop was in an unresponsive mode. The screen was black/blank and no keys would do anything. I suspect this is a sort of hibernate mode or at least, the 'resume' was not working?

I'm not used to these issues since I haven't had Linux installed on it since I've had the 120GB (slow!) drive on it. I had Mepis installed on the stock 40GB drive but that was a while ago. I don't recall how it was with the issues but I doubt it worked. I think I need to create or edit some file to get all the functions to work or at least some of them?

I think it's minor though as I have googled it and it seems the issues are encountered quite often.

I hope someone knows what I'm talking about!

I installed Mandriva 2010 KDE Powerpack edition a couple of days ago onto my hard drive. Working pretty well. Suspend and Hibernate work fine except I cannot seem to reconnect to my Wireless router afterwards. I'll have to investigate this. I got middle button Trackpoint scrolling to work after I read that disabling the Touchpad in the BIOS is the key (at least for some). TPB for the onscreen display is only working for root - must be a bug. Other than those niggles I find Mandriva to be a fine OS. I haven't tested everything by any means though.

Thinkpad1. I have the suspend problems also. PITA. I have to take the battery out and drain the capacitors then reinsert battery and my R51e will boot normally. Not sure what the problem there could be. I have 1gb for swap and 1.5gb (1.3gb really b/c of video sharing). I know that suspend is putting the laptop in a low-power state and hibernate is when everything goes to RAM so my swap should not be a problem right? The Thinkpad should suspend fine but doesn't. Sorry don't mean to hijack the thread but the suspend description you gave is in line with my little dilemma.

emeraldgirl08 wrote:I know that suspend is putting the laptop in a low-power state and hibernate is when everything goes to RAM so my swap should not be a problem right?

Suspend is when everything is saved in RAM and is a low-power state. RAM requires power to maintain it's data. To resume from Suspend on ThinkPads you press the Fn key - other computers can resume with other mouse or keyboard actions. Hibernate is when everything is saved to the hard drive and no power should be consumed while Hibernating. You have to press the on/off button to resume from Hibernation. There is also Hybrid sleep which is kind of a combination of the two primarily for desktop computers.

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2007/10/2 ... -in-vista/

Okay thanks. I still have no luck getting my Thinkpad to wake from suspend pressing the Fn or anyother keys. I'll ask elsewhere as this is not my thread