[CLOSED] Radeon configuration not restored at Restart X

Using applications, configuring, problems
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linuph
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[CLOSED] Radeon configuration not restored at Restart X

#1 Post by linuph »

I need help here.

Laptop: Compaq Presario 1712AP ATI Radeon Mobility M6 LY

This laptop has a S-video output. I am using a 7" monitor with S-video input (in parallel to a VGA monitor). As usual, the quality of the S-video picture is quite bad compared to VGA. Nothing new there. But the picture quality can be improved by using the radeon driver instead of the i915 (Intel) driver, which is normally activated by default. So I made the following changes:

In /etc/modprobe.d:
i915.config: options modeset i915=0
radeon.conf: options modeset radeon=1

In /etc/X11/xorg.conf Section "Device" (changes only):
Option "SWcursor" "False" # Faster than default "True"
Option "AGPmode" "4"
Option "AGPFasttWrite" "True" #Faster than default "False"
Option "AGPSize" "32" #Default=8
Option "EnableDepthMoves" "True"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "True" #Faster than default "False"
Option "SubPixelOrder" "RGB" #Default is "NONE" for CRT, "RGB" for digital panels
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA" #Default is "XAA", "EXA" may be less stable
Option "TVDACLoadDetect" "True" #Detects if S-video cable is inserted. Default is "False"
Option "ForceTVOut" "True" #Turns S-video output on at boot. Default is "False"
Option "TVStandard" "pal"
Option "DefaultTVDACAdj" "True"

I suppose that Option "DefaultTVDACAdj" brings better S-video output quality. Anyway, it is a lot better than before.

However, problems arise when I reboot and/or restart X from the shutdown menu or restart JWM. I get black lines and strange characters in e.g. Geany, some programs freeze. Only a hard shutdown and restart solve that. To be clear: reboot, restart X, restart JWM do not help.

It seems that modprobe.d and/or xorg.conf are not considered unless a hard shutdown and restart are done. This can be considered a workaround, but I would like to know how this works to improve efficiency while developing new applications (you know how it is: crashes all the time).

I look forward to suggestions.
Last edited by linuph on Thu 30 Aug 2012, 14:05, edited 3 times in total.

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Karl Godt
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#2 Post by Karl Godt »

Does the i915 driver show up in

Code: Select all

lsmod 
command output ?

Have you used the bootmanager to BLACKLIST the i915 ?

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linuph
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Location: Philippines

#3 Post by linuph »

Thanks for the suggestion.

i915 is not listed with lsmod. However, I saw that radeonfb is blacklisted so I took it out of the blacklist. Testing further....

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linuph
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#4 Post by linuph »

radeonfb does not make a difference...as I expected. I have not found what is wrong... It's getting on my nerves.

The reason why I have to restart X often is that at boot the background wallpaper and drive icons are often not loaded. I have had that problem ever since, irrespective of i915 or radeon configuration. Restart X fixes that but not with the radeon configuration: the screen gets messed up and, eventually, my screen blanks and Puppy freezes.

So, 2 problems:
1. Missing wallpaper and drive icons at start up (not always but often).
2. Restart X messes up because of the radeon configuration.

A reboot right after boot also fixes the wallpaper and drive icons and there are no issues with the radeon configuration. But that's an awkward way to get your system going.

So, the questions:
1. How to solve the problem of wallpaper/drive icons not loading at boot?
2. What is the difference between restart X and reboot w.r.t. xorg.conf?

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Karl Godt
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#5 Post by Karl Godt »

If you are running frugal then check /etc/X11/* for hidden *.wh.* files , also in /initrd/pup_rw and /initrd/pup_ro1 .

You probably need to delete them. They are from the Aufs kernel driver that manages the layered filesystem . That kernel driver can be configured to show them or not.
/etc/modules/DOTconfig-K2.6.30.5-01SEPT09-TICKLESS-SMP:# CONFIG_AUFS_SHWH is not set

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linuph
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#6 Post by linuph »

I did find *.wh.* files in:

/inird/pup_ro1/dev:
.wh.snd (file, 0 bytes)

/initrd/pup_rw
.wh..wh.orph (directory, empty)
.wh..wh.plnk (directory, file 8014.7027):
.wh..wh.aufs (file, 0 bytes)

I didn't look further deep down in directories because I can't use pfind to find *.wh.* files. Reason: pfind doesn't allow to change "Exclude iinitrd/pup_*' into something else (a bug?)

I moved the above files to an external usb flash and shut down/restarted. Result: same problem, no wallpaper, no drive icons. I then did a reboot from the menu and wallpaper and drive icons were back.

I changed the title of this post to "Radeon configuration not restored at Restart X?", because reboot does restore wallpaper and icons (not only drive icons but all icons).

Note: I use Dpup Exprimo 5.X.3.4.2.9 "B" (latest from pemasu), boot from DVD with squeezesave from another usb flash.

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Karl Godt
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#7 Post by Karl Godt »

Code: Select all

find /initrd/pup_rw -name "*wh*" -delete
find /initrd/pup_ro1 -name "*wh*" -delete
I don't use pfind anymore, too much features and difficult to work with if needs to find things more than one at a time.

And of course you can use rox to navigate to /initrd/* directories .

Other than whi[tp]eout files i have no idea but probably xwin + ddcprobe + xorgwizard-automatic are fooling around .

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linuph
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#8 Post by linuph »

I reactivated i915.conf in /etc/modeprobe.d. There are no problems with 'Restart X' or 'Restart WM'. Both call xwin and there problems arise with radeon.conf.

The problem of missing wallpaper and icons remains. The only workaround is 'Restart X' or 'Restart WM'. That also works from terminal but I would like to have it automatically after JWM is running.

I'm just puzzled about where to put a script that runs 'Restart X' or 'Restart WM' once after JWM has started. Any ideas?

npierce
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#9 Post by npierce »

linuph wrote:Missing wallpaper and drive icons at start up (not always but often).
Will the following command also restore your wallpaper and icons?

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rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin
If it does, please post the output of the following command:

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grep -m 1 -i '^cpu MHz' /proc/cpuinfo
With old CPUs, Puppy is supposed to wait a bit after starting X before starting ROX-Filer. The fact that you sometimes get wallpaper and icons, but often don't, indicates that perhaps the wait is not quite long enough for your CPU. Getting your CPU speed (with the above command) may help me to suggest an adjustment.

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linuph
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Location: Philippines

#10 Post by linuph »

rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin:
Brings back wallpaper and icons but not the drive icons.

grep -m 1 -i '^cpu MHz' /proc/cpuinfo:
cpu MHz :1000.000


From start of .xinitrc the approximate timing is:
- 10 seconds until the cursor appears
- another 5-10 seconds until the tray appears
- quickly after that nothing or wallpaper/icons

I have sda1, sda2, sdb1 and sr0. sda and sdb are flash drives. sda1 contains the puppy save file. sr0 is a DVD ROM drive. I do not have a HD. Boot is always from sr0. I use JWM.

In the seldom cases where wallpaper and icons are displayed from boot, the sda1 icon is always missing. RestartWM or Restart X displays wallpaper and all drive icons incl. sda1. I noticed that before the drive icons are displayed, sr0 starts spinning, like it does with pmount.

Could it be that the DVD ROM is too slow at initial boot? And/or is initialization at the "wrong" place?

npierce
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#11 Post by npierce »

Thanks for the info on CPU speed and timing.

If your Puppy is like mine, it will give a two second sleep delay soon after starting X to, as Barry said, "let the dust settle", and it will give your PC an extra delay because your CPU is slower than 1100 MHz. In your case it will give you an extra second, for a total of three seconds.

By the way, what Puppy are you using? It might use different delay values.

Perhaps there needs to be more of a delay before starting ROX-Filer, and perhaps it needs to be just before starting ROX-Filer, rather than soon after starting X.

You could experiment by backing-up your /root/.xinitrc file and adding a delay in it just before the call to rox. For instance, you could change this:

Code: Select all

rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin
to this:

Code: Select all

sleep 7
rox -p /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin
Seven seconds should be way more than enough, but best to start high to see if it helps at all. If it does, you can later try smaller numbers to minimize the delay.

If this helps to get most of your icons and wallpaper to appear, but you are still missing one or more drive icons, we can look at that next.

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linuph
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#12 Post by linuph »

Thanks a lot for your reply, npierce. Getting help from you and of many others in this forum is what makes Puppy Linux great and greater.

I'm using Dpup Exprimo 5.X.3.4.2.9.

I'll be out of town a couple of days. On return I will certainly follow up.

Thanks again.

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linuph
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#13 Post by linuph »

Adding an extra delay in .xinitrc did not show the sda1 icon. I reformatted sda with one partition and put the Puppy save file in it and rebooted. Now only the sr0 icon shows, no sda or sdb. After RestartX even sr0 has disappeared.

It is not a blocking issue: I can find all drives back with ROX filer or, even better, with PcmanFM. But it is a strange phenomenon.

Maybe it has something to do with my setup: I boot from DVD and load the Puppy save file from a USB flash, no HD. USB is initiated by Puppy because my BIOS doesn't. Maybe not so usual and not designed with that in mind.

npierce
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#14 Post by npierce »

linuph wrote:Adding an extra delay in .xinitrc did not show the sda1 icon.
I'd hoped that that delay would help the wallpaper to appear consistently. If it also helped with the drive icons that would be a bonus. Did it help with the wallpaper?

Also in /root/.xinitrc (near the beginning) is this line:

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/sbin/pup_event_frontend_d & #v403
The script called on that line creates the drive icons (among other things). It has a delay for slow processors built into it, but perhaps we need to add a little more for your system. So try adding a delay just before that line, like so:

Code: Select all

sleep 7
/sbin/pup_event_frontend_d & #v403
Again, seven seconds should be more than enough. If it helps, you can later try smaller numbers to minimize the delay.

If the previous delay you added helped with the wallpaper, leave it in as well.
linuph wrote:I reformatted sda with one partition and put the Puppy save file in it and rebooted. Now only the sr0 icon shows, no sda or sdb. After RestartX even sr0 has disappeared.
That's sad news. And, if I remember correctly, the Puppy save file was on sda1 before, so that hasn't changed, and I wouldn't think that having one partition instead of two would be a problem.

And I wouldn't think that the added delay would cause that problem. Perhaps you've already tried restoring the old .xinitrc, if not it would probably be worth trying just to be sure.

Can you think of any other changes that might have caused this? It would certainly be easier to troubleshoot if we could get back to where "RestartX" would fix the icons.
linuph wrote:Maybe it has something to do with my setup: I boot from DVD and load the Puppy save file from a USB flash, no HD.
Possibly, but I would think that if your Puppy can find and load the save file with your setup, it certainly should be able to see the drive later on when it is creating the icons. It does load the save file OK, doesn't it?

Anyway, it is worth trying the second delay, although it seems like there may be something else going on now that "RestartX" no longer fixes things.

beau_tox
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Radeon driver problem

#15 Post by beau_tox »

I had a similar problem using the radeon driver. Everything worked except Shutdown to Prompt and Restart X would crash the system.
I also had the missing icons and wallpaper upon hard reboot.

I switched to the vesa driver and all these problems went away.

I finally installed the ati fglrx driver which worked without any problems.

My problem description was posted in the Users Forum.

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linuph
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#16 Post by linuph »

@beau_tox
My video hardware is an ATI Mobility M6 LY (R100) chip. It is significantly different from the more recent ATOM chips. I believe that the ati fglrx driver won't work for me. However, there seem to be similar issues, that may point to radeon driver issues that I discovered earlier. Thanks for the hint.

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linuph
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#17 Post by linuph »

I deleted the squeezesave file and started all over. I made sure that xorg.conf was configured correctly. I then did several reboots and power-offs. Sometimes I had wallpaper and icons, sometimes not but never the sda1 icon. I then found why the sda1 icon is not displayed:

Initially, /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin does not contain the sda1 icon but it's there after RestartX and, consequently on the desktop. They are however already defined (if that is the correct word) in /root/.pup_event. I copied PuppyPin to PuppyPin1 and made the following script in /root/Startup:

#!/bin/sh
cp /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin1 /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin

Now sda1 also consistently appears on the desktop at boot/reboot.

But, herewith the PuppyPin file has become static. Any change in icons will not be reflected. So I have to find a way to do the reverse the copy process at power off/reboot:

cp /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin /root/Choices/ROX-Filer/PuppyPin1

I think there are two places to add that line, in wmreboot and wmpoweroff. But I'd rather put it in a non-invasive script somewhere.
Where would be the best place? Or is there a better way?

I have not found why I sometimes/often get a blank screen without wallpaper or icons. The (hidden) tray bar is there, but nothing else. As usual, RestartX corrects that.

npierce
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#18 Post by npierce »

Hi linuph,

I'm wondering if perhaps you didn't see my last post: http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewto ... 140#648140

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linuph
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#19 Post by linuph »

Hi npierce.
Ah yes, I played around with 'sleep 7' in .xinitrc. Did not help the screen blank issue, i.e. no wallpaper, no icons.

Now the mystery of the disappearing sda1 icon seems solved (or at least worked around), I'm further looking into the screen blank thing now.

After lots of reboots I found out that the screen blank is intermittent, that is:

Reboot 1: OK
Reboot 2: not OK
Reboot 3: OK
Reboot 4: not OK
Reboot 5: OK
|
|
etc.

OK meaning everything is there, not OK meaning no wallpaper, no icons. Mmm....what could be the cause of that?

npierce
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Joined: Tue 29 Dec 2009, 01:40

#20 Post by npierce »

linuph wrote:Ah yes, I played around with 'sleep 7' in .xinitrc. Did not help the screen blank issue, i.e. no wallpaper, no icons.
Too bad, it would have been nice if it had just needed those delays.
linuph wrote:Reboot 1: OK
Reboot 2: not OK
Reboot 3: OK
Reboot 4: not OK
Reboot 5: OK
Does it continue working OK exactly every other time? Or is it more random than that?

You might have a look at /tmp/xerrs.log when it is "not OK" to see if there are any clues there. Perhaps ROX-Filer starts but soon dies.

Actually you might also look at /tmp/xerrs.log when is is "OK" to see if anything is different from when it is "not OK".

It is good to hear that you are making some progress in your investigation of the problems. I'm sorry not to have any better ideas at the moment.

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