HowTo: run compize smoothly on Hardy Heron with Radeon Mobility 7500 Graphic Card

[ZooLA_IL]

Hi,
This guide intended for those who have an old ATI graphic card which doesn't have a fglrx driver. I'm posting this after a lot of research in Ubuntu forum and googling.

I have Evo N610c which has Radeon Mobility 7500 graphic card. This card (along with many other ATI cards) is not supported by Hardy... (at least for now)

So, in order to get compiz running smoothly (up until now it run really choppy and slowly):

1)Update your xorg.conf file:

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf
It should include the following sections:

DEVICE:

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "ATI Radeon"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 0
Vendorname "ATI"
Option "MergedFB" "off"
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "EXANoComposite" "false"
Option "FBTexPercent" "50"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "DRI" "true"
Option "GARTSize" "256"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "Colortiling" "On"
EndSection

SERVERLAYOUT:

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
Inputdevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
Option "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection


EXTENSIONS:

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection


and finally, DRI:

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

2)After you save the file, restart Ubuntu (tip: Ctrl+Alt+Backspace)

3)In the Terminal type:

glxinfo |grep direct
if direct rendering is not working you should see a message
with something like "LIBGL_DEBUG=verbose..."
DON'T WORRY!

4)The final stage is to remove xserver-xgl which apparently prevents the direct rendering:

sudo apt-get remove xserver-xgl

5)Restart, and repeat stage 3. Now it should yield:

direct rendering: Yes

6)Switch the visual effects on, and enjoy!

It should work smoothly as it worked in Gutsy Gibbon.
Please let me know if it helps...

[naveensn]

I tried as you said. No luck... Desktop effects is still not working.

Here is my xorg.conf file


# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by failsafeDexconf, using
# values from the debconf database and some overrides to use vesa mode.
#
# You should use dexconf or another such tool for creating a "real" xorg.conf
# For example:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg
Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection


Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizScrollDelta" "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"
Boardname "ATI Radeon"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 0
Vendorname "ATI"
Option "MergedFB" "off"
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "EXANoComposite" "false"
Option "FBTexPercent" "50"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "DRI" "true"
Option "GARTSize" "256"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "Colortiling" "On"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Failsafe Monitor"
Vendorname "Generic LCD Display"
Modelname "LCD Panel 1400x1050"
Horizsync 31.5-65.5
Vertrefresh 56.0 - 65.0
modeline "1400x1050@60" 122.61 1400 1488 1640 1880 1050 1051 1054 1087 -hsync +vsync
Gamma 1.0
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"
Monitor "Failsafe Monitor"
Defaultdepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1400x1050@60" "1280x1024@60" "1280x960@60" "1024x768@60" "800x600@60" "800x600@56" "640x480@60"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
Option "AIGLX" "true"
Inputdevice "Generic Keyboard"
Inputdevice "Configured Mouse"
Inputdevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
EndSection


Thanks
Naveen

[mudenza]

Same here, it doesn't work. Funnily though, I had direct rendering already even before I went through that whole process, though thats maybe because I never had xserver-xgl installed before. I'm using Mobility 7500 on a T42 Thinkpad. The only way I got through to fixing this problem is doing a fresh install--it seems like Ubuntu doesn't like old ATI cards...

[ZooLA_IL]

Did you try the "SKIP_CHECKS=yes" as suggested in other posts?
maybe this is the solution...

Some ati laptop cards have been blacklisted. What is the terminal output of compiz --replace?

$ compiz --replace

If it says 'found ati laptop, aborting' or something to that extent, try appending 'SKIP_CHECKS=yes' to the command.


$ SKIP_CHECKS=yes compiz --replace

[CarpKing]

If DRI isn't working, post the output of


cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE

Also try replacing the "EE" with "error."

This will show any errors. 256 is pretty high for GARTsize; in Edgy I had to set mine explicitly to 64 or I'd get an error about DRI not working.

[hodenkat]

Nope. Now I can't even enable desktop effects. Seems like I need to have xserver installed to enable desktop effects, but when I do I get video corruption and the effects are slow and quirky. Here's my xorg.conf -






# xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "stylus"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "stylus"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "eraser"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "eraser"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Driver "wacom"
Identifier "cursor"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/wacom"
Option "Type" "cursor"
Option "ForceDevice" "ISDV4" # Tablet PC ONLY
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"
Driver "radeon"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon Mobility M7 LW [Radeon Mobility 7500]"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"

# Uncomment if you have a wacom tablet
# InputDevice "stylus" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "cursor" "SendCoreEvents"
# InputDevice "eraser" "SendCoreEvents"
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
EndSection


Thanks for trying!
IBM T-40 1GB RAM ATI RADEON MOBILITY 7500 (32MB?)

[CarpKing]

Are you sure you were using XGL? It's not installed by default and as far as I know it's only necessary if you're using older versions of fglrx (proprietary ATI drivers). I switched to the open-source driver (radeon) specifically so I wouldn't have to use it anymore.

If you can't get desktop effects, it's probably because DRI isn't working. Try the command I gave above, or just post the content of Xorg.0.log (make sure to use code tags, since it's pretty long).

If it isn't running smoothly the solution is to tune up your drivers (the gist of the first post of this thread) or tone down Compiz (some hardware just can't handle the fancier effects).

[hodenkat]

What is "XGL" and how do I install it?

[chrismar]

Trying to do this... got most of the way there, except when I run glxinfo:



$ glxinfo |grep direct
Xlib: extension "ATIFGLRXDRI" missing on display ":0.0".
Error: couldn't find RGB GLX visual


Any ideas?

[Rocket2DMn]

I wrote a quick HowTo on enabling Compiz Fusion on cards with the open source ati drivers. It has to do with SKIP_CHECKS as mentioned by ZooLA_IL, but is a more permanent fix.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=764633
Good luck.

[hodenkat]

Quick update - Desktop Effects will not enable unless xserver-xgl is installed. Yes the effects work, but they are retardedly slow and I get video corruption on occasion and video performance overall is sluggish.
Now I'm a little pissed that I upgraded without running the live CD first!
Everything was working fine with 7.10 - desktop effects were smooth and fast, and overall video performance was very good. I'd do a clean install but I have Windoze on another partition and don't want to chance blowing it up, Plus I've done lots of customizing in Ubuntu and don't really want to start from scratch:(

[Sunflower1970]

I tested this on the live CD. One thing I did was copy/paste my Gutsy xorg to 8.04's live cd's xorg, then added in the 'skip checks' in the /usr/bin/compiz. Logged out, logged back in, and it worked. I have an IBM Thinkpad R40.

For the most part, all the effects work. There's a bit of weirdness here and there, but that may be due to using the live CD....

Hoping everything will work without a hitch when I do get around to install it.

[CarpKing]

Quick update - Desktop Effects will not enable unless xserver-xgl is installed. Yes the effects work, but they are retardedly slow and I get video corruption on occasion and video performance overall is sluggish.
Now I'm a little pissed that I upgraded without running the live CD first!
Everything was working fine with 7.10 - desktop effects were smooth and fast, and overall video performance was very good. I'd do a clean install but I have Windoze on another partition and don't want to chance blowing it up, Plus I've done lots of customizing in Ubuntu and don't really want to start from scratch:(

Did you use XGL with 7.10? I'm still confused about that, as XGL is a workaround for drivers that don't support a certain OpenGL function. This function is supported by Nvidea, Intel, open-source ATI, and newer versions of the proprietary ATI drivers. What guide told you to install XGL?

In any case, if you followed the guide in the first post, try removing the "AccelMethod" option. I just tried using that one and it made everything slow and choppy.

[hodenkat]

Got it!

I followed the Sticky Post - http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=764633

Now it's working just as it did in 7.10... smooth and without corruption or any other issues as far as I can tell.

Thank for the help!
I can once again love my Ubuntu...:guitar:

Oh! Very important!
Remove xserver-xgl - it causes software rendering and will cause effects to be slow and may cause other issues. Just search this board on removing it using terminal.
Do that first, then follow the instructions at the top of the sticky post link!

[imperius69]

hello

i have a Radeon Mobility 7500 Graphic Card, i was able to turn compiz on using the workaround on the previous page, but this brought a new problem, it only worked up to 1024x768 screen resolution, and since my laptop lcd does 1400x1050, i want it all hihii.

with the help of this thread i was able to make compiz work on 1400 screen resolution.

Here it is mu xorg.conf file:


Section "Module" #ADDED THIS
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "pt"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
Option "SHMConfig" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device" #CHANGED THIS
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "ATI Radeon"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 0
Vendorname "ATI"
Option "MergedFB" "off"
Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "EXANoComposite" "false"
Option "FBTexPercent" "50"
Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "DRI" "true"
Option "GARTSize" "64" <--------- WITH 256 DID NOT WORK
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "True"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "True"
Option "Colortiling" "On"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout" #CHANGED HERE
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
Option "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

Section "Extensions" #ADDED THIS
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

Section "DRI" #ADDED THIS
Mode 0666
EndSection


glxinfo |grep direct
direct rendering: Yes

the thing is, i think i lost fps in glxgears :s

anyway, i dont need compiz, it was just something i had to get working just to say, it works lol

but for games i dont think it will work, old laptop, 32Mb VRam vga, 600 fps average now (before was 650) so i dont get it how some of you have above that :confused:

btw, i have an evo N1000v
btw2, every time i run glxgears now i get this error in the end:

XIO: fatal IO error 11 (Resource temporarily unavailable) on X server ":0.0"
after 36537 requests (29174 known processed) with 0 events remaining.

any ideas ?

[Jacob Collstrup]

Heya guys,

I'm a little green here when it comes to linux and ubuntu. I'd VERY much like to run compiz. But I don't know what happens if this guide fails. Will be computer still boot up and be useful, or do I have to reinstall linux if it fails?

Jacob

[imperius69]

First you need to know whats you card.
lspci or lshw should tell you.

then you should backup the files you change so you can later put them back via terminal.

you should install, via synaptics, the Compiz configuration settings manager so you can adjust the effects, just look for compiz.

the easier way to get compiz is with the workaround:

[Compiz WORK-AROUND]
Add "SKIP_CHECKS=yes" to either /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager or ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager


sudo gedit /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager

then go to system > preferences > appearance > visual effect

and try to turn on compiz by clicking on normal, if it works it will ask you if you want to keep the configuration, here you can see if your desktop is ok or if is half a desktop (like what happened to me, if that happens choose to go back to previous configuration and then you will have to edit your xorg.conf file).

note that the workaround, from what i gathered only works up to 1024x768 screen resolution, beyond that you will have to edit the xorg.conf file.

note also some users, after enabling compiz, have lost video output.

[Jacob Collstrup]

First you need to know whats you card.
lspci or lshw should tell you.

then you should backup the files you change so you can later put them back via terminal.

you should install, via synaptics, the Compiz configuration settings manager so you can adjust the effects, just look for compiz.

the easier way to get compiz is with the workaround:

[Compiz WORK-AROUND]
Add "SKIP_CHECKS=yes" to either /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager or ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager


sudo gedit /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager

then go to system > preferences > appearance > visual effect

and try to turn on compiz by clicking on normal, if it works it will ask you if you want to keep the configuration, here you can see if your desktop is ok or if is half a desktop (like what happened to me, if that happens choose to go back to previous configuration and then you will have to edit your xorg.conf file).

note that the workaround, from what i gathered only works up to 1024x768 screen resolution, beyond that you will have to edit the xorg.conf file.

note also some users, after enabling compiz, have lost video output.

I was thinking taking this guide as I have an ATI mobility Radeon 7500 on an R51 Thinkpad.

How do I back up the files I change? Which files do I change? And how do I make use of those backups if I screw up?

Jacob

[imperius69]

hi

well, the main file to backup is xorg.conf situated at /etc/X11/xorg.conf

to back it up simply do


sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old

to edit it do


sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

if u need to return to the old xorg file in the terminal do the same as before


sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old /etc/X11/xorg.conf

but, remember, you dont need to edit the xorg file right away, first thing is to use the work around to see if compiz works, just dont use a screen size above 1024x768.

And here it i my xorg.conf


Section "Module"
Load "glx"
Load "GLcore"
Load "v4l"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc105"
Option "XkbLayout" "pt"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Synaptics Touchpad"
Driver "synaptics"
Option "SendCoreEvents" "true"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "auto-dev"
Option "HorizEdgeScroll" "0"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Configured Video Device"
Boardname "ATI Radeon"
Busid "PCI:1:0:0"
Driver "radeon"
Screen 0
Vendorname "ATI"
Option "MergedFB" "off"
#Option "AccelMethod" "EXA"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
Option "EXANoComposite" "false"
Option "FBTexPercent" "50"
#Option "MigrationHeuristic" "greedy"
Option "DRI" "true"
Option "GARTSize" "64"
Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "false"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "True"
Option "Colortiling" "On"
#Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "True"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Option "NoRenderExtension" "false"
Option "DisableGLXRootClipping" "true"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"

EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Configured Monitor"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Monitor "Configured Monitor"
Device "Configured Video Device"
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
screen 0 "Default Screen" 0 0
InputDevice "Synaptics Touchpad"
Option "AIGLX" "true"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Enable"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection


note Option "AccelMethod", im getting a more stable result with XAA then with EXA. The other options im still experimenting with.

This page might give you more info about the option:

http://linux.die.net/man/4/radeon

also, browse this topic, as great info, and browse the forums and google, a lot of info around :)

also, if you are uncomfortable with the terminal, have a reading here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=935645

great for beginners like our selves :)

[Jacob Collstrup]

hi

well, the main file to backup is xorg.conf situated at /etc/X11/xorg.conf

to back it up simply do


sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old

to edit it do


sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

if u need to return to the old xorg file in the terminal do the same as before


sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf.old /etc/X11/xorg.conf

but, remember, you dont need to edit the xorg file right away, first thing is to use the work around to see if compiz works, just dont use a screen size above 1024x768.

And here it i my xorg.conf



note Option "AccelMethod", im getting a more stable result with XAA then with EXA. The other options im still experimenting with.

This page might give you more info about the option:

http://linux.die.net/man/4/radeon

also, browse this topic, as great info, and browse the forums and google, a lot of info around :)

also, if you are uncomfortable with the terminal, have a reading here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=935645

great for beginners like our selves :)

Thanks!!

Now I feel ready to do my first attempt at 'hacking' linux!! Awesome!!
:guitar:

Jacob

[Jacob Collstrup]

First you need to know whats you card.
lspci or lshw should tell you.

then you should backup the files you change so you can later put them back via terminal.

you should install, via synaptics, the Compiz configuration settings manager so you can adjust the effects, just look for compiz.

the easier way to get compiz is with the workaround:

[Compiz WORK-AROUND]
Add "SKIP_CHECKS=yes" to either /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager or ~/.config/compiz/compiz-manager


sudo gedit /etc/xdg/compiz/compiz-manager

then go to system > preferences > appearance > visual effect

and try to turn on compiz by clicking on normal, if it works it will ask you if you want to keep the configuration, here you can see if your desktop is ok or if is half a desktop (like what happened to me, if that happens choose to go back to previous configuration and then you will have to edit your xorg.conf file).

note that the workaround, from what i gathered only works up to 1024x768 screen resolution, beyond that you will have to edit the xorg.conf file.

note also some users, after enabling compiz, have lost video output.

Wow...the work around works perfectly!! Now I just need to make compiz do the cool stuff I want it to!! Thanks! :popcorn:

Jacob