ati driver will not turn on external display

[ag65151]

Binary package hint: xserver-xorg-driver-ati

ATI IGP 340M video card.

Under Gutsy, I could use xrandr to switch between LVDS and VGA-0. When I upgraded to Hardy, I can not get VGA-0 to display.

Details: During boot up, I can see all images. I forced the "vesa" driver in lo-res mode and it was able to display to my external monitor (VGA-0). Once gdm loads, the external monitor goes into standby (i.e., the display goes dark and the power LED blinks). No combination of xorg.conf and xrandr options has given me a display when using the ati driver.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Here is more info about my system:

laptop:~$ lspci|grep VGA
01:05.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc Radeon IGP 330M/340M/350M

laptop:~$ sudo ddcprobe

vbe: VESA 2.0 detected.
oem: ATI RS200M
memory: 20416kb
mode: 320x200x32k
mode: 320x200x64k
mode: 320x200x16m
mode: 1600x1200x256
mode: 640x400x256
mode: 640x480x256
mode: 640x480x32k
mode: 640x480x64k
mode: 640x480x16m
mode: 1600x1200x32k
mode: 800x600x256
mode: 800x600x32k
mode: 800x600x64k
mode: 800x600x16m
mode: 1600x1200x64k
mode: 1024x768x256
mode: 1024x768x32k
mode: 1024x768x64k
mode: 1024x768x16m
mode: 1280x1024x256
mode: 1280x1024x32k
mode: 1280x1024x64k
mode: 1280x1024x16m
edid:
edidfail

laptop:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1024 x 768, maximum 1280 x 1200
VGA-0 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
   1280x1024 75.0 + 74.9 75.0
   1152x864 75.0
   1024x768 84.9 75.1 70.1 60.0 43.5
   832x624 74.6
   800x600 84.9 72.2 75.0 60.3 56.2
   640x480 84.6 75.0 72.8 66.7 60.0
   720x400 87.8 70.1
LVDS connected 1024x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   1024x768 60.0*+ 60.0
   800x600 60.3
   640x480 59.9
S-video disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
laptop:~$

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Would it be prudent to "fall back" to a previous version of X to get my VGA to work again?

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Thanks for including the necessary files.

Have you also tried booting with no xorg.conf, and using the Screen Resolution tool to activate your external monitor?

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Yes, I tried the no xorg.conf route after reading about it somewhere else. I was still unable to get the external to wake up. I will admit to being somewhat of a n00b when it comes to xorg, however. All I got with the vesa driver (which is what loaded with no xorg.conf) was 600x800 on my built-in lcd, still nothing to my VGA-0.

Thanks for taking a look at this.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

FYI - here is the xserver log when I restart with no xorg.conf

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Can I get the ati driver from Gutsy to run in Hardy? If I could find the Gutsy ati driver, could I somehow replace the newer driver with the older without having to recompile?

It seems reasonable, but I really don't want to kill my laptop completely.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

I see from other areas that there is work happening on the ATI driver. Has any of the coders looked at this bug yet?

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Where can I find a different ATI driver than what came in Hardy Heron? I either need to fall back to the ati driver that was working in Gutsy, or I need to jump ahead to where this bug is fixed. Where can I find either one of these?

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

I have seen several places around the 'net mentioning this problem with the ATI driver and this older IGP card. Is there any workaround someone has come up with? Or is it time for me to get a new machine. I have to say that one of the things I hated about M$ was having to upgrade hardware for software changes. I have been pleasantly surprised by the lack of such a need until the latest release. Can someone, anyone, help me get my external VGA-0 port working again?

Thanks

[Kamalakar Agashe (kagashe)]

Hi ag65151

I am using external monitor with vesa driver on Hardy. I am attaching my xorg.xonf file.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Thanks for the work around. It works on my card as well.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

It works, but it is definitely a work-around. My 19-inch monitor is mirroring my 1024x768 LVDS. This is better than what I had before because I can actually use my monitor, but I would prefer to be able to get at least 1280x1024 on the external monitor and to be able to shut the LVDS off (I used to do this with xrandr).

Is there any work happening to get these older cards working in the driver?

[Kamalakar Agashe (kagashe)]

I am afraid you have to go back to Gutsy to make LVDS off.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

Would going back to Gutsy be a permanent solution? In other words, the ati driver will never be fixed for this bug, so I need to stay with Gutsy until this machine dies. Or is it just until this bug gets looked at?

I am willing to wait if I know that someone is looking into fixing this bug, but if it is going to remain broken, then I'll just go back to Gutsy and be happy there.

Thanks for your input.

[Kamalakar Agashe (kagashe)]

Go and ask here:
http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15708

Don't try to make fresh bug report. It will be marked as duplicate.

[ag65151 (ag65151)]

I did get into a conversation with the developer at the above mentioned bug (15708).

I am happy to report that it is fixed in the latest version of the source code. If you would like to get this version before it makes it to the repositories, you will have to build your xorg from source. I can say it worked fine for me with my environment on my hardware. I can make no warranties or raise any hopes that you will have the same success. There are instructions in the bug ( http://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15708 ) on how to build with git.

Once again, it works for me, but you have to be willing to build from scratch.

[Kamalakar Agashe (kagashe)]

The updated ati driver is available in Debin Sid. I have downloaded the required drivers from Debian Sid repositories and they are working on Hardy:
xserver-xorg-video-ati_6.8.192-1_i386.deb
xserver-xorg-video-mach64_6.8.0-1_i386.deb
xserver-xorg-video-r128_6.8.0-1_i386
xserver-xorg-video-radeon_6.8.192-1_i386

I have deleted xorg.conf file, xrandrr -q is showing VGA-0 and LVDS outputs and I could turn off LVDS.

I hope the update also arrives in Ubuntu Hardy soon.

[Ivo Mans (ivomans)]

I can confirm the message from Kamalakar Agashe.
Installing the mentioned updated drivers solved the issue for me.
Hope the updated drivers can be released for Hardy soon.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Closing main task since we have the newer driver in Intrepid; opening a Hardy task in case someone wishes to identify the fix and see if it can be backported to the Hardy version of the driver (I'm guessing this will be too difficult, but couldn't hurt to look).