RADEON(4) RADEON(4)
NAME
radeon - ATI RADEON video driver
SYNOPSIS
Section "Device"
Identifier "devname"
Driver "radeon"
...
EndSection
DESCRIPTION
radeon is an Xorg driver for ATI RADEON based video cards. It contains
full support for 8, 15, 16 and 24 bit pixel depths, dual-head setup,
flat panel, hardware 2D acceleration, hardware 3D acceleration (experi-
mental on R300 and R400 series cards), hardware cursor, XV extension,
and the Xinerama extension.
SUPPORTED HARDWARE
The radeon driver supports PCI and AGP video cards based on the follow-
ing ATI chips
R100 Radeon 7200
RV100 Radeon 7000(VE), M6
RS100 Radeon IGP320(M)
RV200 Radeon 7500, M7, FireGL 7800
RS200 Radeon IGP330(M)/IGP340(M)
RS250 Radeon Mobility 7000 IGP
R200 Radeon 8500, 9100, FireGL 8800/8700
RV250 Radeon 9000PRO/9000, M9
RS300 Radeon 9100 IGP
RS350 Radeon 9200 IGP
RS400 Radeon XPRESS 200/200M IGP
RV280 Radeon 9200PRO/9200/9200SE, M9+
R300 Radeon 9700PRO/9700/9500PRO/9500/9600TX, FireGL X1/Z1 (2D
only)
R350 Radeon 9800PRO/9800SE/9800, FireGL X2 (2D only)
R360 Radeon 9800XT (2d only)
RV350 Radeon 9600PRO/9600SE/9600, M10/M11, FireGL T2 (2D only)
RV360 Radeon 9600XT (2d only)
RV370 Radeon X300, M22 (2d only)
RV380 Radeon X600, M24 (2d only)
RV410 Radeon X700, M26 PCIE (2d only)
R420 Radeon X800 AGP (2d only)
R423/R430 Radeon X800, M28 PCIE (2d only)
R480/R481 Radeon X850 PCIE/AGP (2d only)
CONFIGURATION DETAILS
Please refer to xorg.conf(5x) for general configuration details. This
section only covers configuration details specific to this driver.
The driver auto-detects all device information necessary to initialize
the card. However, if you have problems with auto-detection, you can
specify:
VideoRam - in kilobytes
MemBase - physical address of the linear framebuffer
IOBase - physical address of the MMIO registers
ChipID - PCI DEVICE ID
In addition, the following driver Options are supported:
Option "SWcursor" "boolean"
Selects software cursor. The default is off.
Option "NoAccel" "boolean"
Enables or disables all hardware acceleration.
The default is to enable hardware acceleration.
Option "Dac6Bit" "boolean"
Enables or disables the use of 6 bits per color component when
in 8 bpp mode (emulates VGA mode). By default, all 8 bits per
color component are used.
The default is off.
Option "VideoKey" "integer"
This overrides the default pixel value for the YUV video overlay
key.
The default value is 0x1E.
Option "UseFBDev" "boolean"
Enable or disable use of an OS-specific framebuffer device
interface (which is not supported on all OSs). MergedFB does
not work when this option is in use. See fbdevhw(4) for further
information.
The default is off.
Option "AGPMode" "integer"
Set AGP data transfer rate. (used only when DRI is enabled)
1 -- x1 (default)
2 -- x2
4 -- x4
8 -- x8
others -- invalid
Option "AGPFastWrite" "boolean"
Enable AGP fast write. Enabling this option is frequently the
cause of instability. Used only when the DRI is enabled.
The default is off.
Option "BusType" "string"
Used to replace previous ForcePCIMode option. Should only be
used when driver's bus detection is incorrect or you want to
force a AGP card to PCI mode. Should NEVER force a PCI card to
AGP bus.
PCI -- PCI bus
AGP -- AGP bus
PCIE -- PCI Express (falls back to PCI at present)
(used only when DRI is enabled)
The default is auto detect.
Option "DDCMode" "boolean"
Force to use the modes queried from the connected monitor.
The default is off.
Option "DisplayPriority" "string"
Used to prevent flickering or tearing problem caused by display
buffer underflow.
AUTO -- Driver calculated (default).
BIOS -- Remain unchanged from BIOS setting.
Use this if the calculation is not correct
for your card.
HIGH -- Force to the highest priority.
Use this if you have problem with above options.
This may affect performance slightly.
The default value is AUTO.
Option "MonitorLayout" "string"
This option is used to overwrite the detected monitor types.
This is only required when driver makes a false detection. The
possible monitor types are:
NONE -- Not connected
CRT -- Analog CRT monitor
TMDS -- Desktop flat panel
LVDS -- Laptop flat panel
This option can be used in following format:
Option "MonitorLayout" "[type on primary], [type on secondary]"
For example, Option "MonitorLayout" "CRT, TMDS"
Primary/Secondary head for dual-head cards:
(when only one port is used, it will be treated as the primary
regardless)
Primary head:
DVI port on DVI+VGA cards
LCD output on laptops
Internal TMDS port on DVI+DVI cards
Secondary head:
VGA port on DVI+VGA cards
VGA port on laptops
External TMDS port on DVI+DVI cards
The default value is undefined.
Option "MergedFB" "boolean"
This enables merged framebuffer mode. In this mode you have a
single shared framebuffer with two viewports looking into it.
It is similar to Xinerama, but has some advantages. It is
faster than Xinerama, the DRI works on both heads, and it sup-
ports clone modes.
Merged framebuffer mode provides two linked viewports looking
into a single large shared framebuffer. The size of the frame-
buffer is determined by the Virtual keyword defined on the
Screen section of your xorg.conf file. It works just like regu-
lar virtual desktop except you have two viewports looking into
it instead of one.
For example, if you wanted a desktop composed of two 1024x768
viewports looking into a single desktop you would create a vir-
tual desktop of 2048x768 (left/right) or 1024x1536
(above/below), e.g.,
Virtual 2048 768 or Virtual 1024 1536
The virtual desktop can be larger than larger than the size of
the viewports looking into it. In this case the linked
viewports will scroll around in the virtual desktop. Viewports
with different sizes are also supported (e.g., one that is
1024x768 and one that is 640x480). In this case the smaller
viewport will scroll relative to the larger one such that none
of the virtual desktop is inaccessible. If you do not define a
virtual desktop the driver will create one based on the orienta-
tion of the heads and size of the largest defined mode in the
display section that is supported on each head.
The relation of the viewports in specified by the CRT2Position
Option. The options are Clone , LeftOf , RightOf , Above , and
Below. MergedFB is enabled by default if a monitor is detected
on each output. If no position is given it defaults to clone
mode (the old clone options are now deprecated, also, the option
OverlayOnCRTC2 has been replaced by the Xv attribute
XV_SWITCHCRT; the overlay can be switched to CRT1 or CRT2 on the
fly in clone mode).
The maximum framebuffer size that the 2D acceleration engine can
handle is 8192x8192. The maximum framebuffer size that the 3D
engine can handle is 2048x2048.
Note: Page flipping does not work well in certain configurations
with MergedFB. If you see rendering errors or other strange
behavior, disable page flipping. Also MergedFB is not compatible
with the UseFBDev option.
The default value is undefined.
Option "CRT2HSync" "string"
Set the horizontal sync range for the secondary monitor. It is
not required if a DDC-capable monitor is connected.
For example, Option "CRT2HSync" "30.0-86.0"
The default value is undefined.
Option "CRT2VRefresh" "string"
Set the vertical refresh range for the secondary monitor. It is
not required if a DDC-capable monitor is connected.
For example, Option "CRT2VRefresh" "50.0-120.0"
The default value is undefined.
Option "CRT2Position" "string"
Set the relationship of CRT2 relative to CRT1. Valid options
are: Clone , LeftOf , RightOf , Above , and Below
For example, Option "CRT2Position" "RightOf"
This option also supports an offset. This is most useful when
MergedNonRectangular is enabled. For example if you want CRT2
to be offset 100 pixels down from the start of CRT1, you'd type:
Option "CRT2Position" "LeftOf 100"
The offset is vertical for LeftOf and RightOf and horizontal for
Above and Below. Offsets can be positive or negative.
The default value is Clone.
Option "MetaModes" "string"
MetaModes are mode combinations for CRT1 and CRT2. If you are
using merged frame buffer mode and want to change modes (CTRL-
ALT-+/-), these define which modes will be switched to on CRT1
and CRT2. The MetaModes are defined as CRT1Mode-CRT2Mode
(800x600-1024x768). Modes listed individually (800x600) define
clone modes, that way you can mix clone modes with non-clone
modes. Also some programs require "standard" modes. If you
want to add clone modes of different refreshes or sizes to the
mix, they are defined as CRT1Mode+CRT2Mode (800x600+1024x768).
Note: Any mode you use in the MetaModes must be defined in the
Screen section of your xorg.conf file. Modes not defined there
will be ignored when the MetaModes are parsed since the driver
uses them to make sure the monitors can handle those modes. If
you do not define a MetaMode the driver will create one based on
the orientation of the heads and size of the largest defined
mode in the display section that is supported on each head.
Modes 1024x768 800x600 640x480
For example, Option "MetaModes" "1024x768-1024x768
800x600-1024x768 640x480-800x600 800x600"
The default value is undefined.
Option "MergedXinerama" "boolean"
Since merged framebuffer mode does not use Xinerama, apps are
not able to intelligently place windows. Merged framebuffer
mode provides its own pseudo-Xinerama. This allows Xinerama
compliant applications to place windows appropriately. There
are some caveats. Since merged framebuffer mode is able to
change relative screen sizes and orientations on the fly, as
well has having overlapping viewports, pseudo-Xinerama, might
not always provide the right hints. Also many Xinerama compli-
ant applications only query Xinerama once at startup; if the
information changes, they may not be aware of the change. If
you are already using Xinerama (e.g., a single head card and a
dualhead card providing three heads), pseudo-Xinerama will be
disabled.
This option allows you turn off the driver provided pseudo-Xin-
erama extension.
The default value is TRUE.
Option "MergedXineramaCRT2IsScreen0" "boolean"
By default the pseudo-Xinerama provided by the driver makes the
left-most or bottom head Xinerama screen 0. Certain Xinerama-
aware applications do special things with screen 0. To change
that behavior, use this option.
The default value is undefined.
Option "MergedDPI" "string"
The driver will attempt to figure out an appropriate DPI based
on the DDC information and the orientation of the heads when in
merged framebuffer mode. If this value does not suit you, you
can manually set the DPI using this option.
For example, Option "MergedDPI" "100 100"
The default value is undefined.
Option "MergedNonRectangular" "boolean"
If you are using MergedFB with two modes of different sizes,
turn this option on to keep the smaller head from scrolling
within the larger virtual desktop and to keep the mouse from
moving into that area. Applications that are not Xinerama aware
can potentially end up stranded in this area.
The default value is FALSE.
Option "ColorTiling" "boolean"
Frame buffer can be addressed either in linear or tiled mode.
Tiled mode can provide significant performance benefits with 3D
applications, for 2D it shouldn't matter much. Tiling will be
disabled if the virtual x resolution exceeds 2048 (3968 for R300
and above), if option UseFBDev is used, or (if DRI is enabled)
the drm module is too old.
If this option is enabled, a new dri driver is required for
direct rendering too.
Color tiling will be automatically disabled in interlaced or
doublescan screen modes.
The default value is on.
Option "IgnoreEDID" "boolean"
Do not use EDID data for mode validation, but DDC is still used
for monitor detection. This is different from NoDDC option.
The default value is off.
Option "PanelSize" "string"
Should only be used when driver cannot detect the correct panel
size. Apply to both desktop (TMDS) and laptop (LVDS) digital
panels. When a valid panel size is specified, the timings col-
lected from DDC and BIOS will not be used. If you have a panel
with timings different from that of a standard VESA mode, you
have to provide this information through the Modeline.
For example, Option "PanelSize" "1400x1050"
The default value is none.
Option "PanelOff" "boolean"
Disable panel output.
The default value is off.
Option "EnablePageFlip" "boolean"
Enable page flipping for 3D acceleration. This will increase
performance but not work correctly in some rare cases, hence the
default is off.
Option "ForceMinDotClock" "frequency"
Override minimum dot clock. Some Radeon BIOSes report a minimum
dot clock unsuitable (too high) for use with television sets
even when they actually can produce lower dot clocks. If this is
the case you can override the value here. Note that using this
option may damage your hardware. You have been warned. The fre-
quency parameter may be specified as a float value with standard
suffixes like "k", "kHz", "M", "MHz".
Option "RenderAccel" "boolean"
Enables or disables hardware Render acceleration. This driver
does not support component alpha (subpixel) rendering. It is
only supported on Radeon series up to and including 9200
(9500/9700 and newer unsupported). The default is to enable
Render acceleration.
Option "AccelMethod" "string"
Chooses between available acceleration architectures. Valid
options are XAA and EXA. XAA is the traditional acceleration
architecture and support for it is very stable. EXA is a newer
acceleration architecture with better performance for the Render
and Composite extensions, but the rendering code for it is newer
and possibly unstable. The default is XAA.
Option "AccelDFS" "boolean"
Use or don't use accelerated EXA DownloadFromScreen hook when
possible (only when Direct Rendering is enabled, e.g.).
Default: off with AGP due to issues with GPU->host transfers
with some AGP bridges, on otherwise.
Option "FBTexPercent" "integer"
Amount of video RAM to reserve for OpenGL textures, in percent.
With EXA, the remainder of video RAM is reserved for EXA off-
screen management. Specifying 0 results in all offscreen video
RAM being reserved for EXA and only GART memory being available
for OpenGL textures. This may improve EXA performance, but
beware that it may cause problems with OpenGL drivers from Mesa
versions older than 6.4. With XAA, specifiying lower percentage
than what gets reserved without this option has no effect, but
the driver tries to increase the video RAM reserved for textures
to the amount specified roughly. Default: 50.
Option "DepthBits" "integer"
Precision in bits per pixel of the shared depth buffer used for
3D acceleration. Valid values are 16 and 24. When this is 24,
there will also be a hardware accelerated stencil buffer, but
the combined depth/stencil buffer will take up twice as much
video RAM as when it's 16. Default: The same as the screen
depth.
Option "DMAForXv" "boolean"
Try or don't try to use DMA for Xv image transfers. This will
reduce CPU usage when playing big videos like DVDs, but may
cause instabilities. Default: on.
Option "SubPixelOrder" "string"
Force subpixel order to specified order. Subpixel order is used
for subpixel decimation on flat panels.
NONE -- No subpixel (CRT like displays)
RGB -- in horizontal RGB order (most flat panels)
BGR -- in horizontal BGR order (some flat panels)
This option is intended to be used in following cases:
1. The default subpixel order is incorrect for your panel.
2. Enable subpixel decimation on analog panels.
3. Adjust to one display type in dual-head clone mode setup.
4. Get better performance with Render acceleration on digital
panels (use NONE setting).
The default is NONE for CRT, RGB for digital panels
Option "DynamicClocks" "boolean"
Enable dynamic clock scaling. The on-chip clocks will scale
dynamically based on usage. This can help reduce heat and
increase battery life by reducing power usage. Some users
report reduced 3D performance with this enabled. The default is
off.
Option "BIOSHotkeys" "boolean"
Enable BIOS hotkey output switching. This allows the BIOS to
toggle outputs using hotkeys (e.g., fn-f7, etc.). Since the
driver does not support ACPI, there is no way to validate modes
on an output switch and the BIOS can potentially change things
behind the driver's back. The default is off.
Option "VGAAccess" "boolean"
Tell the driver if it can do legacy VGA IOs to the card. This is
necessary for properly resuming consoles when in VGA text mode,
but shouldn't be if the console is using radeonfb or some other
graphic mode driver. Some platforms like PowerPC have issues
with those, and they aren't necessary unless you have a real
text mode in console. The default is off on PowerPC and on on
other architectures.
Option "ReverseDDC" "boolean"
When BIOS connector informations aren't available, use this
option to reverse the mapping of the 2 main DDC ports. Use this
if the X serve obviously detects the wrong display for each con-
nector. This is typically needed on the Radeon 9600 cards bun-
dled with Apple G5s. The default is off.
Option "LVDSProbePLL" "boolean"
When BIOS panel informations aren't available (like on Power-
Books), it may still be necessary to use the firmware provided
PLL values for the panel or flickering will happen. This option
will force probing of the current value programmed in the chip
when X is launched in that case. This is only useful for LVDS
panels (laptop internal panels). The default is on.
SEE ALSO
Xorg(1x), xorg.conf(5x), xorgconfig(1x), Xserver(1x), X(7)
AUTHORS
Authors include:
Rickard E. (Rik) Faith faith@precisioninsight.com
Kevin E. Martin kem@freedesktop.org
Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
Marc Aurele La France tsi@xfree86.org
Benjamin Herrenschmidt benh@kernel.crashing.org
Michel Dnzer michel@tungstengraphics.com
Alex Deucher alexdeucher@gmail.com
Bogdan D. bogdand@users.sourceforge.net
Eric Anholt eric@anholt.net
X Version 11 xf86-video-ati 6.6.3 RADEON(4)
