Radeon

Resources

Wikipedia

radeon is a family of open source graphics drivers for AMD/ATI Radeon graphics cards.

Hardware detection

To choose the right driver, first detect the graphics card. You can use lspci for this task:

root #lspci | grep -i VGA

Feature support

Family	Chipset name	Product name	OpenGL	OpenGL ES	VIDEO_CARDS
R100	R100, RV100, RV200, RS100, RS200	7xxx, 320-345	1.3	No	radeon r100
R200	R200, RV250, RV280, RS300	8xxx-9250	1.4	No	radeon r200
R300	R300, R350, RV350, RV380, RS400, RS480	9500-9800, X300-X600, X1050-X1150, 200M	2.1	2.0	radeon r300
R400	R420, R423, RV410, RS600, RS690, RS740	X700-X850, X12xx, 2100	2.1	2.0	radeon r300
R500	RV515, R520, RV530, RV560, RV570, R580	X1300-X2300, HD2300	2.1	2.0	radeon r300
R600	R600, RV610, RV630, RV620, RV635, RV670, RS780, RS880	HD2400-HD4290	3.0 (3.1)1	2.0	radeon r600
R700	RV770, RV730, RV710, RV740	HD4330-HD5165, HD5xxV	3.0 (3.1)1	2.0	radeon r600
Evergreen	CEDAR, REDWOOD, JUNIPER, CYPRESS, PALM (Wrestler), SUMO, SUMO2	HD5430-HD5970, all HD6xxx not listed under Northern Islands, HD7350	3.0 (3.1)1	2.0	radeon r600
Northern Islands	ARUBA, BARTS, TURKS, CAICOS, CAYMAN	HD6450, HD6570, HD6670, HD6790-HD6990, HD64xxM, HD67xxM, HD69xxM, HD7450-HD7670	3.0 (3.1)1	2.0	radeon r600
Southern Islands	CAPE VERDE, PITCAIRN, TAHITI	HD7750-HD7970	3.02 (3.1)1	2.0	radeon radeonsi

1) Needs testing packages: >=mesa-9.1

2) Work in Progress

Installation

Kernel

You need to activate the following kernel options: Template:Kernel

Firmware

There is IRQ microcode for R600 and newer GPUs. Install either x11-drivers/radeon-ucode or sys-kernel/linux-firmware (contains also other firmware):

root #emerge --ask radeon-ucode

root #emerge --ask linux-firmware

Make sure firmware for your model (check available ones in /lib/firmware/radeon) is included in kernel: Template:Kernel

Below is a list of the firmware files needed for each family of cards:

Family	Chipset name	Product name	Firmware
R500	R520	ATI X1300	radeon/R520_cp.bin
R600	R600, RV610, RV630, RV620, RV635, RV670, RS780, RS880	HD2400-HD4290	radeon/R600_rlc.bin
R700	RV790, RV770, RV730, RV710, RV740	HD4330-HD5165, HD5xxV	radeon/R700_rlc.bin radeon/RV710_uvd.bin1 2
Evergreen	CEDAR	HD5450	radeon/CEDAR_me.bin radeon/CEDAR_pfp.bin radeon/CEDAR_rlc.bin radeon/CYPRESS_uvd.bin1
	REDWOOD	HD5550, HD5570, HD5670	radeon/REDWOOD_me.bin radeon/REDWOOD_pfp.bin radeon/REDWOOD_rlc.bin radeon/CYPRESS_uvd.bin1
	JUNIPER	HD5750, HD5770	radeon/JUNIPER_me.bin radeon/JUNIPER_pfp.bin radeon/JUNIPER_rlc.bin radeon/CYPRESS_uvd.bin1
	CYPRESS	HD5830, HD5850, HD5870 HD5970	radeon/CYPRESS_me.bin radeon/CYPRESS_pfp.bin radeon/CYPRESS_rlc.bin radeon/CYPRESS_uvd.bin1
	PALM (Wrestler)	HD6250, HD6310	radeon/PALM_me.bin radeon/PALM_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	SUMO	HD6290, HD6320	radeon/SUMO_me.bin radeon/SUMO_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_rlc.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	SUMO2	HD6370D, HD6410D	radeon/SUMO2_me.bin radeon/SUMO2_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_rlc.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
Northern Islands	CAICOS	HD6450, HD64xxM	radeon/BTC_rlc.bin radeon/CAICOS_mc.bin radeon/CAICOS_me.bin radeon/CAICOS_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	TURKS	HD6570, HD6670	radeon/BTC_rlc.bin radeon/TURKS_mc.bin radeon/TURKS_me.bin radeon/TURKS_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	BARTS	HD6790, HD6850, HD6870, HD67xxM	radeon/BTC_rlc.bin radeon/BARTS_mc.bin radeon/BARTS_me.bin radeon/BARTS_pfp.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	CAYMAN	HD6950, HD6970, HD6990, HD69xxM	radeon/CAYMAN_mc.bin radeon/CAYMAN_me.bin radeon/CAYMAN_pfp.bin radeon/CAYMAN_rlc.bin radeon/SUMO_uvd.bin1
	ARUBA	HD7400D/G, HD7500D/G, HD7600D/G	radeon/ARUBA_me.bin radeon/ARUBA_pfp.bin radeon/ARUBA_rlc.bin radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin1
Southern Islands	CAPE VERDE	HD7700	radeon/VERDE_ce.bin radeon/VERDE_mc.bin radeon/VERDE_me.bin radeon/VERDE_pfp.bin radeon/VERDE_rlc.bin radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin1
	PITCAIRN	HD7800	radeon/PITCAIRN_ce.bin radeon/PITCAIRN_mc.bin radeon/PITCAIRN_me.bin radeon/PITCAIRN_pfp.bin radeon/PITCAIRN_rlc.bin radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin1
	TAHITI	HD7900	radeon/TAHITI_ce.bin radeon/TAHITI_mc.bin radeon/TAHITI_me.bin radeon/TAHITI_pfp.bin radeon/TAHITI_rlc.bin radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin1
	OLAND	HD8550M-HD8790M	radeon/OLAND_ce.bin radeon/OLAND_mc.bin radeon/OLAND_me.bin radeon/OLAND_pfp.bin radeon/OLAND_rlc.bin radeon/TAHITI_uvd.bin1

1) UVD is supported by >=sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-3.9.1-r1 or vanilla kernel 3.10-rc1, together with >=sys-kernel/linux-firmware-20130421 or >=x11-drivers/radeon-ucode-20130411

2) Only for RV710, RV730, RV740

Driver

Portage uses the variable VIDEO_CARDS for enabling support for various graphics cards in packages. Setting VIDEO_CARDS to e.g. radeon (see the feature matrix) will pull in the correct driver: Template:File

Check the USE flags of x11-drivers/xf86-video-ati:

USE flags for x11-drivers/xf86-video-ati ATI video driver

udev	Enable virtual/udev integration (device discovery, power and storage device support, etc)

Data provided by the Gentoo Package Database · Last update: 2023-06-05 15:39 More information about USE flags

After setting this you want to update your system so the changes take effect:

root #emerge --ask --changed-use --deep @world

Configuration

Permissions

If the acl USE flag is enabled globally and elogind is being used (default for desktop profiles) permissions to video cards will be handled automatically. It is possible to check the permissions using getfacl:

user $getfacl /dev/dri/card0 | grep larry

user:larry:rw-

A broader solution is to add the user(s) needing access the video card to the video group:

root #gpasswd -a larry video

Note that users will be able to run X without permission to the DRI subsystem, but hardware acceleration will be disabled.

xorg.conf

The X server is designed to work out-of-the-box, with no need to manually edit X.Org's configuration files. It should detect and configure devices such as displays, keyboards, and mice.

However, the main configuration file of the X server is the xorg.conf.

You can force the X server to use desired driver with:

FILE /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/radeon.confExplicit radeon driver section

Section "Device"
   Identifier  "radeon"
   Driver      "radeon"
EndSection

Advanced configuration

Power Management

Power management can be set in the sysfs filesystem as follows:

• Check the current power method:

root #cat /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

• Change the power method:

The "dynpm" method dynamically changes the clocks based on demand. (not effective as of June 27, 2012)

root #echo "dynpm" > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

The "profile" method lets you set a profile on how the card should behave.

root #echo "profile" > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_method

• Check the current profile:

root #cat /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile

• Change the profile:

Options for profile:

1. "default" no change of clock speeds
2. "auto" switches between "mid" and "high" power states based on the whether the system is on battery power or not. The "low" power state are selected when the monitors are in the dpms off state.
3. "low" forces the GPU to be in the low power state all the time. Note that "low" can cause display problems on some laptops; this is why auto does not use "low" when displays are active.
4. "mid" forces the GPU to be in the "mid" power state all the time. The "low" power state is selected when the monitors are in the dpms off state.
5. "high" forces the GPU to be in the "high" power state all the time. The "low" power state is selected when the monitors are in the dpms off state.

root #echo "low" > /sys/class/drm/card0/device/power_profile

• Check the current GPU, Memory clocks and voltage (needs to have kernel debugfs enabled):

root #cat /sys/kernel/debug/dri/0/radeon_pm_info

Note
With more than one monitor connected, the memory clock will always be on full speed.

Note
On APU chipsets, those settings have little to no effect and give inconclusive results.

Tuning

I couldn't find a summary of all options available so feel free to add to this.

Warning
There are several options to tweak the radeon driver and some of these might break your desktop, so if you are uncomfortable with the console better stick to default.

Parameter	Application	Effect
radeon.pcie_gen2=1	kernel commandline	Run at PCI-E 2.0 speeds per default
radeon.audio=1	kernel commandline	Enable HDMI audio on some cards
R600_STREAMOUT=1	Environment variable	Enable the use of OpenGL 3.0/4.2 on some cards
R600_HYPERZ=1	Environment variable	Enable the use Hyper-Z on some cards
R600_TILING=1	Environment variable	Enable 2D Tiling on some cards (also needs the xorg.conf parameter set)
R600_SURF=1	Environment variable	Enable 2D Tiling on some cards (also needs the xorg.conf parameter set)
R600_GLSL130=1	Environment variable	Enable more features of the OpenGL 3.0 API
ColorTiling2D True	xorg.conf parameter	Enable 2D Color Tiling in conjunction with R600_TILING=1 and R600_SURF=1

• Kernel parameters can be just added to the kernel commandline in grub.cfg or grub.conf.
• Environment variables could be put into a file like /etc/env.d/99radeon to have them initialized during boot.
• xorg.conf parameter are usual in the Device section for the card.
• A full list of kernel parameters can be found here: X.Org Wiki - RadeonFeature
• S3TC compression needed for some applications like most 3D games: media-libs/libtxc_dxtn

Monitoring

lm sensors can be used to monitor the cards temperature. It uses the I2C interface, which needs to be enabled in the kernel: Template:Kernel

Audio over HDMI

Audio through the HDMI port is available for some cards. Check the X.Org Wiki - Radeon Feature Matrix for the model family. A recent 3.x kernel may be needed.

As noted above, HDMI audio must be explicitly enabled using the kernel commandline paramater radeon.audio=1. In addition, ALSA typically does not use HDMI as the default audio, so one way to force this as the default is to add a config file: Template:File which may be moved to /etc/asound.conf to make HDMI audio the system-wide default.

See also

• fglrx - Closed source binary driver for AMD/ATI graphic cards.
• fglrx Quick Switch - Quickly switch between fglrx and this driver using GRUB 2 without downgrading xorg-server.
• hprofile - Another method for switching between graphics drivers.

Troubleshooting

• Gentoo bugtracker: known bugs
• Freedesktop.org bugtracker: known bugs
• Freedesktop.org bugtracker: known bugs

External resources

• X.Org Wiki
• Community Gentoo Wiki article