VBIOS can't switch to external device when I use xf86-video-ati driver

[Alex Deucher]

On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 10:37 AM, Jhih-Sin Chen <jschen.cse at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 6/26/08, Alex Deucher <alexdeucher at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 2:58 AM, Jhih-Sin Chen <jschen.cse at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > On 6/25/08, Alex Deucher <alexdeucher at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Jhih-Sin Chen <jschen.cse at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 10:26 PM, Alex Deucher <alexdeucher at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >> On Wed, Jun 25, 2008 at 9:56 AM, Jhih-Sin Chen <jschen.cse at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >>> Hi,
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> I am using Radeon HD 3470 card with xf86-video-ati 6.8.192 on my laptop.
>> >> >>> I try to implement hotkey function to switch display device.
>> >> >>> I have set _DOS parameter in ACPI and ask VBIOS to switch display
>> >> >>> device but it fails.
>> >> >>>
>> >> >>> However, the hotkey function can switch display device successfully
>> >> >>> when I use "vesa" driver.
>> >> >>> Do you have any suggetion on this issue? Thanks.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> It's disabled on purpose.  The bios goes behind the driver's back and
>> >> >> messes with the hardware which can lead to bad state or possibly hw
>> >> >> locks.  You can control the outputs with xrandr so please use that.
>> >> >> On most laptops you can even change the video hotkey to produce acpi
>> >> >> events rather than banging the hw directly and then you tie that event
>> >> >> to a script that runs xrandr commands.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Alex
>> >> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > Hi,
>> >> >
>> >> > But I can't use xrandr to swtich display device to HDMI. Is it a
>> >> > limitation of xrandr or anything wrong?
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> what sort of problem are you having?
>> >> xrandr --output HDMI-0 --auto
>> >> should do the trick.
>> >>
>> >> What does the output of xrandr look like?
>> >
>> > "xrandr -q" always show "hdmi-0 disconnected" even if my laptop
>> > connect to HDMI device.
>> > "xrandr --output HDMI-0 --auto" show nothing and can't switch to HDMI.
>> >
>> > Where is the start point to debug this issue? Thank you.
>> >
>>
>> We'd need to see your log.  Can you post your xorg log and config?
>>
>> In the meantime you can force the output on with xrandr using something like:
>>
> Hi,
> The attached files are my xorg log and config.
> I use the following method to switch HDMI but it still fails. Thanks.

What exactly happens when you run those commands?
Can you post the output of xrandr after running them?

Alex

>
>> xrandr --newmode "1024x768R"   56.00  1024 1072 1104 1184  768 771 775
>> 790 +hsync -vsync
>> xrandr --addmode HDMI-0 "1024x768R"
>> xrandr --output HDMI-0 --mode "1024x768R"
>>
>> Replace the 1024x768 mode with whatever mode you want to use on your HDMI port.
>> you can generate the modeline with cvt:
>> cvt -r 1024 768 60
>> or (non-reduced blanking modes):
>> cvt 1024 768 60
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Alex
>>
>