Will installing a separate graphics card restore normal graphics ?

Polytropon freebsd at edvax.de
Wed Aug 10 06:06:06 UTC 2016


On Wed, 10 Aug 2016 05:23:41 +0000, Manish Jain wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> The X server under FreeBSD is not giving normal graphics with my new AMD 
> A6-6400K processor + Asus A68HM motherboard with onboard ATI Radeon 8470 
> graphics. A lot of the text of Gnome's Applications menu list  is 
> missing and strange streaks appear at a few places on the screen.

CHeck the file /var/log/Xorg.0.log for any "EE" entries (errors).
Also determine which driver X has actually loaded automatically.
There are additional drivers in the ports collection which you
might try (ati, radeon, radeonhd, if I remember correctly - long
time no ATI card here). You can also force X to use a specific
driver using the xorg.conf mechanism. In worst case, try VESA.
It will not provide useful 3D results, but for desktop use, it
should be sufficient until the problem is solved.

Here is an example for an ATI Radeon 9600 (or 9200?):

Section "Device"
	Identifier	"Card0"
	Driver		"ati"
	VendorName	"ATI Technologies Inc"
	BoardName	"Rage 128 Pro Ultra TF"
	BusID		"PCI:1:5:0"
	VideoRam	32768
EndSection

This specifies the "ati" driver (formerly part of XFree86, but
in your case, "radeonhd" would probably be a better choice after
you've installed the required port/package). Check the manual
page supplied with the driver if your card is on the list of
supported devices.

Keep in mind you usually don't need a complete xorg.conf today;
a partial file containing only those parts you wish to "hardcode"
is sufficient.



> Would it help if I were to install a separate graphics card ?

If it is _possible_ to do so, then yes, as long as the following
points are met:

1. The card mechanically fits to the mainboard.

2. The card is compatible with the mainboard and the power supply.

3. The card is supported by a driver available for FreeBSD.

Additional point:

4. The driver supports all desired functionality of the card (3D).



> I have no 
> idea whether it is possible to disable the onboard graphics adapter, but 
> if that is possible, I can try using a dedicated VGA card.

It should be possible to do this in the BIOS/UEFI. In some cases,
it happens automatically when a second GPU is detected.






-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...


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