7970M Linux/Windows Drivers

Hi,

I will soon buy a P150EM Laptop. I planned to get a 670m because I had great experiences with Nvidia under Windows and Linux (dual boot). But the great performace combined with great temperatures let me consider spending more money to get a 7970m.

Comming from Nvidia I am concerned about the quality of AMDs driver support.
A few questions:

Linux:
Does Enduro work under Linux?

Current results:
There is a driver for 7970m from AMD, the open source one doesn't support it for now.
Switching graphics works (maybe) like described here:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hybrid_graphics#ATI_Dynamic_Switchable_Graphics


Windows:
How is the overall quality of actual AMD drivers? I read bad things about them in the past, but some claim, they have massively improved.

Current results:
No answer

 

[all variants] AMD/Intel Hybrid Graphics works ! - Ubuntu Forums

Maybe that will help? My 6990m has worked flawlessly without problems on both Arch and Xubuntu.

The drivers have improved, but the quality is still slightly lower than that of nVidia's. Would I pay an extra $300 for better drivers and no performance increase? No. I certainly wouldn't pay $300 extra to have to deal with bumblee and the state of nVidia's Optimus on linux. Stay away from optimus.

 

The desktop 7970 is supported from fglrx 12.1 according to this: Hardware - cchtml.com

I'm not sure if enduro is supported, but there are ways to power down graphics cards in linux, like vga_switcheroo and acpi_call.

 

Thanks for the replies so far.

Good to hear that the card will run under Linux.
Digging a bit deeper with Google finally revealed this:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Hybrid_graphics#ATI_Dynamic_Switchable_Graphics
seems promissing

acpi_call will (if it does) only help partially

 

Just wondering if you ever got that P150EM in, and if so, what kind of luck you had getting the 7970M working in Linux.

 

I ordered it a week ago and according to Schenker it will soon be here.
Will inform you then about difficulties and steps to get it working.

 

Awesome, thanks! I'm mainly concerned about the ability to get some kind of hardware acceleration (be it from the Intel chip or the AMD one) and use an external monitor through the DVI port, preferably in clamshell mode if possible. Is there any way you could test out an external display?

Thanks!

 

Hey there,

I have clevo p150-em with 7970m , I installed mint Linux 13 along with amd catalyst but sadly 7970 was not detected so it means that it un-supported . However, when I go play YouTube video in 1080p there is no lag , so i am guessing Intel graphics are doing the job since i have the drivers for them installed automatically . I still haven't tried games yet using wine

 

Brilliant, thanks for the report!! As long as it's possible to do day-to-day stuff like YouTube and run a desktop environment, I have no problem dual-booting for gaming. Any chance you have an external monitor you could try hooking up to the DVI port?

 

no man fortunatly i have no tv that support hd , i want to test the feature out thought lol, but mint linux runs perfectly fine here

 

Hi,

I got mine too and made some tests.
Windows runs fine exept the 7970M driver. The Control Center crashes as soon as I open it.
I installed Ubuntu 12.04 and here are the glitches for the moment:

- Subwoofer isn't used
- Wlan wont connect to Ad-Hoc Networks, but connects fine to infrastructure ones
- Webcam not accessible edit: It works, just forgot to use the fn key to turn it on
- Fingerprintreader not usable, but already known to fprint project
( freedesktop.org - Software/fprint/libfprint/Unsupported devices look unter upek)
- Haven't found a way to disable 7970M , vga_switcheroo wont work
- Hotkeys work partially
- haven't tried yet to change the keybord lights
- Bluetooth is disabled, but usable, just use the fn key to enable it
- Resulting max battery time ~2h (5h under win)
- everything else works fine (ssd, HD 4000, sound, external displays, sound over HDMI)

I made a backup of my system and upgraded to 12.10 Alpha 2.
As you can guess, using an alpha was a bad idea..
Nothing has started working, except the radeon module is not loaded. But I don't see improvements.
I have to manually startx and using the wlan switch now has a probability of causing a kernel panic.
Battery life is very low, the 7970M seems to run at full power.
I will revert now to my 12.04 Backup.

edit: done

 

Thank you for the detailed report...this sounds encouraging (especially that external displays work)!

One quick question...although you can't turn off the 7970M in Linux, do you know whether the OS is actually using it to render anything? Or is it using the Intel for all graphics functions while still providing power to the 7970M?

 

The 7970M isn't used under Ubuntu 12.04 as neither the radeon nor the fglrx (proprietary) module is loaded.
Under 12.10 the radeon module was loaded so I suspect it can be used for rendering. But I won't go trough the hassle of installing the alpha again just to answer this question

Regarding the keyboard lights: Schenker, my manufacturer, said, Clevo wont disclosure any information regarding them because they fear hardware damage.
Well I am ok with blue lights.

The Webcam works! I was just to stupid to use the fn Key to turn it on ^^
Will update it above.

Feel free to ask further questions and I welcome every attempt to fix one of the issues.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info I'll try loading fglrx or radeon when I get my system in and get Ubuntu up and running. I have to say that your information here has me pretty excited for this computer

 

I could install additional drivers for my graphics card (not 7970M). but I didn't notice much difference in playing video. I don't game.

 

I noticed an "Unsupported Hardware" AMD watermark at the lower-right corner of my screen after installing the official 12.8 CCC Linux drivers from the AMD site, on Ubuntu 12.04 x64. Anyone else experiencing anything similar?

 

There is a bug in the 12.8 driver which makes the 7970m unusable, the bug is submitted here and here. 12.9 beta didn't fix anything since it wasn't meant for switchable graphics anyway. I hope this will be fixed in 12.10 driver because the fan is too LOUD and I believe having CCC installed and drivers working properly will stabilise things!

I will try Ubuntu 12.10 as well, although AMD drivers stated that Ubuntu 12.04 is supported!

 

That's gonna be a long wait. *sigh*

 

For those of you still interested in this, Catalyst 12.10 perfectly supports the 7970M in my P170EM running Ubuntu 12.04 and kernel 3.6.2. I understand that it won't work with the newer Xorg version from Ubuntu 12.10, but if you're still on 12.04 LTS, you should be good to go!

 

Thanks! That's good to know.

 

Hi guys... I've just seen this thread...

I'm under Debian Wheezy and i am not been able to use drivers from AMD ATI site...

The install finishes ok, then i do the "aticonfig --initial" but after restarting, the desktop won't load...

Can anyone help me?

 

Window manager probably crash. Try "startx" with ctrl+alt+f3/f4/etc. from terminal with root.

 

Let me try to explain better...

When i restart, the desktop doesn't load and i can't do anything. i can't start any terminal, usually ctrl+alt+F2, or do anything else... The screen goes dark grey and the only solution is to power it down long pressing the power button...

Does it can have anything to do with Xorg version or something like that?

 

Yes, I don't seem to remember the key combination.. But it was ctrl+alt+ or ctrl+ f1-f7 or something along those lines with those keys. The seven function buttons should be able to open 7 different hyperterminals for you. One of them has the Window Manager (usually 7) on top as your GUI shell, which for you has crashed. I'm sure you could also find the right key combo by googling for it. And yes, it's most likely an Xorg issue.

 

check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for errors, lines that begin with EE

Code:

grep '(EE)' /var/log/Xorg.0.log

 

Ok...

I'll try that when i reinstall the drivers...

By now i just did

Code:

sudo cat Xorg.429.log.old | grep -i '(EE)'

and the output is

Code:

(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.

May i delete all the Xorg logs before reinstalling the ati drivers to have a fesh and clean Xorg logs?

 

I'm assuming you ran the installer manually using the binary package from ati instead of using a debian fglrx package.

If that is the only line it is returning, the xorg startup isn't showing any errors. Maybe it's a problem with your 3D libraries instead. Have you tried a different window manager like gnome fallback or xfce?

Also, did you use aticonfig to create an xorg.conf file, or did you tweak it by hand?

 

No, before i restart i alwas issue the "aiconfig --initial -f".

But i can't say if this log is a log after i ahve installed ati driver (binary from ati site) or if it is a log with no drivers installed...

I have another log sayin this:

Code:

(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    10.358] (II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[    10.374] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory

 

While you have a fresh desktop session just opened, switch to a different tty with, say, ctrl+alt+f3 and look at the ~/.xsession-errors file for clues:

Code:

less ~/.xsession-errors

I'm not sure how far you can get into a desktop, but try hitting alt+f2 to get the run dialog and run:

Code:

lg

That's the gnome shell console ("looking glass") that has an error log if you click on Errors.

 

You mean right after restarting?

 

Yes, by fresh I mean right after you log in to an X session or restart, however you do it.

lg only works from Alt+F2 and will not work from ssh. If you can't get that far then using lg will do you no good anyway.

 

Now i can access my desktop via TeamViewer...

Your suggestion is after i've installed the ati binary file from amd site, right?

 

Yes, that is what I meant. Your xsession log may have some clues in it about what is going wrong with your graphics stack.

Maybe you are having trouble with the installation of the binary from ATI, have you tried the fglrx-driver and fglrx-control packages from wheezy? First uninstall the binary from ATI (as root):

Code:

/usr/share/fglrx/fglrx-uninstall.sh

Then install the fglrx driver from Debian Wheezy:

Code:

apt-get update
apt-get install fglrx-driver fglrx-control

After that reload the fglrx driver:

Code:

modprobe -r fglrx
modprobe fglrx

And then try restarting gdm:

Code:

invoke-rc.d gdm3 restart

 

Well, i've done what you've asked me to do...

I've installed those packages and no errors... But the invoke-rc.d gdm3 restart made me to reboot the laptop (power button)...

If i issue the fgrlxinfo i get this:

Code:

X Error of failed request:  BadRequest (invalid request code or no such operation)
  Major opcode of failed request:  135 (GLX)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  19 (X_GLXQueryServerString)
  Serial number of failed request:  12
  Current serial number in output stream:  12

Further:

the alt+F2 --> lg

return this

Code:

Failed to open /home/user/lg

 

My xsession.erros

debian Pastezone

 

I'm trying to point you in the right direction, not give you step by step instructions (that is pretty much impossible unless I'm sitting at your keyboard). Your 3D definitely isn't working from what you posted.

What do you get with

Code:

glxinfo  | grep renderer

And again, what does Xorg.0.log say, I find it hard to believe that there are no errors there.

lg does not work because you are using xfce not gnome-shell, so it's not a factor.

 

Code:

glxinfo | grep renderer

returns this

Code:

X Error of failed request:  BadRequest (invalid request code or no such operation)
  Major opcode of failed request:  135 (GLX)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  19 (X_GLXQueryServerString)
  Serial number of failed request:  12
  Current serial number in output stream:  12

About xfce... I had it installed but i have uninstalled it a few hours after i have installed it...



M xorg.0.log is here

http://paste.debian.net/213740/

 

Hello Everyone
I have the p370em with a single 7970m.
Im currently running windows 7, flawless!
I've tryed ubuntu 12.04 some time ago but i wasn't able to make the graphics driver work properly. So I went back to windows.

The main purpouse of the laptop is to play, but, due to my professional and social life i'm not able to play as much as I wanted to. However, and now that steam is on linux with some very interesting games for my taste (most recently Dota2) I would like to give another try to Ubuntu.

Does any of you have, or know someone, with the same graphic card, running ubuntu? are ther still any issues? Would I be able to play dota 2 without issues for example?

Cheers

 

Have you tried this wiki page: Ubuntu Quantal Installation Guide - cchtml.com

 

thank you for the reply Sxooter!
Actualy I couldnt wait for any reply and tried it already XD

the thing is, some months ago, i formated all pc and instaled ubuntu 12.04. Tried the drivers and had lots of problems...
this time i created a small partition just to try ubuntu (this time 13.04), and followed, not the link you gave me , but the one for Raring ( Ubuntu Raring Installation Guide - cchtml.com ) and it looks great.

Then, just try try the graphics, i installed steam and ran a ma por two of Dota 2! runs smooth!
so, later today i'll try something else (Team fortress for example - which it is known to have some issues with the 7970m in linux, but let's see how it goes.)

any tip or advice you guys want to share?

 

Well, i'm back trying to install ATI proprietary drivers...

I have a Clevo P170EM with hybrid system... I'm trying to use vga_switcheroo to enable my ATI card by default but i can't do it.


I've heard that Clevos Intel card can't be completely disabled because ATI needs it to work. Is it true?

 

This thread seems to show some promise.

 

Was that reply for me???

I need some info about hybrid systems in Clevos laptops...

Is it or is it not possible to disable Intel or force the use of ATI permanently???

 

It's about both. He's disabling AMD to start, but he seems to be working towards making AMD drives work for things like steam. I'd suggest reading through it and seeing how far others have gotten etc. Seems like there's a heartbeat, but the patient is still unconscious at this point.

 

I read somewhere in the internet that Xorg has some kind of limitation on hybrid graphics system and because of that, we can't do much to turn things around...

 

wat?

wat??

wat???


WHO are those RedSDK guys?

 

Aparently RedSDK are BricsCAD collaborators...

It's in their requirements page...

But are you saying that Xorg actually has no limitations in hybrid graphics systems?

 

The hybrid graphics system on the iGPU only wants a display buffer it can copy from. It doesn't matter who creates it, or how it gets done. The 3 hybrid graphics implementations, namely Bumblebee, Enduro/PowerXpress Linux and "support for RandR 1.4 Provider objects with the Source Output capability" have different designs but as far as I can see there's nothing in Xorg to stop them from working. They do work, don't they?

 

I can't install proprietary ATI drivers and BricsCAD keeps complaining that there is no hardware acceleration support in my laptop.

When i try to install proprietary drivers i get an error at the very end of the instalation.

In BricsCAD site they state that linux has already comes with driver support for iGPU but that driver has no support for hardware rendering/acceleration.

So, for me, no, the hybrid system is not working. I have to say also that i'm no expert in linux and i'm just beggining but i can't either connect my laptop to a TV either with DVI or HDMI cable.

And with vgaswitcheroo i can only poweroff and poweron my ATI card. I can't connect it and make it actually my default card...

 

The normal deal with switcheroo is you have to change cards, then reboot. But it's been a couple years since I had a working switching gfx setup on a linux box. I think with optimus machines you have to use bumblebee and I'm not sure what all that entails.