[3.11-rc4] [HD2400] - radeon.dpm

[Alex Deucher]

On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 1:49 PM,  <daniel at motaleite.net> wrote:
> Hi
>
>> As I suspected, on your system all the performance levels are the same:
> (...)
>> [    8.961704]                power level 0    sclk: 45000 mclk: 50000 vddc: 950
>> [    8.961706]                power level 1    sclk: 45000 mclk: 50000 vddc: 950
>> [    8.961708]                power level 2    sclk: 45000 mclk: 50000 vddc: 950
> (...)
>> So there is no dynamic switching supported on your system.
>
>         I also had this problem and manage to "fix" it (on a HD2600) :)
>
>
>
>         Please be warnned that this is dangerous, requires editing the bios and
> may brick your card. Also, will not work on recent cards (but a HD2400 should be ok).
> Also, this is a hack and no one will support you if things go wrong!
>
>
>         You need a windows machine, for some steps, but other can use a linux
> equivalent... but editing the GPU bios i know no alternative to using the
> windows program. I also don't know is there is any way in linux to load a GPU
> bios (and avoid the flashing)... we have the firmware, but i think that the
> firmware is just a subset of the bios.
>
>
>         So here is the "HOWTO":
>
>         Make a usb pendrive bootable to DOS:
>
>         Get this files:
> http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=196
> http://pt.kioskea.net/download/baixaki-433-hp-usb-disk-storage-format-tool
>
>
>         Unzip the windows98 DOS support to a directory and run the HP usb storage
> app and format the pendrive. Chek the flag "Create a DOS startup disk" and choose
> the extracted windows98 files.
>
>         After formating, download and extract the ATI flash to the pen:
>
> http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1731/ATIFlash_3.79.html
>
>         Now lets edit the bios. Ddownload this two apps:
>
> http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/ -> Dump the GPU Bios
> http://www.techpowerup.com/rbe/  -> ATI/AMD Bios editor
>
>         use the gpu-z to dump the current bios, backup it up on a pendrive, to
> revert to the original bios if needed.
>
>         use the rbe to edit the power levels. be conservative, DO NOT TOUCH the
> boot power profiles (this way you can always boot the machine), avoid changing
> the voltage, as it's more dangerous (but it can also save more power).
>
>         Edit the lower leves to reduce the GPU frequencies and keep the level
> 2 high. please note that too low or too high frequencies may cause the card
> to be unstable. DRAM frequencies usually save little power, but may help reducing
> the heat. For evey change, test it and check if the card is stable, the picture
> is not corrupted in different resolutions and loads. Again, if something goes
> wrong, power off the machine and startup again, the boot profile should be the
> one that always work (don't forget to have a boot entry in grub that disables
> the dynamic powermanagement, to avoid jumping to a unstable profile).
>
>         After doing the changes, save the bios and save it to the pendrive.
>
>         Now shutdown the machine, make sure you have the full charge and have
> the power connected. If power faills during the flashing of the bios, you may
> brick the card/laptop.
>
>         Startup the computer with the pendriver, enter the DOS and run the
> flash command:
>
> atiflash -p 0 xxxx.rom
>
>         where the xxxx.rom is the new "tuned" bios. After some seconds and
> the command line returned, you can reboot and test it. If something fails,
> flash back the original bios.
>
>         Test the card, increase the load, let screen/card enter the sleep
> mode (screensaver/suspend), change resolutions and look at the temperature.
> If all OK, you can try to tune even more.
>
>         So this is a possible (and dangerous) solution for this problem, but
> may help some people.

You can edit the power states in the driver as well if you don't want
to flash your vbios.  However the same caveats apply.  It's not
recommended that you flash your vbios, or edit your power states.  It
may break your card, void your warranty, etc.

Alex