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

[* SAMÍ *]

Hi Alex,


could you just point me to the right location in the driver code to play 
with?
I am less afraid to play with the driver than to flash my vbios...
Even though, I promise I won't bother you or complain if I break 
something :-)

NB: Daniel, although I won't modify my vbios, I still like your 
solution: it reminds me of good old time where you just had to edit your 
game files with an hex editor to cheat...


Regards
Sam

On 09/26/2013 08:19 PM, Alex Deucher wrote:
> 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
>
>