FreeBSD 5.2.1 and XFree86-4.x ati driver lockup problem -- Solution

[j***@eaglequest.com]

To the FreeBSD team,

I struggled with this one for quite a while before figuring it out, so
here goes...

I had been using FreeBSD 4x for quite some time on my Compaq Presario
1800. And, XFree86-3.6x worked nicely with the laptop's ATI Rage
Mobility graphics chip. Unfortunately, the FreeBSD 4x branch didn't
support the Atheros chipsets in some of the newer networking cards like
the Netgear WG511, so I upgraded to FreeBSD 5.2.1.
After that, I couldn't get XFree86-4x to work reliably with my laptop.
It turned out that the X instability, which included complete system
lockup, was caused by the ACPI module being loaded upon boot-up.
Sometimes the Xserver would start-up sometimes not. Also, there was a
guaranteed system lockup if you exited Xwindows and then re-entered
Xwindows at a later time. In other words, you only got one Xsession per
boot! So, after trying all sorts of things in XF86Config, and upgrading
to XFree86-4.4 from XFree86-4.3 it turned out that all I needed to do
was add the following line to my /boot/device.hints file...

hint.acpi.0.disabled="1"

After that everything worked great! Xwindows is stable, and my new
Netgear WG511 card is working like a charm.

By the way the "beastie" menu incorrectly shows "boot with ACPI enabled"
as it's second choice. In actuality it disables ACPI! That's how I
first solved the problem -- by booting with beastie-menue item "2"
selected, finding Xwindows working correctly for a change, and then
doing a kldstat to find that the acpi.ko kernel module wasn't loaded.


Best regards, and thanks for the great operating system!


Jim Yuzwalk

[b***@one-eyed-alien.net]

--wRRV7LY7NUeQGEoC
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Disposition: inline
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

Post by j***@eaglequest.com
To the FreeBSD team,
=20
I struggled with this one for quite a while before figuring it out, so=20
here goes...
=20
I had been using FreeBSD 4x for quite some time on my Compaq Presario=20
1800. And, XFree86-3.6x worked nicely with the laptop's ATI Rage=20
Mobility graphics chip. Unfortunately, the FreeBSD 4x branch didn't=20
support the Atheros chipsets in some of the newer networking cards like=

=20

Post by j***@eaglequest.com
the Netgear WG511, so I upgraded to FreeBSD 5.2.1.
After that, I couldn't get XFree86-4x to work reliably with my laptop.
It turned out that the X instability, which included complete system=20
lockup, was caused by the ACPI module being loaded upon boot-up.=20
Sometimes the Xserver would start-up sometimes not. Also, there was a=20
guaranteed system lockup if you exited Xwindows and then re-entered=20
Xwindows at a later time. In other words, you only got one Xsession per=

=20

Post by j***@eaglequest.com
boot! So, after trying all sorts of things in XF86Config, and upgrading=

=20

Post by j***@eaglequest.com
to XFree86-4.4 from XFree86-4.3 it turned out that all I needed to do=20
was add the following line to my /boot/device.hints file...
=20
hint.acpi.0.disabled=3D"1"
=20
After that everything worked great! Xwindows is stable, and my new=20
Netgear WG511 card is working like a charm.

You might try building a kernel without SMP and apic. That let me use
my ATI Rage P/M Mobility reliably and still keep acpi enabled.

-- Brooks

--=20
Any statement of the form "X is the one, true Y" is FALSE.
PGP fingerprint 655D 519C 26A7 82E7 2529 9BF0 5D8E 8BE9 F238 1AD4

--wRRV7LY7NUeQGEoC
Content-Type: application/pgp-signature
Content-Disposition: inline

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.2.1 (GNU/Linux)

iD8DBQFAa5GcXY6L6fI4GtQRAnugAJ4ktefb1/b4sYWA/cVDB+9SygY7bQCgiIzm
6R0AVWMn1qfLsPu9/u4rcSw=
=hCtC
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

--wRRV7LY7NUeQGEoC--

[j***@eaglequest.com]

Brooks,

Thanks for the tip. I recompiled my kernel and X is working just fine
with acpi enabled. Hopefully my little adventure helps others...


Best regards,


Jim

Post by b***@one-eyed-alien.net

Post by j***@eaglequest.com
To the FreeBSD team,
I struggled with this one for quite a while before figuring it out, so
here goes...
I had been using FreeBSD 4x for quite some time on my Compaq Presario
1800. And, XFree86-3.6x worked nicely with the laptop's ATI Rage
Mobility graphics chip. Unfortunately, the FreeBSD 4x branch didn't
support the Atheros chipsets in some of the newer networking cards like
the Netgear WG511, so I upgraded to FreeBSD 5.2.1.
After that, I couldn't get XFree86-4x to work reliably with my laptop.
It turned out that the X instability, which included complete system
lockup, was caused by the ACPI module being loaded upon boot-up.
Sometimes the Xserver would start-up sometimes not. Also, there was a
guaranteed system lockup if you exited Xwindows and then re-entered
Xwindows at a later time. In other words, you only got one Xsession per
boot! So, after trying all sorts of things in XF86Config, and upgrading
to XFree86-4.4 from XFree86-4.3 it turned out that all I needed to do
was add the following line to my /boot/device.hints file...
hint.acpi.0.disabled="1"
After that everything worked great! Xwindows is stable, and my new
Netgear WG511 card is working like a charm.

You might try building a kernel without SMP and apic. That let me use
my ATI Rage P/M Mobility reliably and still keep acpi enabled.
-- Brooks