NetBSD-current / modular X on iMac (27-inch, mid 2011): AMD Radeon 6970M Video Card

[Benjamin Lorenz]

Hi all,

was successfully setting up NetBSD-current on my iMac. Only problem with modular X / xf86-video-ati-7.3.0nb1 is the resolution that only goes up to 1920x1440 where it should be 2560x1440.

Reading from the Linux forums this can only be achieved by using the closed source driver directly from AMD. I don’t want to believe this. Anyone who got the native resolution working with the free driver that is available from pkgsrc for NetBSD?

Happy to send more details of my system where required. Please respond also directly to me, as I still wait for approval to be added to this list. Thanks so much!

Best,
Benjamin

[Robert Swindells]

Post by Benjamin Lorenz
was successfully setting up NetBSD-current on my iMac. Only problem with
modular X / xf86-video-ati-7.3.0nb1 is the resolution that only goes up to
1920x1440 where it should be 2560x1440.
Reading from the Linux forums this can only be achieved by using the closed
source driver directly from AMD. I don?t want to believe this. Anyone who got
the native resolution working with the free driver that is available from
pkgsrc for NetBSD?

I don't know whether you will be able to get 2560x1440 on your system
but you probably want to use the x11/xf86-video-ati6 package instead
of the x11/xf86-video-ati one.

Robert Swindells

[Benjamin Lorenz]

Thanks Robert!

I actually also tried the ati6 driver without success. It turns out that, in fact, the vesa driver is being used. Seems the 6970M cannot be accessed properly by NetBSD and the ati/ati6 drivers.

Error message from the X log: "gpu only supported with kms using vesa instead”.

I googled and learned NetBSD is not ready yet for more modern graphics cards. Needs (better) KMS support first.

Help still appreciated.

Best,
Benjamin

Post by Robert Swindells

Post by Benjamin Lorenz
was successfully setting up NetBSD-current on my iMac. Only problem with
modular X / xf86-video-ati-7.3.0nb1 is the resolution that only goes up to
1920x1440 where it should be 2560x1440.
Reading from the Linux forums this can only be achieved by using the closed
source driver directly from AMD. I don?t want to believe this. Anyone who got
the native resolution working with the free driver that is available from
pkgsrc for NetBSD?

I don't know whether you will be able to get 2560x1440 on your system
but you probably want to use the x11/xf86-video-ati6 package instead
of the x11/xf86-video-ati one.
Robert Swindells