# Using vesa instead of radeon on Mac Mini 2011 i5 with AMD Radeon HD 6630M



## maximini (Jul 9, 2012)

Hi,

I am new to FreeBSD.  I successfully installed ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/r...IMAGES/9.0/FreeBSD-9.0-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso on external HD attached to a Mac Mini 2011 i5 2.5GHz with AMD Radeon HD 6630M.

I am following the FreeBSD Handbook instructions in an attempt to configure X.Org.
I added the following to /etc/rc.conf:
hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"

I rebooted and entered:
Xorg -configure

Trying "Xorg -config xorg.conf.new -retro" takes me nowhere as there is no KMS support for the AMD chipset in 9.0.

I would like to perhaps use the vesa driver to get this going (with the hope of running Gnome once this works) but I am not sure how to proceed.  I edited "xorg.conf.new" and replaced "radeon" with "vesa" in the device section. Trying "Xorg -config xorg.conf.new -retro" again leads me to a gray screen with a black X in the middle, a sure indication I did not do things right.

I am also wondering whether I could make use of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 that is on the i5 but apparently disabled by Apple.

What can I do to use the vesa driver correctly? Alternatively how can I get "startx" to work?

Thank you!
MaxiMini


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## adamk (Jul 9, 2012)

A gray screen with a black X in the middle is all you should get from Xorg -config xorg.conf.new -retro.  Try moving that xorg.conf.new to /etc/X11/xorg.conf and then running startx.  If you haven't configured any other window manager, twm should start up in X.

As for using the intel GPU...  That's beyond me.  At the very least, you would need to patch and rebuild the kernel, and build a newer version of Xorg to get KMS for the intel GPU.  I do not know if that alone would be enough to 'activate' the GPU.

Adam


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## wblock@ (Jul 9, 2012)

maximini said:
			
		

> I would like to perhaps use the vesa driver to get this going (with the hope of running Gnome once this works) but I am not sure how to proceed.  I edited "xorg.conf.new" and replaced "radeon" with "vesa" in the device section. Trying "Xorg -config xorg.conf.new -retro" again leads me to a gray screen with a black X in the middle, a sure indication I did not do things right.



Actually, that's what it is supposed to do.  Press ctrl-alt-backspace to exit X, then configure .xinitrc to start the window manager of choice.



> I am also wondering whether I could make use of the Intel HD Graphics 3000 that is on the i5 but apparently disabled by Apple.



No idea, depends on how thoroughly it has been disabled.


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## maximini (Jul 9, 2012)

Success!  For some reason "If a black and grey grid and an X mouse cursor appear, the configuration was successful." in the handbook made me think I should see a grid similar to what shows in twm when you move a window. Thank you for clarifying. So far VESA is plenty fast. I will continue installation and come back should I encounter a road block. 

Regarding the Intel HD Graphics 3000, I am afraid it is disabled in H/W without a way to enable it in S/W though I have no confirmation of that. I also haven't seen anyone being able to use it in Mac OSX. 

Maximini

P.S. Am impressed to see such rapid replies!


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## maximini (Jul 11, 2012)

Following up on this as I have progressed the installation, it seems the highest resolution I can achieve with VESA is 1280x1024 on my monitor that is capable of at most 1680x1050. Is this a VESA limitation? Would having a Radeon KMS in FreeBSD allow increasing the resolution?  If not, how can I configure the system to reach 1680x1050?

Thank you,
MaxiMini


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## adamk (Jul 11, 2012)

It is a vesa limitation and, yes, radeon KMS should let you run at your monitors native resolution.  Short of porting radeon KMS over yourself from linux, I don't think you will be able to get 1680x1050.

Adam


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