# Reduced screen resolution after upgrading 11.2 to 12.0



## giorgiob (Jan 6, 2019)

I have been running FreeBSD 11.2 for a while on my desktop (initially installed FreeBSD 10 and always upgraded with freebsd-update).

Today I did a `pkg upgrade` while still on FreeBSD 11.2 and after a reboot I could not start X (I used Mate + Slim). So I looked at the FreeBSD homepage and noticed that version 12.0 has been released a while ago so I thought that upgrading might solve the problem. I did not think much about it actually, because my experience up to now is that I could upgrade FreeBSD with freebsd-update very smoothly.

After upgrading to 12.0-RELEASE (I followed the official documentation) the problem was still there. So, I suppose some package configuration has changed and I need to adapt my configuration files. By following the information contained in this thread, I have added

```
kld_list="/boot/modules/radeonkms.ko"
```
 in /etc/rc.conf (still, I haven't found out why this was not necessary on FreeBSD 11.2).
I have also re-installed all packages with `pkg upgrade -f`.

After a reboot, the graphical desktop starts again but with the reduced resolution of 1024x768 pixels.
The Mate display tool (under System -> Preferences -> Hardware -> Displays) does not offer any resolution higher than that even though I had used a higher resolution with previous versions of FreeBSD.
Here is the information regarding my graphics card, as reported by `pciconf -lv vgapci0@pci0:1:5:0`:

```
vgapci0@pci0:1:5:0:    class=0x030000 card=0x83881043 chip=0x96161002 rev=0x00 hdr=0x00
    vendor     = 'Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]'
    device     = 'RS780L [Radeon 3000]'
    class      = display
    subclass   = VGA
```

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? Do I have to change some other settings in order to have my graphics card's full resolution again?

*EDIT*
I seem to have solved the problem but I am confused by the solution. I have replaced the
package drm-fbsd12.0-kmod with drm-fbsd11.2-kmod, and I have the higher resolution of 1440x900 pixels back.
However, is this a regression in drm-fbsd12.0-kmod that I can expect to be fixed in the future, or does the new package require different settings?
And also: is it OK to use the older 11.2 package with FreeBSD 12, or is there a chance that it will eventually stop working?


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## meine (Jan 6, 2019)

maybe this helps gaining insight in some changes in FreeBSD 12.0:

https://www.freebsd.org/releases/12.0R/relnotes.html#hardware-graphics">


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## SirDice (Jan 7, 2019)

giorgiob said:


> However, is this a regression in drm-fbsd12.0-kmod that I can expect to be fixed in the future, or does the new package require different settings?
> And also: is it OK to use the older 11.2 package with FreeBSD 12, or is there a chance that it will eventually stop working?


Most people should simply install graphics/drm-kmod. It will automatically install the correct version for the OS they're running. 

But the pkg-message states:

```
Metaport for different versions of Linux DRM based on the FreeBSD version
in use. This port encompasses the recommendations of the FreeBSDDesktop team
of DRM versions for FreeBSD versions based on the last update to the LinuxKPI
in that code base. In general, the most recent supported stable DRM for a give
FreeBSD version will be installed. CURRENT receives the most recent development
DRM.
This port does not however hinder the expert user to make other decisions and
continue to install DRM ports directly.
```
You're still free to install whichever version works for you.


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