ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Drivers for Linux 8.16.20 (August 17, 2005) discussion

Kombatant · Aug 17, 2005, 03:54 PM

As expected, a new Linux driver was released today, version 8.16.20. Here are the release notes:

Quote:

New Features

This section provides information on new feature introduced in this release of the ATI proprietary Linux driver. New features include:

Workstation Performance Improvement
Improved Display Detection Support
Linux 2.6.12 Kernel Support
GCC 4.0 Support
Driver Package Update

Workstation Performance Improvement

This release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver provides a noticeable performance increase for all supported ATI Workstation products.

Note: The exact magnitude of workstation performance benefits will vary depending on the product configuration, clock speeds and available system memory.

Improved Display Detection Support

This release improves automatic detection of display devices when connected to an ATI graphics adapter. This allows for the display device to be configured using its Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) or to manually configured. For more information, refer to /usr/share/doc/fglrx/configure.html once the driver is installed.

Linux 2.6.12 Kernel Support

This release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver introduces driver compatibly with Linux 2.6.12 kernel.

GCC 4.0 Support

The latest ATI Proprietary Linux driver now provides support for building the driver kernel module on systems with GCC 4.0

Driver Package Update

The Debian and Ubuntu operating systems are now supported by the ATI Installer Package Generator. Updates have occured to the SuSE package generation.

Minimum System Requirements

Before attempting to install the ATI Proprietary Linux driver, the following software must be installed:

POSIX Shared Memory (/dev/shm) support is required for 3D apps
glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
Linux kernel 2.4 or higher
XOrg 6.7or 6.8; XFree86 version 4.1, 4.2, or 4.3

Note: If a Linux 2.6.11 or newer kernel was built with CONFIG_AGP enabled, the kernel AGP frontend is required to load the fglrx kernel module. To identify whether your kernel was built with CONFIG_AGP enabled, look for CONFIG_AGP=y in the kernel config file, or if the 'agpgart' module loaded.

System Recommendations

For best performance and ease of use, ATI recommends the following:

Kernel module build environment - should include the following:
- Kernel source code: Either the Kernel Source or Kernel Headers packages
ISSE Support enabled in your Linux Kernel
- Applies to Intel Pentium III and later CPUs only
- Enabled by default on version 2.4 and later kernels
The rpm utility should be installed and configured correctly on your system
QT version 2.x.x is needed for the ATI Control Panel, but is not mandatory

Note: The following 32 bit packages must be installed in order for 64 bit drivers to install and work properly:
� XFree86-Mesa-libGL
� libstdc++
� libgcc
� XFree86-libs
� fontconfig
� expat
� freetype
� zlib

Note: In order to use the fglrx internal AGP support, you have to make sure that the kernel agpgart support is not active, i.e. it is not compiled into the kernel and the kernel modules are not loaded. If the fglrx kernel module detects that the kernel agpgart support is active, it will automatically use that even if its internal AGP support is requested in order to avoid conflicts that can cause problems under some circumstances.

Issues Resolved

This section provides information on issues that have been resolved with the latest release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver. This includes the following:

The operating system no longer fails to respond when rendering HDTV or larger video files
Having two monitors connected to an ATI graphics adapter no longer results in the mouse cursor appearing on both displays simultaneously
Panning on the secondary display device is now available when using pseudocolor visuals and having clone mode enabled
The Red Hat Enterprise Linux workstation 4 Update 1 operating system no longer fails to respond during driver load up on systems having four or more gigabytes of system memory
Overlay support is now available when using a 64 bit operating system
A slow decrease in available memory (memory leak) for PCIe systems is no longer experienced

Known Issues

The following section provides a brief description of known issues associated with the latest version of ATI Proprietary Linux driver. These issues include:

TV Display is Corrupt After Switching Resolutions. Topic number 737-1086
Attempting to resume from system suspension results in the system failing to respond. Topic number 737-218
Enabling Quad Buffer Stereo results in 2D graphics corruption under XFree86. Topic number 737-219
Running two X servers simultaneously results in the system failing to respond. Topic number 737-220

Release Notes: Here
Download: ATI Driver Installer
XFree86 4.1 : Download
XFree86 4.2 : Download
XFree86 4.3 : Download
X.Org 6.8 : Download

RIV@NVX · Aug 18, 2005, 06:24 AM

Well, what else can I say than... THANK YOU ATI!

beerad · Aug 18, 2005, 04:03 PM

Installation failed on fedora core 4, x86_64, 2.6.12 while building the kernel module. But it installed enough of the drivers for 2d support. This is on a Compaq v2312 with the 200 Xpress. I opened a ticket with ATI; hopefully they can get it fixed..

UberLord · Aug 18, 2005, 04:38 PM

vsync doesn't work anymore - or the setting changed from

Code:

Option "Capabilities"	   "0x00000800"

EDIT: vsync option works using xdriinfo and /etc/drirc

vsync howto

=MaxiM= · Aug 19, 2005, 03:31 AM

As for now i have one particular problem, pretty big for me: i'm using 1280x960 resolution since i got my LG Flatron, as it's the best and most optimal resolution for it (1280x1024 is not keeping 4:3 aspect ratio, therefore it utterly sux) and now after installing those damn drivers this resolution is not available for me

Any suggestions? I tried doing something with xorg.conf for no avail. I really need that resolution, so any help appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

RIV@NVX · Aug 19, 2005, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =MaxiM=

As for now i have one particular problem, pretty big for me: i'm using 1280x960 resolution since i got my LG Flatron, as it's the best and most optimal resolution for it (1280x1024 is not keeping 4:3 aspect ratio, therefore it utterly sux) and now after installing those damn drivers this resolution is not available for me

Any suggestions? I tried doing something with xorg.conf for no avail. I really need that resolution, so any help appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

You can always mod your xorg.conf manually and leave that resolution as it is. There is no need to use fglrxconfig to get the drivers working.

UberLord · Aug 19, 2005, 07:52 AM

Does anyone elses system hang when they restart X?

EDIT: Issue with radeonfb - vesafb works fine

=MaxiM= · Aug 19, 2005, 11:09 AM

About that resolution: i forgot to mention i'm still pretty much linux noob, so if you could just point me in the right direction, 'cause i was trying to change resolution manually, but then X won't start saying that there's error in xorg.conf...

beerad · Aug 19, 2005, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerad

Installation failed on fedora core 4, x86_64, 2.6.12 while building the kernel module. But it installed enough of the drivers for 2d support. This is on a Compaq v2312 with the 200 Xpress. I opened a ticket with ATI; hopefully they can get it fixed..

There was a simple fix to firegl_public.c (it was looking in the wrong directory for ioctl32.h), and the kernel module compiled, and I now have 3d acceleration. No lockups, hangs, or instability so far. Life is better

Be.Gurmeet.Be · Aug 20, 2005, 11:53 AM

Dear ' MaxiM ' , Please elaborate that which driver you installed...... it is not possible to get the desired Resolution until a proper driver of the graphics Card is installed.

Please you tell me about your Distro and it's Version : is it x86 (32 BIT ) or x86_64 ( 64 BIT ) ? ? ? ?

and also can you tell me is your system is based on 64 BIT architecture or not ?

Without knowing these things i can't help you......

regards................

=MaxiM= · Aug 20, 2005, 05:31 PM

Ok, so it's Mandriva 2005 LE x86 and i have installed driver for Xorg (as usual). Everything works fine, acceleration is OK and all other resolutions work with apropriate refresh rate, just not 1280x960 which dissapeared from my list of resolutions and setting it both by fglrxconfig and manually in xorg.conf doesnt help, switching my desktop to lower available resolution. Hope that clears things out a bit

Be.Gurmeet.Be · Aug 21, 2005, 01:30 PM

run , ' fglrxconfig ' , again , and put ' HSync & VSync' of your monitor your self. Don't use, existing sync ratio(s).

Second, did your Mandriva install your monitor. ? I hope it did.

One thing to be noted about Hsync and Vsync , these two values are : which user supposed to put in himself , other wise, for every value ( while configuring 'fglrx' ) just press Enter , Entet and Enter.

After putting these two values, there will be next option which show you the supported "Resolution" of the monitor with 24 BIT colors , and ask you id " DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE IT OR IT IS OK " CHECK CAREFULLY, if YOUR DESIRED RESOLUTION IS IN THE SEQUENCE, then Select " VALUE IS OK "

if NOT then Choose " Change Value Option "

Please do this and write the result of this ............

regards.

-
Be.Gurmeet.Be

=MaxiM= · Aug 22, 2005, 07:28 AM

D'oh! I should be more specific from the start - so, i'm not that noob :P
I do things exactly as you told me to, yes my monitor is OK, everything was fine with the previous drivers, yes i've set the correct resolution - well, i know what i'm doing in that matter to sum it up.
But still this one particular resolution is not available, even tho it's configured correctly in xorg.conf and that's why i'm here (a bit frustrated). I hoped for some .conf trick to bring back my optimal res which is ignored by X right now. Maybe i should also reinstall Xorg?

Carlson · Aug 24, 2005, 11:43 PM

Hello everybody.
I'm quite a newbie in linux and hope someone can help me. Recently I got Radeon X800XL PCI-E instead of on-board video that worked fine on my FC-4. After trying few times to change video card in Display settings window to X800LE....X800XT (X-win failed each time I restarted it) I went to ATI site and downloaded their driver (.run file).
What I did after:
1. run the installer (went fine)
2. rebooted
3. run the config tool leaving almost all options by default
4. rebooted
Result:
KDE started normally with 1280 resolution BUT...
1. ATI control doesn't want to start - it's button appears on the task panel for few seconds, then disappears. (btw, for some reason there're 2 "ATI Control" entries in main menu)
2. In KDE's Display settings window the possible resolutions are only 800 and 640, video card type is "unknown", as well as the monitor type.

Could anyone help me with this? Thanx.

masanlop · Sep 6, 2005, 09:27 PM

I just installed the latest driver version fglrx64_6_8_0_16.20, build the custom one for my system SUSE9.3 (up to here, everything perfect) , rebooted, started Xwindows and got a blank screen that does not even let me switch to console mode. so I guess I�ll need to switch off the laptop! Desperating, as lastest ATI release notes finally do list explicitly the Xpress200 as card this driver is valid for...On the other hand, if you issue rpm -qi with the new custom build rpm no reference to Xpress200 appears. This makes me thing it is still an unresolved issue.

following the instructtions, one should configure it with fglrxconfig. Weird thing about this is that fglrxconfig does not have any option for the Xpress200! So you can't use it for configuring it. Any way, I saved the xorg.xconf it generates after it complains that not valid graphic card was found, re-edited to fix things like pciid, screen section, etc. Still the same problem persists. Even using the xorg that worked with previous fglrx version (although I never got
it working, but was always falling back to mesa).

The funny thing is that I get no error nowhere, i.e., dmesg shows:

Quote:

fglrx: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.
fglrx: module not supported by Novell, setting U taint flag.
[fglrx] Maximum main memory to use for locked dma buffers: 918 MBytes.
ACPI: PCI interrupt 0000:01:05.0[A] -> GSI 17 (level, low) -> IRQ 177
[fglrx] module loaded - fglrx 8.16.20 [Aug 16 2005] on minor 0
...
[fglrx] free PCIe = 54804480
[fglrx] max PCIe = 54804480
[fglrx] free LFB = 122613760
[fglrx] max LFB = 122613760
[fglrx] free Inv = 0
[fglrx] max Inv = 0
[fglrx] total Inv = 0
[fglrx] total TIM = 0
[fglrx] total FB = 0
[fglrx] total PCIe = 16384

Also Xorg.0.log seems happy about everything:

Quote:

(II) fglrx(0): [drm] DRM interface version 1.0
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] created "fglrx" driver at busid "PCI:1:5:0"
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] added 8192 byte SAREA at 0x00681000
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] mapped SAREA 0x00681000 to 0x2aaaab686000
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] framebuffer handle = 0xc0000000
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] added 1 reserved context for kernel
(II) fglrx(0): DRIScreenInit done
(II) fglrx(0): Kernel Module Version Information:
(II) fglrx(0): Name: fglrx
(II) fglrx(0): Version: 8.16.20
(II) fglrx(0): Date: Aug 16 2005
(II) fglrx(0): Desc: ATI FireGL DRM kernel module
(II) fglrx(0): Kernel Module version matches driver.
(II) fglrx(0): Kernel Module Build Time Information:
(II) fglrx(0): Build-Kernel UTS_RELEASE: 2.6.11.4-21.8-default
(II) fglrx(0): Build-Kernel MODVERSIONS: no
(II) fglrx(0): Build-Kernel __SMP__: no
(II) fglrx(0): Build-Kernel PAGE_SIZE: 0x1000
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] register handle = 0xb0100000
(II) fglrx(0): [pcie] 65536 kB allocated with handle 0xdeadbeef
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] ringbuffer size = 0x00100000 bytes
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] DRM buffer queue setup: nbufs = 100 bufsize = 28672
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] texture shared area handle = 0x00a4a000
(II) fglrx(0): shared FSAAScale=1
(II) fglrx(0): DRI initialization successfull!
(II) fglrx(0): FBADPhys: 0x40000000 FBMappedSize: 0x00501000
(II) fglrx(0): FBMM initialized for area (0,0)-(1024,1281)
(II) fglrx(0): FBMM auto alloc for area (0,0)-(1024,768) (front color buffer - assumption)
(==) fglrx(0): Backing store disabled
(==) fglrx(0): Silken mouse enabled
(II) fglrx(0): Using hardware cursor (scanline 768)
(II) fglrx(0): Largest offscreen area available: 1024 x 505
(**) Option "dpms"
(**) fglrx(0): DPMS enabled
(II) fglrx(0): Using XFree86 Acceleration Architecture (XAA)
Screen to screen bit blits
Solid filled rectangles
8x8 mono pattern filled rectangles
Solid Lines
Dashed Lines
Offscreen Pixmaps
Setting up tile and stipple cache:
24 128x128 slots
(II) fglrx(0): Acceleration enabled
(II) fglrx(0): X context handle = 0x00000001
(II) fglrx(0): [DRI] installation complete

My system is a Compaq Presario R4025CA, AMD-64, Xpress200M, working with SUSE9.3 2.6.11.4-21.8-default.

Another detail, I have this laptop conected to the net and I just checkec it is still responding to an ssh. So I can still log in from my desktop. Just the screen remains blank and it does not recognize the combinations CRTL+ALT+Fn, with n=1-6...

One gets the feeling I'd be close to get everything working fine, but there is still something missing. Any help, suggestions...? Where could I get a clue about what is going wrong (as neither Xorg.0.log nor dmesg give no complain)?
thanks,