ATI_drivers

Many ATI Graphics cards work fine using the open source Kernel provided graphics cards.

There are also open source drivers available, please refer to: Radeon and RadeonHD.

ATI Proprietary (Binary Only) Drivers

Note that this article covers installation of proprietary binary only drivers for certain cards that do not provide support for open source technology or for users who prefer to use a binary-only proprietary driver.

Kernel Configuration

Get into menuconfig (cd /usr/src/your-kernel && make menuconfig) and check the following:

General setup --->
 [*] System V IPC

Loadable Module Support --->
 [*] Enable loadable module support
 [*]   Module unloading

Processor type and features  --->
 [*] Enable VM86 support
 [*] MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) support

Bus options --->
 [*] Enable deprecated pci_find_* API

Device Drivers --->
 Graphics Support --->
  <*> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support) --->
  <*>   Your_AGP_Chipset_Here
  < > Direct Rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI support)
  < > Support for frame buffer devices

Kernel Hacking --->
  [*] Enable unused/obsolete exported symbols
  [ ] Kernel debugging

Sync your kernel menuconfig with the selected portions posted here.

Please be aware that -mm and -rc(1,2,3,4,...) kernels often break fglrx due to unexpected changes in syntax, etc. If you want to use ati-drivers, use the stock gentoo-sources or at the very least, a STABLE 2.4 or 2.6 kernel!

Note: There is currently a problem with kernel 2.6.16 and ati-drivers-8.21.7.. It seems to have been resolved in later versions of the ATI drivers.

Note: There is currently a problem with kernel 2.6.19.2 vanilla as config.h was removed, ati-drivers (~arch) won't compile (http://pastebin.ca/325554) Note: This problem should be fixed/worked-around by following this webpage: http://www.audiotraining.org/blog/2007/01/15/1168865400000.html Note: I could not get loading AGP support as a module to work(loading it normaly worked). i got "Invalid module format" error when doing modprobe. similar to the person in this forum http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=488865

Note: sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-2.6.26 has a well known bug. Please look at: http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=231768

Don't forget to compile, install, and reboot into the kernel (see the howto).

I have a Radeon 9500/9600 (not sure which) in a Dell Inspiron 8600 and was able to compile support for the framebuffer devices. I used the vesa-tng framebuffer device for getting Fbsplash to work. I am running kernel 2.6.14-gentoo-r2. The program 'fglrxinfo' reports that I am getting 3D hardware acceleration.

With a Ati Radeon 9200 Pro, vesa-tng, 2.6.14-gentoo-r5, x11-drivers/ati-drivers-8.23.7, I have 3D accel (as of 'fglrxinfo' and 'glxgears'), fblash (livecd-2006.0) and console image.

Edit: vesafb and fglrx (~ 1500 fps) work fine together on Mobility Radeon XPRESS 200M 5955 (PCIE) and AMD64 (laptop Pavilion dv8000) using the ~8.433 drivers and the 2.6.23-r3 kernel.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1334242855&postcount=6

Grabbing a Driver Set

For installation it will be easier to drop out of X to a command prompt. Do this using whatever command your Window Manager uses. Log out of your session, press CTRL-ALT-F1 to get into the tty console, log in as root and stop xdm.

# /etc/init.d/xdm stop

Ensure xorg-x11 is not compiled with the dlloader use flag.

• ati-drivers will not work properly with this flag.

# eix -e xorg-x11

• recompile xorg-x11 with -dlloader if dlloader is enabled.

Install the drivers.

$ su -
# emerge -av x11-drivers/ati-drivers 

• Unmask the drivers and their dependencies, if required. For example if you have a 2.6.18 kernel, you have to fetch the 8.30.x driver to get it working.

Update the environment for later (ati-drivers stick apps in /opt/ati/bin)

env-update && source /etc/profile

Load the kernel module and switch to the ATi OpenGL subsytem

# modprobe fglrx
# eselect opengl set ati

find / -iname fglrx_dri.so

cp `find / -iname fglrx_dri.so` /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/dri/

Configure X

NOTE ON 8.4 DRIVERS AND 2.6.25 KERNEL

I had to use this page to make ATi drivers work [http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-689592.html]

Option 1: Newest Drivers (8.42.3 and newer)

Be sure to run the absolute newest, some options are available only in 8.3

Several things are big about this release and newer releases. For one it provides the introduction of AIGLX into the drivers, which means you can run all the neat effects some WM provide like Compiz and Beryl. The initial release was pretty bug buggy and usable by most. With each new release, more and more bug fixes have been fixed. Starting with release 8.452 (or 8.1 - more on this later). The drivers are now usable by most, including use for Compiz.

Starting with the new pass, also had ATI/AMD introduce a new versioning scheme. Now the use the scheme of <year>.<month> So 8.1 is released in January of '08. This wouldn't work in the current Gentoo portage tree, so they are still using the internal numbering and I would guess that they might switch to the new numbering scheme in May (8.5)

With this new driver, lots of old issues are no longer relevant, but some new ones are. You can still using the same command to setup the base driver.

# /opt/bin/aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

But as the driver suggests, you might want to add the following to your xorg.conf

 	Option	    "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"

One option found in the gentoo forums at this Gentoo Forum's thread suggested adding the following to improve performance

	Option	    "TexturedVideo" "On"

I can vouch, that it lowered my cpu usage, and improved performance.

Also in this thread a link was provided to Compiz-Fusion Forum Thread discussing more changes. A quick overview of them are here for archival purpose:

Section "Device"
       Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]"
       Driver      "fglrx"
       ## Driver / Performance Options
       Option      "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps" "true"
       Option      "TexturedVideo" "On"
       ### Set to 1 - better , set to 2 for compability, and 0 for basic
       Option      "UseFastTLS" "1"
       ### Experimental 
       Option      "Textured2D" "on"
       Option      "TexturedXRender" "on"
       Option      "BackingStore" "on"
       ### forced turned off so TextureVideo is used
       Option      "VideoOverlay" "Off"
       Option      "OpenGLOverlay" "Off"

       ## Desktop Setup
       Option      "DesktopSetup" "clone"
       Option      "EnableMonitor" "crt1,lvds"
       BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Extensions"
       ## For Textured2d and Textured XRender
       Option      "RENDER" "On"
       ## For Compiz
       ### Listed in thread, but not used according to log on Xorg 7.2
       #Option      "Damage" "On"
       Option      "Composite" "On"
       ## Should be loaded automatically, but for good measure
       Option      "XVideo" "On"
EndSection

Use the above difference at your own risk, basically the two questionable ones are Textured2D and TexturedXRender. These two options can cause some strange color rendering also. BackingStore can cause problems if you are not using CompizFusion, and UseFastTLS might need to be set to 2 if you have problems with wine.

I am currently using the above sections except for TexturedXRender and BackingStore. TexturedXRender seemed to slow things down for my and higher CPU. And BackingStore b/c I forget to re-enable and see no difference. I have not tested with games or movies. --Insanity5902 08:57, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Option 2: Newer Drivers (8.21.7 and newer)

For pre-8.35.5:

# /opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

For 8.35.5 (and later):

# /opt/bin/aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

If this command doesn't create a working Xorg environment, open up your (now modified) xorg.conf file, find the area labelled: Section "Device" and change the driver from "fglrx" to "radeon". This will swich Xorg to using the opensource driver.

• View additional options for aticonfig by typing

For pre-8.35.5:

# /opt/ati/bin/aticonfig --help | less

For 8.35.5 (and later):

# /opt/bin/aticonfig --help | less

Option 3: older drivers (pre 8.21.7)

# fglrxconfig

Test the Configuration

Now, let's get back into X.

$ startx

Open up a command prompt and run:

$ /opt/ati/bin/fglrxinfo

If the OpenGL vendor string says "ATI Technologies," then congrats! You've got the drivers working and hardware acceleration going great. If not... read on next section.

You can also check performance of your acceleration like this.

$ /usr/bin/glxgears

or

$ /opt/ati/bin/fgl_glxgears

(on my Computer was no fgl_glxgears, but a

$ /opt/ati/bin/fgl_fglxgears

maybe this changed...)

If you don't have glxgears installed, just emerge mesa-progs to get it.

Example output

Radeon [RV350] X1600 Pro (Using GLX_SGIX_pbuffer)

2425 frames in 5.0 seconds = 485.000 FPS
2310 frames in 5.0 seconds = 462.000 FPS
2229 frames in 5.0 seconds = 445.800 FPS

Radeon 9800 Pro [R350]

24480 frames in 5.0 seconds = 4895.856 FPS
9858 frames in 5.0 seconds = 1971.582 FPS
10100 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2019.981 FPS
10134 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2026.675 FPS

Radeon 2600 Pro (512 GDDR2 Single card)

27085 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5416.717 FPS
27272 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5454.270 FPS
27301 frames in 5.0 seconds = 5460.146 FPS

Radeon 3870 (512 GDDR4 Single card)

67919 frames in 5.0 seconds = 13583.643 FPS
67132 frames in 5.0 seconds = 13426.384 FPS
68997 frames in 5.0 seconds = 13799.364 FPS

Additional Options

Once the driver is working, take a look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log, for where the fglrx options are enumerated. Here is one version:

(II) fglrx(0): PCI bus 1 card 0 func 0
(**) fglrx(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
(II) fglrx(0): Pixel depth = 24 bits stored in 4 bytes (32 bpp pixmaps)
(==) fglrx(0): Default visual is TrueColor
(**) fglrx(0): Option "VideoOverlay" "on"
(**) fglrx(0): Option "DesktopSetup" "horizontal"
(**) fglrx(0): Option "UseFastTLS" "2"
(**) fglrx(0): Option "DPMS" "true"

If some options are off or false, then there may be additional functionality of your card that you are not using. These should be added, one at a time, to the driver section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
 Identifier  "aticonfig-Device[0]"
 Driver      "fglrx"
 BusID       "PCI:1:0:0"
 Option      "DesktopSetup" "horizontal"
 Option      "VideoOverlay" "on"
 Option      "UseFastTLS" "2"
 Option      "EnablePrivateBackZ" "on"
EndSection

After changing xorg.conf, it is necessary to restart the X server. This requires leaving graphical mode entirely, not just logging out. If X fails to start, look at /var/log/Xorg.0.log to determine what the problem is, and make the required changes. Once X is working, test your applications (video, games, glxgears, etc) to make sure you like the results!

Here are some notes on the options:

• DesktopSetup - Used to set the desktop layout for multiple monitors
• VideoOverlay - Used to allow hardware scaling of video images. The following must also be enabled in xorg.conf:

Section "Extensions"
 Option "XVideo" "Enable"
EndSection
Section "Device"
   .....
   # === Video Overlay for the Xv extension ===
   Option      "VideoOverlay" "on"
EndSection

With these settings, xvinfo (a seperate ebuild: emerge xvinfo) will report that the ATI device is being used for playback. Using mplayer, you can view a full-screen version of a video with mplayer -fs file.

• UseFastTLS - There are three settings:
  • 0 - Fast
  • 1 - Faster
  • 2 - Compatible - Some applications (such as wine) may not work at settings other than 2
• EnablePrivateBackZ - For one Linux game (Darwinia), with this setting on everything was fine, but with it off the game was centered on the left of the screen, so that only the right half was visible. Also for this option when using an ATI X1300 Pro on a Dell Dimension E521 this fixed a problem with running fgl_glxgears (and glxgears) displaying gibberish in the created window.

Troubleshooting

Config Files

By default, the driver uses the Internal AGPGART. Sometimes the internal one doesn't work, and you will have to use the one provided with the kernel. Search your xorg.conf for the line that has the option "UseInternalAGPGART." Simply change the "yes" to "no."

If you can't find it, add it. In the Section "Device" right under Driver "fglrx"

Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"

Now simply add the modules to /etc/modules.autoload.d/kernel-2.x where x is your kernel version.

Add the following (ORDER IS VERY IMPORTANT);

agpgart
intel-agp # change intel-agp to your chipset. eg: via-agp, nvidia-agp sis-agp.
fglrx

Finally, run

update-modules

Then you can reboot and everything should work. If you are having problems, check dmesg and /var/log/Xorg.0.log for more info.

If you have problems with mplayer not playing in full screen, set

Option "VideoOverlay"       "on"

Into your device section.

Unable to modprobe fglrx

If the module cannot be loaded ("operation not permitted"), check if the kernel Direct Rendering Manager (Device Drivers -> Character devices -> Direct Rendering Manager) is enabled. If so: Disable and recompile :-)

Or if you are using a precompiled kernel you can unload the dri and radeon module before modprobing fglrx.

modprobe -r dri radeon

modprobe fglrx

Blank screen or monitor turning off after startx

If you have a Radeon type Video Card: Please check the VIDEO_CARDS setting in /etc/make.conf:

VIDEO_CARDS="fglrx radeon"

Note that the video driver modules are all written in lowercase letters. Entering both modules here enables you to switch between the binary drivers (fglrx) and the Xorg-drivers (radeon) as you need, i.e. for testing. You probably need to recompile the XServer and the mesa library. Furthermore make sure you compile mesa with env USE-Flag -hardened set.

Versions of ati-drivers >= 8.16.20 have an issue with this that's easily corrected by inserting:

    Option "ForceMonitors" "notv"

in the device section of xorg.conf (discussed here: http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=103028)

This bug has been fixed

Check if you have a non-DDC monitor (i.e. one that cannot tell your computer it's properties, all modern monitors are DDC)connected via VGA/HD15 connector. If so change your xorg.conf:

#   Option "DesktopSetup"               "0x00000000"
    Option "MonitorLayout"              "NONE, CRT"
    Option "IgnoreEDID"                 "off"
    Option "HSync2"                     "30-85"
    Option "VRefresh2"                  "50-160"
#   Option "ScreenOverlap"              "0"

where HSync2 and VRefresh2 are your monitor parameters.

Also, try changing the MonitorLayout option. The default is "AUTO, AUTO", which is to say X will attempt to autodetect what kind of monitor you've got on the first and second display heads. This can fail in rare instances (such as with my Compaq Presario laptop). Try changing it around a bit. For example, if you have an LCD and no secondary monitor, change the line to read:

    Option "MonitorLayout"              "TMDS, NONE"

if you have a CRT, simply replace "TMDS" with "CRT".

Downgrading to a certain driver version might help. For me and Gentoo (x86), Kernel 2.6.16, Xorg 7.0 and a Radeon 9200 SE, the problem occured when upgraded from 8.26.18 to 8.27.10-r1: Xorg was running without problems (no errors in Xorg.0.log) but a black screen. I could even launch programs by clicking around. I finally solved it simply by going back to version 8.26.18-r1.

+In my case (Radeon X1300, 256MB) it helped to increase 'AGP Aperture Size' in BIOS to 256MB. Following the Wiki and changing this did the trick for me.

System freezes after logout with GDM or KDM

If you use GDM modify

AlwaysRestartServer=true

In newer versions of GDM the configuration file has changed names, and layout. See /usr/share/gdm/defaults.conf for refrence.

[damon]
AlwaysRestartServer=true

If you use KDM add to the [X-:*-Core] section the following

TerminateServer=true

Reference: Going back to gdm/kdm hardlocks after running X session

Module Requirement Mismatch

If you have unmasked xorg-server and you get an error like

(EE) module ABI major version (0) doesn't match the server's version (1)
(EE) Failed to load module "fglrx" (module requirement mismatch, 0)

I was using the open-source drivers and fixed this by re-emerging x11-drivers/xf86-video-ati after updating xorg-server broke X.

Consider that the ATI drivers (as of 8.25.18) do not work with >=xorg-server-1.1.0. If you have xorg-server-1.1.0 installed

echo ">=x11-base/xorg-server-1.1.0" >> /etc/portage/package.mask

and re-emerge xorg-server. As other x11 packages are dependent on xorg-server > 1.0.99 you might have to downgrade other packages.

I'm using xorg-server 1.0.2 and STILL getting this message. perhaps it's easier to say ati-drivers as of 8.25.18 do not work with ANY xorg-server version.

(While I tried ATI drivers 8.27.10, which do work with X.org 7.1, with xorg-server-1.0.2 I got message "module ABI major version (1) doesn't match the server's version (0)" -- 1/0 instead of 0/1 -- so I had to upgrade to newer xorg-server 1.1.1 and its dependiences. 8.27.10 + 1.1.1 works fine.)

Compatibility of Radeon 8500/9100 (=<ati-drivers-8.28.8), kernel, and xorg

Summary

• The 8.28.8 version is the last driver to support the Radeon 8500 and 9100 series.
• The 8.28.8 version does not compile against gentoo kernels (gentoo-sources) >2.6.18

echo ">x11-drivers/ati-drivers-8.28.8" >> /etc/portage/package.mask
echo ">x11-base/xorg-x11-7.1" >> /etc/portage/package.mask
echo ">x11-base/xorg-server-1.1.1-r1" >> /etc/portage/package.mask

Comments

• 8.27.10 did not compile against 2.6.18-gentoo, downgrading to 2.6.17-gentoo solved the problem.)
• I'm using xorg-server 1.1.1 and ATI driver 8.34.8 and I get an error.
• ATI driver 8.28.8 and 2.6.16-gentoo-kernel.
• Works for me: ati-drivers-8.27.10-r1, gentoo-sources-2.6.17-r4, xorg-x11-7.1, and xorg-server-1.1.1-r1

DRI problems with ATI XPRESS 200M PCIe

Issue with DRI; Compaq Presario R4000, V5000 and HP Pavilion dv5000 and zv6000 with ATI XPRESS 200M PCIe

These laptops both appear to have the same problem:

On startup, the X process hangs with a blank screen, using 99%, however SSH access is possible. The "NoDRI" option in xorg.conf prevents the lockup, but has its obvious drawbacks. Rolando Zappacosta originally reported that lspci -v was incorrectly reporting the video memory size regardless of the actual value configured in the system BIOS, however this was not the case on the dv5000.

EDIT: The driver does work on my compaq v2000 series with the ATI XPRESS 200M

Workaround:

In the system BIOS the "SidePort+UMA" option must be selected, and an additional 128M of system memory must be assigned to the VGA. It is unknown whether this is a bug in the HP's BIOS, in the Linux PCI code, or the fglrx driver.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if more info is required. rzappacosta_at_rstn_dot_net.

Rolando Zappacosta

Craig Shelley

EDIT: After installing ati-drivers-8.32.5 the "Sideport+UMA" option is no longer needed. These drivers also work fairly well with the Radeon Xpress 200m. On another semi-unrelated note this also fixed the white screen bug in XGL/Beryl. And it works fantastically. Any questions or comments send them to jtryonksu_at_gmail_dot_com

EDIT: Finally, the 8.32.5 works correctly on the Compaq V5000 (with Radeon Xpress 200M). Currently, the proprietary driver is the only one which fully works with this machine and provides direct rendering. The open source DRM driver will not direct render. Note: this Radeon chip is different than the one in V2000 (work-around given here make the card malfunction); fglrx reports an unknown vendor. Questions or comments at dzlatkov at hotmail

EDIT: Gentoo and propietary ati drivers (fglrx x86_64) versions 8.32+ are working well in general for HP dv8000 series. Though, with Composite extension turned off. Some people should try to look if there is actually a bug which turns down the frames per second as reported by fgl_glxgears and glxgears: One must note that frames per second are multiplied almost by a 3x factor when ¨MergedFB¨ is turned on for two monitor setups. There would be a non documented workaround. coments about: Mario G.H. in uxdesign at ml1 dot net.

Crashes on startup

If you are unable to use any 3d applications and get this error instead:

FGLTexMgr: open of shared memory object failed (Function not implemented)
__FGLTexMgrCreateObject: __FGLTexMgrSHMmalloc failed!!!
fglX11AllocateManagedSurface: __FGLTexMgrCreateObject failed!!
FGLTexMgr: open of shared memory object failed (Function not implemented)
__FGLTexMgrCreateObject: __FGLTexMgrSHMmalloc failed!!!
fglX11AllocateManagedSurface: __FGLTexMgrCreateObject failed!!
FGLTexMgr: open of shared memory object failed (Function not implemented)
__FGLTexMgrCreateObject: __FGLTexMgrSHMmalloc failed!!!

Then you do not have tmpfs mounted on /dev/shm, which the driver requires. To mount this, add to following line to /etc/fstab (if it isn't there already):

tmpfs     /dev/shm           tmpfs        defaults            0 0

Then just do a:

mount /dev/shm

Maybe you get a slightly different error message:

FGLTexMgr: open of shared memory object failed (Permission denied)

This is because the ATI drivers put a temporary file in your tmpfs (/dev/shm/ATISHM00) but forgets to clean up after them. So it may be there from a different users or with bad permissions. Just remove the offending file.

If the drivers still crap out on you, or for example you get a black screen on X init, try going into your system BIOS and change graphics-related stuff around. Believe it or not, for me my 9800 gives a black screen on X init if I have the AGP Aperture set at anything other than 128MB. I don't know what causes this, and I don't care; I'm just relating to you how I overcame my problem ;)

Also, whenever you update your compiler, you must recompile your kernel otherwise you won't be able to insert the fglrx module. Note that recompiling your kernel means you must also unmerge/emerge ati-drivers!

libGL error: failed to open DRM - bad FPS with user account

If you get this error: libGL error: failed to open DRM (for example if you use glxgears) then you are trying to run as a user that doesn't have permission to use the DRI (root is the default allowed user). To let all users access the DRI, add the following section to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "dri"
   Mode 0666
EndSection

or alternatively you can use the group "video" to control access. Add the following section to your /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

Section "dri"
  Group "video"
  Mode 0660
EndSection

And then append the usernames of those who you want to grant access to, to the line that starts with "video" in /etc/group.

One user reported that continued problems with DRM under non-root accounts were finally resolved by setting the permissions of fglrx_dri.so and atiogl_a_dri.so (both typically located in /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri/) to 777. It should be noted, however, that this is highly insecure, and that permissions of 555 should safely achieve the same effect.

If fglrxinfo says "mesa3d.org" instead of "ATI" after A SUCCESSFUL modprobe of fglrx

If fglrxinfo reports:

  display: :0.0 screen: 0
  OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
  OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
  OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.2.1)

you need to do

emerge eselect-opengl

eselect opengl set ati

source /etc/profile

Another idea would be to disable the Composite extension as the driver currently doesn't support DRI with this enabled.

 Section "Extensions"
        Option      "Composite" "false"
 EndSection

Also, make sure DRI is enabled and started with the proper permissions set in your xorg.conf as well. (This is in the section before this one).

Exit your X session, open up a new terminal, and then rerun fglrxinfo and it should say something like this:

  display: :0.0  screen: 0
  OpenGL vendor string: ATI Technologies Inc.
  OpenGL renderer string: MOBILITY RADEON X300 Generic
  OpenGL version string: 2.0.5695 (8.23.7)

OpenGL should work properly now with DRI enabled. Check with glxinfo.

Still getting mesa3d?

After trying everything on an [eMachines m6805], the only solution to the mesa3d issue was to compile agpgart and support for the chipset (VIA in this case) as static modules * in the kernel. This laptop uses an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 on Kernel version 2.6.10, ati-drivers 8.25.18 ...

I was able to find a solution to this problem by running glxinfo with the LIBGL_DEBUG environment variable set to 'verbose'. This caused glxinfo to display some otherwise hidden error data where it was unable to find a module. Specifically, I needed to create a symlink /usr/lib/modules/dri/fglrx_dri.so to /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri/fglrx_dri.so in order to get direct rendering/ATI vendor string to work.

Update : In my case, i aslo need to make symlink /usr/lib32/ to /usr/lib/. So keep eyes on glxinfo (with LIBGL_DEBUG="verbose") where it looking for the fglrx_dri.so.

unresolved symbol __driCreateScreen : the fglrx_dri.so module is linked against libGL. In my case it was linking against the Mesa libGL, not the ATI libGL libraries located in /usr/lib/opengl/ati/lib. My solution was to emerge eselect-opengl and then run eselect opengl set ati. You can easily switch back to xorg-x11 gl interface by running eselect opengl set xorg-x11.

Update : I had the MESA libGL.so file in /usr/lib64/xorg/, copying the ATI one from /usr/lib/opengl/ati/lib fixed the issue.

Use with AMD64/Opteron : If you are using an AMD64/Opteron chip, make sure you have Device Drivers->Character Devices->AMD Opteron/Athlon64 on-CPU GART support enabled; this fixed the Direct Rendering problem for me. I have that and my chipset (VIA) compiled into the kernel.

Ati-Drivers >8.24.x and Radeon 9200 or Radeon 9600

If you are getting the following error

   [fglrx] API ERROR: could not register entrypoint for SelectTextureSGIS

It seems the newest version of the ATI drivers break the libGL.so.1.2 library file Here's how to get a working copy of this library. (NOTE: http://www.ground-impact.com/libGL.so.1.2 may not continue to exist)

   cd /usr/lib/opengl/ati/lib/
   mv libGL.so.1.2 libGL.so.1.2_broken
   wget http://www.ground-impact.com/libGL.so.1.2

You will now be able to use the GL programs again. See http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/suse-linux-help/63678-ati-driver-going-crazy.html and http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=185033

ACPI script missing finger command

If you get the following errors in /var/log/acpid

  /etc/acpi/ati-powermode.sh: line 8: finger: command not found
  /etc/acpi/ati-powermode.sh: line 10: finger: command not found

Install the netkit-fingerd package, which provides the the finger command.

 emerge -av netkit-fingerd

PreInitDAL failed

This can happen if multiple monitors were detected, even though you don't have multiple monitors. To fix it, use aticonfig --enable-monitor and aticonfig --force-monitor to specify which monitors you use. Example, if you have a VGA + DVI card, but only use your VGA connection:

aticonfig --enable-monitor=crt1 --force-monitor=crt1,notmds1

Some had success with disabling framebuffer in kernelconfig, recompile, reboot! This happend as i upgraded from 8.28.8 to 8.32.5.

This error may also occur after receiving the EDID information: There is a known bug [1] which has been solved in the 8.32.5. Also, just upgrading to 8.32.5 solved the problem.

rmh3093 reported running vbetool vgamode prior to starting gdm will fix X crashing with framebuffer See post.

FGLTexMgr: open of shared memory object failed

I got this error when running glxgears as user, solution was to change the POSIX shared memory mount in /etc/fstab from shm /dev/shm tmpfs nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0 to tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs nodev,nosuid,noexec 0 0

Then: umount /dev/shm; mount /dev/shm; mount | grep tmpfs

Build ati-drivers on rt-kernels failed

If you get this error:

 GPL-incompatible module fglrx.ko uses GPL-only symbol '__rcu_read_unlock'

or

 GPL-incompatible module fglrx.ko uses GPL-only symbol '__rcu_read_lock'

when you build ati-drivers on rt-kernel

Solution: Edit kernel/rcupreempt.c. Change

 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__rcu_read_lock);

to

 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__rcu_read_lock);

and

 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__rcu_read_unlock);

to

 EXPORT_SYMBOL(__rcu_read_unlock);

And rebuild kernel

X crashes when playing a video using XV

Add the following option to your Xorg.conf file in the device section:

 Option "TexturedVideo" "on"

AMD64 Issues

If you get this error: fglrx: Unknown symbol register_ioctl32_conversion fglrx: Unknown symbol unregister_ioctl32_conversion

A patch is available to fix driver issues with AMD64 at http://www.credibleinstitution.org/matt/firegl_public.patch

There is a forum posting on the issue: http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-397969-highlight-ati+rc300.html

With a 2.6.20 kernel this can be fixed by enabling IA32 emulation: CONFIG_IA32_EMULATION=y

See Also

• ATi Unofficial Bugzilla (occasionally monitored by ATi personnel)
• Check out user Wedge_'s excellent ATI Radeon FAQ here
• Troubleshooting article on an Unofficial ATI Linux Driver Wiki
• DriTroubleshooting
• HOWTO Dual Monitors
• Triple Monitors#FireMV 2200
• HOWTO ATI on amd64