HOWTO_XORG_DRI_ATI_AMD64

Notes

I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU HOW TO FIX GENTOO INSTALLATION RELATED ISSUES! Your make.conf/rc.conf && other misc config files should already be configured properly. This is for problems related to Xorg server, ATI, agpgart, and DRI.

If you have followed other guides but were unable to get Xorg/ATi/DRI to work skim to the bottom of this article at "Common problems" to see common problems, and their solutions. I can't promise this howto will fix all of your problems, YMMV (Your mileage may vary)

If you used rc-update add (Desktop enviroment here) default/boot and now you can't get into bash because of bugs on boot causing the screen to disappear/other weird problems please view the Common problems & solutions section of this HOWTO.

Goals

I ran into horrible problems that took an entire weekend to fix between direct rendering (DRI) ATi Drivers Closed source vs. Open source, agpgart, and many other things. I read countless forums and looked everywhere to solutions for my problems. Finally, after an entire weekend I have a fully working, fully fledged Xorg server configured using KDE as my desktop enviroment. I am sharing this information with you to spare you countless hours of Googling and pointless reading.

Hardware && Kernel version

Processor arch: AMD64 3500+

Motherboard: Asus A8V Delux

Video card: ATi Radeon (x800AGP)

Gentoo kernel 2.6.17-r8 using genkernel.

First things first, Configuring your kernel

I used genkernel, if you are manually compiling your kernel you will have to copy your newly created kernel bZImage to /boot/your-kernel.version (If you aren't sure what I mean, just use genkernel.)

localhost ~# genkernel --menuconfig all

localhost ~# cd /usr/src/linux

localhost ~# make menuconfig

You should be greeted with this menu after kernel finishes cleaning up & doing a few other things (it might take a couple minutes)

Sync your kernel menu options with mine

 Process type and features --->
     Process family --->
        (X) AMD-Opteron/Athlon64
        ( ) Intel EM64T
        ( ) Generic x86-64
 (back to Process type and features)
     [*] MTRR (Memory Type Range Register) Support
     [ ] K8 IOMMU Support (Make sure ths is off)
  Device drivers --->
      Graphics support --->
         Everything here should be off
  (back to Device drivers)
      Character devices --->
         <M> /dev/agpgart (AGP Support)
            <M> AMD Opteron/Athlon 64 on-CPU GART SUPPORT
            <M> VIA Chipset support
         < > Direct rendering Manager (XFree86 4.1.0 and higher DRI Support)

 
  Code Content
  More code content
  Even more code
  

Turn off K8 IOMMU Select PC arch (AMD64/Opteron) Turn off all display supprt Turn on agpgart Pick chipset

Emerging xorg-x11

emerge -av xorg-x11

Configuring Xorg

X -configure will create a simple config in the default /root/xorg.conf.new directory Open up this config and find your monitor and add some resolution limits to it Modes "1024x768" "800x600" Should be fine for now.

== Getting ATi Drivers to work Pre-notes: Xorg does not work with X -configure as ATi drivers did not support my monitors size. VGA as default always ran 480x320 ...X -configure --- add monitor limits to /root/xorg.conf.new

More soon.

Common problems and solutions

Black/blank screen/monitor Blinking screen/monitor Huge resolution Caught signal 11