ATI drivers fglrx 8.35.5 and 8.34.8 fail

[wirechief]

I have a AMD64 TI6420 Emachine 2 gigs ram I am using Sidux
Linux NewGpaSidux 2.6.20.5-rc1-slh-up-1 #1 Sun Apr 1 17:09:21 CEST 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
I used du-fixes-h2.sh script in init 3 mode to update to the Kernel listed above then I decided to try the new driver 8.35.5 the install finished with no errors however when I tried to startx it cleared the screen and left me with a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner, I tried 8.34.8 with the same result, each time having to reboot and getting back to the init 3, I also tried aticonf --initial and it reported back nothing to do. I recovered by replacing the Xorg.conf with a copy of the original. I was given www.phoronix.net as a possible source for additional tests or fixs from the sidux forum. please advise if you need additional information, thanking you in advance for your review.

[Michael]

I have a AMD64 TI6420 Emachine 2 gigs ram I am using Sidux
Linux NewGpaSidux 2.6.20.5-rc1-slh-up-1 #1 Sun Apr 1 17:09:21 CEST 2007 i686 GNU/Linux
I used du-fixes-h2.sh script in init 3 mode to update to the Kernel listed above then I decided to try the new driver 8.35.5 the install finished with no errors however when I tried to startx it cleared the screen and left me with a blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner, I tried 8.34.8 with the same result, each time having to reboot and getting back to the init 3, I also tried aticonf --initial and it reported back nothing to do. I recovered by replacing the Xorg.conf with a copy of the original. I was given www.phoronix.net (http://www.phoronix.net) as a possible source for additional tests or fixs from the sidux forum. please advise if you need additional information, thanking you in advance for your review.


Does the SIDUX script include the Linux 2.6.20 patch? Otherwise that would likely be your problem though it should have given you errors during the build process. Do you know off hand how SIDUX handles the build and install process of the fglrx module?

Also, what is the output of: cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE

[wirechief]

I thought I saw something about a Patch being applied, everything moved so fast, that was on the newest driver but the older driver i didnt see anything about a patch.
I also tried to use the manual install but cant remember the correct command it resulted in the same however no errors while processing but when xserver was started it failed the same way.

root@NewGpaSidux:/home/Wirechief# cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep EE
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
(II) Loading extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
(EE) AIGLX: Screen 0 is not DRI capable
root@NewGpaSidux:/home/Wirechief# Reply With Quote

that was the result.
I don't know how the script process's anything, it works very nicely, I got the Kernel listed and then decided to try the fglrx 8.35.5 I have been advised by H2 (forum moderator) that perhaps a different Kernel would work, if running the script
for Sidux can do that I will give it a try.

[Michael]

For your AIGLX error, in your xorg.conf append:

Section "Extensions"
Option "Composite" "Disable"
Option "AIGLX" "Disable"
EndSection

[wirechief]

Section "Extensions"
# Option "Composite" "1"
# Option "RENDER" "1"
EndSection

I am new to this, do i change "1" to "disable" for Composite? and what about that other option, it is not shown.

[glussier]

Replace this:


# Option "Composite" "1"
# Option "RENDER" "1"


with this:


Option "Composite" "disable"
Option "RENDER" "disable"

[wirechief]

Now here is where I get into trouble, my editors, Kate Kedit and Kwrite are refused by the server. Seems I need permissions? (this is a new install of Sidux) not sure what the best route to do this is and I know its out of the area of this thread. So until I can do that I will not be able to change that.

[gfxdrone]

So is the current correct syntax for xorg.conf for fglrx this:?

Option "Composite" "Disable"
Option "Render" "Disable"
Option "AIGLX" "Disable"

What is the 'enable' in that case? "Enable", "On", or something else?

Are all 3 required, or is AIGLX optional to disable?

Is the default then 'On'|'Enable' which it would seem to be if you need to explicitly state that it is disabled, not just commenting out the line.

This syntax difference only appears to be an issue with 64 bit fglrx drivers from what I can see, but might as well get it technically accurate to maximize odds of fglrx actually working.

[gfxdrone]

wirechief, you have to edit these as root, su.

You can use something like mcedit in terminal to do that.

su to root, login, then: mcedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

do the edits, save, then restart x.

Or run your GUI text editors as root. In KDE, right click desktop, choose run command, click options, run as different user, root, with password, kwrite as command. Open file, edit, save.

Since you can't get into x, you can't use x gui editors, of course. So use mcedit.

If editing in console and that stuff is a mystery to you, I strongly suggest you not use 64 bit, you will not benefit from it.

[wirechief]

wirechief, you have to edit these as root, su.

You can use something like mcedit in terminal to do that.

su to root, login, then: mcedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

do the edits, save, then restart x.

Or run your GUI text editors as root. In KDE, right click desktop, choose run command, click options, run as different user, root, with password, kwrite as command. Open file, edit, save.

Since you can't get into x, you can't use x gui editors, of course. So use mcedit.

If editing in console and that stuff is a mystery to you, I strongly suggest you not use 64 bit, you will not benefit from it.
Thank you for this great information, I will add it to my tool bag.
When I saw the install putting 64bit driver in, I groaned, I have had lots of trouble with them, the process is autoamted I did not manually download the driver, this is all a learning process for me. I did get help from the IRC and used sux in a new terminal session and have made the changes, I am just getting ready to re-run the code given by Michael
I was able to recover by replacing the bad Xorg.conf with my saved copy of the original but still knowing about mcedit is very very helpfull again thank you.

[wirechief]

Thank you for this great information, I will add it to my tool bag.
When I saw the install putting 64bit driver in, I groaned, I have had lots of trouble with them, the process is autoamted I did not manually download the driver, this is all a learning process for me. I did get help from the IRC and used sux in a new terminal session and have made the changes, I am just getting ready to re-run the code given by Michael
I was able to recover by replacing the bad Xorg.conf with my saved copy of the original but still knowing about mcedit is very very helpfull again thank you. I re-ran the installer the results were basically the same however at first it didn't even start the X-server and made mention of the Flgr so I went into the Xorg.conf and removed that statement, then when i restarted it the cursor locked up on the upper left hand side, I returned and put it back but got the same results, I got the same results when i ran the fglrx installer, it all appears to work but then is unable to start the X-server. This time I saved a copy of the bad Xorg.conf just in case someone would like to look at it and compare with the good one.

[wirechief]

Further testing revealed that my ATI1300Pro had issues with the on board Nvidia graphics chipset and was unable to make the driver work
with it, removing the card and then installing the Nvidia graphics
with sidux.com's graphics card installion script as sgfxi -c provided the solution to my graphic card driver problem.
One must boldly ask why should anyone buy into ATI graphics cards while they obvisously have so many problems.

[damentz]

Ok, this is ridiculous

None of you seem to know what the xorg.conf options do, or even if they are actually options.

http://apollo.divshare.com/apollo2/thumbs/2007/04/18/429603/429603-38b.jpg (http://www.divshare.com/download/429603-38b)

First of all, I'm just showing this to point out that the extension AIGLX doesn't exist, it falls under the ServerLayout section. As you can see, apparently AIGLX is disabled but beryl still works.

This is because AIGLX is not an extension you plug into the Extensions section. Also, AIGLX has absolutely no effect when Composite is off, so adding lines to disable it is just wasting space on your drive. If you want to see a list of available extensions, run xdpyinfo in a terminal and scroll up till you see the long list.

RENDER is on by default and it is with all caps as shown when you run xdpyinfo. Disabling RENDER has to be utterly stupid as it handles font anti aliasing and the mouse cursor. Disabling in most cases leaves your desktop looking mad ugly.
DAMAGE is apparently also on and Composite is off by default, so what does this leave us? Your "optimized" xorg.conf would include this

Section "Extensions"
EndSection

Suprise!! Nothing.

Oh and regarding boolean options like Composite, this is all the same for true.

Option "Composite"
Option "Composite" "1"
Option "Composite" "on"
Option "Composite" "true"
Option "Composite" "enable"

Now you are thinking, well how do I get fglrx faster? Well, you really can't. ATi is clever so they decided to make their driver so unuseable you can't even optimize its configuration.

However, you can try using the option "UseFastTLS" "1" (its an integer not boolean) in the device section, but I did not notice any fps difference.

[gfxbeerdrone]

"" None of you seem to know what the xorg.conf options do, or even if they are actually options""

Can you quote this at #xorg

I need a good laugh for today !!! :)

[DarkFoss]

I've always used vi from the console when x won't start... is mcedit easier to use ?