New Approach To ATI Driver Installation

[phoronix]

Phoronix: New Approach To ATI Driver Installation

Back in June of 2005 with the ATI Linux 8.14.13 driver release was a new installer to more easily facilitate the installation of this binary graphics driver using a graphical interface for a generic setup or generating distribution-specific packages (at that time Red Hat was the only officially supported distribution). With time, this installer has evolved by gaining new features and more distributions are being supported through their --buildpkg command for generating custom driver packages. These packaging scripts are now even hosted in the open for more community interaction. With two new driver options that will be formally introduced next month in Ubuntu's packaging scripts for the Catalyst 8.02 Linux driver, the installation process of the ATI fglrx driver on Ubuntu will become several steps easier.

http://www.phoronix.com/vr.php?view=11734

[jbeckers]

With two new driver options that will be formally introduced next month in Ubuntu's packaging scripts for the Catalyst 8.02 Linux driver, the installation process of the ATI fglrx driver on Ubuntu will become several steps easier.

That's certainly great news!

Now if only the generated packages would have the exact same names and a higher version ( 2:version-blabla would do I think) as those in the ubuntu archive, it would even take no effort to switch from ubuntu's fglrx to a self-built one (and keep it that way).

[ddoan]

Hm, why should one need to build the packages? I always run the installer and that's all (Gentoo and Arch Linux)... it's working fine here with 3D enabled (X1600 Pro AGP)

[Kano]

Wow, nothing that I do since serveral years fully automatically. What a big innovation. To be exact: since driver release 3.2.8 I can autodownload, patch XF86Config(-4) or xorg.conf and install fully automatically...

[pierluc]

Good news!

[neonx]

Hm, why should one need to build the packages? I always run the installer and that's all (Gentoo and Arch Linux)... it's working fine here with 3D enabled (X1600 Pro AGP)

I never build packages, don't se why one should. I too just run the installer, always has. Be it Slackware or Ubuntu.

[Kano]

Well the package approach is a bit better when dist-upgrades are involved. Xorg updates usually disable nvidia drivers installed by nvidia-installer (same would be when you use the ati installer). No real big deal to rerun it but when you use correctly packaged drivers with override entries then even a xorg update will not disable the driver. I mean minor updates, not from xserver 1.3 to 1.4 or so - as the package has usually some version numbers coded as dependency.

[Melcar]

Always had used the installer script since 8.37 days. 100% success rate too for all my cards.

[Kano]

Well then you always used "older" kernels. Even with new releases they have been too old for current kernels without patching.

[pierluc]

Hello, I have install Catalyst 8.01 with envy, I have read taht the new Catalyst 8.02 can be install with this technic:

- download the driver on ATI web site
- write that on the consol:
./ati-driver-installer-8-02-x86.x86_64.run --buildpkg Ubuntu --autopkg
- double click on deb package and install the driver.

But, if I have install the previous version with envy what is the technic?

This new technic, is it fully automatic.
- xorg.conf config
- kernel module
- compiz
- etc. ??

[supermonkey77]

But will it build on the realtime kernel? Since that is the biggest headache I have at the moment. (will probably give it a try when I get home from work)