AMD Catalyst 8.01 Linux Driver

[SledgeHammer_999]

...they only tested with some games, not more. Thats why tools like gl2benchmark show how incomplete the new codebase is - test 3/4 never worked after 8.40.4 and on 64 bit the tool even segfaults only...

Hey Kano where do I find gl2benchmark?

[homerhomer]

This driver works better than 7.12, but it still has it issues. I noticed that my computer will hibernate but will not wake properly.

Widescreen works! to tell you the truth, I feel like this was stolen from me and now given back. Thanks

So this driver is useable but why the hell is 2d so freaking slow? and, why doesn't my brightness work with 3d games?

I can't help to think that ATI doesn't give a "F" about it's Linux users. Yes, there are working on things and things are getting better, but in all my years of geeking out with the puters I have never came across crap drivers like these. If it's not one thing it's three other.

Please ATI, put out or go home!

I understand memory leaks happen, I can even understand botched software releases. but the crap that end users are experiencing is re-god-damn-diculous.

The whole reason to have ATI on a computer is for the flash. If it wasn't because of this I would have some crap graphics and it would be treated like sounds cards are today.

With that out of the way. The basics must be covered. This includes WORKING! I like to think of ATI as graphics specialist the have some special knowledge on what they are doing. This would mean easy stuff like a working graphics driver is the easy crap.

My definition of WORKING means that it handles basic computer functionality with ease. Really, ATI is suppose to be all about advanced graphics, not "hey it works - sort of"

I will continue to hope that the next driver release is better than the last. But in reality, I can't recommend ATI at all.

As a last note I understand that things don't get fixed overnight. On the other hand video card do. Since my endeavor of issues with ATI/AMD a ton of video cards have been released from ATI and sold. I don't mind the rapid pace of hardware sales but please have your software drivers at the same pace.

Thank you for listening

[n3Cre0]

I don't know if it has been mentioned already. But does this version support AIGLX on xorg-server-1.4? I'm still stuck with xorg-server-1.3

[Kano]

@SledgeHammer_999

gl2benchmark 0.1 is in the kanotix repository and also in the original repositry:

deb http://krapfoss-systems.com/files/debian ./
deb-src http://krapfoss-systems.com/files/debian ./

it can be used for etch, feisty and gutsy should work as well (needs openscenegraph 1.2.0).

since lenny you can use a version 0.2 compiled against openscenegraph 2.2, which should be in hardy too, but was broken (don't know of current status), here you can find those packages:

deb http://kanotix.com/files/fix/gl2benchmark.lenny ./
deb-src http://kanotix.com/files/fix/gl2benchmark.lenny ./

[iluva]

Hi. As two other preposters asked, I really would like to know if the 8.01 supports the xorg server 1.4 with this release. If not I'll put the package on hold too.

[ig-88]

i seem to have a few additional problems with 8.01. Console switch is broken, which breaks shutting down, rebooting, and even the possibilty to try suspend. when i switch to a console the display receives no signal and the keybard is unresponsive (also sysrq works). switching bach to X is not possible. the machine reacts on the powerbutton, but is unable to shutdown. it probably hangs somwhere inbetween.
in 7.11 it worked fine, it also works with vesa (also the colors get shifted and radeonhd. i think it also worked in 7.12, which i didn't use much because of the widescreen bug. anyone else with this issue?

and additionally i have the feeling that 2d is realtively slow slow. waiting 100ms before a menu pops up is not what i expect.

and a third thing which i already had in 7.11, was that the small skype icon has a color shift. it turned from apple green to light torquise. this doesn't happen with radeonhd. and here comes the big one: when i first started kde4 all colors were inverted! i the effect disappeard when i enabled compositing in kwin. this may be a qt4 issue.
oh! and i have small glitches in the skype icon with 8.01.

ig-88

PS: i use ubuntu gutsy and a hd2600xt
PPS: i removed all additional options from my xorg.conf. no change.

[hoenny]

For the Fedora packaging bug, I'll push updated scripts to Phorogit for it tonight once I get back to my hotel.

I fixed script. It's working good. I send to your e-mail.

[oyvind]

For once I'm not going to be negative, I'm tired of being negative here ! So, here's a positive list of my own observations with this new release :

• This is the first version of the driver, since the new codebase was introduced, that has worked adequately on my ATI X1400-based laptop. I'm now finally able to ditch fglrx 8.37.6 (The version packaged with Ubuntu Gutsy).
  
  
• Using 1680x1050 resolution is no longer a problem, phew ! I expected nothing less, though.
  
  
• Suspend finally works on Ubuntu Gutsy ! This one I'm very happy about.
  
  
• Finally I can enjoy much better OpenGL performance without any nasty memory leaks.
  
  
• Dual-screen works better for me, I can now use a "1680x1050+1280x1024"-pairmode without problems, which makes sure that native resolution is used on both my screens and that my (big)desktop isn't actually bigger than what is physically visible. Older fglrx-versions crashed when I tried to use this pairmode (Xorg segfault).
  
  
• OpenGL-screensavers are finally working (gnome-screensaver), never worked before (they reverted to software-rendering because of problems with finding suitable OpenGL visual).
  
  
• The new DKMS system is a welcome addition, now I don't have to fiddle with module-assistant during installation, anymore. It worked like a charm.
  
  
• The driver still has some serious problems. However, many of these problems are now on the "Known issues"-list in the official driver info. That's a good thing! Hope the list will start shrinking again, though.
  

Yes, there are problems. But I'm not going to repeat them all again, because they are well known. I was going to keep this post on the thumbs-up-side , so I'm sticking to that. This release has rekindled my hopes that real improvements will come further down the road. I'm hoping for more bugfixing, stability and (2D-)performance focus, not new features.

Regards,
oyvind

[oyvind]

I see some people are complaining about reduced 2D-performance. I'm not seeing this on my ATI X1400, Lenovo Z61m. 2D is the same: certainly not the fastest, but not slower than before, either.

Also, if you are experiencing stability problems with console switching, try disabling both OpenGLOverlay and VideoOverlay. If I enable any of these, especially OpenGLOverlay, the driver will often freeze X on logout (which switches to console a short period for me, since I make gdm restart X every time).

[knutbert]

Hi there,

something fundamental seems to have changed in the codebase of 8-1 as opposed to the 7-X releases.

As of 8-1 my Mobility Radeon X1900 is not working properly anymore; I get this very disturbing "failed to initialize ASIC" error

EDIT:
Moved the details of this issue to a new thread

Regards,
knutbert