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ATI Proprietary Linux Release Notes

These release notes provide information on the latest posting of ATI's proprietary Linux driver version 3.14.1 (IIRC). The Linux driver version 3.14.1 (IIRC) provides hardware support for PCI Express graphic cards.

The ATI Linux release notes provides information on the following:

ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Features

The ATI proprietary Linux driver provides TV Output support for ATI graphics cards that support TV out. The ATI proprietary Linux driver also allows for the following monitor arrangements:

  • Laptop Mode (toggle between internal or external screen)
  • Clone Mode (same content on both screens)
  • Big Desktop (one desktop stretched across two screens)
  • Dual Head (separate instances of XFree86 running on each screen

New Product Support

The latest version of the ATI proprietary Linux driver introduces support for the following workstation products:

  • FireGL™ V5100
  • FireGL™ V3200
  • FireGL™ V3100

The latest version of the ATI proprietary Linux driver introduces support for the following MOBILITY™ products:

  • MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9800

The latest version of the ATI proprietary Linux driver introduces support for the following desktop products:

  • RADEON™ X600
  • RADEON™ X300

The latest version of the ATI proprietary Linux driver introduces support for the following integrated products:

  • MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9000/9100 IGP Series

 

 

Note:

This software driver provides 2D support only for the ATI RADEON™ 9100 IGP and ATI RADEON 9100 PRO IGP.

Web Content

Currently, this driver is available in rpm format only. Three different packages are available for each specific version of XFree86. One of these three versions must be installed before installing the ATI proprietary Linux driver.

 

 

Note:

Refer to the minimum system requirements listed below to ensure you have downloaded the correct driver package for your system.

ATI Workstation Product Support

The ATI proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following ATI Workstation products:

  • FireGL™ X3-256
  • FireGL™ X2-256
  • FireGL™ X1-128
  • FireGL™ T2-128
  • FireGL™ 8800
  • FireGL™ 8700
  • FireGL™ X1-256p
  • FireGL™ Z1-128
  • MOBILITY™ FireGL™ T2
  • MOBILITY™ FireGL™ 9100
  • FireGL™ X3

ATI MOBLITIY™ Product Support

The ATI Proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following ATI MOBILITY™ product family:

  • MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9600
  • MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9200
  • MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9000

ATI Integrated Product Support

The ATI Proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following ATI Integrated Product family:

  • RADEON™ 9100 IGP
  • RADEON™ 9200 IGP

ATI Desktop product family support

The ATI Proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following ATI desktop product family:

RADEON™ X800 series

RADEON™ 9700 series

RADEON™ 9800 series

RADEON™ 9550 series

RADEON™ 9600 series

RADEON™ 9500 series

RADEON™ 9200 series

RADEON™ 9100 series

RADEON™ 9000 series

RADEON™ 8500 series

 

 

Note:

ATI ALL-IN-WONDER™ variants based on the above are also supported. Video capture however is not supported.

Operating systems supported

The latest version of the ATI proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following Linux distributions:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • SuSe Linux

 

 

Note:

The ATI proprietary Linux driver should install on a number of other Linux variants as well. Refer to the installation instructions for more information

Minimum System Requirements

Before attempting to install the ATI proprietary Linux driver, the following software must be installed:

  • glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
  • Linux kernel 2.4 or higher
  • XFree86 version 4.1.0, 4.2.0, or 4.3.0

 

 

Note:

If you are unsure of which version of XFree86 is installed on your system, download and run Check.sh from a command line to verify the version.

System Recommendations

For best performance and ease of use, ATI recommends the following:

  • Kernel module build environment - should include the following:
    • kernel source code - complete source tree and header files
    • gcc version 2.96 or higher
  • ISSE Support enabled in your Linux Kernel
    • Applies to Intel Pentium III and later CPUs only
    • Enabled by default on version 2.4 and later kernels
  • The rpm utility should be installed and configured correctly on your system
  • QT version 2.x.x is needed for the ATI Control Panel, but is not mandatory

Issues Resolved

This section provides information on issues that have been resolved with the latest release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver.

  • Graphics acceleration is now available with ATI ALL-IN-WONDER™ RADEON™ 8500DV
  • 3D Graphics acceleration is now available on VIA Apollo KT400 systems
  • Using a DVI connector on some ATI RADEON™ 9200 series no longer results in the display being blank
  • Adjusting color saturation during movie playback no longer results in color shift
  • The display is no longer blank when launching X on an ATI RADEON™ X800 or ATI FireGL™ X3

Known Issues

The following section provides a brief description of known issues associated with the latest version of ATI proprietary Linux driver. These issues include:

TV Display is corrupt after switching resolutions

This information applies to the following system configurations:

  • ATI Proprietary Linux Driver 3.7.1 and later
  • TV Out enabled in fglrxconfig
  • Big Desktop or Dual Head monitor layout is used

This issue does not occur in Clone Mode or when the TV is the only connected display.

Upon using the resolution keyboard shortcuts (ctrl-alt-+) or (ctrl-alt--) to switch resolution of the XFree86 Desktop, the display will be off center or completely corrupt.

The TV display is not usable in this state and it is not possible to get back to a stable resolution once this has happened. A restart is required.

3D Linux applications corrupt or hang with "force multi-sample visuals" enabled

This information applies to the following system configurations:

  • ATI Proprietary Linux Driver 3.7.1 and later
  • "force multi-sample visuals" option enabled in fglrxconfig

A 3D window might appear normally, but will corrupt the contents of any other window placed above it.

The 3D display may also appear corrupt. Lines, polygons, and highlights will be visible, but textures will not. The application is not usable in this state and may crash after a few seconds.

This issue does not occur on all systems or monitor configurations. Symptoms may vary between different applications.

X Fails to load on systems with Linux kernel version 2.6.x

This information applies to the following system configurations:

  • Linux kernel version 2.6.x
  • Any ATI Linux driver

A blank screen may appear momentarily when X starts to load. The following error message (or similar) may appear on the text console or in /var/log/XFree86.0.log:

(EE) fglrx(0): [agp] unable to acquire AGP, error ""xf86_ENODEV""

This is not a problem with the display driver.

Version 2.6 kernels require a second kernel module in addition to agpgart, which should be named similar to the manufacturer of your motherboard AGP chipset. This error message should occur if the other agp module is not loaded.

This issue can be worked around as follows:

  1. First make sure that agpgart is loading properly.
  1. To find out which AGP controller your motherboard uses, issue the following command: lspci | grep AGP
  1. To find a list of AGP related kernel modules installed on your machine, issue the following command and look for a module (*.ko file) that suits your AGP Controller: ls /lib/modules/`uname -r`/kernel/drivers/char/agp
  1. Use the modprobe command (as root) to load the module. For example: On a motherboard using a VIAŽ AGP Controller, you would load the via-agp.ko using modprobe as follows (notice that the trailing .ko is omitted): modprobe via-agp

Check the modprobe manpage for more information on loading kernel modules.

  1. To verify that the AGP module is already loaded, run lsmod as root. With the XServer running and the connection established, the usage count of this module must be greater than zero.

If you cannot find a suitable agp module for your motherboard, then you may want to upgrade to the latest version of the Linux kernel, or check your motherboard manufacturer's website for more information.

For further information and general help on driver or software installation, game issues, and more, visit the ATI FAQ website.

Linux Feedback Program

The ATI proprietary Linux driver releases may incorporate suggestions received through the Linux feedback program. Please refer to http://apps.ati.com/linuxDfeedback/ and provide us further feedback.

ATI Technologies Inc.
http://www.ati.com
Voice: (905) 882-2600
Fax: (905) 882-2620