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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 3.14.6 (IIRC). The Linux driver version 3.14.6 (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:

New Features

This section provides information on new features introduced in the ATI Proprietary Linux software driver. This release introduces hardware support for all currently shipping ATI PCI-Express graphics cards.

Web Content

Currently, this driver is available in rpm format only. Packages are available for XFree86 versions 4.1.0, 4.2.0, and 4.3.0. 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:

ATI MOBILITY™ Product Support

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

ATI Integrated Product Support

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

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

ATI Desktop product family support

The ATI Proprietary Linux driver is designed to support the following ATI desktop products:
RADEON™ X800 series
 		RADEON™ 9000 series
RADEON™ X600 series
 		RADEON™ 9700 series
RADEON™ X300 series
 		RADEON™ 9550 series
RADEON™ 9800 series
 		RADEON™ 9500 series
RADEON™ 9600 series
 		RADEON™ 9100 series
RADEON™ 9200 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:

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:

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:

Issues Resolved

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

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:

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:

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:

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""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.
  2. To find out which AGP controller your motherboard uses, issue the following command: lspci | grep AGP
  3. 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
  4. Use the modprobe command (as root) to load the module. For example: On a motherboard using a VIA® 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.

3D Applications Produce "Open of Shared Memory Object Failed" Error Message

This information applies to the following system configurations:

The following may occur when trying to run certain 3D applications:

The following error message may also appear numerous times:

FGLTexMgr: "open of shared memory object failed" (Function not implemented) __FGLTexMgrCreateObject: __FGLTexMgrSHMmalloc failed! fglX11AllocateManagedSurface: __FGLTexMgrCreateObject failed!

The display driver requires POSIX Shared Memory to be enabled on the system in order to run these applications correctly. This feature should be enabled by default on most current Linux distributions, but may be disabled intentionally by some system administrators or not included in older distributions.

To enable POSIX Shared Memory on your system, perform the following as root:

  1. Add the following line to /etc/fstab (if it isn't there already): tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
  2. Mount shared memory as follows: mount /dev/shm
  3. Issue the following command to check that it mounted properly: mount | grep "shm"

If the mount was successful, then the following output (or similar) should appear:

tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)

At this point, POSIX Shared Memory is enabled. Your 3D applications should run properly and the error message above should no longer occur.

If the output from this command is blank, then the mount failed.

If /dev/shm fails to mount, then this feature may not be turned on in your Linux kernel. In this case we recommend upgrading to a more recent Linux kernel, or contacting your Linux Distribution vendor for more information on enabling POSIX Shared Memory.

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