ATI Proprietary Linux Release Notes
These release notes provide information on the latest posting of ATI's Proprietary Linux driver version 8.14.13 (IIRC). This release provides improved driver stability and 2D acceleration performance.
The ATI Linux release notes provides information on the following:
- ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Features
- Web Content
- ATI Workstation Product Support
- ATI Mobility™ Product Support
- ATI Desktop Product Family Support
- Operating Systems Distributions Supported
- New Features
- Minimum System Requirements
- System Recommendations
- Issues Resolved
- Known Issues
- ATI Customer Care
- Linux Feedback Program
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 X running on each screen)
Web Content
The ATI Proprietary Linux Driver is available in both rpm and an installer application. Packages are available for XFree86 versions 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3, as well as X.org 6.8. One of these four versions must be installed before installing the ATI Proprietary Linux driver.
Note: 64 bit driver support for XFree86 version 4.1 and 4.2 are not supported.
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:
Mobility™ RADEON™ X700
Mobility™ Radeon® 9800
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 products:
Radeon® 9200 IGP
Mobility™ Radeon® 9100 IGP series
Radeon® 9100 IGP
Mobility™ Radeon® 9000 IGP series
Caution: This software driver provides 2D support only 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:
Note: ATI All-In-Wonder™ variants based on the above are also supported. Video capture however is not supported.
Operating Systems Distributions 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.
New Features
This section provides information on new feature introduced in this release of the ATI proprietary Linux driver. New features include:
- New ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Installer
- New ATI Hardware Product Support
- Linux 2.6.11 Kernel Support
New ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Installer
The new ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Installer makes installing the ATI Linux driver a much simpler and user friendly experience. The installer provides for automatic and custom driver installations. Further, the ATI Proprietary Linux Driver Installer provides an option to generate distribution specific driver packages.
New ATI Hardware Product Support
This release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver introduces support for the following ATI Products:
Linux 2.6.11 Kernel Support
This release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver introduces driver compatibly with Linux 2.6.11 kernel.
Minimum System Requirements
Before attempting to install the ATI Proprietary Linux driver, the following software must be installed:
- POSIX Shared Memory (/dev/shm) support is required for 3D apps
- glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
- Linux kernel 2.4 or higher
- XFree86 version 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, or X.org 6.8
Note: If you are unsure of which version of XFree86/X.org 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:
- ISSE Support enabled in your Linux Kernel
- 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
Note: In order to use the fglrx internal AGP support, you have to make sure that the kernel agpgart support is not active, i.e. it is not compiled into the kernel and the kernel modules are not loaded. If the fglrx kernel module detects that the kernel agpgart support is active, it will automatically use that even if its internal AGP support is requested in order to avoid conflicts that can cause problems under some circumstances.
Issues Resolved
This section provides information on issues that have been resolved with the latest release of the ATI Proprietary Linux driver. This includes the following:
- Quad Buffer Stereo (QBS) support is now working for all ATI FireGL™ products that support QBS
- ATI FireGL X3 products now support dual-link enabled display devices
- The ATI Proprietary Linux driver Driver now falls back to a single-link mode if the card or connector does not support dual-link mode
- The DGA and RandR X Server extensions are now capable of loading simultaneously when using the ATI Proprietary Linux driver
- Intermittent error messages such as, [fglrx:firegl_alloc_bufs] *ERROR* Failed to create buffer queue (-12) and similar, no longer appear in the kernel output
- OpenGL based applications that have common symbol names to that of the libGL library no longer experience intermittent erratic behavior
- Applications using certain OpenGL calls such as, glTexSubImage no longer results in a driver memory leak
- When running in clone mode, the X server no longer crashes with a segmentation fault if the mouse is moved during a mode switch
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. Topic number 737-1086
- Attempting to resume from system suspension results in the system failing to respond. Topic number 737-218
- Enabling Quad Buffer Stereo results in 2D graphics corruption under XFree86. Topic number 737-219
- Running two X servers simultaneously results in the system failing to respond. Topic number 737-220
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:
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:
- First make sure that agpgart is loading properly.
- To find out which AGP controller your motherboard uses, issue the following command: lspci | grep AGP
- 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
- 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.
- To verify that the AGP module is already loaded, run lsmod as root. With the X server 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 verdana:
- 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:
- Add the following line to /etc/fstab (if it isn't there already): tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
- Mount shared memory as follows: mount /dev/shm
- 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.
ATI Customer Care
The ATI Customer Care website provides accurate and up-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance. Technical issues are categorized and can be personalized to enhance user experience. The new ATI Customer Care Website can be found at: support.ati.com
To view a known or resolved issue, do the following:
- Go to: support.ati.com. The ATI Customer Care web page is displayed.
- In the top left hand pane, click Advanced Search. The Advanced Search pane is displayed.
- Under Search Type: Select the By: ID option.
- Enter the Topic number.
- Click Go.
Linux Feedback Program
The ATI Proprietary Linux driver releases may incorporate suggestions received through the Linux feedback program.
Please refer to https://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=1714 to provide us with feedback.
ATI Technologies Inc. http://www.ati.com Voice: (905) 882-2600 Fax: (905) 882-2620 |