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February 21, 2007


AMD Proprietary Linux Release Notes


This release note provides information on the latest posting of AMD's Proprietary Linux driver version 8.34.8

The AMD Linux release notes provides information on the following:

Web Content

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is available in both RPM format and through an Installer executable. You should verify your distribution uses RPM before downloading RPM packages.


Note: The packages are available for XFree86 version 4.3, as well as X.org 6.8. One of these two versions must be installed before installing the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite


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 Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI Workstation products:
FireGL™ V7350
FireGL™ V3400
FireGL™ Z1-128
FireGL™ V7300
FireGL™ V3300
FireGL™ T2-128
FireGL™ V7200
FireGL™ V3200
FireGL™ X1-128
FireGL™ V7100
FireGL™ V3100
FireGL™ X1-256p
FireGL™ V5200
FireGL™ X3-256
FireMV™ 2200 (Single card PCI-e configuration)
FireGL™ V5100
FireGL™ X3
Mobility™ FireGL™ V5000
FireGL™ V5000
FireGL™ X2-256
Mobility™ FireGL™ T2

ATI Mobility™ Product Support

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI Mobility™ products:
Mobility™ Radeon™ X1800
Mobility™ Radeon™ X300
Mobility™ Radeon™ X1600
Mobility™ Radeon™ 9800
Mobility™ Radeon™ X1400
Mobility™ Radeon™ 9600
Mobility™ Radeon™ X1300
Mobility™ Radeon™ 9550
Mobility™ Radeon™ X800
Mobility™ Radeon™ 9500
Mobility™ Radeon™ X700
Radeon™ Xpress 200M series
Mobility™ Radeon™ X600


ATI Integrated Product Support

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI Integrated products:

  • Radeon™ Xpress 1250 IGP (both AMD and Intel)
  • Radeon™ Xpress 200 series

ATI Desktop Product Family Support

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following ATI desktop products:
Radeon™ X1900 series
Radeon™ X600 series
Radeon™ X1800 series
Radeon™ X550/X300 series
Radeon™ X1600 series
Radeon™ 9800 series
Radeon™ X1300 series
Radeon™ 9700 series
Radeon™ X850 series
Radeon™ 9600 series
Radeon™ X800 series
Radeon™ 9550 series
Radeon™ X700 series
Radeon™ 9500 series


Note: All-In-Wonder™ variants based on the above are also supported. Video capture however is not supported.


Note: Software driver support for ATI FireGL™, Integrated, Mobility™ and Desktop products prior to the Radeon™ 9500 is available from ati.com

Operating Systems Distributions Supported

The latest version of the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite is designed to support the following Linux distributions:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux suite
  • Novell/SuSE product suite
    Note: The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite may install on a number of other Linux distributions. Refer to the Package Generation installation instructions for more information.


    Note: AMD has accepted contributed packaging scripts to allows creation of other packages, but does not necessarily test, verify or warrant the reliability. Currently Red Hat Enterprise Linux suite and Novell/SuSE product suite are supported Linux distributions

System Requirements

Before attempting to install the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite, the following software must be installed:

  • XOrg 6.7, 6.8, 6.9, 7.0, or 7.1; XFree86 version 4.3
  • Linux kernel 2.4 or higher
  • glibc version 2.2 or 2.3
  • POSIX Shared Memory (/dev/shm) support is required for 3D applications

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite no longer provides precompiled Kernel Modules; all installations require GCC compiler and kernel-headers or kernel-source in order to enable 2D and 3D acceleration.

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

  • Kernel module build environment - should include the following:
    • Kernel source code: Either the Kernel Source or Kernel Headers packages
  • 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, if you intend to install via RPM packages
  • QT version 2.x.x is needed for the ATI Control Panel, but is not mandatory
    Note: The following 32 bit packages must be installed in order for 64 bit drivers to install and work properly (the package names are from Red Hat Enterprise Linux, other distribution package names may vary):
    · XFree86-Mesa-libGL*
    · libstdc++
    · libgcc
    · XFree86-libs
    · fontconfig
    · expat
    · freetype
    · zlib

New Features

This release of the Catalyst™ Linux graphics driver introduces support for the ATI Xpress™ 1250 IGP for AMD based motherboards.


Note: The ATI Xpress™ 1250 IGP product for both AMD and Intel motherboards currently does not support Hardware Accelerated Video.

Resolved Issues

The following section provide a brief description of resolved issues with the latest version of the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite. These include:

  • A system hang no longer occurs when attempting to resume from hibernation mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-22059
  • Loading the XVideo Extension on 64-bit Xorg 6.9+ systems no longer results in the X Server segfaulting when launching. This issue was known to occur with Radeon X1K products. Further details and the workaround can be found in topic number 737-22837
  • Running aticonfig--dtop=(horizontal|vertical) no longer results in clone mode being activated when attempting to enable big desktop mode
  • Running through the un-install of the Linux graphics driver no longer results in the fglx and ati folders failing to be removed

Known Issues

The following section provides a brief description of known issues associated with the latest version of ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite. These issues include:

  • Attempting to install the ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite on distributions that have updated certain 3D components outside of the stock XOrg 6.8.2 may result in the driver not initializing 3D applications properly. Further details can be found in topic number 737-20868
  • Enabling stereo may result in rectangular corruption in X Windows on the screen's right hand side. Further details can be found in topic number 737-26088

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

Installing the AMD Proprietary Linux Software Driver

Installation information can be found at: www.ati.com/install

Driver Update Notification

To receive driver notifications, add the following RSS feed to your RSS reader: http://www.ati.com/online/rss/atilinuxdriver.rss


Note: In order to receive notifications you will need to have an RSS reader installed.

AMD Customer Care

The AMD Customer Care website provides a high level of technical support and easy of navigation. The AMD Customer Care website provides accurate and up-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance. Technical issues are categorized and personalized to enhance user experience. The AMD Customer Care Website can be found at: support.ati.com

To view a known or resolved issue, do the following:

  1. Go to: support.ati.com. The AMD Customer Care web page is displayed.
  2. In the top left hand pane, click Advanced Search. The Advanced Search pane is displayed.
  3. Under Search Type: Select the By: ID option.
  4. Enter the Topic number.
  5. Click Go.

Linux Feedback Program

The ATI Catalyst™ Linux software suite releases may incorporate suggestions received through the Linux feedback program.
Please refer to http://apps.ati.com/linuxDfeedback/ to provide us with feedback.


Advanced Micro Devices Inc.
http://ati.amd.com
Voice: (905) 882-2600
Fax: (905) 882-2620