Finally got 3d in Debian Lenny with a Radeon 9000
 

Well, finally got it! And NOT using ATI's propriatory drivers. I had all the fglrx files from the non-free repos loaded at one time but had removed them when I tried ATI's drivers. Now I had dumped all that back out and was running the radeon driver. Here's my xorg.conf

# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)
#
# This file was generated by dexconf, the Debian X Configuration tool, using
# values from the debconf database.
#
# Edit this file with caution, and see the /etc/X11/xorg.conf manual page.
# (Type "man /etc/X11/xorg.conf" at the shell prompt.)
#
# This file is automatically updated on xserver-xorg package upgrades *only*
# if it has not been modified since the last upgrade of the xserver-xorg
# package.
#
# If you have edited this file but would like it to be automatically updated
# again, run the following command:
# sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg

Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi"
FontPath "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# path to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "v4l"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "kbd"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV250 If [Radeon 9000]"
Driver "radeon"
Option "XAANoOffscreenPixmaps"
# Option "AGPMode" "4"
Option "RenderAccel" "true"
Option "AGPFastWrite" "true"
Option "VBERestore" "true"
Option "AddARGBGLXVisuals" "true"
Option "EnablePageFlip" "true"
Option "AccelMethod" "XAA"
Option "AllowGLXWithComposite" "true"
Option "ColorTiling" "1"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "DELL D1025TM"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30-85
VertRefresh 50-120
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "ATI Technologies Inc Radeon RV250 If [Radeon 9000]"
Monitor "DELL D1025TM"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection


But I did one more thing. I used aptitude and loaded libgl1-mesa-dri. in Aptitude it's in the libs group. It'll require to load a few more files too. I also added mesa-utils which is in the x11 group. I didn't even have to monkey with the xorg.conf file. This is how it was before I loaded mesa. I tested it with supertuxkart and it works fine. and glxgears shows 650fps. Hey, it's not blazing speed but it works at least. At least this will hold off until I upgrade the hardware next year. Hope this helps anyone else trying to get 3d on a Radeon 9000 or similar in Lenny.