Hey guys, I have gentoo running on an older p3 machine with pci graphics. I just picked up a radeon 9250 (with 128mb!) from a friend, and want to get that sucker running. I have the i810 integrated chip running with dri (glx is unsuppported) already. My goal is to run one monitor with some recording software, while another screen has whatever distraction I choose. (I'm doing a little recording for a lecture series -- just 2 mics and ardour. Thing is, it's very boring, so I need a game of neverball to keep happy

Since this is an older radeon, it has the ability to work with the open-source drivers in the kernel. Should I use these or the fglrx drivers?

I want to run two screens - there's a few ways to do this considering I'll have a few options:
- One server on the i810 (recording) and another on the radeon
- One server spread across both heads of the radeon (xinerama)

What would you all reccomend? Thanx in advance for the help!
-Bill

Use the ATI drivers from their website, you won't be game-happy using the ones w/X11 or the kernel.

Check out the DRI link in my sig, it has EXTENSIVE ATI sections in it.

Good luck: ATI blows for linux support. You'll see why.....
Next time, you may want Nvidia. Much better support and ease of use.

Oh I know, I have a 9800 pro working on my main machine, almost cost me a marriage to get it running. For this little bugger, I'm thinking I might as well just get an nvidia card off ebay for a little more money. Either way, I've been looking into things and I'll use the prop. drivers.

Another question you could probably answer:
If I run 2 screens, not using xinerama or anything, can I move my mouse between them? Will fluxbox duplicate itself on each screen? or will one have the menu bar and the other blank? I think I will run two screens instead of fooling with twinview/xinerama/big desktop in honor of speed, and running full-screen apps smoothly.

-Bill

It SHOULD. Notice I qualify that. I haven't tried dual monitor yet, plus the added complexity of the onboard/serparate drivers can make life interesting.

If it was me, I'd get a Nvidia with dual monitors already on the card. Life would be much easier, plus that configuration, if you have issues, is already been done and figured out by many people.

Another thing to think about is that some mobos/bios disable the onboard if another video card is inserted in the mobo.

Give it a shot. What is another marriage compared to a rockin linux setup? lmao

Amen to that! I've decided to go with a pci fx 5200, and then run two screens w/out twinview off it. I'm going to be recording some lectures in a week with this box, so I figure I need some gl based distractions to keep me occupied during the lecture series. Like you said, there's plenty of working, solid, nvidia on linux (and even a gentoo handbook portion) documentation. Thanks!

-Bill