Latest ATI Video Drivers

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend.

1) I'll have to check my browser settings. I tried Firefox both from Suse and from Windows. I even tried IE. (Can't they just close that guys mouth? It looks vaguely obscene.)

2) I'm sure I should have known that. And I'm sure it is in the Suse documention. Thanks. (Hey, can I blame my 5 kids for me not having the time to read everything?)

3) That is a key piece of info missing from all the directions I've read. Someday I'll figure out how they can update X while it runs.

Yipes!

I have an AMD64 with a Radeon 9550. I used the ATI ati-driver-installer-bunch_of_numbers.run installer. Everything looked like it worked. I then saved as much of my X11 directory as I could to a drive on one of my windows partition. Next, I ran fglrxconfig. And that's where I ran into problems.

My first set of selections left me unable to boot into init 5, so I reran fglrxconfig. This time I accepted all of the defaults. Now it boots into init 5, but I can't use the mouse at all. Moving my mouse makes it flit about, but it wants to sit at the upper left corner of my monitor. I managed to run a few programs that way, but I couldn't bring up a console window. I finally pulled my mouse out and removed its usb to serial converter and used my mouse as a usb mouse. Now I got asked if I wanted to configure it, but Yast did not come up.

So, I ran the Suse repair installation dvd. It suggested repairing a few packages, so I gave that a shot. No matter what I do, I have the same problem. Worst, from the safe boot I can neither run fglrxconfig, nor reach my windows partitions - so I can't get my old settings back.

How do I make my system usable again?

My system is useable, but I still don't have 3D. For future reference, if you can't use your mouse, <Alt>tab lets you select to boot into a console. (From there I was able to fix my fglrxconfig mistake.)

However, I've run the ATI installer twice. I have run through fglrxconfig and rebooted. Not only do I not have 3D, I still don't see my Radeon 9550 in the list of ATI cards. I have an AMD64 and 9.3 64 bit Suse. Do I have to first run the installer on the 32 bit drivers and then run the installer again on the 64 bit. I would have thought the 64 bit installer would install everything 32 bit I need, but there are a few comments at the ATI site that make me wonder.

Any ideas?

Should I just rpm the *.rpm files? (And do I do both the X.org and the X86, or is one sufficient?)

Finally, how do I change my firefox defaults when there are no file types to select from in the downloads box?

Look in your X server's log file for any sort of error in initializing. The log file should be /var/log/xorg.0.log

Things to look for are anything related to ati or fglrx with and EE or possibly a WW next to the line. Post what you find. In my case I used to have the following errors in my log:

drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
drmOpenDevice: node name is /dev/dri/card0
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: open result is -1, (Unknown error 999)
drmOpenDevice: Open failed
[drm] failed to load kernel module "fglrx"
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] drmOpen failed
(EE) fglrx(0): DRIScreenInit failed!
(WW) fglrx(0): ***********************************************
(WW) fglrx(0): * DRI initialization failed!                  *
(WW) fglrx(0): * (maybe driver kernel module missing or bad) *
(WW) fglrx(0): * 2D acceleraton available (MMIO)             *
(WW) fglrx(0): * no 3D acceleration available                *
(WW) fglrx(0): ********************************************* *

If you have a similar message in your log, then go to YAST, Software Management (Install Software in pre 10.0 I think) Then search for kernel-source and make sure it is installed. If it is already installed, then set it to update in order to make sure your source matches the kernel you are using.

I think you are right:
) fglrx(0): Kernel Module Version Information:
(II) fglrx(0): Name: fglrx
(II) fglrx(0): Version: 8.10.19
(II) fglrx(0): Date: Feb 9 2005
(II) fglrx(0): Desc: ATI FireGL DRM kernel module
(WW) fglrx(0): Kernel Module version does *not* match driver.
(EE) fglrx(0): incompatible kernel module detected - HW accelerated OpenGL will not work
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] removed 1 reserved context for kernel
(II) fglrx(0): [drm] unmapping 8192 bytes of SAREA 0x00b09000 at 0x2aaaab686000
(WW) fglrx(0): ***********************************************
(WW) fglrx(0): * DRI initialization failed! *
(WW) fglrx(0): * (maybe driver kernel module missing or bad) *
(WW) fglrx(0): * 2D acceleraton available (MMIO) *
(WW) fglrx(0): * no 3D acceleration available *
(WW) fglrx(0): ********************************************* *

What source do you use for software updates? I am using packman and can not seem to find the kernel source.

That being the case, you also need to search for fglrx under yast software and uninstall everything there to start. This is particularly to get rid of the old fglrx kernel module. After you have successfully uninstalled those packages, you should be able to reinstall the new driver package, restart X and be good to go.

There is no need to run fglrxconfig again because your Xorg.conf already has the required entries from running it previously.

Originally posted by SlowMindThinkin What source do you use for software updates? I am using packman and can not seem to find the kernel source.

Make sure you have the official SuSE package source set up, because that is where you will find kernel-source.

Hmmm. I did what you said, but it still didn't work out. I went to Suse's site and selected the Boulder mirror. I elected to update my kernel-source. I also uninstalled everything fglrx. However, the ATI log file says
Error:
kernel includes at /usr/src/linux/include do not match current kernel.
they are versioned as "2.6.11.4-20a-default"
instead of "2.6.11.4-21.9-default".
you might need to adjust your symlinks:


To me that means the source I grabbed is not as recent as my kernel. So, I checked for updates, and sure enough, there is an update both for the source and the kernel. Hopefully after this update, everything will be kosher. I will again uninstall fglrx entries and again try to install the ati driver.

But, this will take a while since it is late on a Sunday night. Dern kids and their homework!

You are exactly right about the kernel and source not matching. Upgrading the kernel and the kernel-source should be exactly what you need in order to get the driver to install and run correctly.

YEAH!!!

Thanks for the help. With the source and the kernel updated, everything went smoothly. The ATI installer worked very smoothly. It would be nice if it gave a thumbs up or thumbs down, instead of the name of the log file, but really, it worked pretty well. The only glitch was fixed by turning my monitor off and on. (My flat panel did not take kindly to the update.) fglxgears reports 1100 fps on my Radeon 9550. Tuxracer and other 3D apps appear to work fine.

Again, thanks.

No problem. I'm glad to see it worked out. I know it's tough when you're not sure what to look for.

Originally posted by SlowMindThinkin I too want to install the latest ATI drivers. I have never been through this before, and I must say it is disheartening to read all of the problems people have. Can I ask a few, very basic questions? 1) When I tried to down load the ATI installer package, I did not get a straightforward download. Instead, the program text appeared in my browser, after a significant wait. I then saved the page as a file with the right name. Surely this was not what was supposed to happen? 2) What is the best way to run without X? The only way I know is to boot into safe mode. So far, I haven't successfully run even check.sh. 3) Is the best way to run the ATI Installer from a command line boot? (I assume that is what init 3 is.) Or are you supposed to run from a command prompt with the default boot (I.e., all the normal GUI stuff is there)?

1) The ATI site sucks, and times out after a while. Use wget to download the driver, making sure it gives an ATI referrer URL. e.g.:

wget --no-check-certificate  --referer=https://support.ati.com https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9448....18.6-i386.run

2) just do something like

sudo /etc/init.d/gdm stop

.

3) just login as root, I imagine.