No Acceleration in Slackware 12.2 with ATi 9.3 Drivers.
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Distribution: Slackware64-current with "True Multilib" and KDE4Town.
Posts: 9,086
Rep:
No Acceleration in Slackware 12.2 with ATi 9.3 Drivers. Solved: Use the 8.12 Drivers.
Over the years I've always used ATi graphic cards and, by now, thought I pretty much knew how to make them perform properly in Linux.
After recently installing Slackware 12.2, I copied over my xorg.conf file from Slackware 12, re-started KDE and forgot about it until the other night when I ran glxinfo and it reported, "Direct Rendering, No."
After reviewing the message base of the subject, here and elsewhere, I went through the xorg.conf file line by line and I don't see the problem.
Acceleration simply does not work with Slackware 12.2, my card, and the ATi 9.3 drivers. BTW, the 9.3 series are the last drivers ATi will make for my card, please see attachment below, and a long list of others.
Here are the results of glxinfo:
Code:
name of display: :0.0
display: :0 screen: 0
direct rendering: No (If you want to find out why, try setting LIBGL_DE
BUG=verbose)
server glx vendor string: SGI
server glx version string: 1.2
server glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap, GLX_OML_swap_m
ethod,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_hyperpipe
,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig, GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer
client glx vendor string: ATI
client glx version string: 1.4
client glx extensions:
GLX_ARB_create_context, GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisamp
le,
GLX_EXT_import_context, GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating,
GLX_MESA_allocate_memory, GLX_MESA_swap_control,
GLX_MESA_swap_frame_usage, GLX_NV_swap_group, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_OML_sync_control, GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGI_swap_contr
ol,
GLX_SGI_video_sync, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_pbuffer, GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_SGIX_swap_group,
GLX_SGIX_visual_select_group, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
GLX version: 1.2
GLX extensions:
GLX_ARB_get_proc_address, GLX_ARB_multisample, GLX_EXT_import_conte
xt,
GLX_EXT_visual_info, GLX_EXT_visual_rating, GLX_OML_swap_method,
GLX_SGI_make_current_read, GLX_SGIS_multisample, GLX_SGIX_fbconfig,
GLX_SGIX_swap_barrier, GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap
OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.4 (2.1 Mesa 7.0.2)
OpenGL extensions:
GL_ARB_depth_texture, GL_ARB_draw_buffers, GL_ARB_fragment_program,
GL_ARB_imaging, GL_ARB_multisample, GL_ARB_multitexture,
GL_ARB_occlusion_query, GL_ARB_point_parameters, GL_ARB_point_sprit
e,
GL_ARB_shadow, GL_ARB_shadow_ambient, GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp,
GL_ARB_texture_compression, GL_ARB_texture_cube_map,
GL_ARB_texture_env_add, GL_ARB_texture_env_combine,
GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar, GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3,
GL_ARB_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_ARB_texture_non_power_of_two,
GL_ARB_texture_rectangle, GL_ARB_transpose_matrix, GL_ARB_vertex_pr
ogram,
GL_ARB_window_pos, GL_EXT_abgr, GL_EXT_bgra, GL_EXT_blend_color,
GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate, GL_EXT_blend_func_separate,
GL_EXT_blend_logic_op, GL_EXT_blend_minmax, GL_EXT_blend_subtract,
GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint, GL_EXT_copy_texture, GL_EXT_draw_range_ele
ments,
GL_EXT_fog_coord, GL_EXT_framebuffer_object, GL_EXT_multi_draw_arra
ys,
GL_EXT_packed_pixels, GL_EXT_paletted_texture, GL_EXT_point_paramet
ers,
GL_EXT_polygon_offset, GL_EXT_rescale_normal, GL_EXT_secondary_colo
r,
GL_EXT_separate_specular_color, GL_EXT_shadow_funcs,
GL_EXT_shared_texture_palette, GL_EXT_stencil_wrap, GL_EXT_subtextu
re,
GL_EXT_texture, GL_EXT_texture3D, GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp,
GL_EXT_texture_env_add, GL_EXT_texture_env_combine,
GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3, GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias,
GL_EXT_texture_mirror_clamp, GL_EXT_texture_object,
GL_EXT_texture_rectangle, GL_EXT_vertex_array, GL_APPLE_packed_pixe
ls,
GL_ATI_draw_buffers, GL_ATI_texture_env_combine3,
GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once, GL_ATIX_texture_env_combine3,
GL_IBM_texture_mirrored_repeat, GL_INGR_blend_func_separate,
GL_MESA_pack_invert, GL_MESA_ycbcr_texture, GL_NV_blend_square,
GL_NV_fragment_program, GL_NV_light_max_exponent, GL_NV_point_sprit
e,
GL_NV_texgen_reflection, GL_NV_texture_rectangle, GL_NV_vertex_prog ram,
GL_NV_vertex_program1_1, GL_SGI_color_matrix, GL_SGI_color_table,
GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap, GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp,
GL_SGIS_texture_edge_clamp, GL_SGIS_texture_lod, GL_SGIX_depth_text ure,
GL_SGIX_shadow, GL_SGIX_shadow_ambient, GL_SUN_multi_draw_arrays
visual x bf lv rg d st colorbuffer ax dp st accumbuffer ms cav
id dep cl sp sz l ci b ro r g b a bf th cl r g b a ns b eat
----------------------------------------------------------------------
0x23 24 tc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x24 24 tc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 None
0x25 24 tc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x26 24 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x27 24 dc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 None
0x28 24 dc 0 24 0 r y . 8 8 8 0 0 16 8 16 16 16 0 0 0 None
0x29 24 dc 0 32 0 r y . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x2a 24 dc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 16 8 16 16 16 16 0 0 None
0x3d 32 tc 0 32 0 r . . 8 8 8 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ncon
AMD has moved a number of DX9 ATI Radeon™ graphics accelerators
products to a legacy driver support structure. This change impacts
Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Linux distributions. AMD has moved
to a legacy software support structure for these graphics
accelerator products in an effort to better focus development
resources on future products.
The following products have been moved to the legacy software support
structure (including Mobile and All-in-Wonder Variants):
ATI Radeon 9500 Series
ATI Radeon 9550 Series
ATI Radeon 9600 Series
ATI Radeon 9700 Series
ATI Radeon 9800 Series
ATI Radeon X300 Series
ATI Radeon X550 Series
ATI Radeon X600 Series
ATI Radeon X700 Series
ATI Radeon X800 Series
ATI Radeon X850 Series
ATI Radeon X1050 Series
ATI Radeon X1300 Series
ATI Radeon X1550 Series
ATI Radeon X1600 Series
ATI Radeon X1650 Series
ATI Radeon X1800 Series
ATI Radeon X1900 Series
ATI Radeon Xpress Series
ATI Radeon X1200 Series
ATI Radeon X1250 Series
ATI Radeon X2100 Series
AMD may periodically provide Windows XP and Windows Vista driver
updates (for the products listed above) for critical fixes only. No
new features will be provided in future driver updates. The Linux
ATI Catalyst™ driver will only be supported in Linux distributions
prior to February 2009 for the legacy products listed above.
Any customers using a combination of a ATI Radeon™ HD 2000 Series,
ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 Series, or ATI Radeon™ HD 4000 Series product
with any of the legacy products listed above in a single PC system
must use the ATI Catalyst 9.3 or earlier driver. All future ATI
Catalyst™ releases made available past the ATI Catalyst™ 9.3 release
will not include support for the legacy products listed above or any
of the features associated with those legacy products.
Here is the hardware:
Last edited by cwizardone; 04-25-2009 at 12:18 PM.
Reason: Changed Title.
Go back to the 8.12 driver for your card and see if you're good. Everyone is reporting problems with the 9 series. I just installed an ATI Radeon 4670 card and am running the 8.12 driver, and it's working well. There have been times with my integrated MB video that I had to stick with an older ATI driver for a couple revisions until they fixed things.
At least with ATI they've opened up and are releasing all the documentation they legally can. So hopefully, we'll have really good open drivers before long. That's why I went ATI over Nvidia on a newer card. Though the Nvidia drivers I use on my laptop have been good, I don't like that they refuse to open up.
(Note) Removed the "VideoRam" section just to see if that has any impact. (You can add it back later if needed)
See if that gets you going in the right direction.
Thanks for the suggestion, but it didn't make a difference.
However, your hard work in putting together the thread on
graphic acceleration for Slackware is Greatly Appreciated.
It is a great resource for us all.
Again, Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jturning
Go back to the 8.12 driver for your card and see if you're good. Everyone is reporting problems with the 9 series.....
Eureka! That is the solution!
I un-installed the 9.3 drivers, installed the 8.12 (8.561) drivers, and acceleration returned. Simple as that.
Many Thanks!!
Eureka! That is the solution!
I un-installed the 9.3 drivers, installed the 8.12 (8.561) drivers, and acceleration returned. Simple as that.
Many Thanks!!
Very nice to hear.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jturning
...At least with ATI they've opened up and are releasing all the documentation they legally can. So hopefully, we'll have really good open drivers before long. That's why I went ATI over Nvidia on a newer card. Though the Nvidia drivers I use on my laptop have been good, I don't like that they refuse to open up.
Bugz
While sticking with an "open" driver is a good idea in theory, I need a video card/driver combo that works.
I won't drive a moped just because they get 50MPG. It isn't safe, power wise, as compared to my usual ride. A moped, to me, does not have the power to get out of the way of other traffic on the open road. "Saving the planet", while a laudable goal, and something I try to do on a day to day basis, will do me no good if I get rear-ended by a Ford doing 45MPH and turn into a smear on the bumper. I would rather get 2/3 of the fuel mileage, and live to ride another day.
And, in that same vein, ATi does not work easily, and Nvidia (while closed) does. If, in the future, ATi gets their driver situation straightened out enough to make installing their products as easy as Nvidia, I would gladly make the switch.
I'm not against ATi at all, because they do make a wonderful product in Windows. In Linux, however, their drivers are way too much of a hassle to even contemplate installing one of their cards, for me at least.
For the foreseeable future, I'm sticking w/Nvidia, because they work.
Last edited by cwwilson721; 04-25-2009 at 09:57 PM.
Distribution: Slackware64-current with "True Multilib" and KDE4Town.
Posts: 9,086
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by cwwilson721
Very nice to hear....
Well, the fun was shorted lived.
As I went about my day little problems started to pop up here and there. The last straw was when XP in VirtualBox wouldn't boot up. Just froze.
So, I un-installed, again, the ATi driver, ran xorgconfig, went through all the steps to create a new xorg.conf file, and chose "generic radeon" as the driver.
I then edited the resulting file adding "Load dri," Load glx," etc., and changed the driver in device and one other spot to "radeon."
Not only have all the problems gone away, but I have acceleration ("direct rendering: yes") and glxgears rates 40% higher than with the ATi driver.
Oh, well...
Here is the new glxinfo:
While sticking with an "open" driver is a good idea in theory, I need a video card/driver combo that works.
I won't drive a moped just because they get 50MPG. It isn't safe, power wise, as compared to my usual ride. A moped, to me, does not have the power to get out of the way of other traffic on the open road. "Saving the planet", while a laudable goal, and something I try to do on a day to day basis, will do me no good if I get rear-ended by a Ford doing 45MPH and turn into a smear on the bumper. I would rather get 2/3 of the fuel mileage, and live to ride another day.
And, in that same vein, ATi does not work easily, and Nvidia (while closed) does. If, in the future, ATi gets their driver situation straightened out enough to make installing their products as easy as Nvidia, I would gladly make the switch.
I'm not against ATi at all, because they do make a wonderful product in Windows. In Linux, however, their drivers are way too much of a hassle to even contemplate installing one of their cards, for me at least.
For the foreseeable future, I'm sticking w/Nvidia, because they work.
No one is trying to force you to do anything. You're free to buy whatever products you like and support whatever company you like. Of course, in forums and on the Fedora mailing list I've seen plenty of people complain about problems with Nvidia products as well even though overall they seem to be doing a better job with drivers. The problem is when it's a closed proprietary company, you're entirely at the mercy of the manufacturer for driver support. And there is a limit on how many people and how much money they will devote to their Linux driver effort.
Speaking for myself alone, I am cognizant of the larger picture, and am willing to find a work around to buy and use ATI and support them as they move to be open and provide details on their products to support open drivers. Everything I've seen about Intel opening up so there could be open drivers for their graphics chips has been very positive though they don't approach the functionality of ATI or Nvidia yet.
So relax and do what works for you for now. When open drivers become available, give ATI a look when buying a new machine or card. When drivers are open in Linux we'll have great driver support, better code and stability, and a more enjoyable computing experience.
Well, the fun was shorted lived.
As I went about my day little problems started to pop up here and there. The last straw was when XP in VirtualBox wouldn't boot up. Just froze.
So, I un-installed, again, the ATi driver, ran xorgconfig, went through all the steps to create a new xorg.conf file, and chose "generic radeon" as the driver.
I then edited the resulting file adding "Load dri," Load glx," etc., and changed the driver in device and one other spot to "radeon."
Not only have all the problems gone away, but I have acceleration ("direct rendering: yes") and glxgears rates 40% higher than with the ATi driver.
Oh, well...
What do you get with fglrxinfo?
Looking at this site your card should be good in 2D and 3D with the free driver if I'm reading it right.
Well, the generic radeon driver was a bit flaky, so just for chuckles I re-installed the ATi 9.3 driver and while it won't allow you to enable acceleration, is it rock solid. Acceleration would be nice, but I would rather have stability.
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