i have been having a heck of a time getting any xwin window manager to start properly with slackware 13.37..

the base set up i have is as follows:

asus m5a99x evo motherboard
amd phenom iix6 1100t cpu
amd hd 6950x2 gpu with unlocked shaders in crossfire setup


the install went fine, i even updated all packages with slackpkg... but for some reason, whenever i try to use startx, i get a black screen that just hangs there.. its a different shade of black than it is when booted into the normal text mode so i know its trying to do something but its just not working...

i have been able to get graphics to pop up briefly when selecting vesa instead of radeon in xorg.conf but then it instead crashes before successfuly booting into a window manager..

i have tried taking the crossfire setup out and removing one gpu.. stil the same issue..

the issue before was not even giving me a black screen hang, but instead it was giving me kms issues until i ran xorgsetup, then it started hanging at a black screen when using startx..

i really hope someone can help me fix this because i don't want to use debian

thank you guys!

The open source drivers that come with Slackware 13.37 are not going to be new enough to properly drive that GPU. The vesa driver should work, but KDE is likely to crash as soon as it tries to enable compositing (you could use xwmconfig to switch to another window manager, start X, and then use 'systemsettings' to disable compositing in KDE, and then use xwmconfig to switch back).

If you want to use the open source radeon driver, you will need to upgrade libdrm, mesa, xf86-video-ati, and the kernel. You might be just better off updating to -current. I don't use it myself (I actually did update each of those components for my HD6850), but I would be surprised if the components in -current weren't recent enough.

Alternatively, of course, you could download and use the proprietary driver from AMD. It works quite well on Slackware 13.37.

Please note that I have no idea how either driver works with crossfire. At one point, I know the proprietary drivers wouldn't even start if crossfire was in use. Which ever path you choose (updating the open source drivers or using the closed source drivers), you might be better off testing with just one GPU, and only putting the second one in when you get it working with one.

Adam

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adam thank you so much for the quick reply, very informative..

i know i had tried xfce with the same issue, which window manager do you recommend for changing composite settings?

and also, i would like to update the libdrm, mesa, xf86-video-ati, and the kernel.. i have been reading and trying for a while now on how to do this..

as far as i know, i have completed the xf86-video-ati by doing the following:

git clone git://anongit.freedesktop.org/xorg/driver/xf86-video-ati
./autogen.sh --prefix=/opt/xorg
make
sudo make install

i read all of this from x.org http://www.x.org/wiki/radeonBuildHowTo but they always show example for other distro and not slackware, the one i need most help with

im great at following direction if you can tell me what to type at terminal to build libdrm, mesa, xf86-video-ati, and upgrade kernel..

i think i have built libdrm successfuly too, mesa i did not try

thanks again!

Here's the git URLs for the pieces that need upgrading, and the order they should be upgraded:

Then there's the kernel. It doesn't matter if you do that first or last. I use 3.2.12, the latest is 3.2.13. I won't go into updating the kernel. AlienBOB has a good document on the process: http://alien.slackbook.org/dokuwiki/...kernelbuilding

The build document for the radeon driver is good, but I choose to use the standard prefixes for everything, rather than installing to /opt/xorg.

For glproto, dri2proto and libdrm, I use:

For xf86-video-ati, I use:

And for Mesa, I use:

Obviously if you are not using Slackware64, change the lib64's to just lib (ie. /usr/lib and /usr/lib/xorg/modules/dri ).

Bear in mind that if you use slackpkg to update your system, and it ever updates libdrm/mesa/xf86-video-ati, it will overwrite your versions installed from git. I believe someone on the slackware forum here actually created slackbuilds which can be used to build packages. I've long (for probably 10+ years) updated from git (and cvs before git), so I'm comfortable doing this, but if you're not, you might find those slackbuilds (or -current) a better option.

In any case, I wish you luck. If you have any problems, let us know.

1 members found this post helpful.

im so grateful for the help you've provided... i did do slackpkg update all, before all of the manual git attempts

i am curious about how to perform the -current you spoke of, as a second option just in case.. i can try both.

i am at work right now and i am going to be home in a few hours to attempt to get xwin booted

i'll definately read the kernel update thread, thanks for that... do you know what kernel version comes with 13.37 dvd?

i'll also search for the slackbuilds within the forum.. much appreciated!

By default, 13.37 ships with 2.6.37.6, though there is a 2.6.38.4 kernel in /testing. The radeon driver developers have long recommended at least a 3.x.x kernel for HD6xxx GPUs. To upgrade to -current, you'll need to comment the mirror in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors that you are currently using for 13.37 and choose one for -current. Then upgrade as you normally would with slackpkg.

1 members found this post helpful.

so essentially, comment the mirror its on now, find one for current mirror and uncomment, then slackpkg upgrade all, then i need to update kernel, reboot and maybe that might fix it huh?

Yes, those sound like the correct steps to me. And, yes, I think it's likely doing this will get an HD6950 to work. And again (in case you have both video cards installed still), I suggest getting it working with just one GPU before throwing the other one in. I can assure you that even if the radeon driver works with both GPUs installed, it will not use crossfire. You will essentially end up just using one of those two GPUs.

Adam

1 members found this post helpful.

fantastic, you're awesome. i'll reply again when i have time to put what i've been taught into practice..

i am reading here: http://2012revolution.us/doku.php?id=start

a guide on updating the kernel in 13.37 to the later linux 3.3 versions

i found the guide here: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...30-rc6-933528/

it appears many people have responded to his thread and helped him critique the kernel update guide here and there..

i hope this is sufficient to upgrade my system..

i see on his wget it says wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern....3-rc6.tar.bz2, but kernel.org shows 3.3 is out as of six days ago, so i am going to change it to wget http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/kern...ux-3.3.tar.bz2 respectivly and it should be fine if im not mistaken..

maybe if youre bored with a spare minute you can browse to the bottom of http://2012revolution.us/doku.php?id=start and tell me if this guide is going to steer me wrong or not?

thanks adam!

Personally, I really would stick with alienBOB's document on compiling your own kernel.

Adam

1 members found this post helpful.

i will look more closely at that one, its making more sense each time i read parts, but it seemed more outdated than the other..

also i could not seem to locate slackware config files "Now, get a Slackware kernel config file for a headstart during your own configuring. Pat's config files are pretty generic"

and changing all the 2.6.37.6 to 3.3 is correct since im going to linux 3.3?

did a fresh install

found a nice slackware64 current mirror,

slackpkg update

slackpkg upgrade-all

it actually put me in linux 3.2.7 already.. so i skipped trying to compile 3.2.13 or 3.3

i ran xorgsetup and tried to startx but it gave me the KMS issue..

also my USB keyboard isnt working so i had to plug in a ps2 .. i am fiddling with make menuconfig to turn kms on and hopefully fix usb keyboard


thanks again for your continued support !!

What do you mean it gaev you the KMS issue?

The kernel config Slackware uses 2.6.37.6 has CONFIG_DRM_RADEON_KMS=y set by default. I'd be very surprised if they disabled it for 3.2.7. Show us the output of 'dmesg'.

Adam

1 members found this post helpful.

I'm having all kinds of weird problems I think its from not doing make oldconfig make menuconfig make... etc... right

I did fresh install, mirror slackware64 current, slackpkg update, slackpkg upgrade-all, make oldconfig, make

Rebooted, USB keyboard works, my screen shifted to right side justified during boot, startx gave graphics as if it were going to work then it cuts out and shutsdown xwin..

Now I have to get back to the office so I can't put anything into practice until later, but how can I send the x.org log to an email thru the terminal? Any other way to get the x.org.log off to share? I'm unaware of commands to copy files to say USB drive.. its not like msdos lol

Typing this on my phone, excuse any errors

Do upload your Xorg log file, just run:

Similarly, to upload your dmesg, run:

Each command will give you a URL back. Just post those URLs.

Adam

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