Radeon on Slackware 14.2 release candidate 1

opentux · 03-20-2016, 06:09 AM

hello guys, can someone tell me how to setup opensource driver for Radeon (radeon 7970) on slackware 14.2?

I come from debian and just don't seem to do it right!

ReaperX7 · 03-20-2016, 10:20 AM

Okay, first off don't have anything in your kernel command line unless it's a default given by the system. Let KMS handle your driver.

Next, from the console login run "xorgsetup" and let it create a default /etc/X11/xorg.conf. It should set it up quite well.

Now run "startx" to load your Xorg session and use "glxinfo" from a terminal to see if direct rendering is enabled and the proper Mesa driver is loaded for the Radeon hardware. If you see any of the known software rasterizers, then DRI isn't working.

I would highly recommend you add the libtxc_dxtn and driconf packages from Slackbuilds.org to maximize your hardware capabilities, and setup options.

If you need further setup options for xorg.conf, run "man radeon" to see the manpage on the "ati" driver.

opentux · 03-20-2016, 06:25 PM

thanks for your answer!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReaperX7

from the console login run "xorgsetup" and let it create a default /etc/X11/xorg.conf...

when I run xorgsetup I get this error:

/usrUlibexec/Xorg: error while loading shared libraries: libharfbuzz.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Drakeo · 03-20-2016, 09:39 PM

Well this seems to be the issue. Because on your first boot the latest xorg will do everything for you.
Wonder did you do a full install. I would reinstall harfbuz and see if it fixes the broken link.

opentux · 03-21-2016, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drakeo

Well this seems to be the issue. Because on your first boot the latest xorg will do everything for you.
Wonder did you do a full install. I would reinstall harfbuz and see if it fixes the broken link.

hey yeah I did a reinstall now (full install without kde and xfce), xorgsetup works just fine now but when I try to start starx I get: ...mate-session: error while loading shared libraries: libicule.so.51: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory xinit: connection to X server lost

thx for your help btw

Didier Spaier · 03-21-2016, 05:46 PM

mate is not part of Slackware. To help you we need to know what you have installed and from where beyond genuine Slackware. Anyway as libicule.so.51 is the version shipped in Slackware 14.1 you have probably installed a mate not intended for Slackware-current.

Having installed a mix of packages for Slackware 14.1 and Slackware-current you made your system inconsistent. Better reinstall from scratch either one or the other, but don't mix.

opentux · 03-23-2016, 07:56 AM

hey thanks didier, that was it, I mixed 14.1 and 14.2! because of some reason the 14.2 version of mate on slackbuilds is called testing and not 14.2 so I took 14.1 which is the wrong version for current installation. the problem is solved for me, but anyway here are my steps:

1. downloading and burnning slackware current iso-file
2. installing everything but kde and xfce
3. downloading and installing slackpkg and slackpkg+ via installpkg ang wget
4. selecting just one mirror by editing mirrors with:
pico /etc/slackpkg/mirrors
5. updating slackpkg and gpg key
slackpkg update gpg
slackpkg update
6. updating my installed system
slackpkg install-new
slackpkg upgrade-all
7. adding mate testing repo from mateslackbuilds.github.io
pico /etc/slackpkg/slackpkgplus.conf
deleting all preconfigured 14.1 repos or make them 14.2/current in section REPOPLUS...
and adding msb mate repo:
MIRRORPLUS['msb']=http://slackware.org.uk/msb/testing/1.12/x86_64/
8. updating slackpkg+ and installing mate
slackpkg update gpg
slackpkg update
slackpkg install msb
9.adding new user slack
useradd -m -g users -G wheel,floppy,audio,video,cdrom,plugdev,power,netdev,lp,scanner -s /bin/bash slack
10. creating new password for new user slack
passwd slack
11. adding mate to new users (slack) .xinitrc
pico /home/slack/.xinitrc
adding the following line to .xinitrc file:
exec mate-session
12. seting up xorg
xorgsetup
13. reentering console and loging in as new user slack
exit
14. starting mate by runing startx
startx

now my system feels so smooth again! 1 year ago I went away from Debian because of systemd. since then I was looking for a new distribution and have tried a lot of them. Gentoo has a great community but its updates are annoyingly fast and make the system unstable. Void linux was another favorite of mine and is a solid distribution but its community is still very small. in slackware I think I have finally found my desired distribution, after a long time it feels like home again.

bassmadrigal · 03-23-2016, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opentux

because of some reason the 14.2 version of mate on slackbuilds is called testing and not 14.2 so I took 14.1 which is the wrong version for current installation.

This is because 14.2 hasn't released yet. Once it is finalized, I'm sure willysr will move it to a 14.2 branch and then keep his testing branch for the future -current.

And you likely didn't need to run xorgsetup. X is pretty smart now and loads a good default configuration on most cards that use open source drivers without requiring a custom xorg.conf file.

ReaperX7 · 03-24-2016, 12:12 AM

The automatic configuration is good for general usage, but seeing as 14.2 is still in RC status, and things are still in a "get it working and tested" phase, xorgsetup is more recommended.

The automatic configuration works most of the time, but it's best practice to have a configuration file even renamed as xorg.conf.old to serve as a default to test settings thoroughly. Plus, it reduces the headache of trying to figure out what goes in what and where in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory.

When in doubt, never leave anything up to automated tools unless you can't help it.

bassmadrigal · 03-24-2016, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReaperX7

The automatic configuration is good for general usage, but seeing as 14.2 is still in RC status, and things are still in a "get it working and tested" phase, xorgsetup is more recommended.

Not so, according to Pat in -currrent's CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT

Code:

Xorg no longer uses /etc/X11/xorg.conf by default (and in most cases, there
  is absolutely no need for it).   You can still create an xorg.conf file if 
  you wish, or you can create some minimal xorg.conf snippets with only the 
  specific contents that you wish to override (as an example, to use a binary
  video driver) as separate files in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory.

And that's been the case since at Slackware 13.0 (also listed in the CHANGES_AND_HINTS.TXT)

Code:

Speaking of Xorg, the version of Xorg shipped with Slackware 13.0 will not
  (in most cases) require an /etc/X11/xorg.conf file at all.  Configuration of
  input devices and such is handled by HAL, and the X server autoconfigures 
  everything else.  You can still create an xorg.conf file if you wish, or you
  can create a minimal xorg.conf with only the specific contents that you wish
  to override (as an example, to use a binary-only video driver). 
  Due to removed drivers and other such changes, it's quite possible that your
  old xorg.conf will not work correctly with this version of Xorg.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReaperX7

The automatic configuration works most of the time, but it's best practice to have a configuration file even renamed as xorg.conf.old to serve as a default to test settings thoroughly. Plus, it reduces the headache of trying to figure out what goes in what and where in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory.

When in doubt, never leave anything up to automated tools unless you can't help it.

And xorgconfig isn't considered an automated tool? It "automatically" creates an xorg.conf for you, which I have found, I have never needed with my Radeon hardware.

It really is best to see if X can handle your hardware by default, because that's how it's designed to work. Only override with a .conf file when it is needed (usually because of binary drivers or special hardware cases)...