ati driver problems... fglrxconfig?

thomwickes · 07-26-2007, 03:54 AM

I've been trying to install the driver for my graphics card. I downloaded the driver and generated the rpm packages for FC6 (my distro):

ATI-fglrx-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm
ATI-fglrx-control-center-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm
ATI-fglrx-devel-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm
fglrx_7_1_0-8.39.4-1.i386.rpm
kernel-module-ATI-fglrx-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm

ive installed the bottom two, but the top 3 give me this error wheni try to install them:
error: Failed dependencies:
ATI-fglrx = 8.39.4-1.fc6 is needed by ATI-fglrx-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386

I've read a lot of tutorials online about this - apparently i need to run fglrxconfig but i don't know if this is installed or where it's installed to.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

b0uncer · 07-26-2007, 04:07 AM

Code:

find / -name fglrxconfig

should find it if it's there. If not, then you've got to locate the package it is in.

thomwickes · 07-26-2007, 02:54 PM

Hmmm... yeah it couldn't find it... guess things didn't install properly...

i tried force installing ATI-fglrx-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm and ATI-fglrx-control-center-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm which seemed to work, but still cant find fglrxconfig.

also tried reinstalling kernel-module-ATI-fglrx-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm but it told me this:

Quote:

rpm -ivh --force kernel-module-ATI-fglrx-2.6.18-1.2798.fc6-8.39.4-1.fc6.i386.rpm
Preparing... ########################################### [100%]
1:kernel-module-ATI-fglrx########################################### [100%]
FATAL: Could not rename /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6/modules.dep.temp into /lib/modules/2.6.18-1.2798.fc6/modules.dep: Permission denied

any idea what i should do next?

monkiidansu · 07-26-2007, 05:18 PM

In my experience, it is far better to stick with nVidia cards, as they makes superior Linux drivers. I apologize but I cannot give any advice/help on installing ATI drivers, but I would definitely recommend purchasing nVidia next time.

jay73 · 07-26-2007, 05:57 PM

I don't think that many people install fglrx on Fedora like you do. Most simply set up the livna repository and use yum to install - nothing could be easier. That being said, has your box been updated yet? 2.6.18 seems awfully old if you ask me.

thomwickes · 07-29-2007, 12:06 AM

Ok... so I reinstalled fedora cause everything was starting to get a bit screwy... i updated the kernel then installed the ati drivers via yum/livna and i had

Code:

'direct rendering: Yes'

and everything was peachy...

then via 'software updater' i installed the HUGE list of updates, and now i get:

Code:

'direct rendering: No'

with my limited knowledge, i'm assuming that the updates installed a later version of the default driver it was using originally and now that's taking precedence over the ati driver i installed... any one know how to fix this?

Cheers

jay73 · 07-29-2007, 01:13 AM

The most likely explanation is that you downloaded a kernel update - and as the video driver matches a specific kernel, you need to reinstall the drivers after each such update. Anyway, you know how to use livna, you simply do as you did before.

If you want to find out, just type uname -a into the terminal to know which kernel you are running You could also look into the boot directory but that is not always reliable: it will hold the older as well as the newer kernel so either could be running; only uname gives that kind of certainty. Another indication of a newer kernel: your GRUB menu should have a new Fedora entry. Fedora always keeps two kernels: the newest and the one you were running before; anything older gets automatically deleted.

Btw, may I recommend that you do not keep livna enabled all the time if you are using other third party repositories as well? Maybe you're aware of this but just to make sure: Livna doesn't always get along with the rest and may wreak serious havoc on your system. Just go to the livna file in /etc/yum.repos.d and set enabled=0. So how do you use livna when it is disabled? Simple:
yum --enablerepo livna install kmod-fglrx
the enablerepo thingy enables it just for the duration of the fglrx install, then it gets disabled again.

thomwickes · 07-29-2007, 08:56 PM

thanks for the help - and information!

when i try and reinstall the driver i get this error:

Code:

Transaction Check Error:
  package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 is already installed
  file /boot/System.map-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/config-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/symvers-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6.gz from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6

should i somehow force install it? can i use yumex to update it?

jay73 · 07-29-2007, 10:12 PM

Are you trying to reinstall the kernel itself? You only need to install the flgrx driver. Did you use livna to

yum install kmod-fglrx ?

thomwickes · 07-29-2007, 11:21 PM

yep i'm trying to yum install flgrx again - strange that it gives me those kernel conflict errors - any idea how to get past these?

i used livna to install it before as directed by the livna website...

thanks for all the help

jay73 · 07-29-2007, 11:35 PM

Hmm, livna doesn't normally try to install any kernels. The only time it does is when you install a video driver and there is a newer kernel available than what you have installed. Or that's what it used to do, I don't know whether that's still true. Anyway, are you sure you are running the latest kernel you installed? Use the uname -a command and check whether it shows 2.6.20-1 or something else. You also need to verify that the installed kernel matches your architecture: x86 or x86_64.

thomwickes · 07-30-2007, 12:09 AM

ok, my kernel is this:

Code:

[root@localhost thom]# uname -a
Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 #1 SMP Tue Jun 19 18:24:12 EDT 2007 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

i'm pretty sure thats the latest one i've installed. I'm not entirely sure if my architecture is x86 or x86_64 but i got it about a year ago and it was medium spec.

when i 'yum install kmod-fglx' i get this:

Code:

[root@localhost thom]# yum install kmod-fglrx
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Parsing package install arguments
Nothing to do

i'm presuming this is because i disabled livna

when i 'yum --enablerepo livna install kmod-fglrx', i get this:

Code:

[root@localhost thom]# yum --enablerepo livna install kmod-fglrx
Loading "installonlyn" plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
Reading repository metadata in from local files
Excluding Packages from Livna for Fedora Core 6 - i386 - Base
Finished
Parsing package install arguments
Resolving Dependencies
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package kmod-fglrx.i686 0:8.38.7-2.2.6.20_1.2962.fc6 set to be installed
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: kernel-i686 = 2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 for package: kmod-fglrx
--> Processing Dependency: fglrx-kmod-common >= 8.38.7 for package: kmod-fglrx
--> Restarting Dependency Resolution with new changes.
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package xorg-x11-drv-fglrx.i386 0:8.38.7-2.lvn6 set to be updated
---> Package kernel.i686 0:2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 set to be installed
--> Running transaction check
--> Processing Dependency: livna-config-display for package: xorg-x11-drv-fglrx
--> Restarting Dependency Resolution with new changes.
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package livna-config-display.noarch 0:0.0.15-1.lvn6 set to be updated
--> Running transaction check
--> Populating transaction set with selected packages. Please wait.
---> Package kernel.i586 0:2.6.18-1.2798.fc6 set to be erased
--> Running transaction check

Dependencies Resolved

=============================================================================
 Package                 Arch       Version          Repository        Size 
=============================================================================
Installing:
 kmod-fglrx              i686       8.38.7-2.2.6.20_1.2962.fc6  livna             295 k
Removing:
 kernel                  i586       2.6.18-1.2798.fc6  installed          43 M
Installing for dependencies:
 kernel                  i686       2.6.20-1.2962.fc6  updates            16 M
 livna-config-display    noarch     0.0.15-1.lvn6    livna              58 k
 xorg-x11-drv-fglrx      i386       8.38.7-2.lvn6    livna             9.1 M

Transaction Summary
=============================================================================
Install      4 Package(s)         
Update       0 Package(s)         
Remove       1 Package(s)         

Total download size: 25 M
Is this ok [y/N]: yy
Downloading Packages:
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test


Transaction Check Error:
  package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 is already installed
  file /boot/System.map-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/config-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/symvers-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6.gz from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6
  file /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 from install of kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6 conflicts with file from package kernel-2.6.20-1.2962.fc6

Error Summary
-------------

it looks like it is trying to update the kernel as well.. any idea if i can bypass this or just overwrite the previous kernel if it is the same?

Thanks for all the help - i'm learning a lot from this

jay73 · 07-30-2007, 01:42 AM

Aha! You apparently got some sort of a kernel bug. It seems that your original kernel was i586 and that it got updated to i686 when the system was updated. OK, here are two things you can do. Start from the first one and do the second only when the first doesn't work.
1. make sure to remove your old fglrx driver (make this a rule of thumb: remove old driver before getting a new one). Open Add/Remove software, do a search for "fglrx" and disable the items it returns, then press on "Apply". Retry installing the driver from livna. As root, use the command lsmod - if the list shows an "fglrx" item, use the command modprobe -r fglrx (this will unload the driver from your system). As an alternative to lsmod and modprobe -r, you can also simply reboot. Whichever you choose, it's now time to retry installing from livna.
2. if that doesn't do it, then you may need to remove your older kernel. Same procedure: look in Add/Remove software, disable, Apply. Then yum the driver. Only remove the kernel when you are sure that your newer driver is working fine; and make sure that you don't accidentally remove the new one.

thomwickes · 07-30-2007, 01:45 AM

ok thanks - i'll get cracking and report back!

thomwickes · 07-30-2007, 02:33 AM

hmmm... i booted up again and banshee made everything freeze and i couldn't get online for some reason... then i rebooted again, and my mouse wouldn't work on the login screen, then i booted again and the mouse worked but trying to get online just made everything freeze... could this be all caused by the same kernel conflicts?

i was thinking about reformatting my linux partition (i won't really lose anything) then installing everything again but in a better order... installing ndiswrapper first to my wireless drivers installed, then updating everything in the software updater, then installing all the ati drivers (and my wireless drivers?)... do you reccommend this? or should I try and resolve the current problems?

i'm just trying to learn at the mo and get a feel for how everything works - i've learned a lot from this so far so thanks!