Hi I am using a Radeon 9800pro graphics card - ATI 8.24.8 driver and Xorg 6.8.2 on Slackware 10.2 - Freerock Gnome - Kernel is 2.6.15.7.

The problem;
GDM starts ok following "xorgconfig' setup without installation of the ati driver. After installing the ati module and after running "aticonfig --initial" followed by a reboot, gdm starts, but the monitor shows an "out of range" message, consequently I cannot log in.

The desktop starts with startx. When doing so, an "out of range" message appears momentarily just prior to the desktop showing.

I have tried various horizontal refresh rates. The monitor requires 1280x1024@60hz, according to the manual. I have obtained the actual parameters (31-81) using a knoppix live CD, but dont know how reliable that is.

I have not seen this problem on my system before. It may be related to a kernel upgrade. Why, I cannot imagine, as the module installs without error and DRI works just fine.

Is this related to a conflict in the xorg.conf file between xorgconfig and aticonfig, as aticonfig modifies the xorg.conf file generated by xorgconfig. I have looked closely at the xorg.conf file, and either I don't know what I am looking for, or the problem is more complex than this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers.

The ati driver may use slightly different timings for the same resolution, and perhaps the monitor doesn't like it. I had a similar problem recently after downgrading the latest nvidia driver to an older version (due to glitchy graphics). After trying to restart X, I was faced with a blank screen, even though I hand't touched xorg.conf at all, and was using the same resolution/mode. I dropped the maximum HSync by 2KHz and it was OK. Might be worth a try, since you're reducing the value, it can't hurt anything.

If that doesn't work, you could create a custom modeline. Switch back to the xorg driver and run xvidtune. Copy the timing parameters and then stick them into xorg.conf, and update the Modes line in your Screen section. That will force the ati driver to use the same timings.

Thanks, I will give it a go.

Unfortunately the above did not work.

I am not able to startx or use gdm/kdm. They start, of course, but no display.

dmesg shows the fglrx module loads ok and uses internal AGP. Afterwards, however, a series of 'no mtrr" messages appear, and these seem consistant with the "out of range" message/blank screen.

mtrr: no MTRR for d8000000,800000 found
mtrr: no MTRR for d8800000,100000 found
mtrr: no MTRR for d8900000,40000 found
mtrr: no MTRR for d8940000,10000 found
mtrr: no MTRR for d8950000,4000 found

mtrr is compiled into the kernel along with all the other requirements for the ATI driver.

cat /proc/mtrr shows
reg00: base=0x00000000 ( 0MB), size=1024MB: write-back, count=1
reg01: base=0xd0000000 (3328MB), size= 128MB: write-combining, count=1
reg02: base=0xd8000000 (3456MB), size= 128MB: write-combining, count=1

At this point I am completely out of my depth.

I have tried using earlier drivers and kernels which previously worked - alas no more. Obviously the problem is mtrr, but how to fix it?

Cheers.