ATI DRI Configuration: Hardware Acceleration Problem...
 

I am trying to get hardware acceleration to work for my ATI Radeon 9200, but I can't seem to get it to work properly... I'm pretty sure it's an XF86Config problem, but I'm not sure... I'm trying to get DRI Radeon module to work, but I'm also trying FGLRX module, and neither will work properly...

I've tried XFree 4.3.0, 4.4.0, and the 4.3.99.12 DRI trunk, with the DRI Radeon module AND the FGLRX module, but none of them enables direct rendering, and uses Mesa drivers...

When I look at XFree86.0.log, it loads the module, detects the hardware, but doesn't use it for OpenGL...

My config/log files are here:

http://aeiri.homeip.net/XF86Config
http://aeiri.homeip.net/XFree86.0.log
http://aeiri.homeip.net/glxinfo

I would prefer to get the DRI Radeon module working over the FGLRX module, because I've heard it works better, and I did have FGLRX working before, but ATI's drivers are reallllllllly bad....

Any help would be appreciated.


My System:

Slackware 9.1 (current)
Kernel 2.6.6
ATI Radeon 9200
FGLRX 3.2.8
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe (nForce2 Chipset)

As I see in your log file the 3D hardware acceleration fails because of DRI. The reason might be the FireGL. If it requires additional kernel modules do you have them? The XF86Config seems to be OK.

Your XFree86.0.log:
WW) fglrx(0): ***********************************************
(WW) fglrx(0): * DRI initialization failed! *
(WW) fglrx(0): * (maybe driver kernel module missing or bad) *
(WW) fglrx(0): * 2D acceleraton available (MMIO) *
(WW) fglrx(0): * no 3D acceleration available *
(WW) fglrx(0): ********************************************* *

I never needed any extra modules in the past, but the radeon module IS loaded...

Maybe I should try compiling these DRI modules:
http://www.xfree86.org/~alanh/
http://www.xfree86.org/~alanh/linux-...lsource.tar.gz

I'll give that a shot right now.

I just got the new modules and it's still not working...

I made those URLs above into links (talking about file links, using 'ln') so that they are always correct....

Still have the DRI error in XFree86.0.log, I can't figure it out....

What version of the fglrx driver are you installing? What distribution and if you know, what kernel version? About your hardware, what motherboard chipset do you have?

The proprietary driver is quite good (though a mess to get it to work ATM), I got it to work on my girlfriend's PC (Radeon 9200) with Fedora Core 1 and a custom built 2.6.4 kernel (the 2.4 agpgart kernel module does not have support for the KT400 chipset), depending on your HW configuration, you will need to use the external agp driver (the kernel's AGPGART driver) instead of the ATi AGP driver. Please if you want to get this driver working state the above mentioned info.

I have never tried to install the DRI driver with my Radeon (an R300 based one, which means no accleration) or hers, but I've always thought it was just a matter of getting the latest driver from dri.sf.net, get the binary or the source driver and install it (/usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers/), choose radeon as the driver in XF86Config, and that's it...

All of that information is in my first post... look at the bottom.

As I said before, I have used this module before. It was working fine before, but I updated to -current with swaret and for some reason it won't use the driver anymore, just Mesa...

Sorry I misread that info, you using the external AGP module I assume? (having into account you use an nForce2 chipset).

Yes, I'm using AGPGART.

Still you are not stating the version of the driver, and just out of curiosity, does your kernel have REGPARM enabled?

This page is usually a good starting point, don't know if it's applicable in your case though:
http://dri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/m...roubleshooting
__
Rud

Thanks Rud, I'll take a look at that.

LOOK.

If I'm not mistaken, that reads "FGLRX 3.2.8".


lspci says:

Which is probably the most annoying part about it, it's detecting the card perfectly, ARRG!

I fixed it!!!!!!!!

Actually I fixed it about 10 minutes ago, but I've been running around the house screaming and dancing for the last 9...

I'm not 100% sure what fixed it, to be honest... I compiled in CONFIG_AGP_ATI instead of as a module, and a few other things... but I'm not really sure what did the trick exactly... :scratch:

It was Rud's advice to check through http://dri.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/m...roubleshooting that got me to fix the problem, so thanks!

Oh well, it works, thanks for all the help!

Okay... I THOUGHT I had it working, but it was only temporary... As soon as I restarted it stopped working :o

http://aeiri.homeip.net/XF86Config
http://aeiri.homeip.net/XFree86.0.log
http://aeiri.homeip.net/glxinfo

Those files are updated with the new logs... I can't seem to figure out what's wrong, NO errors, and only a few minor (irrelevant) warnings...

Please help, I forgot what I did to fix it that one time :scratch: :cry:

I applogize for my other posts in your thread... I had way too much in my head and got distracted easily...

So you are using the DRI drivers now, right?

I have no experience with the DRI drivers on my girlfriend's rig (she's got a 9200 as well), but as far as I can tell, the FGLRX drivers do not like two things: REGPARM and inconcistencies in the AGP bus... You most likely are having trouble with either of these... So I'd advise to check your kernel's configuration. I'm not saying you should take out REGPARM from the kernel, but you will need a patch for the fglrx DRM module to fix that problem. I do not know what kind of applications you will be running on your rig, but I do know that there are certain problems with some games, most noticeably Neverwinter Nights which shows a memory leak if you use these drivers with anything other than the internal AGP driver, which means your nForce MoBo will show this problem. AFAIK it is not quite clear the reason of this problem, since other video cards (read nVidia) do not show this problem, or at least as far as I know, with the NVAGP or AGPGART drivers... ATi says that it may a problem in the NWN code that may cause problems in certain combinations of graphics drivers (or routines used to request acces to the AGP bus).

In anycase NWN is about the only program that shows a problem of this magnitude with the fglrx drivers, if you won't run it, then you may safely use the fglrx drivers...

If indeed you have compiled your kernel with REGPARM (a reason why drivers may not be working) you'll need to apply a patch. You can find the patch at http://www.rhinobox.org/patches/fglr...-regparm.patch. This patch was made by one of the Rage3D regulars... You may also need to apply the VMALLOCADDR patch (though I think this patch includes that also).

Hope this helps.

I started over again, this time I'm getting a different error... I think everything is set up properly, but I ran into another problem.... This time I'm using FGLRX drivers again (3.2.8).

This is what I get for lspci:

It's giving me problems that no screen is set up on BusID 3:00.1 when I start X.

I have a TV out port on my GFX card, but nothing is hooked up to it and I don't plan on using it, however I think it's detecting it and forcing it to be used for some reason... My XFree Config File, which is below, is set up NOT to use TV out, so I don't know what to do....

http://aeiri.homeip.net/XF86Config-4

Thanks for all the help so far. If I get this working, then the next problem I have I'm buying an NVIDIA card, this is ridiculous that ATI can't make decent drivers. I just set up the NVIDIA drivers for a friend, and I must say those are the best drivers ever made. ATI just lost a customer, possibly for good.