I've tried to compile a new Kernel a few times, with no success each time. I'm currently running the /testing 2.6.10 Kernel, but I wanted to compile a new one to customize a few features. So, I downloaded the Kernel source and used the .config from the /testing 2.6.10 Kernel, made a few changes (compiled in ATI DRI support*, changed processor to AMD Athlon). After compiling: make install, make modules_install, I added it to Lilo, rebooted and loaded the Kernel. After that, I had no sound, no mouse, and no network. I have no idea where I went wrong. Other times, I've tried to compile a new kernel from scratch, but always had some problems... such as no sound or no network, which is why I decided to start from the /testing's .config. Any one have any suggestions for what I may have done wrong? I've read through a number of tutorials before and still had no luck.

*I've had some problems with my video card, which is why I'm tinkering with things. I may have a post asking for help on that later. I found a few things here I want to try first.

Thanks in Advance,
Me --->

ATI DRI support --> Only do this if you want to use X.Org's "radeon" driver, otherwise it interferes with ATi's proprietary "fglrx" driver.

No Sound --> The alsa driver is kernel dependant. Your new kernel wipes any modules from a previous kernel, so either reinstall the alsa-driver package for 2.6.10, build support into the kernel for your soundcard, or rebuild the alsa-driver package.

No idea on the mouse or network I'm afraid.

I tried to do "upgradepkg alsa-driver-....tgz" but it said it was already installed... unless that just means that the one from /testing is made to only go into 2.6.10 Kernel's modules.

As for the ATi drivers... I've been struggling with them for a while. When I first installed Slackware, I had trouble because my video card (then Radeon 9700, now Radeon X700, both had problems) wouldn't work right. I suspected because they are AGP 8x and 2.4 didn't support that. So, I upgraded to the /testing 2.6.10 (after failed attempts to compile my own) and it seemed okay. When my 9700 got fried, I bought the X700 (I probably should have gone with nVidia in hindsight) and X quit working. So, I was able to get it working again by using the generic VESA drivers, but ati and radeon drivers wouldn't work. I downloaded the official ATI drivers and installed and things seemed good. Direct Rendering was enabled, glxgears was giving much better results, 2D type things in X seemed to run much smoother, occasional ~10-20 second freeze-ups disappeared, and my monitor before wasn't going to standby/poweroff mode but now was. But, any time I tried to use an OpenGL apps, the computer ran really really slow... it was to the point that I would basically have to ctrl+alt+backspace. I played off the OpenGL as acceptable, since gaming isn't a major thing I want to do in Linux. So, I was happy with things. But, I'm not one to leave well-enough alone and updated to XOrg 6.8.2 and the most recent ATI drivers (the ones released a couple days ago) and now my monitor won't go to standby/shutdown mode again.. all I get is a black/blank screen. I'm really not sure what the deal is, so that's why I'm tinkering with things. And, still, it says "direct rendering: yes" but OpenGL goes horribly slow.

On a similar note, my screensavers never seem to start. If I go to control panel and try to test a screensaver, it'll work, but they never come on when they are supposed to.

Anyhow, sorry to dump all this out, but these are the problems I'm having. Most other things seem to work well and I've been slowly learning how to do things. But, this video card issue has been plaguing me since I installed Slackware in March.

I'd appreciate any hints.

Just to update, in case anyone cares, I installed the ATI drivers as a .tgz from LinuxPackages (or whatever the website was that was given in the Slackware FAQ) and the OpenGL problem is fixed. Screensavers still don't work (they will run, but they don't come on automatically) and my monitor still refuses to go to standby. If anyone has any ideas how to fix those, please let me know.

Thanks.

I thought you should recompile your kernel by 'make menuconfig' or 'make xconfig' to select the options that adapt to your hardware.

Yes, thank you for the tip (that tehre was aslack package for this) I was attempting to use an rpm from livna (via rpm2tgz) but getting nowhere. My radeon 9600 is new as of a few weeks ago and today it jumped from 140 fps in glxgears to :

10596 frames in 5.0 seconds = 2119.200 FPS
Broken pipe

..., plus fgl_glxgears works for the first time: direct rendering is working !
(fglrx.ko )

btw the full site name is http://www.linuxpackages.net/ kudos to Matt Alone who built this package.

what desktop environment /wm are you using? screensavers are working ok with a 2.6.11 custom kernel (actually i'm not sure a kernel compile would break that). Also in (normal not dropline) gnome screensavers come on automatically (i didn't even have to configure it)...as for screen suspend it appears I'm like you :it's not happening. Have to look into that.

Regards, John

Glad to know I'm not the only one with screen suspend problems.

As for the screensaver, it's never worked for me. I use KDE, neither the one that came with Slack 10.1 (3.3.x) or versions 3.4.1 and 3.4.2 work. Also, I've used the XOrg6.8.1 from 10.1 as well as 6.8.2 from current. I'm not really sure what the issue is with that. :\ The screensavers work fine if I test them, but never come up when the computer goes idle... no matter what I've configured.

To use suspend screen in X you've to enable DPMS. Add Option "DPMS" in Section "Monitor".
There are more options you can see with man xorg.conf and/or using xset.

I did:

"xset +dpms"

then:

"xset dpms force standby"
"xset dpms force suspend"
"xset dpms force off"

All three of these just cause the monitor to blank, but never shut down. This is what happens when I let the computer go for a while too. This is also what it was doing when I first installed Linux (although, then, it would often get bumped out of the blank screen and show my desktop again). However, for a short while, it was actually shutting the monitor down properly. I'm not sure what exactly it's upset about now.

Are you using APM or ACPI power management? Try using the latest.

I'm using the ACPI that was compiled into the /testing 2.6.10 Kernel. On that note, it has worked before on this Kernel, but recently broke after upgrading XOrg from 6.8.1 to 6.8.2 and updating to the latest ATI drivers.