[SOLVED] Slackware and ATI video support?

mfoley · 02-18-2017, 12:12 PM

I'm posting an abridged version of this http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...rs-4175597701/ hardware forum question here because Slacksters might know the answer more readily.

I've install an ATI FirePro 2450 in my computer and it is not recognized at all. I had to connect a monitor to the onboard VGA to get a screen and in KDE > System Settings > Monitor and Display it only shows the one VGA. The card is being completely ignored.

My motherboard is ASUSTeK, M4N68T-M-V2. I'm running Slackware64 14.2, KDE 4.14.21.

Is there something I have to do or is this card simply not going to work? Do I need a special driver?

more info ...

I've read in https://docs.slackware.com/howtos:ha...aphics_drivers

Quote:

AMD (ATI) Catalyst Driver Installation and Configuration

AMD are dropping support for older cards (4xxx and downwards) in the current (12.6) and future releases of the proprietary drivers, so please make sure that your card is still supported. If it is not, then the open source xf86-video-ati driver should be sufficient, albeit a bit slower than the proprietary version.

Is this what I need?

business_kid · 02-18-2017, 01:30 PM

1. Is it listed in lspci? If not, the hardware is certainly suspect.
2. Some cards need an external power supply cable. Does yours?
3 Does the kernel acknowledge it's existence?
4. Is it seated properly in a known good slot?

mfoley · 02-18-2017, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by business_kid

1. Is it listed in lspci? If not, the hardware is certainly suspect.

Yes - the last 5 lines show with the card. The lines above that also show without the video card:

Code:

# lspci
00:00.0 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Host Bridge (rev a1)
00:01.0 ISA bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 LPC Bridge (rev a2)
00:01.1 SMBus: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SMBus (rev a2)
00:01.2 RAM memory: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Memory Controller (rev a2)
00:02.0 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 1.1 Controller (rev a3)
00:02.1 USB controller: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 USB 2.0 Controller (rev a3)
00:04.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI bridge (rev a1)
00:05.0 Audio device: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 High Definition Audio (rev a2)
00:06.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 IDE (rev a2)
00:07.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Ethernet (rev a2)
00:08.0 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SATA Controller (rev a2)
00:08.1 IDE interface: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 SATA Controller (rev a2)
00:09.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0b.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0c.0 PCI bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 PCI Express bridge (rev a2)
00:0d.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a] (rev a2)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control
02:00.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8647 48-Lane, 3-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ab)
03:04.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8647 48-Lane, 3-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ab)
03:08.0 PCI bridge: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8647 48-Lane, 3-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch (rev ab)
04:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV620 [FirePro 2450]
05:00.0 Display controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] RV620 [FirePro 2450]

Quote:

2. Some cards need an external power supply cable. Does yours?

No

Quote:

3 Does the kernel acknowledge it's existence?

Not that I can see. You can check dmesg http://www.novatec-inc.com/pub/dmesg.txt in the event I don't know what I'm looking for, if you're so inclined.

Quote:

4. Is it seated properly in a known good slot?

Seated properly, yes. Known good slot - unknown. I have never had any other card in this or any other slots.

From your asking of these particular questions, I am led to believe you think it probably *should* recognize this card, if working, yes? If the card is good and kernel does not recognize it, what are my options?

bassmadrigal · 02-18-2017, 09:53 PM

Ok, it seems the kernel at least recognizes the card, but the question is if it provides a driver for it. Can you provide the output of lspci -k | grep -iA3 amd to see if it is loading a driver?

Also, verify in your bios that your onboard graphics are disabled. I've seen computers not boot when onboard is still enabled (I would've thought it would auto-detect that, but maybe that's asking too much).

mfoley · 02-18-2017, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

Ok, it seems the kernel at least recognizes the card, but the question is if it provides a driver for it. Can you provide the output of lspci -k | grep -iA3 amd to see if it is loading a driver?

I don't see a driver:

Code:

# lspci -k | grep -iA3 amd
        Kernel driver in use: pata_amd
00:07.0 Bridge: NVIDIA Corporation MCP61 Ethernet (rev a2)
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. M4N68T series motherboard
        Kernel driver in use: forcedeth
--
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor HyperTransport Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Miscellaneous Control
        Kernel driver in use: k10temp
        Kernel modules: k10temp
00:18.4 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] Family 10h Processor Link Control

The CPU is AMD, so that's what these look like to me. I did attempt to install the xf86-video-ati driver from here: http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Syste...ti-58276.shtml, but that didn't seem to do anything. Here is the "install" log from that:

Code:

Making install in src
make[1]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/src'
make[2]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/src'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for 'install-exec-am'.
 /usr/bin/mkdir -p '/usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers'
 /bin/sh ../libtool   --mode=install /usr/bin/ginstall -c   ati_drv.la '/usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers'
libtool: install: /usr/bin/ginstall -c .libs/ati_drv.so /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/ati_drv.so
libtool: install: /usr/bin/ginstall -c .libs/ati_drv.lai /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/ati_drv.la
libtool: finish: PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/user/util/bin:/usr/lib/java/bin:/usr/lib64/kde4/libexec:/usr/lib64/qt/bin:/usr/share/texmf/bin:/sbin" ldconfig -n /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Libraries have been installed in:
   /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers

If you ever happen to want to link against installed libraries
in a given directory, LIBDIR, you must either use libtool, and
specify the full pathname of the library, or use the '-LLIBDIR'
flag during linking and do at least one of the following:
   - add LIBDIR to the 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH' environment variable
     during execution
   - add LIBDIR to the 'LD_RUN_PATH' environment variable
     during linking
   - use the '-Wl,-rpath -Wl,LIBDIR' linker flag
   - have your system administrator add LIBDIR to '/etc/ld.so.conf'

See any operating system documentation about shared libraries for
more information, such as the ld(1) and ld.so(8) manual pages.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
 /usr/bin/mkdir -p '/usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers'
 /bin/sh ../libtool   --mode=install /usr/bin/ginstall -c   radeon_drv.la '/usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers'
libtool: install: /usr/bin/ginstall -c .libs/radeon_drv.so /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/radeon_drv.so
libtool: install: /usr/bin/ginstall -c .libs/radeon_drv.lai /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/radeon_drv.la
libtool: finish: PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/user/util/bin:/usr/lib/java/bin:/usr/lib64/kde4/libexec:/usr/lib64/qt/bin:/usr/share/texmf/bin:/sbin" ldconfig -n /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Libraries have been installed in:
   /usr/local/lib/xorg/modules/drivers

If you ever happen to want to link against installed libraries
in a given directory, LIBDIR, you must either use libtool, and
specify the full pathname of the library, or use the '-LLIBDIR'
flag during linking and do at least one of the following:
   - add LIBDIR to the 'LD_LIBRARY_PATH' environment variable
     during execution
   - add LIBDIR to the 'LD_RUN_PATH' environment variable
     during linking
   - use the '-Wl,-rpath -Wl,LIBDIR' linker flag
   - have your system administrator add LIBDIR to '/etc/ld.so.conf'

See any operating system documentation about shared libraries for
more information, such as the ld(1) and ld.so(8) manual pages.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
make[2]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/src'
make[1]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/src'
Making install in man
make[1]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/man'
make[2]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/man'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for 'install-exec-am'.
 /usr/bin/mkdir -p '/usr/local/share/man/man4'
 /usr/bin/ginstall -c -m 644 ati.4 radeon.4 '/usr/local/share/man/man4'
make[2]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/man'
make[1]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0/man'
make[1]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0'
make[2]: Entering directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0'
make[2]: Nothing to be done for 'install-exec-am'.
make[2]: Nothing to be done for 'install-data-am'.
make[2]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0'
make[1]: Leaving directory '/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0'
1 00:45:30 root@server:/user/util/src/xf86-video-ati-7.8.0

Perhaps the wrong driver? the '86' in xf86... might be implying 32bit. Although, the changelog on that site says November, 2016, so it's rather recent.

Quote:

Also, verify in your bios that your onboard graphics are disabled. I've seen computers not boot when onboard is still enabled (I would've thought it would auto-detect that, but maybe that's asking too much).

I didn't see an option for this in my BIOS. I'm rather hesitant about that anyway. If the FirePro card doesn't work, would I ever be able to see my BIOS again?

business_kid · 02-19-2017, 04:46 AM

One problem I can see is that you have a nvidia & amd cards. You're stuck on OSS drivers for both, or things will never work. Both binary blobs overwrite Mesa libs.

Code:

ls -l /usr/lib64/libGL*

shows what they are pointing to. The binary blobs use /usr/lib64/libGL.so.<blob-version-number>. If you're not using it, can you disable onboard video in the bios? You'll have to uninstall binary blobs and go for OSS versions.

I wouldn't worry about not seeing the bios. It seems to find a way of looking after you. I won't promise what you'll see it on, but you'll see it. As a last resort, pull the cmos battery, unplug, & leave overnight. That will restore defaults.

mfoley · 02-19-2017, 03:22 PM

business_kid: Unfortunately, most of what you wrote is Greek to me. OSS drivers? Binary blobs? Here is my libGL.so info:

Code:

# ls -l /usr/lib64/libGL.so*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     14 2017-02-08 01:18 /usr/lib64/libGL.so -> libGL.so.1.2.0*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     14 2017-02-08 01:18 /usr/lib64/libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.1.2.0*
-rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 422392 2016-05-09 13:40 /usr/lib64/libGL.so.1.2.0*

I've checked through my BIOS and I see no way to disable the on-board video. Is there another way?

Motherboard is ASUS M4N68T-M-V2, BIOS is AMI 0702 (1/26/2011).

GreenFireFly · 02-19-2017, 04:16 PM

Hello Mfoley,

I believe it should be in the bios. Something like Advanced>Chipset>InternalVideo>Primary Video Controller.

mfoley · 02-19-2017, 09:07 PM

I went to Advanced > Chipset > SouthBridge MCP68SE Chipset Configuration, and changed the 'Primary Graphics Adapter' priority from "IGP> PCI > PCIE" to "PCIE > PCI > IGP". I assume "IGP" means internal graphics processor. I would have thought this would do it, but no go, still going to the motherboard VGA. I even updated to the latest BIOS version.

Is it possibly the card? I can find another video card and try again.

business_kid · 02-20-2017, 06:25 AM

Sorry about that.
OSS = Open Source Software drivers - nouveau, xf86-video-ati or xf86-video-nvidia & standard Mesa.

'binary blobs' is a less than enthusiastic way of describing the various closed source drivers from intel, amd, & nvidia.

Your libGL output indicates you have no closed source drivers installed as the symlinks are to Mesa libraries which the closed source drivers overwrite. So if you installed a closed source driver, it's installation failed.

GreenFireFly · 02-20-2017, 02:44 PM

Hello Mfoley,

Hmm... Did you save the settings when you exited the bios screen? If you did then power off the computer. Connect the monitor to the new card before you turn the computer on.

It is possible the card may be bad.(When you boot up with the new card do you see the bios on the screen? If you can see the bios then the card should be working.) If your not sure you try the card on another system to make sure that the card works.

BTW: The xf86-video-ati is the oss driver which is shipped with most distros. There is no reason to try and install some thing that is already there.

mfoley · 02-20-2017, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenFireFly

Hello Mfoley,

Hmm... Did you save the settings when you exited the bios screen? If you did then power off the computer. Connect the monitor to the new card before you turn the computer on.

Yes, I saved settings. To confirm, I just restarted and got into the BIOS and it is definitely set to "PCIE > PCI > IGP". Yes, I connected the monitor before powering on the computer.

Quote:

It is possible the card may be bad.(When you boot up with the new card do you see the bios on the screen? If you can see the bios then the card should be working.) If your not sure you try the card on another system to make sure that the card works.

No, I don't see anything at all on the monitor connected to the new card. The power light on the monitor stays amber, never goes to green.

To possibly eliminate the 'bad card' factor, I went to the store and bought a new AMD Radeon HD6450, PCIe x16 and tried it. Exactly the same thing: nothing. Interestingly, lspci doesn't show any info on this new card at all.

Quote:

BTW: The xf86-video-ati is the oss driver which is shipped with most distros. There is no reason to try and install some thing that is already there.

But, business_kid said:

Quote:

Your libGL output indicates you have no closed source drivers installed as the symlinks are to Mesa libraries which the closed source drivers overwrite. So if you installed a closed source driver, it's installation failed.

So xf86-video-ati must not already be there in this case. Anyway, I've uninstalled the driver I installed. On the other hand, you might have a point. `find`ing for "radeon" or "ati_drv" turned up plenty of source files in /usr/src/linux/linux-4.4.38/[drivers|firmware]/, and files in /usr/bin, /usr/lib64/xorg, etc. for radeon.

In any case if, as you say, I should see some video BIOS info on the monitor connected to the card, that's not happening so I'm obviously failing long before I get to any OS driver.

I guess I can try a NVIDIA card instead of these AMD/ATI cards, or I can try a new motherboard. Probably the 1st logical thing to try is a NVIDIA card. Since the built-in VGA is NVIDIA, that should work, right?

RadicalDreamer · 02-21-2017, 12:36 AM

Specs
https://www.cnet.com/products/amd-at...-512-mb/specs/

Well this person has the same setup with a different card and it worked for him.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/28...expansion-card

If only the firepro is connected to a monitor and nothing happens then it could be the card or the slot I guess. Bios should pick it up.

business_kid · 02-21-2017, 03:45 AM

It's beginning to sound like the bus, or slot. Have you got kernel support for that hardware? Have the cards got power supply connectors. It's a lot to ask of a motherboard to feed a few amps at 3.3V to a power hungry GPU without losing critical voltage along the way.

GreenFireFly · 02-21-2017, 09:05 AM

Hello Mfoley,

In the RadicalDreamer post there a link that shows the card needs a 350W power supply. Is your power supply 350W?

Also about xf86-video-ati-7.7.0-x86_64-1.txz you may want to uninstall then reinstall the package just
in case you accident delete something you needed.