ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

Wintershade · 2008-09-22 07:30:11

I've been using it for a few days now with no problems - no segfaults whatsoever, graphics run smoothly, but the classic problem set remains as always - fullscreen OpenGL applications tear and flicker under Compiz, system randomly (about 75% chance) freezes when I restart X, flash video in firefox has issues (fullscreen flickering, freezes and so on), and, well, the DirectX/OpenGL support under Wine is not even remotely as good as nVidia's.
I mentioned running WoW earlier - I get about 15-20 FPS in Wine and about 50-60 FPS in Windows, while my friend has the same framerate in Windows, but about 10-20 FPS more in Wine (and his graphic card is nVidia).
I'll test the stuff a bit more, and will probably post the results on my blog.

edit: typoz

Last edited by Wintershade (2008-09-22 07:31:28)

tachy · 2008-09-23 11:56:18

Mobility 9700 here.

How exactly did you install Catalyst 8.9?

I just copied Catalyst 8.8 from abs, changed the version to 8.9 and commented out the md5sums.
Compiled and installed fine (had to backup /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so).
glxinfo reported that direct rendering was working too, but as soon as I ran anything with 3D (e.g. glxgears), my system hang.
I have now reverted to xf86-video-ati.

Wintershade · 2008-09-23 12:58:54

I have a Mobility Radeon 9700 as well, with 64 MB of RAM.
I have done the same as you did, but you have to update the catalyst-utils as well, if you haven't done so yet (although I think those are a dependency).

After install, edit your xorg.conf and comment out everything except the device name and the driver (basically, comment out all the options). Run the "aticonfig --initial" afterwards, and "aticonfig --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf --tls=2". Restart the system (or just X if yours doesn't freeze like mine). Also, make sure the "dri" and "glx" modules are loaded. The information concerning Catalyst 8.8 and the Checkerboard of Doom on my blog is now obsolete, and I will write a post about 8.9 as soon as I find the time (maybe this afternoon).

Have been using xf86-video-ati, but since I use Wine a lot (I'm lazy to switch to Windows every now and then), the Catalyst is more suitable for me. Prior to 8.9, I've been using the 8.3 version, since 8.4-8.8 brought nothing but trouble to me - starting with lowered performance and stability, all the way to the Checkerboard.

I'll explain the stuff further on my blog - I'll do my best to do it this afternoon.

Last edited by Wintershade (2008-09-23 13:04:16)

tachy · 2008-09-26 09:18:09

Hot damn! - It works!

I did start by having the crash similar to last try (freeze up when starting Darwinia). Turns out I just had to reboot a second time and then it worked.

So to sum it up, this is what I did (followed your advice):

sudo abs
sudo pacman -Rd libgl
sudo mv /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libdri.so.bu
mkdir build
cd build/
cp -a /var/abs/extra/catalyst* ./
cd catalyst-utils/
nano PKGBUILD

Change pkgver from 8.8 to 8.9.
Delete all md5sums

makepkg
sudo pacman -U catalyst-*.pkg*
cd ../catalyst/
nano PKGBUILD

Change pkgver from 8.8 to 8.9.
Delete all md5sums

makepkg
sudo pacman -U catalyst*.pkg*
sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.pre-8.9
sudo nano /etc/X11/xorg.conf

In "Module" section, make sure Load "glx" and Load "dri" are there.
In "Device" section, delete all lines except "Driver" and "Identifier".

sudo aticonfig --initial
sudo aticonfig --tls=2 --ovt=Xv
sudo nano /etc/rc.conf

Add fglrx to MODULES.
Reboot twice.

Last edited by tachy (2008-09-26 09:19:21)

Wintershade · 2008-09-26 09:28:15

tachy wrote:

Reboot twice.

Once should be enough. If you've done all mentioned above in one go, which you should have been able to.
Thanks for the howto, mind if I copy-paste some parts of it for my blog? I really don't have the time to write so much stuff all by myself.

edit: aticonfig --initial was unneeded for me, since I already had the fglrx section. If you already have one, you just have to run aticonfig in order to get the driver load your settings. Yes, it's that way. There was a debate about it on Compiz Fusion and Phoronix forums - ATI's Catalyst just doesnt recognize the newly inserted switches in xorg.conf if you don't run aticonfig after entering them.

Last edited by Wintershade (2008-09-26 09:31:08)

tachy · 2008-09-26 13:56:54

For some reason it just crashed after the first reboot.
However, since the second reboot I haven't been able to run completely smooth either, but it mostly crashes only after I change something in xorg.conf.
I'll try not to touch it anymore (forgetting Compiz so far) and just wait and see how stable it is over the weekend.
If my computer only freezes when changing xorg.conf settings I can live with it, but otherwise I might revert to xf86-video-ati.

When all is said, this is so far the most stable driver I have seen yet from ATI, since they introduced the new code base last year.
For some reason they just haven't been able to play well with my Mobility Radeon 9700 128MB (reported as 9600 M10)

tachy · 2008-09-27 07:43:09

While I don't play games that much, I just experienced 2 lockups in a row while doing so.
Catalyst 8.9 so far haven't shown to be stable enough on my system, unfortunately.
Reverting back to the open source driver...

Is there any advice you could give on improving stability?
I already disabled AIGLX in "ServerLayout"

Wintershade · 2008-09-29 13:43:08

IIRC, if you're using the open-source driver, you should install the libgl before installing xorg, while the proprietary driver should be installed after the xorg package, and without installing libgl prior to it.

This may (may!) mean that you should remove both libgl (and mesa) and your xorg package (yes, once you resolve all the dependencies that's a lot of packages, but it shouldn't matter to you if you have them in your cache), and make a clean install without libgl. After that, install the proprietary ATI driver - without installing the libgl package, since Catalyst provides his own.
The story behind this should have something to do with the initial xorg configuration - if it detects your libgl during install/config process, it probably configures itself automagically according to it. That's something you don't want if you plan to use the proprietary driver.
Also, I've had some bad experience with installation of open-source driver and libgl after my xorg install, so this makes some sense to me.

Switching from one driver to another all the time (or - Odin forbid - having both installed at the same time) is not recommended anyway.

My Catalyst 8.9 is working completely fine, the stability of the driver is actually amazing compared to prior versions (8.4 - 8.8). However, since the last fresh Arch Linux install, I have never installed the open-source libgl or radeon driver.

Good luck!

(edit: typoz, bolding, some more info)

Last edited by Wintershade (2008-09-29 13:47:07)

Mikko777 · 2008-09-29 16:04:06

Yup Catalyst 8.9 works with Radeon9600 beautifully.

Just moved libgl out of the way and installed catalyst and catalyst utils with abs.

Wine checkerboard of doom is gone and never had the diagonal tearing in first place.
Seems stable indeed. And kde4 is fast too

Compiz and desktop effects are off though.

Wintershade · 2008-09-29 16:28:02

compiz + kde4 ==> CHAOS
haven't seen one single stable instance of this combination.

moved to GNOME once kde4 came out.

SyXbiT · 2008-10-13 01:37:34

so is the consensus to wait for 8.10 before officially packaging in Arch?

Wintershade · 2008-10-13 07:03:24

Well, as far as I see, the 8.10 will be out in a matter of days.
I'll probably compile and install it the very day it gets out...

zeddD1abl0 · 2008-10-16 05:12:58

Wintershade wrote:

Well, as far as I see, the 8.10 will be out in a matter of days.
I'll probably compile and install it the very day it gets out...

8.10 was released just a little while ago (sometime this morning depending on where you are). I've managed to get the utils package compiled and installed, but the actual drivers are giving me issues. I managed to figure out the kernel change (easy) but there is a problem with something else. I get a whole stack of error outputs using firegl_public.c patch. Am I meant to be using this patch still? I read on the last page that I didn't need to be using a patch of some type.

Hunk #1 succeeded at 2348 (offset -320 lines).
make: Entering directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.27-ARCH'
  CC [M]  /home/jordan/CompileArea/catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.o
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c: In function 'KCL_flush_tlb_onepage':
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:2352: error: too many arguments to function 'on_each_cpu'
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c: In function '__ke_vm_phys_addr_str':
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:3522: warning: return makes pointer from integer without a cast
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:3523: warning: return makes pointer from integer without a cast
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:3524: warning: return makes pointer from integer without a cast
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:3526: warning: return makes pointer from integer without a cast
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c: In function 'KCL_enable_pat':
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:4063: error: too many arguments to function 'smp_call_function'
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c: In function 'KCL_disable_pat':
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:4082: error: too many arguments to function 'smp_call_function'
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c: At top level:
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:5774: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.c:5800: warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
make[1]: *** [/home/jordan/CompileArea/catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod/firegl_public.o] Error 1
make: *** [_module_/home/jordan/CompileArea/catalyst/src/lib/modules/fglrx/build_mod] Error 2
make: Leaving directory `/usr/src/linux-2.6.27-ARCH'
==> ERROR: Build Failed.
    Aborting...

Sorry for the long error dump, I hope this helps someone figure out the issue though. What problem would I run into if I decided to remove the firegl patch? I have a HD4870, not a FireGL card, so I'm optimistic that it doesn't affect me.

Help please.

Edit: Removed a few things to make error logs shorter.

Last edited by zeddD1abl0 (2008-10-16 05:16:40)

Wintervenom · 2008-10-16 05:40:23

I tried it today, and you have to use the 2.6.27 patch still.
Apparently Ubuntu [Intrepid] got a newer (beta) version of Catalyst 8.10 put in their repos.
The version that AMD released to everyone else does not support X.org 7.4 yet.

Last edited by Wintervenom (2008-10-16 05:41:01)

zeddD1abl0 · 2008-10-16 06:03:12

Bummer.

I didn't use the 2.6.27 patch for 8.9 (I think I installed 8.8 off the repo's). I found the patch and used it (http://bugs.gentoo.org/attachment.cgi?id=166904) and the compilation worked perfectly. Will try it out soon, See what happens.

Did Ubuntu 8.10 beta get catalyst 8.11 beta? Cause it's floating around somewhere. The Windows ones are out everywhere, but I haven't found a Linux beta yet.

Wintershade · 2008-10-16 20:10:22

Perhaps a stupid question now.
I've updated the kernel and tried compiling the driver with the PKGBUILD from ABS (using the PKGBUILD and the patch for the 8.8 version) Now the fglrx module can't be loaded (it says "Cannot allocate memory"), and the aticonfig segfaults.

I suppose I shouldn't patch it with the 8.8 patch, but where can I get a newer one?
Moreover, should I do anything else? I'm at a loss here...

Inkaine · 2008-10-17 00:04:14

The 8.8 patch doesn't work as is because lines have shifted by 300+ sometimes. I managed to get a working patch for 8.9 - but not for 8.10 yet. The Gentoo patch posted by zedd looks fairly similar to the one I've been trying with no luck. I even diff'ed the firegl_public.c of the ubuntu package to the 8.10 release version with no positive result. It looks like we'll have to wait a bit there until someone over at Phoronix provides is with a working patch.
EDIT: If anyone is interested in my 8.9 patch file drop me a line or I can post it here if there is interest.

I hope that XOrg 7.4 will be pushed to extra now though as we might get a working catalyst 8.10 using the ubuntu hack.

zeddD1abl0 wrote:

I get a whole stack of error outputs using firegl_public.c patch. Am I meant to be using this patch still? I read on the last page that I didn't need to be using a patch of some type.
[..]
What problem would I run into if I decided to remove the firegl patch? I have a HD4870, not a FireGL card, so I'm optimistic that it doesn't affect me.

Wrong. The firegl_public.c file is used for compiling the fglrx driver and has been the file that needed patching in at least the 3 previous releases (all from kernel 2.6.26). The kernel patch is needed as the fglrx driver officially only supports 2.6.26 as of now. It's a pain - 2.6.27 has just been released and this is AMD/ATIs first release to go without patching for 2.6.26... No up-to-date kernel support, far lagging behind xorg support. This binary driver is driving me crazy.

Last edited by Inkaine (2008-10-17 00:05:21)

Wintershade · 2008-10-17 07:13:50

Inkaine wrote:

The kernel patch is needed as the fglrx driver officially only supports 2.6.26 as of now.

Does this mean I can use the kernel 2.6.26 and the catalyst 8.10 without any patching - just compile and install?

edit: yep... I guess it does. Sometimes I really can't believe how stupid I am for not following the KISS principle (e.g. if there's no 2.6.26 patch in obvious locations, don't invent hot water).
Anyway, now that I've rolled back to the Kernel 2.6.26, I've successfully compiled and installed the Catalyst 8.10.
So the question is, how to get the patches for kernel 2.6.27 and Xorg 7.4 (i.e. where can I get them and how to apply them)? I really hate it when I have to IgnorePkg stuff, especially stuff like Kernel and Xorg.
Can anyone confirm that the Ubuntu hack will work in Arch?

thx

Last edited by Wintershade (2008-10-17 08:28:04)

ak-89 · 2008-10-17 08:39:25

I compiled the catalyst 8.10 module and installed 8.10 utils, but got black screen when started X. I did'nt have to use any patches, now I am using 8.9 and I compiled that module too without any patches. My kernel is 2.6.27-zen1.

Last edited by ak-89 (2008-10-17 08:44:23)

Mikko777 · 2008-10-17 10:44:22

ak-89 wrote:

I compiled the catalyst 8.10 module and installed 8.10 utils, but got black screen when started X. I did'nt have to use any patches, now I am using 8.9 and I compiled that module too without any patches. My kernel is 2.6.27-zen1.

I got the black screen too
radeon 4850 and arch64

I guess my patch was crappy

zigiless · 2008-10-17 12:17:37

First, i'd like to thank Wintershade for finally getting me to get rid of my dreaded Checkerboard of Doom.
However, after much experimentation with WoW, it seems that the DRI "Mode 0666" lines in xorg.conf are required for me.
Without them, WoW is simply a black screen.
However with them, I get the checkerboard - But only when I add the option to use 1280x1024 to xorg.conf!
Meaning that to get WoW to work I need to to be using 1024x768, and leave the DRI lines in place.
I'm using 8.8, and I see here that 8.9 is very stable. Do you think it'll fix my problems?

Last edited by zigiless (2008-10-17 12:18:22)

Wintershade · 2008-10-17 13:48:54

It most definitely will. In the official bugfix list, the "Screen corruption fix" is among the first few mentioned.
And you're very welcome if I helped you. I'll keep writing stuff on my blog, but unfortunately, my free time nowdays is very, very scarce

I'm still waiting for some useful info on patching Catalyst 8.10 for kernel 2.6.27...

Rhino · 2008-10-17 23:27:20

I'm running 8.10 with Xorg 1.5 right now. I installed the packages from testing and all I had to do to get it work was to get rid of a lib called *tvout* (I don't remember the fullname of the library) and comment the rgbPath line in my xorg.conf. The only problem I ran into as of now is a glx problem.

name of display: :0.0
X Error of failed request:  BadRequest (invalid request code or no such operation)
  Major opcode of failed request:  143 (GLX)
  Minor opcode of failed request:  19 (X_GLXQueryServerString)
  Serial number of failed request:  10
  Current serial number in output stream:  10

Inkaine · 2008-10-18 01:34:29

For those who didn't read the announcement by JGC in another thread: http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 46#p435946 So we can expect the same version of the catalyst driver as Ubuntu has soon. I leave any further tweaking then and stay with 8.9 (which is not working as well with the .27 kernel as it did with .26 before) until we get a working package. A big THANK YOU to the devs already now.

Wintershade · 2008-10-18 16:23:24

Tested the new Ubuntu today. Got back to Arch.
Ubuntu's aticonfig gives me a segfault as well.

Anyone have an idea what's it all about?

Arch Linux

#76 2008-09-22 07:30:11

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#77 2008-09-23 11:56:18

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#78 2008-09-23 12:58:54

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#79 2008-09-26 09:18:09

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#80 2008-09-26 09:28:15

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#81 2008-09-26 13:56:54

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#82 2008-09-27 07:43:09

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#83 2008-09-29 13:43:08

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#84 2008-09-29 16:04:06

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#85 2008-09-29 16:28:02

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#86 2008-10-13 01:37:34

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#87 2008-10-13 07:03:24

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#88 2008-10-16 05:12:58

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#89 2008-10-16 05:40:23

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#90 2008-10-16 06:03:12

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#91 2008-10-16 20:10:22

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#92 2008-10-17 00:04:14

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#93 2008-10-17 07:13:50

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#94 2008-10-17 08:39:25

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#95 2008-10-17 10:44:22

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#96 2008-10-17 12:17:37

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#97 2008-10-17 13:48:54

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#98 2008-10-17 23:27:20

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#99 2008-10-18 01:34:29

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

#100 2008-10-18 16:23:24

Re: ATI Catalyst™ 8.5 Proprietary Linux Display Driver released

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