ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

archlinux1 · 2009-02-18 17:37:15

I am attempting to install compiz fusion so I read the wiki. I then from there learned that I had to enable aiglx. The aiglx wiki ( http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/AIGLX ) informed me that I needed to edit my xorg.conf after going to the http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Composite wiki. The only problem is my xorg.conf was empty. I added the changes listed here and it crashed. I completely blanked the document again and now it says that no x displays can be started because it is failing to load the ati module because that module doesn't exist. What config file is telling x to use this module? What driver should I be using with my radeon 9550. How can I tell what driver I am using? Thank you!

archlinux1 · 2009-02-19 05:05:58

I got a working xorg.conf using X -configure. Now my x server and gdm are running.

Ranguvar · 2009-02-19 05:29:10

Either use xf86-video-ati or fglrx (Catalyst). The latter is buggy and the former might either be slow at 3D or not support 3D at all for your card, I don't know. Try both.

archlinux1 · 2009-02-19 05:49:13

How do I explicitally tell the system which driver to use? Are these drivers in packages in the repos?

Last edited by archlinux1 (2009-02-19 05:50:01)

De Mysteriis · 2009-02-19 13:30:57

archlinux1 wrote:

How do I explicitally tell the system which driver to use? Are these drivers in packages in the repos?

Greeting fellow 9550 user. The fglrx driver works flawlessly for me, just use:

aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf

The aticonfig tool is part of the Catalyst suite which you can get as shown:

pacman -S catalyst

Just remember that aticonfig requires that xorg.conf is already present at /etc/X11/
I start with a blank file...

touch /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and then run aticonfig.
Then edit /etc/rc.conf and put fglrx on the list of modules to load and put hal on the list of daemons to load.

flamelab · 2009-02-19 13:53:43

Use the xf86-video-ati, it is the best for 9xxx cards. Without xorg.conf, or if you use it, add "EXA" in the options.

Ranguvar · 2009-02-19 20:11:35

archlinux1 wrote:

How do I explicitally tell the system which driver to use? Are these drivers in packages in the repos?

1.) You edit the "Driver" line of your xorg.conf to either "ati" (the open-source driver) or "fglrx" (the Catalyst binary AMD driver).
2.) Yes. The xf86-video-ati package has the open-source driver, and the catalyst package has the fglrx driver.

I would try both drivers and test performance with something like glxgears (Included in the mesa package). Make sure to Google for tweaks you can add to your xorg.conf, and "benchmark" with glxgears before and after enabling each one.
For example: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:ywM … 85998.html

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/ATI

archlinux1 · 2009-02-20 16:51:13

Thank you Ranguvar! I am now running nearly 1500 FPS with the fglrx driver as opposed to 400 with the open source VESA driver that arch used by default. Compiz Fusion is up and running! Thank you!

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-18 17:37:15

ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#2 2009-02-19 05:05:58

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#3 2009-02-19 05:29:10

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#4 2009-02-19 05:49:13

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#5 2009-02-19 13:30:57

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#6 2009-02-19 13:53:43

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#7 2009-02-19 20:11:35

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

#8 2009-02-20 16:51:13

Re: ATI 9550 and Compiz Fusion

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