Direct Rendering (ATI Radeon)

xbuzz · #1 8th May 2005, 01:14 AM

I can not for the life of my get my graphic card working properally. It is installed and has been detected by linux. I really want to be able to use Wine and related software to play games. However I can not get "direct rendering" enabled. Perhaps it is because the OS automatically installed drivers and even if I install the correct linux rpm's for the card it doesn't configure properally.

I have spent hours reading help forums trying to find a solution to my problem. If anyone could help me out I would greatly appreciate any assistance.

The problem is I just recently purchased the ATI Radeon X800 Pro, which at the time was the fastest graphic card available. Even more recently I have decided to switch over to Linux and rid myself of Windows.

I have installed Fedora Core 3 on both my laptop and my PC (2.4Ghz, 1GBRAM).

When I,

Code:

glxinfo | grep direct

I get back
"direct rendering: No
OpenGL render string: Mesa GLX Indirect"

When I,

Code:

glxinfo | grep OpenGL

I get back
"OpenGL vendor string: Mesa project: www.mesa3d.org
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa GLX Indirect
OpenGL version string: 1.2 (1.5 Mesa 6.1)
OpenGL extensions:"

If that helps at all... When I go to the Display Settings it says my Video Card is "ATI Radeon X800PRO"

I am concerned because my laptop gets an average of 732FPS and my PC with the highend card only gets 320FPS when I do "glxgears"

I am sorry, I know you all must get these kind of posts all the time, but if you could help me out in anyway I would greatly greatly appreciate it.

alacheesu · #2 8th May 2005, 02:00 AM

You need the ATI drivers. Unfortunately ATI's linux support is not the best, but some drivers exist. As far as I know you have two options, one easy and one more complicated. (I use the easy solution)

Alt 1 (Easy)
Go back to using the 2.6.10-1.770 kernel. Add the following to your /etc/yum.conf (unless you have already):

Code:

 
[livna-stable]
name=Livna.org - Fedora Compatible Packages (stable)
baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.stable
http://livna.cat.pdx.edu/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.stable
#gpgcheck=1

[livna-unstable]
name=Livna.org - Fedora Compatible Packages (unstable)
baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.unstable
http://livna.cat.pdx.edu/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.unstable
#gpgcheck=1

[livna-testing]
name=Livna.org - Fedora Compatible Packages (testing)
baseurl=http://rpm.livna.org/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.testing
http://livna.cat.pdx.edu/fedora/$releasever/$basearch/RPMS.testing
#gpgcheck=1

This will enable the livna repos. Then type the following to use yum to get the drivers:

Code:

yum install kernel-module-fglrx-2.6.10-1.770 (or the smp version if you use that)

Answer yes to any dependencies (probably ati-fglrx.i386). Run fglrxconfig to configure /etc/xorg.conf (remember to back it up first). Now press CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE to restart X. Hopefully you can enjoy your X800. If not, replace /etc/xorg.conf with the back up you made and come back and tell us what's wrong.

Alt. 2 (more complicated)
Try to get ATI's drivers to work on the new kernel. This post gives a step by step instruction, but I've never tried myself.

giorgosc61 · #3 8th May 2005, 06:42 PM

Hello.
alacheesu,
I have used apt with the dag,freshrpms, etc repostitories.
If I add livna.org repositories to install Ati 3d support create problems in my system (mixing repositories?)

Thank you in advance.

bitrain · #4 8th May 2005, 06:55 PM

http://www.fedorafaq.org <-- good tutorial for FC related things, such as ati drivers!

giorgosc61 · #5 8th May 2005, 07:22 PM

Thank you for your quick answer.
I have already visited te site you suggest.
I am not a linux newbie but I would for certain prefer to install the ATI drivers the livna.org way because it is very easy.
The problem is I have already did an apt-get dist-upgrade with the repositories refered in
Fedora Core 3 installation Notes http://stanton-finley.net/fedora_cor...ion_notes.html
and there it says:
Special warning regarding mixing incompatible repositories for up2date, yum, and apt:

* As you continue please keep the following in mind: You should not use the livna.org/fedora extras repositories in conjunction with the dag/freshrpms/dries/newrpms/PlanetCCRMA (RPMforge) collection of rpms in your configuration files for automatic updates. Use one group or the other but not both. You should be made aware that there are two “schools” of rpm packagers for Fedora Core extra applications. One group consists of the livna.org/fedora extras repositories and the other group consists of the dag/freshrpms/dries/newrpms/PlanetCCRMA (RPMforge) repositories. One of the most common causes of errors and failures in a new Fedora Core installation is the mixing of these two incompatible repository collections for automatic updates. These two groups of rpm repositories are, for the most part, mutually incompatible and in some cases will cause serious errors in your installation if used together. It is unfortunate that these two groups have not found some common ground for consensus and have not gotten together and made their repositories compatible with one another. I myself subscribe to the RPMforge collection as you can see in my yum and apt repository selection instructions below. The dag/freshrpms/dries/newrpms/PlanetCCRMA (RPMforge) repositories have provided me with all of the programs I have needed as additions to the Fedora base. Note that if you use up2date with its default configuration, both of these groups will be compatible with your up2date updates. This is because the up2date default configuration file in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/sources specifies download.fedora.redhat.com which is the source of your core installation. Some additional information can be found here.

So if I use livna.org repositories now to get ATI drivers installed will I have a problem?
Thank you.

alacheesu · #6 8th May 2005, 08:36 PM

Well, you could always add the livna repos as I suggest, but under each repo add the following line

Code:

enabled=0

Now the livna repos will not be used for automatic updates. You can still access them by using the --enable-repo=<repo> switch. To install the ATI drivers you now type

Code:

yum --enable-repo=livna-unstable install ati-fglrx kernel-module-fglrx-`(uname -r)`

xbuzz · #7 9th May 2005, 07:11 AM

i followed the The Unofficial Fedora FAQ (http://www.fedorafaq.org/#radeon) and followed it. when i boot up it gives me the following
Checking for ati-fglrx kernel module [FAILED]

fglrx.ko module for 2.6.11-1.14_FC3 not found
DRI will not work within X with the ati-fglrx driver. Get
an updated/suitable 'kernel-module-fglrx-<kernelver>' rpm
from rpm.livna.org
---------------------------------
also now that i have the new drivers i noticed a couple problems the card name and chip set are listed as "unknown" the transfer mode says "PCI" (which should be AGP) the OpenGL refers to Mesa.. Obviously this is wrong here is a screen shot of the "ATI fglrx- Display Settings" application now located in System Settings. It baffles me since I installed, via yum, the ati-fglrx drivers. Obviously direct rendering is still disabled.

Am I missing something? Any ideas!?

alacheesu · #8 9th May 2005, 08:28 AM

You are trying to use the drivers with the new kernel. As explained in my first post, either use the 2.6.10-1.770 kernel or try the link under "Alternative 2" to use the drivers with the new kernel. I suggest trying to first get the drivers to work under the 2.6.10-1.770 kernel as this is the easiest. Then try Alt. 2 if you really need the latest kernel or just feel adventurous.

xbuzz · #9 9th May 2005, 06:12 PM

Thank you for all of your help, I must thank you for your time. You have brought this 100+ hours of stress to an end. I am happy to report that GLXGEARS is shooting out 7070FPS, a lot better then 300

Thanks!

spc337 · #10 10th May 2005, 11:29 AM

Interestingly, I´ve been struggling with the same issue and resolved it (partially) by installing the earlier Kernel from livna and applying the ATI drivers.

Boot up is fine, glxgears works great, etc. etc.. even tuxracer is fun. However, each time I logout my system hangs. I did a simple, boot, login (KDE), logout - which worked but then when I tried to log in again (without reboot) it froze.

I may have a dependency issue from downgrading the kernel ???

smilingbob · #11 13th May 2005, 09:51 PM

Okay, I've tried a few options, and none have worked. I downloaded FC3 today, and the kernel isn't compatible with the Livna RPMs. I tried using Yum to upgrade to the next kernel, so I could try patching FGLRX, but the version I ended up with is the latest one, and the patches don't apply to it. So, I need to one of two things, and I don't know how to do either;

1. Downgrade the kernel to a version which the Livna RPMs are compatible with, or,
2. Get a patch for FGLRX which will work with my current kernel (Not sure of the number, but I think it ends with 11), if such a thing exists.

If someone could give me some reasonably detailed instructions on how to do either, and give me some current websites to download the relevant stuff, it'd make me smile, at least, more than I do now.

Help me....

finalzero · #12 22nd May 2005, 05:30 AM

Follow this how to... should work for you, checked the Direct Rendering and it is enabled on my copy of FC3.

http://www.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=55332