New ATi drivers

[Prospero424]

I saw today that the new 8.27.10 ATi linux drivers have been released.

I recently tried installing fglrx through Adept, which caused KDE to crash at bootup when I switched to the proprietary driver in the Display Settings menu's "Display" dialog, so I'm looking for a step-by-step guide on how to install it properly in Kubuntu. I would greatly appreciate a point in the right direction.

Also, I was wondering if anyone could tell me for sure if the official ATi driver supports PCI cards or not, and if not, which driver does support a Radeon 9200 SE PCI.

I'm desperately seeking a way to improve video playback performance on my PIII 450, and a sufficiently-recent ATi driver seems the best way to do this.

Thanks again!

[Rog131]

Re: New ATi drivers

step-by-step guide

Ubuntu Dapper Installation Guide
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubu...allation_Guide

How i did it :
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=7288.0

From Ubuntu Dapper Installation Guide:

Unfortunately OpenGL seems to be broken for R200 cards (everything below Radeon 9500) in this driver version. The Troubleshooting section describes how to fix this after xorg-driver-fglrx is installed.

[Prospero424]

Re: New ATi drivers

Thanks Rog131!

Is there any way you know the answer to my second question regarding PCI cards?

I ask because ATi's official linux driver FAQ omits it: "The ATI Proprietary Linux driver currently supports Radeon 8500 and later AGP or PCI Express graphics products..."

[Prospero424]

Re: New ATi drivers

Well, I answered my own question by taking a chance.

The installer script/program ATi is offering for download here:

https://support.ati.com/ics/support/...ge&folderID=27

seems to have worked perfectly, after following their new instructions for "Automatic Driver Installation Option" here:

https://a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206...7.10-inst.html

I, for one, count this as a minor miracle.

[Prospero424]

Re: New ATi drivers

I guess I spoke too soon. Everything seemed to work, but video playback was just crawling compared to how it was under the default ubuntu "ati" driver. I tried every player, every decoder, and every setting I could find, but it looked like the hardware overlay wasn't even active at all and even the scaling was being done by the CPU.

Damn.

Good thing the uninstallation script shipped with the drivers worked well.

It's starting to look like I'm just going to have to abandon the idea of faster video playback performance, because now I'm completely out of ideas.

Any new ones would be most welcome.

[Rog131]

Re: New ATi drivers

it looked like the hardware overlay wasn't even active at all and even the scaling was being done by the CPU.

Did you try in the konsole: xvinfo

From: X video extension
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_video_extension

Without XVideo, this scaling would have to be done in software, which is possible but requires a considerable amount of processing power, sometimes to the point of slowing down/degrading the video stream.

Did you ? :sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv
This enables video acceleration (Xv Overlay)

(Or you could type in the xorg.conf: Option "VideoOverlay" "on")

Example from my xorg.conf:

Section "Device"
Identifier "ATI Technologies, Inc. Radeon 9600 XT (RV350 AR)"
Driver "fglrx"
BusID "PCI:3:0:0"
Option "UseInternalAGPGART" "no"
Option "VideoOverlay" "on"
EndSection

More: aticonfig --help
Configuring (wiki page)
http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Configuring

[Prospero424]

Re: New ATi drivers

Rog131

xvinfo reported:

X-Video Extension version 2.2
screen #0
no adaptors present

So, as you suggested, I entered:

sudo aticonfig --overlay-type=Xv

and rebooted. Now it works!!!

You'll have to forgive me; coming from an extensive MS and Mac backgroung, I'm still slave to the mindset which leads me to assume that things like this will be done for me by the installation routine.

I'll try out a few of the high-res AVIs that were dropping frames before.

A million thanks for your help.

[Pr0m3uZ]

Re: New ATi drivers

After successfully installing ATI drivers,
I cant play movie files anymore (rm, divx, xvid etc.).
Well, I thought it could be a problem with a player, so I tried Mplayer, Kaffeine ... and it's the same situation.
I start the movie the screen goes black, and my linux session ends, so i have to relog.
Yes, i do have Xv overlay enabled.

Any ideas

[Pr0m3uZ]

Re: New ATi drivers

*bump*

Anyone

[OU812]

Re: New ATi drivers

You may have to add this to your xorg.conf

Section "DRI"
   Mode 0666
EndSection

I had to add this to my slackware-based distro. I think it allows regular users access to the drivers. Can't remember. Worth a try.

john

[Pr0m3uZ]

Re: New ATi drivers

Allready have that in my xorg.conf