I wanted to post this here, since it was so hard to get it to work. I
couldn’t get Compiz (Desktop Effects) to work for the longest time, and
it ended up being easy. First of all, Don’t do 1-click. It doesn’t work
in Suse 11.1. These exact instructions worked great for me, adapted from
the ATI post in the Suse faqs. I won’t post the link, because they have
distractions of their own and I don’t want to loose anyone.
I will give the condensed instructions for those that don’t need hand
holding. For all new linux users or even gifted amateurs (spelling
disabled) like myself, you might want to read the detailed set.
CONDENSED-------
- Make sure your kernel source is installed, and dowload the ati
drivers directly from ati and install them. - Init 3
- mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-001
- sax2 -r -m 0=radeon
- aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf
- sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx
- reboot
DETAILED--------
I have an ATI X600 card, and I followed these instructions on a fresh
network install, with Gnome as my default desktop. I chose during the
setup to install the kernel source, which is required for step 1. If you
didn’t add any packages during setup, open yast, go to software
management and look around until you find Kernel Development as a
package or pattern. Read some other faqs on how to add this, I barely
get it sometimes…
-
Download the driver installer from ATI.
-
Run the installer, don’t choose custom, agree to everything.
-
Log out, and Switch to the first terminal (Ctrl+Alt+F1)
-
Login as root.
-
run init 3 to switch to commandline linux with no Xwindows.
init 3
-
Check the X session (Ctrl+Alt+F7) and make sure the login page isn’t
there. If it is, Sax2 will fail. If this happens, reboot, switch to
Ctrl+Alt+F1, login as root again and run init 3 -
Init 3 will hang on “init 3 has been …”. Just hit enter and it
will return your # prompt. -
move your existing xorg.conf file to a backup.
mv /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf-001
The reason you do this is to get rid of your existing X configuration
file. Don’t worry, you will be creating a new one soon.
- Generate a new xorg.conf for ATI radeon by running:
sax2 -r -m 0=radeon
if you are using NVIDIA, check the NVIDIA instructions for the specific
set. If Sax2 says it can’t access the display, check the X session
(Ctrl+Alt+F7) Is it still running? Did you run init 6? Did you reboot?
If you need to reboot again at this point (I did) you will get a ton of
errors about gdm, X, etc. Ignore them. Login as root, init 3, carry on.
- Now that there is a new xorg.conf, run
aticonfig --initial --input=/etc/X11/xorg.conf
This adds the specific ati schmeck to the xorg.conf file. I don’t think
you have to do anything in this step for nVidia, but I will test it at
home on problematic XPC box.
- Now run:
sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx
This tells Sax2 you want to use the cool 3d schmeck.
- REBOOT! Other directions insist you can just init 5 to restart X,
or whatever, but I’m telling you, if you are a n00b and you just came
from windows, go with your comfort zone and give your computer one last
three finger salute.
Each of the above steps assumes the previous one worked. I did this
step by step on a fresh install with an X600 card and it worked. None of
the other posts I read worked. Hopefully this will help other compiz
longing noobs.
Admins, feel free to delete this post if it’s judged to be too
incorrect in some way.
–
lostowl
lostowl’s Profile: http://forums.opensuse.org/member.php?userid=17723
View this thread: http://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php?t=402852