trouble with my graphics card (linux noob)

English Hardware
#1

hi all, i have just been getting used to opensuse 11.1 (needed it for programming on netbeans for university)

so far i have been quite impressed with the layout and functionality of linux, i have sorted afew issues out myself (drivers for network, sound card etc.), but there is one thing i just cant get my head round and that is the graphics driver.

i have an ati radeon 4870, so i have tried to install catalyst off the amd site (it didnt work), tried getting the radeon tool (from this site) and im still at a dead end. for instance when i install through YAST i can never find the program it installed. and when i do it through the terminal it gives up half way through the installation

one of my main problems is that im not very clued up on the functionality of linux, i have read that there is known problems with ati graphics cards and linux, but i cant seem to sort it out by myself.

has anyone else had similar problems?

apologies in advance for my noobish knowledge of linux

#2

This may help, yes?. ATI - openSUSE

Sorry, can’t offer much help on ATi issues. I always use nvidia which currently is lightyears away from ATi’s drivers

#3

thanks for the quick reply, i tried those steps (i should mentioned this in my first post) and the part where i have to enter the code:

init 3
SaX2 -r -m 0=fglrx

terminal returns a message saying they are already system files
(‘Program ‘init’ is present in package ‘sysvinit’, which is installed on your system.’)

basically i do not get the result from that guide. am i doing something wrong?

alex

#4

that’s very odd that you get such message so you really must be doing something.
Try this:

  • hit CTRL+ALT+F1
  • login there as root user (root -> root’s passwd)
  • type init 3
  • execute the SaX command above
  • reboot system
#5

Hi-

When you ran the .run file from ATI’s site, and entered

aticonfig --initial

, and rebooted, what was in your /usr/share/ati/fgrlx-install.log file?

Just FYI, ATI’s installation notes advise against running sax2.

I have been running fglrx drivers with no problems on my AMD64 box with a radeon 2600 board. I see 4200fps from glxgears.

Hope this helps.

#6

microchip8: i try those commands and terminal just tells me they are already installed on the system.

i type:

init 3

(hit return)

and it just tells me the command and its presence on the system.

tcubed_bus: contents of that file are as follows:

[Message] Kernel Module : Trying to install a precompiled kernel module.
[Message] Kernel Module : Precompiled kernel module version mismatched.
[Error] Kernel Module : Kernel module build environment not found - please consult readme.

im guessing this means there was an error, or the file is empty from the installation?

regards, alex

#7

this is very odd that it tells you such things when you type init 3. I’ve never seen such a thing. You can however reboot and at the boot screen, in the options bar, type 3 - yes, just 3 and it’ll take you to runlevel 3

as for the build environment, you need to install the kernel sources and gcc/make, etc basically the basic build environment. In yast, when you switch to patterns, you can select it there (kernel development or similar, can’t recall atm as I don’t use patterns)

#8

Hi-
ATI actually does a pretty good job of describing the prerequisites for an fglrx installation. The same web site with the drivers has the installation notes.

I have all the required software, so I just get in the .run file, run it, accept all the defaults, do aticonfig --initial, and reboot. No sax2.

It has worked fine for the past 7 versions of fglrx.

HTH

#9

I met with the same problem, the ati driver file I use is ati-driver-installer-10-7-x86.x86_64.run, OS is CentOS 5.5, the problem solved finally:
1.you must ensure the following things are installed:
gcc
2.run “uname -r” to get the accurate version of the kernel, like the OS of mine, the result is “2.6.18-194.el5”
3.install the accurate version of the kernel header files, which commonly be included in “kernel-devel” package, like OS of mine,it would be “kernel-header-2.6.18-194.el5.i686.rpm”, the slightly newer or older versions cannot be done!(like mine, the package installed by yum online is newer -“kernel-header-2.6.18-194.11.1.el5.i686.rpm”, which I replaced finally with the older one on my system installation DVD)
4.you must ensure that the directory “/lib/modules/｀uname -r｀/build” directs to the directory that contains the kernel header files, like mine, it’s “/usr/src/kernels/2.6.18-194.el5-i686”, if not, you should make a link to it. After that, it should be done. Good luck.

#10

@solieb
You can start the computer in run level 3 from boot.
Reboot your pc
At the grub boot menu, type 3 and then enter.
This will take you to a console login where you can login as root.
Navigate to the directory where you downloaded the ati binay and run:
sh ./ati-insta…