ati_logo openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers Installationemealogoamdnew150to5 openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers InstallationI got overwhelming e-mails asking me how to install properly ATI drivers under openSUSE 10.2. I directed them to different sites, including a reference to one of mine that I wrote for SUSE 10.1, but seems like they are still having problems. Instead of explaining to everyone on an individual basis I decided to make a fresh post.

I am running openSUSE Linux 10.2 x86_64 platform (AMD64), with ATI Radeon X800 GTO2 PCI-E interface on DFI nForce4 Ultra based motherboard. Driver used here: 8.35.5

Once again there are prerequisites before you begin installing the drivers. You will need to have the following installed. All these can be found on your openSUSE 10.2 CDs or DVD:

1. kernel-source 2.gcc 3. make

Remark: You need to have libdrm package = 2.3 or greater. Grab this package and install it manually before continuing. It can be found here. (i586 version if you are installing 32-bit driver and x86_64 for 64-bit version)

opensuse7tg1 openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers InstallationAlso make sure that the followings are installed, which ususally are with default installation (just to make sure)

  • kernel-source
  • compat-32bit
  • qt3-32bit
  • libstdc++
  • libgcc
  • xorg-x11-libs-32bit
  • xorg-x11-devel-32bit
  • Mesa-32bit
  • Mesa-devel-32bit
  • fontconfig-32bit
  • expat-32bit
  • freetype2-32bit
  • zlib-32bit
  • gcc

 

(the list is for x86_64 users, for 32-bit users the same applies but without “-32bit” string in the name for packages)

Info for n00bs/newbies: When you see “~>” when you see “#“, you have to be root (by typing “su” and supplying the password when asked).

Once the above mentioned packages are installed, let’s prepare the kernel modules. Execute the following commands:

# cd /usr/src/linux

# make mrproper

# make cloneconfig

# make modules_prepare

and one last command to clean the kernel source:

# make clean

Also, if you have tried installing drivers before, let’s remove them completely by executing the command:

# rpm -e $(rpm -qa | grep fglrx)

 

Now to installing drivers:

1. Download the latest available drivers from ATI Drivers and Software section. Choose your version of drivers: x86 for 32 bit, x86_64 for 64 bit. You need to download “ATI Driver Installer”

2. Once downloaded, copy to a folder that you wont forget. (let’s presume /home/me/ATI)

# cd /home/me/ATI

3. Generate distribution specific package:

For 32-bit users:

# sh ./ati-driver-installer-x.xx.x-yy.run –buildpkg SuSE/SUSE102-IA32

(where x.xx.x is the driver version number and yy the architecture)

For 64-bit users:

# sh ./ati-driver-installer-x.xx.x-yy.run –buildpkg SuSE/SUSE102-AMD64

 

65756855nf1 openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers Installation

4. Now the ATI Driver Installer made a driver package for your system which has to be installed and has been created in:

/usr/src/packages/RPMS/i386

of if you have a 64-bit processor it’s located here.

/usr/src/packages/RPMS/x86_64

5. Now we need to leave the cool graphical desktop and switch to console mode by typing (as root):

# init 3

Log-in as root.

64-bit version is presumed from now onwards for the tutorial (adjust according to your platform):

# cd /usr/src/packages/RPMS/x86_64

6. Once there we need to install the rpm package that we compiled:

# rpm -Uvh fglrx*.rpm

7. Hopefully the above command went well, without any error messaged and the drivers were installed. Now run the following command:

# ldconfig

8. Last thing left is to configure the X server, to let it know which driver to use for rendering 2D and 3D:

# sax2 -r -m 0=fglrx

Test and then save the configuration. No need to run aticonfig command (at least it works for me, with Beryl on Xgl functioning properly)

9. Reboot(!) before you enter your DE (Destop Environenment). I know this is not Windows - again, this worked for me and really hope that will be true with you.

Once rebooted and back to your KDE/Gnome and logged in as user, launch few more commands to verify that all went good and OpenGL is working now at it’s max:

~> fglrxinfo

fglrxinfotr1 openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers Installation

~> glxinfo

glxinfodj3 openSUSE 10.2: AMD/ATI Drivers Installation

If it states ATI Technologies Inc and the make of your card - excellent. Everything is setup correctly and working flawlessly. Time to relax and have a cup of coffee.

IMPORTANT Tip: If when running sax2 command and/or when switching to terminal screen you face problem of blank screen (screen going dead), then you should disable framebuffer in the console. For this do the following:

1. Edit /boot/grub/menu.lst and remove the vga=xxx statement from the kernel line.

2. Rerun the sax2 command mentioned above in point 8

Enjoy :)

Update (11.10.07) : openSUSE 10.3: AMD/ATI Drivers Installation

 

 

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