AMD/ATI Continuing to make Good on Their Commitment to Linux!

AMD/ATI continue to make good on their commitment to the open source community. They are preparing for another major source code release of their GPU drivers, and they have even furthered their commitment for future releases by hiring additional staff for this very purpose!

Read more here, "AMD Preparing For Another GPU Documentation Release".

 

I might have to look at ATI again if this trend continues. It would be nice to have drivers that work and get updates faster when compatibility issues come up. This could also lead to more gaming on the linux platform.

 

Though they are trying to catch up in the Linux world, they still leave a lot to be desired on their laptop offerings. Currently, drivers for Mobility Radeon HD series are still not available

 

That may be true, but remember, they're not even available for Windows. I had to use the mobility modder on the 7.10 drivers. Anyhow, you can get good performance, just install Envy http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html.
Then:
1) run it
2) choose graphics manufacturer
3) install driver
4) reboot
5) enjoy good graphics performance, test with glxgears or fgl_glxgears to see approximate difference between stock and new driver.

 

Great post "notyou", thanks!

 

It's good to see that they are trying to work wit the Open source community. Hopefully in a few years they might actually have perfect compatibility with linux.

 

That would be sexy, now only if the game companies ported their games to Linux then we could entirely ditch Windows.

 

Unfortunately, the Mobility Radeon HD 2600 card in my Fujitsu N6460 at least runs Aero under Vista perfectly with Catalyst 7.x. However, it only provides VESA support on Gutsy Gibbon after trying both open-source and proprietary fglrx solutions.

"mobility modder" Do you mean Envy or else?

Have you actually tried that and made it worked yourself? That would be a fantastic news as a couple of guys over in ubuntuforum.org were all longing for a legitimate solution so far

I have tried using envy to install the latest 8.42.3 driver with manual install 'cause it did not detect my card correctly but it eventually failed to compile due to incompatibility issue with a "-rt" realtime kernel Though i'm aware of a work-around is available out there. I also tried with a generic kernel yet it got me no where, either

To the contrary, i have Gutsy working perfectly with a NVIDIA-based card plain & simple by just enabling the Restricted Driver Manager. How ironically

 

Mobility Modder - used to change desktop catalyst drivers into mobile ones, have to do this since ATI doesn't actually provide drivers for the mobility hd 2600.
Envy - easy GUI way to install ATI or Nvidia drivers under Linux (best support under Ubuntu [I'm running gutsy]).

I did use it successfully and now I have Compiz 100% working (Compiz doesn't run using the Vesa driver).

All I did to get the driver was:
1) download the .deb package from the envy website http://albertomilone.com/nvidia_scripts1.html
2) run the .deb package to install
3) run Envy (requires restart after install?)
4) Run the "Install the ATI driver" option OR the "Install the ATI driver manually", in either case get the most recent driver.
5) Restart when required

You may have to uninstall the old ATI driver (because it may have not been installed properly and so there could be incompatible remnants of your previous attempt). As for your realtime kernel issue, (I'm not making claims about how Linux works but,) it seems to me that it doesn't like the fact that something is in use already when you try to write so I would try a reboot (full, not just restart X, as I've found sometimes it needs it for proper updating). Also, I did this on an almost fresh install of Gutsy but I highly doubt that this would make a difference. Hopefully you can get it working.

 

Excellent, notyou!

I will give it a shot

 

@notyou:

I just found the Mobility Modder on DriverHeaven.net but it's for windoz only

So I have to run it though wine, right? Any other "gotcha" i might encounter?

Thanks in advance!

 

Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner, wireless here at university is crap.
You misunderstood me, the MM is for Windows only, ie if you want to install desktop drivers on your notebook in WINDOWS ONLY!!!!!! Don't bother trying to run it through wine as the driver is coded for Windows and thus won't work anyways under Linux.
In order to install the Linux drivers, follow the instructions I provided on the previous page (using Envy).

 

Still no luck this time with a fresh install of Gutsy i386 + Envy_0.9.8 + 8.42.3

After finishing the driver installation & a reboot, all i got is the same old low-res login window. After logged in brought me to an even worse totally "white screen" without panels no nothing at all The only way i can get to Gnome desktop is through a failsafe session.

 

Try this then:
(in terminal)
sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
this will allow you to reconfigure a new graphical part of your xorg file.
If this doesn't work, then I guess you'll have to go to ubuntuforums.org and get better help there.

 

Finally got this bad boy to behave! Below is what i've been through:

The initial "white screen of death" was a notorious symptom on ubuntu trying to enable Compiz with Composite Option enabled in your xorg.conf.

After some tweaks to my xorg.conf(link below), got futher with better monitor/display/screen combinations. Yet still no direct rendering/3d effects/display lags/screen very slow to draw, etc.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=515573

Found the following to address all above issues:

http://www.phoronix.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6062

It's up & running flawless now!

 

Good that you got it working.

 

@notyou:

Thanks for all the hints/helps!

 

pls can you write some HOW TO there becaue I have already BIG head from going from one link to another....i try everything(still going to blackscreen or succes but with misserable artefacts and slow grafic interface)..but when i see that you succes on laptop 8510p(i have this one) i want to ask you. PLS SIMPLY WRITE STEP BY STEP WHAT TO DO after the fresh installation of gutsy 7.10 there

 

@until:

First, my laptop with a ATI card is Fujitsu N6460, not a HP.

Second, this thread was created for comments regarding ATI's Linux support commitment. I am afraid that other forum members will agree turning it into a HowTo-liked topic.

I believe above mentioned 2 links are sufficient for resolving N6460's Linux compatibility issues.

 

Yes, it's high time to get this thread back on topic. Please find another thread for tech support, or start your own, thanks.