doc/en/ati-faq.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/ati-faq.xml,v 1.42 2007/06/09 12:32:56 jkt Exp $ -->
<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">

<guide link="/doc/en/ati-faq.xml">
<title>Gentoo Linux ATI FAQ</title>

<author title="Author">
  <mail link="lu_zero@gentoo.org">Luca Barbato</mail>
</author>
<author title="Editor">
  <mail link="peesh@gentoo.org">Jorge Paulo</mail>
</author>
<author title="Editor">
  <mail link="blubber@gentoo.org">Tiemo Kieft</mail>
</author>

<abstract>
This FAQ should help users avoid some common installation and configuration
issues related to DRI and X11 for ATI boards.
</abstract>

<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
<license/>

<version>1.3</version>
<date>2007-08-07</date>

<chapter>
<title>Hardware Support</title>
<section>
<title>Is my ATI board supported?</title>
<body>

<p>
Many ATI boards (but not all) are supported by <uri
link="http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/xorg">xorg-x11</uri>, at least for the
2D accelerated features. The 3D support is provided either by xorg-x11, or by
ATI's <uri
link="http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html">closed
source drivers</uri>.
</p>

<table>
<tr>
  <th>GPU</th>
  <th>Common Name</th>
  <th>Support</th>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>Rage128</ti>
  <ti>Rage128</ti>
  <ti>xorg</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>R100</ti>
  <ti>Radeon7xxx, Radeon64</ti>
  <ti>xorg</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>R200, R250, R280</ti>
  <ti>Radeon8500, Radeon9000, Radeon9200</ti>
  <ti>xorg, ATI DRI</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>R300, R400</ti>
  <ti>Radeon 9500 - x850</ti>
  <ti>xorg, ATI DRI</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>R500</ti>
  <ti>Radeon X1300 and higher</ti>
  <ti>ATI DRI, no support in xorg</ti>
</tr>
<tr>
  <ti>R600</ti>
  <ti>Radeon HD 2000 series</ti>
  <ti>Not supported in Linux</ti>
</tr>
</table>

<p>
The x1000 series cards (x1300 and higher) cannot use the free xorg drivers; they
are limited to the unaccelerated 2D vesa driver. Use the proprietary
<c>ati-drivers</c> package if you want hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics.
</p>

<impo>
The newest Radeon HD 2000 series cards are completely unsupported in Linux.
There are no drivers from either xorg or ATI. It's probably best to hold off
buying these cards until there's some kind of support in Linux. ;)
</impo>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>
  I have an All-In-Wonder/Vivo board.  Are the multimedia features supported?
</title>
<body>

<p>
The board's multimedia features are supported by <uri
link="http://gatos.sf.net">the GATOS project</uri>. These drivers will be
merged into the xorg tree shortly.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>I'm not using an x86-based architecture.  What are my options?</title>
<body>

<p>
X11 support on the PPC or Alpha platforms is quite similar to x86 X11 support.
However, ATI's closed source drivers are not supported on the PPC or Alpha, so
you cannot use the 3D features of the R300 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). If
you have such a board and want it supported by X11, contact <uri
link="http://www.ati.com">ATI</uri> and ask them to release the specifications
for your system's GPU. The closed source driver for the AMD64 was released, so
AMD64 users can now enjoy the same features as x86 users.
</p>

<impo>
To enable agpgart support for certain AMD64 chip sets, you have to disable
support for the K8 IOMMU.
</impo>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>I have a laptop.  Is my ATI Mobility model supported?</title>
<body>

<p>
It should be, but you may have a configuration issue due to the OEM PCI id that
such chips may have. In most cases, you may have to write the configuration
file yourself or use the <c>xorgconfig</c> utility.
</p>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>

<chapter>
<title>Installation</title>
<section>
<title>Packages</title>
<body>

<p>
There are two ways of getting drivers for your ATI card:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>The <c>xorg-x11</c> ebuild provides the X11 implementation</li>
    <li>
    The <c>ati-drivers</c> ebuild provides the ATI closed source X drivers and
    kernel modules
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
If you want to use ATI's <e>internal</e> agpgart support instead of the Linux
kernel one, the agpgart driver and the chip set specific driver (in your kernel
configuration) must be built as modules or not at all.
</p>

<note>
Please read the <uri link="/doc/en/dri-howto.xml">Hardware Acceleration
Guide</uri> for more information on installing drivers for your ATI graphics
card.
</note>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Configuration</title>
<body>

<p>
The use of <c>xorgcfg</c> or <c>xorgconfig</c> to generate the
<path>xorg.conf</path> configuration file is suggested. Alternatively, you may
use the Xorg auto configuration option:
</p>

<pre caption="Autoconfiguring X">
# <i>X -configure</i>
</pre>

<p>
For more information on how to get a basic <c>xorg.conf</c> configuration file,
please refer to the <uri link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">Gentoo X Server
HowTo</uri>.
</p>

<note>
You can use <c>aticonfig</c> if you have installed the <c>ati-drivers</c>
package.
</note>

<impo>
PPC users could use the <c>Xorgautoconfig</c> stand-alone configuration tool by
emerging the <c>Xorgautoconfig</c> ebuild, but isn't required.
</impo>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Switching to OpenGL</title>
<body>

<p>
Once X is installed, configured, and running, it can use the ATI OpenGL
libraries:
</p>

<pre caption="Running eselect">
# <i>eselect opengl set ati</i>
</pre>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>
<chapter>
<title>More Resources</title>
<section>
<body>

<p>
Please read the <uri link="/doc/en/dri-howto.xml">Hardware Acceleration
Guide</uri> for more information on configuring your ATI graphics card.
</p>

<p>
More information on Gentoo Linux and the ATI Radeon binary drivers can be found
on the <uri
link="http://odin.prohosting.com/wedge01/gentoo-radeon-faq.html">Wedge
Unofficial Gentoo ATI Radeon FAQ</uri>.
</p>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>
</guide>
1	peesh	1.1	<?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?>
2	nightmorph	1.43	<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/ati-faq.xml,v 1.42 2007/06/09 12:32:56 jkt Exp $ -->
3	peesh	1.1	<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
4
5			<guide link="/doc/en/ati-faq.xml">
6	swift	1.23	<title>Gentoo Linux ATI FAQ</title>
7	swift	1.22
8	swift	1.7	<author title="Author">
9			<mail link="lu_zero@gentoo.org">Luca Barbato</mail>
10	peesh	1.1	</author>
11	swift	1.7	<author title="Editor">
12			<mail link="peesh@gentoo.org">Jorge Paulo</mail>
13	peesh	1.1	</author>
14	swift	1.7	<author title="Editor">
15			<mail link="blubber@gentoo.org">Tiemo Kieft</mail>
16	blubber	1.5	</author>
17	peesh	1.1
18	swift	1.7	<abstract>
19			This FAQ should help users avoid some common installation and configuration
20	swift	1.29	issues related to DRI and X11 for ATI boards.
21	swift	1.7	</abstract>
22	peesh	1.1
23	fox2mike	1.32	<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
24			<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
25	swift	1.3	<license/>
26
27	nightmorph	1.43	<version>1.3</version>
28			<date>2007-08-07</date>
29	peesh	1.1
30			<chapter>
31			<title>Hardware Support</title>
32			<section>
33	peesh	1.2	<title>Is my ATI board supported?</title>
34	peesh	1.1	<body>
35	swift	1.7
36			<p>
37	fox2mike	1.32	Many ATI boards (but not all) are supported by <uri
38	nightmorph	1.43	link="http://www.freedesktop.org/Software/xorg">xorg-x11</uri>, at least for the
39			2D accelerated features. The 3D support is provided either by xorg-x11, or by
40	fox2mike	1.32	ATI's <uri
41	swift	1.28	link="http://mirror.ati.com/support/drivers/linux/radeon-linux.html">closed
42			source drivers</uri>.
43	peesh	1.1	</p>
44
45			<table>
46	swift	1.7	<tr>
47			<th>GPU</th>
48			<th>Common Name</th>
49			<th>Support</th>
50			</tr>
51			<tr>
52	swift	1.29	<ti>Rage128</ti>
53	swift	1.7	<ti>Rage128</ti>
54	nightmorph	1.43	<ti>xorg</ti>
55	swift	1.7	</tr>
56			<tr>
57	swift	1.29	<ti>R100</ti>
58	swift	1.7	<ti>Radeon7xxx, Radeon64</ti>
59	nightmorph	1.43	<ti>xorg</ti>
60	swift	1.7	</tr>
61			<tr>
62	swift	1.29	<ti>R200, R250, R280</ti>
63	swift	1.13	<ti>Radeon8500, Radeon9000, Radeon9200</ti>
64	nightmorph	1.43	<ti>xorg, ATI DRI</ti>
65	swift	1.7	</tr>
66			<tr>
67	jkt	1.42	<ti>R300, R400</ti>
68	nightmorph	1.43	<ti>Radeon 9500 - x850</ti>
69			<ti>xorg, ATI DRI</ti>
70	swift	1.7	</tr>
71	jkt	1.42	<tr>
72	nightmorph	1.43	<ti>R500</ti>
73			<ti>Radeon X1300 and higher</ti>
74	jkt	1.42	<ti>ATI DRI, no support in xorg</ti>
75			</tr>
76	nightmorph	1.43	<tr>
77			<ti>R600</ti>
78			<ti>Radeon HD 2000 series</ti>
79			<ti>Not supported in Linux</ti>
80			</tr>
81	peesh	1.1	</table>
82
83	nightmorph	1.43	<p>
84			The x1000 series cards (x1300 and higher) cannot use the free xorg drivers; they
85			are limited to the unaccelerated 2D vesa driver. Use the proprietary
86			<c>ati-drivers</c> package if you want hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics.
87			</p>
88
89			<impo>
90			The newest Radeon HD 2000 series cards are completely unsupported in Linux.
91			There are no drivers from either xorg or ATI. It's probably best to hold off
92			buying these cards until there's some kind of support in Linux. ;)
93			</impo>
94
95	peesh	1.1	</body>
96			</section>
97			<section>
98	swift	1.7	<title>
99	swift	1.22	I have an All-In-Wonder/Vivo board. Are the multimedia features supported?
100	swift	1.7	</title>
101	peesh	1.1	<body>
102	swift	1.7
103			<p>
104	neysx	1.40	The board's multimedia features are supported by <uri
105			link="http://gatos.sf.net">the GATOS project</uri>. These drivers will be
106	fox2mike	1.34	merged into the xorg tree shortly.
107	swift	1.7	</p>
108
109	peesh	1.1	</body>
110			</section>
111			<section>
112	swift	1.28	<title>I'm not using an x86-based architecture. What are my options?</title>
113	peesh	1.1	<body>
114	swift	1.7
115			<p>
116	swift	1.28	X11 support on the PPC or Alpha platforms is quite similar to x86 X11 support.
117			However, ATI's closed source drivers are not supported on the PPC or Alpha, so
118			you cannot use the 3D features of the R300 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). If
119	neysx	1.40	you have such a board and want it supported by X11, contact <uri
120			link="http://www.ati.com">ATI</uri> and ask them to release the specifications
121			for your system's GPU. The closed source driver for the AMD64 was released, so
122			AMD64 users can now enjoy the same features as x86 users.
123	swift	1.7	</p>
124
125	lu_zero	1.19	<impo>
126	neysx	1.40	To enable agpgart support for certain AMD64 chip sets, you have to disable
127	swift	1.28	support for the K8 IOMMU.
128	lu_zero	1.19	</impo>
129
130	peesh	1.1	</body>
131			</section>
132			<section>
133	swift	1.28	<title>I have a laptop. Is my ATI Mobility model supported?</title>
134	peesh	1.1	<body>
135	swift	1.7
136			<p>
137	neysx	1.40	It should be, but you may have a configuration issue due to the OEM PCI id that
138			such chips may have. In most cases, you may have to write the configuration
139			file yourself or use the <c>xorgconfig</c> utility.
140	peesh	1.1	</p>
141
142			</body>
143			</section>
144			</chapter>
145
146			<chapter>
147			<title>Installation</title>
148			<section>
149			<title>Packages</title>
150			<body>
151	swift	1.7
152	nightmorph	1.43	<p>
153			There are two ways of getting drivers for your ATI card:
154			</p>
155
156	swift	1.17	<ul>
157	swift	1.22	<li>The <c>xorg-x11</c> ebuild provides the X11 implementation</li>
158	nightmorph	1.43	<li>
159	neysx	1.40	The <c>ati-drivers</c> ebuild provides the ATI closed source X drivers and
160	nightmorph	1.43	kernel modules
161	swift	1.22	</li>
162	swift	1.17	</ul>
163	swift	1.7
164	swift	1.21	<p>
165			If you want to use ATI's <e>internal</e> agpgart support instead of the Linux
166	swift	1.23	kernel one, the agpgart driver and the chip set specific driver (in your kernel
167	swift	1.21	configuration) must be built as modules or not at all.
168			</p>
169	swift	1.7
170	nightmorph	1.43	<note>
171			Please read the <uri link="/doc/en/dri-howto.xml">Hardware Acceleration
172			Guide</uri> for more information on installing drivers for your ATI graphics
173			card.
174			</note>
175	swift	1.7
176	peesh	1.1	</body>
177			</section>
178			<section>
179			<title>Configuration</title>
180			<body>
181	swift	1.7
182			<p>
183	neysx	1.40	The use of <c>xorgcfg</c> or <c>xorgconfig</c> to generate the
184			<path>xorg.conf</path> configuration file is suggested. Alternatively, you may
185			use the Xorg auto configuration option:
186	swift	1.7	</p>
187
188	lu_zero	1.10	<pre caption="Autoconfiguring X">
189	blubber	1.5	# <i>X -configure</i>
190	peesh	1.1	</pre>
191	swift	1.7
192			<p>
193	lu_zero	1.9	For more information on how to get a basic <c>xorg.conf</c> configuration file,
194	fox2mike	1.35	please refer to the <uri link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">Gentoo X Server
195			HowTo</uri>.
196	swift	1.7	</p>
197
198			<note>
199	neysx	1.39	You can use <c>aticonfig</c> if you have installed the <c>ati-drivers</c>
200	swift	1.28	package.
201	swift	1.7	</note>
202
203			<impo>
204	fox2mike	1.31	PPC users could use the <c>Xorgautoconfig</c> stand-alone configuration tool by
205			emerging the <c>Xorgautoconfig</c> ebuild, but isn't required.
206	swift	1.7	</impo>
207
208	peesh	1.1	</body>
209			</section>
210	nightmorph	1.36	<section>
211			<title>Switching to OpenGL</title>
212			<body>
213
214			<p>
215			Once X is installed, configured, and running, it can use the ATI OpenGL
216			libraries:
217			</p>
218
219	nightmorph	1.37	<pre caption="Running eselect">
220			# <i>eselect opengl set ati</i>
221	nightmorph	1.36	</pre>
222
223			</body>
224			</section>
225	peesh	1.1	</chapter>
226	swift	1.30	<chapter>
227			<title>More Resources</title>
228			<section>
229			<body>
230
231			<p>
232	nightmorph	1.38	Please read the <uri link="/doc/en/dri-howto.xml">Hardware Acceleration
233			Guide</uri> for more information on configuring your ATI graphics card.
234			</p>
235
236			<p>
237	swift	1.30	More information on Gentoo Linux and the ATI Radeon binary drivers can be found
238			on the <uri
239			link="http://odin.prohosting.com/wedge01/gentoo-radeon-faq.html">Wedge
240			Unofficial Gentoo ATI Radeon FAQ</uri>.
241			</p>
242
243			</body>
244			</section>
245			</chapter>
246	peesh	1.1	</guide>